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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



knowledge that its like can never be con- 

 ferred again. It was struck off to me- 

 morialize a complete work, a work that is 

 done, and well done. Commander Peary, 

 with the pleasure that comes to me as I 

 find myself in the midst of these honors, 

 there comes the solid satisfaction of feel- 

 ing that I have been of some assistance 

 to a man of such sterling worth as Com- 

 mander Peary (and I can look you 

 straight in the eye, sir, and say that), a 

 man whose heroic character and high 

 aims make him quite worthy of the great 

 fame that has come to him. 



For the very great honor that you have 

 shown me on account of my humble aid 

 in the great work, I once again return 

 my heartiest thanks. 



the; toastmaster 



We have honored Commander Peary, 

 but I am of the opinion that really the 

 greatest honor that he has received to- 

 night is when the captain of his ship said, 

 "I can look you straight in the eye, sir, 

 and say that. I mean it." 



Now we shall have a word from Gen- 

 eral Thomas Hubbard, the President of 

 the Peary Arctic Club, which has done 

 so much for the accomplishment of the 

 North Pole. 



GENERAL THOMAS H. HUBBARD 



Mr President, ladies and gentlemen: 

 The extension of time granted by the 

 President to the earlier speakers does not 

 apply to me, and if it did I would not 

 avail myself of it, seeing that Mr John 

 Barrett is waiting to follow me, and I 

 do not wish to cut off his time. But it 

 would be ungracious on my part not to 

 recognize the high honor paid by this 

 Society to Commander Peary and Cap- 

 tain Bartlett, and it would be perhaps 

 more ungracious to make a long speech 

 in recognition of that honor and courtesy. 

 The Peary Arctic Club is a young insti- 

 tution. Commander Peary is a good deal 

 older than the Peary Arctic Club. I do 

 not mean to imply that he is older than 

 each one of its individual members, but 

 he is older than all of them put together 

 in a corporate capacity. The Peary Arc- 



tic Club is eleven years old — an infant — 

 and yet it has witnessed the departure 

 and return of Commander Peary, first 

 upon that long four years' absence in the 

 north, when he came back and said he 

 did not reach the pole ; next, after the 

 one year's absence, when he came back 

 again and said he did not reach the pole. 

 Either time he might have said that he 

 reached it. There was nothing to contra- 

 dict him. It would have been impossible 

 to refute the statement. But each time 

 he came back and said he did not do it. 

 And now he has come back and has said 

 that he did it, and your action, the action 

 of this eminent Society, has approved his 

 record. 



The Peary Arctic Club has Commander 

 Peary as its chief asset, and his honor 

 is theirs. They have divided with him 

 labor and danger. I know my hearers 

 will say that in dividing labor the division 

 has been unequal. He has done the labor 

 and they have looked on, and I must 

 admit that their attitude during his ab- 

 sence has been that of a passive trustee. 

 During his presence his own activity has 

 stimulated theirs. They were kept active 

 before he went away this, last time, and 

 they have been made more or less active 

 since his return. 



I beg to assure you that their activity 

 has not included any conspiracies, has 

 not included any attempt to destroy life, 

 or blow up vessels, or steal records. 

 How far they have shared his dangers 

 I can only say by repeating the conversa- 

 tion that I had with him when he sailed 

 out of the East River July 6, 1907. 



It was a frightfully hot day and 

 thoughts of the pole were refreshing. As 

 I shook hands with him he said, "Take 

 care of yourself," to which I replied, "It 

 is an injunction I should give you. You 

 have got to take care of yourself." Then 

 his answer was, "Oh, no. One who 

 knows the conditions of life in the Arctic 

 regions is safer than he is in New York." 



Now Commander Peary has made life 

 and work in the Arctic regions compara- 

 tively safe. No one can make it safe to 

 travel hundreds of miles over an ocean 

 not frozen, but covered with floes likely 



