Note 29 — HOW A GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY PROSTITUTED ITS NAME

When Mr. Peary first returned from the North, and began his attacks upon me, he caused a demand for "proofs" through the New York Times and its affiliated papers; he had them call for my instruments; he insinuated that I had had no instruments with me in the North (despite the fact that Captain Bartlett had informed him that my own Eskimos had testified that I had); he declared that any Polar claim must be established by an examination of observations and an examination of the explorer's instruments.

In view of the unwarranted newspaper call for "proofs," I was embarrassed by having left my instruments with Whitney. Mr. Peary had his, however. But were they carefully examined by the august body who so eagerly decided he reached the Pole? Was the verdict of the self-appointed arbiters of the so-called National Geographic Society based upon such examination as Mr. Peary—concerning my case—had declared necessary?

Testifying before the subcommittee of the Committee on Naval Affairs, when the move was on to have Peary made a Rear-Admiral, Henry Gannett, one of the three members of the National Geographic Society, who had passed on Peary's claim, admitted that their examination of Mr. Peary's instruments was casually and hastily made in the Pennsylvania Station at Washington. When Peary later appeared in person before the committee, he admitted having come to Washington from Portland, Maine, to consult with the members of the National Geographic Society who were to examine his proofs, and that he had brought his instruments with him in a trunk, which was left at the station. The following took place (See official Congressional Report, Private Calendar No. 733, Sixty-first Congress, Third Session, House of Representatives, Report No. 1961, pages 21 and 22):

"Mr. Roberts—How did the instruments come down?

"Captain Peary—They came in a trunk.

"Mr. Roberts—Your trunk?

"Captain Peary—Yes.

"Mr. Roberts—After you reached the station and found the trunk, what did you and the committee do regarding the instruments?

"Captain Peary—I should say that we opened the trunk there in the station.

"Mr. Roberts—That is, in the baggage-room of the station?

"Captain Peary—Yes.

"Mr. Roberts—Were the instruments all taken out?

"Captain Peary—That I could not say. Members of the committee will probably remember better than I.

"Mr. Roberts—Well, do you not have any recollection of whether they took them out and examined them?

"Captain Peary—Some were taken out, I should say; whether all were taken out I could not say.

"Mr. Roberts—Was any test of those instruments made by any member of the committee to ascertain whether or not the instruments were inaccurate?

"Captain Peary—That I could not say. I should imagine that it would not be possible to make tests there.

"Mr. Roberts—Were those instruments ever in the possession of the committee other than the inspection at the station?

"Captain Peary—NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE."

Note.—This, then, was the basis of the glorious verdict of the packed jury which assailed me; which demanded as necessary instruments of me which had been left in the North, and which posed as a fair body of experts!

All important questions asked of Peary, Tittman and Gannett were hedged, their aim being to avoid publicity. In substance, they admitted that in the "Peary Proofs," passed upon a year before, there was no proof. They admitted that their favorable verdict was reached upon an examination of COPIES of Mr. Peary's observations, and that the examination and decision occurred at a sort of social gathering in the house of Admiral Chester, who had attacked me. Chairman Roberts, commenting on the testimony, wrote (see page 15):

"From these extracts from the testimony it will be seen that Mr. Gannett, after his careful examination of Captain Peary's proofs and records, did not know how many days it took Captain Peary from the time he left Bartlett to reach the Pole and return to the Roosevelt, that information being supplied by a Mr. Grosvenor. It will be also observed that Mr. Gannett, as a result of his careful examination of Captain Peary's proofs and records, gives Captain Peary, in his final dash to the Pole, the following equipment: Two sledges, 36 or 32 dogs, 2 Eskimos, and Henson. It will be seen later from Captain Peary's testimony, that he had on that final dash 40 dogs, 5 sledges, and a total of six men in his party. This discrepancy on so vital a point must seem quite conclusive that the examination of the Geographic Society's committee was anything but careful."