The North Pole Part 31

[Ill.u.s.tration: III. (_b_) FACSIMILE, SLIGHTLY REDUCED IN SIZE, OF MARVIN'S CERTIFICATE OF MARCH 25, 1909]

[Ill.u.s.tration: III. (_c_) FACSIMILE, SLIGHTLY REDUCED IN SIZE, OF MARVIN'S CERTIFICATE OF MARCH 25, 1909]

[Ill.u.s.tration: IV. FACSIMILE, SLIGHTLY REDUCED IN SIZE, OF BARTLETT'S OBSERVATIONS OF APRIL 1, 1909]

[Ill.u.s.tration: V. (_a_) FACSIMILE, SLIGHTLY REDUCED IN SIZE, OF BARTLETT'S CERTIFICATE OF APRIL 1, 1909]

[Ill.u.s.tration: V. (_b_) FACSIMILE, SLIGHTLY REDUCED IN SIZE, OF BARTLETT'S CERTIFICATE OF APRIL 1, 1909]

[Ill.u.s.tration: VI. FACSIMILE, SLIGHTLY REDUCED IN SIZE, OF PEARY'S OBSERVATIONS OF APRIL 6, 1909]

APPENDIX III

_Report of the sub-committee of the National Geographic Society on Peary's Records, and Some of the Honors Awarded for the Attainment of the Pole._

The Board of Managers of the National Geographic Society at a meeting held at Hubbard Memorial Hall, November 4, 1909, received the following report:

"The sub-committee to which was referred the task of examining the records of Commander Peary in evidence of his having reached the North Pole, beg to report that they have completed their task.

"Commander Peary has submitted to his sub-committee his original journal and record of observations, together with all his instruments and apparatus, and certain of the most important of the scientific results of his expedition. These have been carefully examined by your sub-committee, and they are unanimously of the opinion that Commander Peary reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909.

"They also feel warranted in stating that the organization, planning, and management of the expedition, its complete success, and its scientific results, reflect the greatest credit on the ability of Commander Robert E. Peary, and render him worthy of the highest honors that the National Geographic Society can bestow upon him."

(_Signed_) HENRY GANNETT.[11]

C. M. CHESTER.[12]

O. H. t.i.tTMANN.[13]

The foregoing report was unanimously approved.

Immediately after this action the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:

"_Whereas_, Commander Robert E. Peary has reached the North Pole, the goal sought for centuries; and

"_Whereas_, this is the greatest geographical achievement that this society can have opportunity to honor: Therefore

"_Resolved_, that a special medal be awarded to Commander Peary."

Among the home and foreign honors awarded for the attainment of the pole are the following:

The Special Great Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society of Washington.

The Special Gold Medal of the Philadelphia Geographical Society.

The Helen Culver Medal of the Chicago Geographical Society.

The Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Bowdoin College.

The Special Great Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London.

The Nachtigall Gold Medal of the Imperial German Geographical Society.

The King Humbert Gold Medal of the Royal Italian Geographical Society.

The Hauer Medal of the Imperial Austrian Geographical Society.

The Gold Medal of the Hungarian Geographical Society.

The Gold Medal of the Royal Belgian Geographical Society.

The Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of Antwerp.

[14]A Special Trophy from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society--a replica in silver of the ships used by Hudson, Baffin, and Davis.

The Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from the Edinburgh University.

Honorary Membership in the Manchester Geographical Society.

Honorary Membership in the Royal Netherlands Geographical Society of Amsterdam.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SPECIAL GREAT GOLD MEDAL OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

(This medal is four inches in diameter)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SPECIAL GREAT GOLD MEDAL OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. (ACTUAL SIZE)

(Designed by the wife of Captain Robert F. Scott, R. N., Leader of the British South Polar Expeditions of 1901-1904 and 1910-1912)]

FOOTNOTES:

[11] HENRY GANNETT, _chairman of the committee_ which reported on Commander Peary's observations, has been chief geographer of the United States Geological Survey since 1882; he is the author of "Manual of Topographic Surveying," "Statistical Atlases of the Tenth and Eleventh Censuses," "Dictionary of Alt.i.tudes," "Magnetic Declination in the United States," Stanford's "Compendium of Geography," and of many government reports. Mr. Gannett is vice-president of the National Geographic Society and was one of the founders of the society in 1888.

[12] _Rear-Admiral_ COLBY M. CHESTER, _United States Navy_, was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1863. He has held practically every important command under the Navy Department, including superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory, commander-in-chief Atlantic Squadron, Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, Chief Hydrographic Division, United States Navy.

Admiral Chester has been known for many years as one of the best and most particular navigators in the service.

[13] O. H. t.i.tTMANN has been Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey since 1900. He is the member for the United States of the Alaskan Boundary Commission and was one of the founders of the National Geographic Society.

[14] At Edinburgh, at the conclusion of the address to the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Lord Balfour of Burleigh presented to Commander Peary a silver model of a ship such as was used by ill.u.s.trious arctic navigators in the olden times. The ship is a copy of a three-masted vessel in full sail, such as was in use in the latter part of the sixteenth century. The model is a beautiful specimen of the silversmith's art. On one of the sails is engraved the badge of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, while another bears the inscription in Latin from the pen of Mr. W. B. Blaikie, which, translated, is as follows:

"This model of a ship, such as was used by John Davis, Henry Hudson, and William Baffin, ill.u.s.trious arctic navigators of the olden time, has been presented by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society as an evidence of its congratulation, admiration, and recognition to Robert Edwin Peary, American citizen, an explorer of the frozen Arctic, not less daring than his daring predecessors, who was the first to attain to that thrice-n.o.ble goal so long sought by innumerable bold mariners, the North Pole. Edinburgh, May 24th, 1910."