I’ll get to the article’s headline in a second. But for me, the real eye-opening part of this article is buried on page two:

“Are penguin nice to eat?”

“They are not,” said Harry Whitney emphatically.

“The meat is course and oily,” added Capt. Bartlett. “But anything counts down there.”

I don’t think I’ve ever wondered what penguins taste like. But apparently it’s a hot topic in certain discussion forums. All 17 species of penguin are protected from hunting, so it’s illegal for you to go kill one and find out. But the consensus among historians is in agreement with Harry Whitney and Captain Bartlett. Penguins aren’t very tasty.

Antarctic explorer Frederick Cook described the taste of penguin in the late 19th century, “If it’s possible to imagine a piece of beef, odiferous cod fish and a canvas-backed duck roasted together in a pot, with blood and cod-liver oil for sauce, the illustration would be complete.” Yum.

Back to the point of the article: Captain Bartlett and Harry Whitney set out to be the first people to reach the South Pole. Spoiler alert! They didn’t make it. The first people to reach the pole were a Norwegian party in December 1911.

CAPT. BARTLETT AND HARRY WHITNEY TO LEAD AMERICAN EXPEDITION TO SEEK SOUTH POLE: First Announcement Through The Times of American Effort to Plant the Stars and Stripes in the Furthest Antarctic by Peary’s Old Captain and the Well-Knocn Arctic Traveler — A Race Against Scott’s English Expedition. (PDF)

From December 11, 1910