The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-12-20
CHRISTMAS IN THEPOLAR REGIONS
The Loved Ones at IEOme-PreEenGs and
MemenfOes-A BnU on the Ice.

The Loved Ones at IEOme-PrPHenGs and
MementOes-A Rnu on the Zee.
To us dwellers in northern Europe,
Christmas, with its apparently unseasOn-
able heat, strikes US by its strange incon-
gruity; but how strange must be a
Christmas in the far north, where no sun
rises to gladden. the day on which the
Sun of Righteousness rose upon the earth.
A year ago we had the happiness of
welcoming back to their homes the latest
heroes of the Polar seas. We do not
need to be reminded how, in May, 1875,
the Alert and Discovery sailed from our
shores, having for their destination the
pole itself The pole was not reached
that was beyond human power; but we
| felt that all that men could do was done,
and we were thankful to see them home
| again. 1t IS surely enough 20 have spent
one Christmas in such desOlatiOn; in q
| higher latitude than man has ever
reached before, and beyond the farthest
| point to which even the EsguimaUX, the
| hardy natives of the lands of peTpet-
ual snow, have penetrated in their most
distant wanderings beyond the boundary
Of all animal life on land or sea, there
British sailors and British ships have
winlered, and the British flag has HOated
upon Il sea of eternal Ice. All honor be
to them.
It seems to us wonderful, that even
with every atJainabIe comfort, men
should be able 10 1--we through an arctic
winter, any disaster TO the ships must be
| certain death to the crews. That this
I has been the case before now, we know.
| That it is not invariably the case, we
know also; and the following account
| gives us a good picture of the differ
| IN 9Foig,
| vessels spent their Christmas in tho
frozen sea, in 1870, and shows what di
verse viCissitUdes may be encountered by
| ships in the same season:
In the spring of 1870, before the war
with France had taken up almost all the
thoughts OF the nation, Germany sent
out two ships, the Germania and the
Hansea, with the hope of reaching the
north pole. As is usually the case in
arctic expeditions, little could be done
during the first season, and the ships
were obliged to take up their quarters
off the east coast of Greenland. Tney had
already been separated, so that the crew
of one vessel had no idea of the condition
of the other. An officer upon the Ger
mania thus writes of their Christmas:
''TO the men who have already lived
many weary months among the icebergs,
Christmas signifies, in addition to its
other associations, that the half Of their
long night-with its fearful storms,
it's enforced cessation of all energy,
its discomfort and sadness-has passed,
and that the sun will soon again
shed his life and warmth giving
beams on the lOng-deserted north. From
this time the grim twilight, during which
noon has hardly been distinguishable
from the other hours, grows daily lighter
until at length all hearts are gladdeRed,
and a cheerful activity is called forth
by the first glimpse Of the sun. Christ
mas, the midnight of the. artic explorer,
thus marks period in his life which he
has good cause to consider a joyful one.
On no day would it be mere natural for
him to recall his home and though far
from that loved spot and cut off from all
intercourse save with his little band OF
comrades, and being, moreover, uncertain
whether the ice will retain him in his
grasp, as it has retained 50 many befOrr
him. he is right to keep the festival will
all cheerfulness, thankful, while remcm
bering what he has already pas ed
through and achieved, and full of firm
courage and confidence for the unknown
future.
What are our friends at home doing
was the thought that stirred US all as we
: prepared TO keep our Christmas, 1870, in
2 the true German style. We had no
] suspicion OF the mighty struggle in
, which our fatheriand was then engaged,
for what could we know of the affairs O
! the world, from which no sound bad
reached US for 80 many long weeks ON
] world was only in Uur ship, and al
! around us, in the half-light Of the weary
mOnOtOnOus artic night, lay the appar
, emily bOundlcss desert of ice, while the
! snow-laden hurricane howled and mOanec
! through the silence. We thought, too
Of our mates on our cOmpaniOnshiP, the
Hansea, from whom ne had been separa
q ted. Did they still live? Had they beer
Z 80 fortunate as to reach the shore, anC
i were they, ike us, hOnoring Christmas
= Who could tell2
e. For days before the festival an un
l usual activity was observable all over tn
e ship; and as soon as the severe storm
+ which ragged frem December lG TO De
cember p had abated, parties wcr
a organized, under cur boianist, DI
h Psnsch, to certain psints of Sabine island
d near to which we were anchored, where
i in a strangely sheltered nook, severa
o varieties of the native Greenland plant
g ARdrOmeda tetragona, were to be fsunC
il A great quantity Of this plant was cor