The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1877-12-27
CHRISTM IN TIE POLAR REGIONS
The Loved Ones Rt Home Presents and
mcmcntOes- Ball on the Ice.

The Loved Ones nj Home Presents and
McmcntOes- a Ball on the lee.
TO us dwellcrs 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
rsea 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, 1870,
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 gee them home
again. 1t is surely enough TO have spent
one Christmas in such desOlation; in a
higher latitude than man has ever
reached before, and beyond the farthest
point to which even the EsquimauX, the
hardy natives of the lands of perpet-
ual snow, have penetrated in their most
distant wanderings; beyond the boundary
OF all animal life on land or sea, there
British railors and British ships have
wintered, and the British flag has floated
upon Il sea of eternal Ice. All honor be
to them.
1t seems to us wonderful, that even
with every attainable comfort, men
should be able to 1--we through an arctic
winter, any disaster to the ships must be
certain death to the crews. That this
has been the case before now, we know
That it is not invariably the case, we
know also; and the following account
gives us good picture of the differ
ent ways in which two companion
vessels spent their Christmas in the
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 tire first season, and the ships
were obliged to take up their quarters
off the east coast of Greenland. They had
already been separated, 60 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,
its 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 gladdened
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 gosd cause to consider joyful one.
On no day would it be mere natural for
him to recall his home I; and though tar
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 so many before
him, he is right t, keep the festival with
all chceriulness, thankful, while remem
beriug what he has already passed
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 rs we
prepared to keep our Christmas, 1870, in
the true German style. We had nc
suspicion OF the mighty struggle in
which our fatherland was then enga:ed
for what could We know Of the affairs OF