Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-09-15
and this Arctic desolation is made a


This is tho wondrous phenomenon
which we have come SO far to witness.
The captain is on the bridge. ~ tad
dccomph," sing out to him from be-
low
"Give it to me in good English,
Meister Cox"
say, ave are all happy. The
great transaction is -
Prepare to fish, the practical
response and emphatie order Of the
captain. 49,
The lines are out, the captain lead
ing with two Goldfish. soon follow,
and the sailors are busy. Mrth goes
around at each success. My wife, II
good fisherman, generally, tugs away
at her long line until, like the gentle
admiral, she suddenly "goes below"
My courier, Rene, the Dane, catches
a monster, all golden as the sun itself.
[Cheers.l Thena Scotchman gets in
hideous hog-fsh Of twenty-five pounds.
Laughter. Our stewardess, Julia,
hauls in monster. Renewed cheers
aud laughter.l And so we keep it up
until two in the golden morning, when
to sleep we go, covering the port holes
so as to pretend it is night.
We had made many sacrifices TO see
this remarkable performance of our
luminary. Not that either of Us was
over anxious to find land where sun
set did not occur. We had hoped
that there was no realm in this or the
future existence where "Sunset' might
not come But | may be allowed to
remark that have borne the sobriquet
of Sunset for so many years, and it
has sounded with Flch sweet sillila.
ton, that had come to believe that |
had u sort of fee simple in its iacri
land, with its gorgeous palaces and
cloud-capped towers.
And must | now be disanchanted :
DO live aud is sunset no more? Do
see n country where the sun Is going.
going down amid uiiSe en- Sccne equal.
If not superior, TO that Ohio evening
years ago. which | tried TO portray
with my poor pen-and yet 1t does
not 60 down? Was it not enough
that for ten long days, or day. there
was no nigh, for us, and that the sun,
by gliding and glowing in the north
without a respite, had disturbed our
customary experiences? The rcac-
tinn might be too sudden. The failure
Of our orb to set might-well. there Is
no telling the catalepiic and other dire
consequences. But here was the pat
ent fact Here were clouds aud
lights. all the hues of the prism in
splendid display, and yet no sunset
after all The unsetting and the I'M.
sctable sun Midnight, and yet light
all aglow! No gas, no candles, uo
stars, no moon-only the fiery orb and
his trailing clouds Of glory
But is the sun not all.sufiicient
without other fires? If he STAYS up
and sets not, what more can the hu.
man heart desirel What wonder that
the Oriental mind clothed the sun
with the majesty Of divinity, and that
the Magi saluted his coming with
worship, as the source of lifeg What
wonder if the beams evoked music
from Memnony l. he not the creator
Of health and the great beneiactor ?
And we have found n land where he
will not aud does not set
The sensation was as new as it was
humiliating TO my amour propre. ]
recalled the words of Yankee char.
acter:
Its reilly afectin' to think how lit.
tie these ere folks is missed that's so
much sot by. There amt nobody, if
they's ever SO important, but what the
world gets TO goin on without 'em
pretty much as it did with 'em, though
there's some little furry at first"
How much can be done, after all,
in nature and in science, art and gov
ernment, without us. Governments
will run, men aud women dance. trade
proceed, without sunset! Here in
this land of the frigid zone, for ten
days and more. we had seen boats in
full rig and sail, mountains of lofty
altitude musical with fosses. glaciers,
miles in length, moving on their quiet
and steady way, men hauling in fish
by the million, whales disporting, and
steamer pushing its may way
through deep waters shut in by vol
canic walls from angry seas-and no
sunset! New York and America cal.
lous to the fact and moving on rest
lessly, with alienation of lights and
shades, love aud hate, bad aud good,
night and day, thinking of everything.
and forgetting that sunsets are not
everywhere aud forever. Still, though
| have seen aud recorded the fact that
sunset is no longer here, let there be
no hasty and premature obituaries.
To appreciate seriously these phen-
omena We must 90 back TO the rudi.
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