The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-10
BAsEBALL ON ARCTIC ICE
Reported by Brig. -Gcn. Frederick Funston
T. v.
From HdrDtrt Round Tdbis.


twenty days showshoe Journey across ,h'
blehE 'undras anu mountain RANGES o' ho't"-
eastern Alaska reached llerschel lslahu' III III.
Atctlc ocean slNtv mlles west 81 'hc ,i,o"'" VI
tne MacNehHl" hlNor iiere' III ''''' go
locked last IN the lce' were the steam w"n'-
erS balaehh' hrampuS. mary ~. huine' w"
por'' N"r"ha'' Jeanette anu h"r'ucN W, VI
Hoh frahclsco' some OF these NcsSe'9 ia"
been out from their nome port thrte ''nls.
Inc Preeeu'hg o'toper' ai'er one vi WV "o1s
successiuI seasons III inc history oi H'c,'o
Whahne' all mad sought shcn"r III 'he
only harpor AFFORDED by TINS deso,a.o co"S'
W He w LOT the winter luz ~
'aVNs coming ho"n 'ro.h wy ~
mao frozen IN all ABOUT herschei is'""u
30 tnat as inr as the eye coulu re"c"
was Jumolo OF peFes ana solln noe nu' w.
nina inc island where the ships lay the SUIT
water han frozen as IcN'I rs noor' me n.,,o
months that the whalem"n were compe'Ieu 10
lie IN idIeness' whlle not ehllVehed by Social
caye'les' were lar from mohotohous' WIN
lumber oroueht ur from san Francisco thero
had bcon oui't on shorc commodious one
room mousse whose most conspicuous artcieS
Oh lurhi'nre were DIG stove that roareu uay
ana night oiIharu tapIe ana humper o!
nehchcS ana chairs' ms was the 'Innroom o,
the Sixty or seventy onlcers OF the h""t' ana
mere they cohgroGat"d 10 pay blII'aruS ana
WHIST or sit ABOUT throuen the long Arct'c
evenings. whiIe the Wihd howed OUTSIDE
smoking ana spinning warns OF many seas. or
OF boyhood DAYS Mt New Bediord, New London
ana Martina vineyard. lhcre wer" veterans
VINO hau wha4cd on every ocean. ana had peeh
III nearly every portion 'he Eloho' men VINO
rccoHected wei tho raid OF the cruiser
shenandoah when she burned the heet
on the coast OF Siberia thirty years
before. and who had bcnn IN tho Point
parroy, Jisa..or .,a,, ,a.l' ,,.a =, .,,i,o
narrow ulsoS,er' "nen nearly score OF sn'ps
were crushed in the ice foe. The sailors
and flremon Of tho fleet did not have the priv
uooao ~ ,his ho,,so ~, o[,,,a,,,n1 non,,aios
ileGes Oh 'hls mousse put CONTENDER themselves
with games and amusemcnts OF their own.
they had an orchestra that played long and
yoriforo,,siv md tharo nns an nv, ,torr Lr,'
matte troupe that gave entertainments during
the winter But it wns on tho great national
$500" ~, ,.,au ~ "a' m' Wv 81 cav n"'',''".
game OF baseball that officers and men most
nrsonmert md trnSh nno,o 'l,,, so
- 800. -,
large NUMBER OF hnts and balls had been
summers arrivals. and as soon as the ships
had gone INTO quarters seven clubs were or
Gani2ed and formed into league to play for
the Arctic whalemen's rcnnant." which was
One nino was composed entirely o, officers.
a"o'nc -, eN"'hen' 'ilrd ol nreheh'
fourth OF cooks and walters. and so on
lIpTgphnl
| Island League A sct of writtor rnIas
rroyidsd tha. ,bo sors. ~ ~ shov1 rm
aftera months practice and continue through
ont the winter and that nil must bo nIoved IN
schedule timo regardless Of weather. Another
provision was that on the damon diamond all shin
rank was oblitcrnted. and a sailor could " boss"
TsDToSi $o sSonsr had " GarSor r"z. S" aysr
begun; Salt water ice is not quite SO slippery
sed F By h ,se wEser but had to
Alter a season Of practice. during which there
was much speculation as TO the merits of the
Narious mines and no end Of chaff and banter.
! the ilrSt game OF the series was played and in
I witb 'r , tw1Gmt % t an arctic day
ing Gimlets', yanquished the Pig Stickcrs"
ny a scorn OF ~ to ~, All winter. regardless
OF bIIXzar5s and and OF bitter cold The games went
was s eHhaUsted and by this time the rivalry
Tnf $" ntHmsS that naylnG was continued the
IN, Inc provision In the bylaws that club refus-
cs %a Sne ar ~tS he at
below zer0 9nd often during bli2zards the mir
c wnS 80 nv ,T Of ynf sn"T h1t the o4edos
a,tGr me sun had dlsannnarId for the last timo
ana and thr io4G nrcti" niGht had begun, games
midday. bur were usually limited to four
s s1e liz bail al CLOCK II would be too dark to
All thc whalemen were lressoa in the Esqui-
map fur costume. only the face be ing exposed.
These clumsy mtens t%scth"r S with TIE I'f fact
nat one ,r was art to fn on he ice unless he
his feet underneath him. made good catching
rrnq'tcalI,y imnossinie NUTS" were The
halI received an ovation. not only from the
whalers. but from tn" hundreds Of Esluimaux
| who were always crowded about the rope.
| Win the ha!i frozen ms hard as roc k, no one
was apt 70 repeat an experiment. OF
| catching with bare hands One Of
| the c"ntre Holders was corpulcnt
! orkney Islander. whose fhvorto method Of
| stopping hot Erounder was 10 lie down in
| 'front.' 1t; The ESguimauN considered him
| the star player OF the fleet. Sliding wns tho
! onIy thlng done to perfection tho lee Offering
excellent facilities Tor distin"tion in that line
| ana mere wns always Wild cheer when rum
| n"r. getting too much headway. knocked tho
nassman1 or his feet and both came down to-
| Rethcr The scores were ridiculously large
seldom loss than nifty on n side. and som etimes
tw Twice" th At, on the smooth ice good hit
A most amusing feature Of the games was
ne interest shown 10y the EsGuimaux. With
the fleet there were nearly hundred Of these
! people from Behrng Strait and Point Barrow