The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1907-01-05
AN ARCTIC CHRISTMAS.
How the ziegler Expedition Observed the
Great Holiday in the Frozen North.

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| glacier, rock and sea. The walls OF
our little hut shook under the fearful
blasts of the Arctic storm, and the
shrieking of the elements sounded like
the war cries of armies from the
lower worlds.
We were plunged into the midnight
darkness of the Arctic winter. In the
crowded interior of our shelter numer-
Gus little oil lamps and candles shed
their feeble radiance in an attempt to
dissipate the gloom which in greater
or less degree always marks the abb
sence of the sun.
Over two months had passed since
the disappearance OF the great central
light, and it would be nearly two
months more before we could see its
life-giving light again. We were in
midwifery it was the day before Christ
mas-the festival of love and good
will and peace to the world, the time
of home gatherings and home long,
ings. But we were far from home.
A band of thirty-nine shipwrecked
men, we lived together in a tiny hut
on the desolate shore of an ice-bound
island far above the Arctic circle,
thousands Of miles from Goods coun-
try" and almost 800 miles from the
nearest human habitation.
A mile from shore in the frozen bay
lay the wreck of the America, that
had brought Us To this northern island.
She had paid the price of her venture
some voy age with her life, and was
now dead ship marooned in the
wastes of Aplitz Bay-her winding
sheet the snow, her grave the ice.
We were here for the purpose of
wrestling from the ill-guarded land the
secrets of the north, and spent the PEI
Rod of darkness preparing for the
sledge journey over the polar pack,
which was to take place when the light
of day returned in the coming spring.
But work to that end was laid aside for
space with the coming of Christmas
time, and preparations were made to
celebrate the festival with a banquet
on Dec. 25.
Cur nard: working steward entered
into the spirit of the time and labored
late over dishes for the coming feast,
while others's prepared table decora-
lions, cleaned the interior of the hut
and covered its bare walls with flags
and bunting from the lost America.
A printing press, with it's fonts of
type, had been dragged ashore from
the ship after its abandonment, and
for lack of room under cover was left
in pile of cases and wreckage, where
it was drifted over with snow. Pick
and shovel now released it from its
cold envelope and it was carr s n
doors and odd fawed out before the stove
preparatory to printing Christmas
edition of the Arctic Eagle. A box
with a slot in the top was placed for
contributions from all members, and
it was well filed. When the time came
to set up the type for the paper we
found it necessary to print supple
mentary sheet.
Our printer was assistant commits
sary steward, the youngest man in the
field department; the compositor, Sea-
man Montrose, who had been wan
dering newspaper typo before he took
to following the sea.
A special cover was printed for the
paper, and the engraving to embellish
it was cut with a chisel and pocket
knife by our assistant scientist, Porter,
the artist of the party.
The banquet was a success, and in
all the two years stay there was not
an evening where good fellowship in
the whole company seemed SO preva-
lent and happiness SO enyeloping.
The dinner was served in courses
and was particularly good, though
necessarily composed largely of
canned foods. Steward Spencer found
the ice cream the easiest item to pre-
pare, for he had but to place the mix
ture out of doors for short time and
it froze stiff in the low tempera AZURE.
Apt speeches were made in response
to the toasts, and if it were not for the
sound of the wind, and at times the
bowling of the dogs we might b ave
forgotten that We were banqueting at
81 degrees Al minutes north latitude,
and the vessel, our only visible means
of return to home and friends, lay
helpless wreck a mile from our hut.
We passed the next Christm aside in
the same hut on Rudolf Island after
an eventful year-a year of storms
and trials.
In the first month of that year in
fearful gale the wreck of our ship dis
appeared in the darkness of the Arctic
night. Then came February, with It's
wild winds and record of only two
hours of calm for its twenty mine days.
The memory of March was embittered
by the defeat of the two sledge journeys
north and the sad return to camp of
the column with broken sledges and
saddened hearts.
In April came the 160-mile retreat
with a large company to Cape Flora to
await the relief ship, and then there