This
is our first posted story by Kathryn Verrill, wife of Hyatt, a surprising find
in Everyland. There is even mention of daughter, Dorothy. The southern location could be Trinidad.
By Kathryn Verrill
From Everyland magazine, Dec 1915.
Digitized by Doug Frizzle, Mar 2012.
Where would you rather spend Christmas— with the thermometer at 40 degrees below zero or more than 90 degrees above? The pictures shown with this article were taken at the time of the two Christmas celebrations. The Eskimo pictures were developed inside a skin sleeping-bag, but the water froze so rapidly it was impossible to wash them properly, and the Captain was able to save only a few of the many taken. The small boat shown at the beginning of the story is the one that was rigged up for a Christmas tree.
THE whalers who sail to the ice-bound Arctic seas in search of whalebone and
oil, lead the most lonesome and
monotonous lives of any class of seamen. From early autumn until late spring the ships are frozen fast in the
ice, and the crew, with no neighbors
save the Eskimos, find it hard
indeed to pass the long and dreary
polar night. No wonder that these
brave and hardy men welcome even the
simplest pleasures, and show an almost childish delight in anything that
reminds them of the holiday season in their
far-away homes.
The following extracts from the log of a whaling captain, who spent three years
in northern Hudson
Bay, will show the
readers of Everyland how one
Christmas was kept among the Eskimos
in that frozen land.
"Monday, Dec. 23d. To-day we
commenced to rig up a small boat with masts and ropes as we intend to use this
for our Christmas tree. I have roasted 20 quarts of peanuts and popped a lot of
corn.''
"Tuesday, Dec. 24th. To-day we strung
pop-corn all through the rigging of the small boat and loaded the
ropes with presents. The presents consisted of 'comfort bags' for each of the crew. These bags were sent aboard before we left
by a ladies' club of Andover,
Massachusetts. Each bag contains
buttons, thread, wax, thimbles, combs, bandages, and salve, and are much
appreciated by the men. There was
also a bag for myself, a big box of candy, and other
treats. We put on a small present for each Eskimo—for the
women a few yards of calico, for each boy a jack-knife, for the girls some bright dress goods with thread and
thimbles, and for each man a file. There were about fifty presents in all,
besides a bag of peanuts and pop-corn for each of the
crew and each Eskimo."
"Wednesday, Dec. 25th. The thermometer registers 40 degrees below zero today.
The sun rose at 9.30 a.m. and set at 2 p.m. Our Christmas tree was a great success,
as we had kept it a secret from most of the
crew, and it was a complete surprise to the
Eskimos. Our mate acted as Santa Clans and made a fine one, in his fur suit,
with polar-bear skin for whiskers.
"The Eskimos and crew were as
delighted as children over their
gifts, and nearly all of them gave
us presents in return. We were loaded down with beautiful furs, skin clothing,
fur-lined moccasins, carved ivory ornaments and other
native stuff.
"These Eskimos are very poor, and
prize any piece of iron or steel more than we do gold, for all their own tools are made of bone or ivory. They will
trade any amount of rare furs for a few matches, and are mightily afraid of
wasting any. They never scratch a match, but split off slender slivers until
one ignites, so that by the time
fire is made they have quite a
bundle of slivers each with a lucifer tip. These they
make fast to small bone splints, to strengthen
them, and in this way they gain, instead of lose, matches every time they make fire.
"After the
presents were given out, we had music by the
men with singing and dancing, and the
fun was kept up in great shape until six bells (11 p.m.). The Eskimos did their part, by showing us a lot of their games. Some of these
were right funny and must be hard on those in the
game. In one game, two of the men
would have their heads made fast
together with rope, and would get
down on all fours and shove and push, to see which one could get his mate over
a line. After the other sports all hands had a tug of war, — crew
against Eskimos, — and then all had
dinner. Instead of turkey, cranberries, and the
other truck we would have at home,
we had reindeer-roast, bear-steak, ptarmigan and salmon, with dried potatoes
and canned fruit. The Eskimos like tinned milk and fruit better than anything
else except oleomargarin, so that sort of things were served to them. All hands had a right good time and everything
went off shipshape."
NOW that I have told you how whalers spent
a Christmas among the Eskimos in the Arctic, perhaps you would like to hear how some
northern children celebrated their Christmas in a little West Indian island not
far from the equator.
It seems strange to think of Christmas
when trees are covered with leaves, flowers are in full bloom, palms are
rustling in the breeze, birds are
singing in the shrubbery, and the thermometer
is in the nineties. How dear old
Santa Claus was ever going to find his way to that little out-of-the-way corner of the
world was as much a mystery to the
children's mother as to themselves, and how she managed to induce the jolly old saint to visit the
tropics is best told by extracts from her diary.
"Dec. 22d. With the thermometer
at 94 it seems almost impossible to get the
Christmas spirit. I can hardly expect the
children to believe in Santa Claus' reindeer, sleigh, fur coat, and whiskers.
Why even his whiskers would be too much for this climate! However, we must do the best we can, and this evening, when it's cool,
we will make a tour of the shops to
see what can be found."
"Dec. 23d. As Christmas is more of a
Church feast than a holiday here, there
was little to be obtained in the
stores for the children's Christmas.
There are lots of lovely Christmas cards, books, and calendars,—it is by these that the
English people exchange greetings,—but very little for children, Mr. Jones, the curator of the
Botanic Gardens, will loan us a small cedar tree in a pot and we plan to
decorate this as a surprise. No colored candles can be bought here and the children's father
will have to make the candles out of
native wax cast in home-made molds,"
"Dec. 24th, a.m. It rained a perfect
deluge all night and the roads are
deep with mud while the temperature
is 92. William has come with the
carriage and I am going with Dorothy to do our Christmas shopping. I cannot
really believe it is holiday time. There is no hurry or rush, no wreaths nor
holly, nor anything that looks the
least Christmassy, but the servants
have caught our Christmas enthusiasm and are planning a real American Christmas
such as we have tried to describe to them.
We have killed the turkey, but I can
scarcely think of eating him; he has been one of the
family so long I shall feel like a cannibal. However, we've been keeping him
for just this occasion and I hope he'll bear no ill will toward me."
"Dec. 24th, p.m. Much to our surprise
and joy we found many odds and ends for the
tree and stockings—things that were poked away in corners and boxes and dusty
shelves that the shopkeepers had
forgotten all about. As soon as the
people understood our needs they
came to our rescue and found toys, fancy paper, netting for stockings, little
flags, and dinner favors. We have invited the
wife of one shopkeeper who is English, to bring her children to see our tree
and I expect they'll come and bring
all their friends. The home-made
candles are ready and the children's
father has made cute little
candle-holders from old milk tins. The children could scarcely be induced to go
for their walk for fear they'd miss something; there
is so much mystery about everything and there
are so many bundles arriving and so much whispering.
"The whole island is in festival
array to-night ready for the great
event of the year — midnight mass —
after which the real merry-making
begins. We have put the children to
bed and have decorated the tree. It
looks so little and forlorn after the
beautiful big ones we have had at home in the
north, but we're glad to have even this. The children hung up their stockings as usual. Their nurse, Charlotte,
has dressed a cunning doll for baby,
and William, the groom, has fitted
up a box with compartments to form rooms for a doll's house. We have made a set
of cardboard furniture for it and it is really very cunning."
"Dec. 25th.
The great day has come at last and such a welcome as old Santa received! The
bells in all the churches began to
ring before midnight and kept it up at intervals until midnight mass was over.
Then it seemed as if the Fourth of
July had arrived. Cannons and guns boomed, fireworks of all kinds were set off,
people cheered and shouted greetings to one another,
and no glorious Fourth was ever noisier for an hour or two. Then every one
quieted down until sunrise, when the
cannons and firecrackers were again started and kept going until noon. In the afternoon a great dinner was given in the market-place by the
government, and every poor person,—man, woman, and child,—was given all he or
she could eat as well as the plate,
cup and saucer each used. From all the
villages and countryside the people
flocked into town on foot, on donkeys, and by boats, and the
streets were filled with crowds dressed in their
bright-colored best clothes, gaudy
turbans, and long, trailing skirts. The children woke early and were just as
delighted and surprised as ever with what they
found in their stockings, but the tree is to be kept a secret until this
evening."
"Dec. 26th.
It was really the queerest as well
as the most interesting Christmas we
ever spent. The little tree was splendid in its odd trimmings, the dear little lights, the
funny-shaped packages,—and the
perfect delight and enjoyment of the
children and servants was best of all. After looking it all over one of the servants ran out to call in the neighbors, and they
called their friends, until the house and yard were filled with gay-clad figures
and black and brown faces all gazing awestruck at the
very first Christmas tree they had
ever seen or heard of. Later in the
evening the people from the Government House called with their children, and after each child had received a
gift from the tree they all joined hands and danced about it. Then they gave a long blow, a strong blow, and a blow all
together, and out went the tiny, twinkling lights, and our first Christmas
in the tropics was over."
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