LIFE IN THE ARCTIC

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 121, 24 May 1928, Page 11

LIFE IN THE ARCTIC

UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN A TOPSY-TURVY WORLD United Service. (Received 24th May, noon.) KING'S BAY, 23rd May. A special correspondent aboard the Italia, in a copyright story by wireless, says: "Prior to starting for tho Pole, we spent most of the time aboard the Citta di Milano with every comfort, but feeling occasionally homesick and having to consult the clock and the calendar in order to distinguish day from night. If we feel sleepy, we must consider whether it is bedtime or rising time. It is a topsy-turvy world, with sleep-time and work-time intermingled. We may go for a brisk walk at 2 a.m, and we are often abed at 3 p.m. in order to begin work at midnight. Breakfast is usually at 10 a.m., whon the sun is already high. "When the Italia is resting in her hangar 60Q.gas/containers, weighing dozens of tons, must be taken across the fields to restore her buoyancy, and when she is on a flight COO are prepared against her return, depriving Commander Romagna and his crew of all leisure. "Thousands of gulls surround the Citta di Milano, seeking galley scraps. The white gulls are said to be the souls of dead sailors, and the black gulls the souls of stokers;. • Seals and sealions arc favourite game and easily shot. The ice pilot skinned the smallest seal and supervised the cooking, but he •alone •partook of it.' It was a terrible irieal."