Snowball Fights in War and Play

by Anita Mae Draper

The Snowball Battle near Dalton, Georgia. Mar 22, 1864. Public Domain

Alfred Rudolph Waud (1828-1891) was an American artist and illustrator who sketched a snowball battle between several divisions of Confederate soldiers while they were encamped near Dalton, Georgia on March 22, 1864. Waud's artwork on the American Civil War caught people's attention, especially the mock battle which has been called by some as the greatest snowball fight of all time. Although we don't often think of soldiers having fun, a snowball fight is a good form of exercising multiple muscles as well as relieving pent up emotions. (see my last post, Snowballs Go Way Back)

The February 26, 1881 issue of the Canadian Illustrated News carried an image called, Snowball fight between First Nations boys, Red River, Manitoba. On the Canadian prairies, a rebellion by the Metis people, who were led by Louis Riel, culminated in the North-west Rebellion of 1885. This was a time when the North-West Mounted Police often stood between the First Nations, the Metis, and the settlers. Winters were brutal on the prairies. Tensions often ran high. Snowball fights were serious affairs, especially to those of the verge of a major conflict.

Snowball Fight Between First Nations Boys, Red River, Manitoba, 1881. Glenbow Archives

In 1895 the Lothrop Publishing Company of Boston printed the book, The Boy Life of Napoleon, Afterwards Emperor of the French. The title page states that the book was adapted and extended for American Boys and Girls from Madame Eugenie Foa's French version. Chapter Twelve under the heading of The Great Snow-Ball Fight at Brienne School is fascinating. Not only does it show a snowball fight which went of for nearly ten days, it also shows Napoleon's legendary military skills from a very early age. The Boy Life of Napoleon (gutenberg.org)

The Great Snow-Ball Fight at Brienne School. (Young Napoleon). Public Domain

In 1897, the Lumiere Brothers of France put out a short film about a snowball fight. It was one of several films the brothers made between 1895 and 1905 before stating that "the cinema is an invention without any future." Instead, they switched to the color printing process and refused to sell their Cinematographe motion picture system to anyone else. This was even after a single showing of a short film to a private audience, followed by a paying audience, both in 1895, put the Lumiere Brothers down in history as founders of the birth of cinema. 

The YouTube Channel Nineteenth Century Videos, Back to Life, gives an interesting look at history in motion.

Do you like watching the old black and white films even though you can't hear what they are saying?

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Anita Mae Draper served in the communication trade of the Canadian Armed Forces before retiring to the open skies of the prairies. She uses her experience and love of history to pepper her stories of yesteryear's romance with realism and faith. Anita Mae Draper's published stories appear in Barbour Publishing, WhiteFire Publishing, and Guideposts Books. Readers can enrich their story experience with visual references by checking out Anita's Pinterest boards. All links available on her website at www.anitamaedraper.com

 

Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley - Finding Treasures in the Snow

Bentley at work, {PD}

Snow can bring us joy and peace while we enjoy its frosted beauty as snowflake upon snowflake build into a blanket of sparkly bright crystals. For others snow means dangerous slippery roads and tragic accidents.

Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley saw something bigger in each tiny snowflake. He observed evidence of a creator—God as an amazing designer of each one. 

As far back as 135 B.C., Chinese scholar Han Yin wrote about the six-pointed structure of the snowflake. In 1611, German scientist Johanes Kepler compared the six-fold symmetry of snowflakes to that of flowers. Several people throughout history documented observations about snowflakes, but Snowflake Bentley brought it to a new level. Growing up in Vermont on a farm in a snow belt area gave him the perfect conditions for observing snow. He was home educated until high school and was first interested in observing the heavens with a telescope. When he was 15 his interests turned to the microscope. 

Bentley became fascinated with observing snowflakes through its lens. With an average snowfall of 120 inches per year where he lived in Jericho, Vermont, Bentley was in the right place. He even drew the ice crystal structures to capture their beauty to share with others, but found they often melted before he could finish. His parents saved money so they could purchase a camera Wilson could use with his microscope four years later. He pioneered the field of photomicrography when combining the two pieces of equipment. 

"Studies Among the Snow Crystals" by
Wilson Bentley, ca. 1902 {PD}

He saw in each snowflake an individual masterpiece, designed by the Creator. He referred to God as the Great Designer and was humbled by the singular beauty of each sparkling ice crystal, especially in not finding any two, of the thousands he’d observed, alike. Bentley was amazed by this.

No matter the pattern, Bentley learned, snowflakes are hexagonal and very rarely, in extremely cold weather are three-sided. What he also observed is that in the many minutes between the time it takes the ice crystals to form and fall to the ground, they move up and down on currents between the differences of temperature and humidity. All of these factors affect their unique formations. He saw them as “miracles of beauty,” creations which declare to us the glory of God. 

Over the years, from the first one he made in 1885 to his death in 1931, Bentley preserved over 5000 photomicrographs of snowflakes. He was considered a leading expert in his field and was sought out by universities. He wrote articles, citing Bible verses, ever aware of God’s hand in the creation of ice crystals. In 1903, he donated 500 of his snowflake images to the Smithsonian Institute, knowing they would be kept safely. In 1931 a collection of 2300 of his photographs were published in a book titled simply Snow Crystals, which has since been reprinted and is still available.

Shortly after the publication of Snow Crystals, Wilson Bentley walked six miles on a cold and snowy night and contracted pneumonia, from which he died in December of the same year. 

A young man who was once inspired by the reference to “treasures in the snow” from the 38th chapter of Job, pursued what today would be called his passion for learning more about snow than anyone had before. Yet He was driven by an even greater passion for the God who placed the desire in his heart.

For more detailed information about Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, read the article “Snoflake Bentley: Man of Science, Man of God” and the Official Snowflake Bentley website.

Snowflake Study by Wilson Bentley, ca. 1890, {PD}

Kathleen Rouser has loved making up stories since she was a little girl and wanted to be a writer before she could read. She desires to create characters, who resonate with readers and realize the need for a transforming Savior in their everyday lives. Her first full-length novel, Rumors and Promises, was published by Heritage Beacon Fiction, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, in April, 2016.

Previously a homeschool mother of three, she more recently has been a college student and is sometimes a mild-mannered dental assistant by day. Along with her sassy tail-less cat, she lives in the Midwest with her hero and husband of 35 years, who not only listens to her stories, but also cooks for her.

Places to find Kathleen on the web: 

Website: kathleenrouser.com 

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