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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1906)
:vypj?SNfpiP'9TFirTXR'v$riTr-- n- ", "1'TtW ff w"-' 'ly-wvi -'. 'YS '?' $PTOBER 5,.im? , ,. sxr, IHs 99ps HEb' jftaH Iwforo reaching there would have seen the sun Irat for a bank of clouds behind which it passed at;, about 11:30 on the previous night Svolvaer nestles at the foot of some snowrcrowned peaks which shut out the northern horizon, and it ia .necessary to go out into tho open sea or to climb iiountain to get an uninterrupted view. With r usual goou luck wo found an English-speaking rwegian who had studied in the United States, Jul with him to direct us, we spent a memorable nt among the Islands. The channel to tho north, known as Raft- nd, is one of the most picturesque along tho tire coast, and the Troldfjord which leads from "lit through a rockbound gorge to the outlet of a famous mountain lake, is not surpassed in rugged grandeur. Troldfjord deserves to bo described Vy. a poet, for prose can not do it justice. If any my readers have ever passed through tho yal Gorge in southern Colorado, thoy may derstand me whon I say that Troldfjord is a yal Gorge with its walls widened to a quarter a mile and lengthened to a mile, and tho ce between them filled with a transparent whose surface perfectly mirrors every rock shrub. At the upper end of the fjord is ajestic cascade, the dashing, splashing foam outlet of the lake, two hundred feet above, launch ceased its throbbing and sat swan on the fathomless water while we feasted eyes upon a picture so beautiful that dark- ms hesitates to draw a curtain over its charms. ' The mountain, Digermulkollen, selected as ran observation point, is on the Raftsund and not I far from the Troldfjord. I can not give its height, but when I guessed at it before the ascent, I put it at five or six hundred feet; after ascending it I am satisfied1 that it is a thousand. We timed our trip so as to reach the top at midnight, slak ing our thirst from the snowbanks along the trail, and it was the fault of the clouds that wo did not see the orb of day at this season and in this latitude he is orb of the night as well as he reached the lowest point; but they were kind to us a littlei later, for through a rift in them- we saw the face of old Sol just long enough to be sure that he, like ourselves, was up for all night. Byen though the clouds concealed tho sun at the witching hour of midnight, t the light was the light 'of day, and I had no difficulty in reading a paper "(which truth as well as lpyalty to ihy own publication compels me to say was The Commoner). The fact that we almost missed seeing the sun at all leads mo to remark that many make the entire trip without catching a glimpse of it. Wo were informed that an excur sion steamer had gone to the North Cape and back In mist and rain just a few days before.. It had not occurred to lis in planning our visit to Nor vvvay that cloudy -weather had to be taken into consideration, but we found that clear nights iare the exception rather than the rule, espe cially during the latter part of the season. Svolvaer is a quiet place in summer but ' during January, February and March its little harbor is full of fishing smacks, for thirty thou sand men fish in the waters of the Lofoden Islands. Cod is the principal fish taken and cod liver oil is one of the chief products of the Islands. Immense quantities of dried fish are shipped to southern Europe while the fresh and salted fish find a market in the British Isles and Germany. If one desires to see merely fjords, glaciers, lakes and mountain streams, the southern part of Norway offers a sufficient variety of each. Bergen, the principal city on the west coast, the second city in the country and a former member of the Hanseatic League, is the seaport of this northern Switzerland. With the Sogne Fjord on the north, Hardanger Fjord on the south and west and a chain of lakes almost connecting tho two, one can see every variety of scenery In a three days' trip around Bergen. As we had but two days to spend there, we hadtto miss the northern ;fjord, but Hardanger, the twenty-one mile ride across the mountains and "the railroad from Voss back to Bergen furnished such a wealth of scenery that another day could hardly have added much to our enjoyment. Taking a boat at Bergen, we devoted eleven hours to winding about through Hardanger Fjord, and every moment presented some new attrac tion. These fjords seem to have been formed by a convulsion that opened- great cracks in tho mountains which line the coast of Norway. In some .places the shores are precipitous cliffs reaching from the water upwards fpr hundreds of feet, but for most of the way the banks, slope back and are covered with stunted pines and undergrowth. Scattered all along the way are Innumerable cascades and waterfalls, varying In The Commoner. ' width from a few lnche to many feet At one place wo counted eleven of theso in sight at on 2'aniI0V6 were norer out of hearing of their music. Some of them are harnessed to little sawmills. At ono point tho boat halted within a few hundred yards of a groat glacier which is crawling down a mountain gorgo and from wbOBo mouth, as from a mountain, gushed a ceaseless stream For ages this mass of Ice has boon slowly moving down from tho moun tains, and ever day tons upon tons molt and disappear, but its losses at its baso aro mado good at its top, and it lives on like tho human raco, over dying and yotT over young. ' Disembarking at Eido wo took a four hours carriage ride, following a mountain stream to Its source, crossing tho range at an olovation of a thousand feet and descending alon another stream to tho lake upon which the village of-VosB is situated. From this point a scenic railroad which passes through fifty-two tunnels in seventy miles took us back to Bergen. As might bo gathered from what has already been said, Nor way does not impress tho tourist as a farmor's paradise, although agriculture is first among her industries. The farms, as seen from tho routes of travel, seem vory diminutive and aro usually triangular in form and look like wedges inserted in the cracks of tho mountains. Occasionally a valley is broad enough to invite tho cultivation of a level piece of land, and tho invitation was long ago accepted. Potatoes grow well in Nor way and aro of excellent flavor. On tho coast boats they furnished the staple, and sometimes almost the only vegetable although tho bill of fare often included seven different kinds of fish, nearly as many varieties of cold meat, half as many brands of cheese, besides white, brown and black bread. Ryo, barley and wheat aro grown in the southern districts and grass every where. Owing to the frequent showers and tho long days of summer, grass grows very rapidly, but as It is difficult to cure It, the people .have adopted a plan which looks peculiar to foreign ers. They build frames that look like sections of a fence and the green hay Is hung upon tho boards or wire as the case may bo. The 'lower rows are protected front the rain by tho upper one, and the air has access to all of it. About three hours drive from Bergen there is a little wooded island on which the great Nor wegian violinist, Ole Bull, built a summer homo where he was wont to retire at the conclusion of his tours and where at last he died. He was not only a great admirer of American institutions and of tho American people In general, but he married an American, and his daughter returns to Norway every year to celebrate May 17, Nor way's Independence day, at her father's home and With; her father's countrymen. Tho daughter is one of the many connecting links between the two , countries, and by her Invitation, extended through our consul, Mi. Cunningham, we had tho privilege of visiting this historic spot. Wo were glad to do so, because Ole Bull was not only ono of the great musicians of tho last century, but 'he was one of the greatest democrats that Nor way has produced a democrat not in a partisan sense, but in that broader sense in which it de scribes One who believes in the people, trusts them and labors for their welfare. There are many public men in Norway worthy of mention but space forbids an enumeration of them. There is, however, a relic of great historic interest to which I must devote a line. It is the' Viking Ship, a thousand years old, now on exhibition at Christiana. It was dug1 up twenty five years ago and is fairly well preserved. It gives one an idea, of the ships used by those early seamen of the north whose daring exploits make fiction seem tame. It so happened that we arrived in Norway just in time to attend the coronation of King Haakon VII., and we had our first opportunity to see royalty on parade. The new king is a son of the king of Denmark, and his wife, Queen Maud, is daughter of the king of England. When, last year, Norway withdrew from her union with Sweden, the crown was offered to a son of King Oscar, but the offer was refused, and It is prob ably not too much to say that the Norwegians expected it to be refused, but they wanted to show that the separation was not due to antag onism to the reigning house. It was then tendered to the son of King Frederick and- accepted. I shall speak later of the circumstances which ex plain this selection; it is sufficient at present to say that the new ldng is a sober, earnest, sensible looking young man of about thirtyrfive and seems to have made a very favorable Imprest slOn upon the Norwegian people.- By the courtesy of Minister Graves, who represents our country v 3 at Stockholm, and who, oar minister to Norway Sut $ZZ!!E? thl W In time, wm our nations special ambsjwador to attend the coronation, we received invitation to CcoVonat Wbl.n nT nl08 nd wore Panted at court While tho nowspapor roporte of the coronation may rob what I am about to say ofome of ita freshness as news, I shall venture tT describe 7 hn I0 BT' ,bcg,g,n th0 reade Indulgence If I betray a lack of familiarity with tho technical Phrases employed on Much occasions. lccim,cai Tho coronation took placo at Trondhjom. the former capital, a city situated on oho of the Th.S,fJord8, ";ftt ,ndont th0 western coast nift, ,,d?g,800ctod for the occasion was the Go he cathedral, tho largest in ScandtaVia! which was commenced in tho eleventh, and CoS potod in tho fourteenth century. It Is a historic C d,g and b0l0nBed to th0 Bishop ic of which Ireland was a part boforo America was dl? crod by Columbus. Tho cathedra? hTs2ffordd" from several flree, and a part of it was in rotas for three centuries. It is now sufficiently r is to bo found in most cities of tho size. Under the dome a circular space was left for tho royal party while tho visitors wore seated, tho forolgn representatives nearest tho center, on raised . ii?fthVa? and ". A broad asle was left, extending from tho entrance through tho center to tho chapel at the othor end. Just boforo time for tho king to arrlvo, a company of white-robed Lutheran priests marched from tho chapel to tho door, and a stalwart body of men they were. Thoy marched back at the head of irm.0381011',1110. ki?B fo,lowIn& his crimson, ermine-lined robe trailing many foot bohlnd or it would have trailed but for tho fact that it was carried by four attendants. Tho king was accompanied by several officers and followed by tho standard bearer holding aloft the royal ban ner. Then came tho queen wearing a robe similar to tho king's, but It only required threo attend ants to keep Its folds from tho floor. She was attended by threo maids of honor. Tho king and queen were escorted to thrones on opposite sides of tho aislo, and tho representatives of royal families occupied seats next to them. Tho Prince of Wales sat nearest the queen, next to him Prince Henry of Germany, and the Amorican am bassador next. Near tho king sat Denmark's representative, then Russia's, and next- td hfm tho representative from Franco. There was gold braid galore; some of tho foroign representatives had enough on tholr clothes to put the Sultan of Sulu to shame. I never boforo saw so much gold, and I have been wondering slnco whether there may not bo a now yellow peril of which our financiers have little dreamed. Our repre sentatives used loss of this ornamentation (they all wore military uniforms) than those of any othor country, and the question arises, what is going to become of the honest dollar if, with the spread of the ideas of a republic, the amount of gold braid is decreased and a vast quantity of gold is poured through tho mints into, the volume of tho world's currency? It might so enlarge the volume of money as to make tho money changers clamor for the demonetization of gold and then tho sllvorites would be called gold bugs for insisting upon the free and unlim ited coinage of gold. After some excellent music, Instrumental and vocal, a member of tho clergy ascended a pulpit not far from the king and queen and delivered an earnest address. He was a typical Norwegian, powerful of frame and strong of face such as we might Imagine ono of the Viking chiefs to have been. Then there was more music, and it may interest the readers to know that all tho music was prepared for the occasion, tho words of the cantata being by the pastor of the church, and tho hymns being written in the language of the peasants. Finally the king arose, proceeded down the aisle to the chapel and, kneeling, re ceived from the bishop the insignia of office, the crown being placed upon his head, a gold chain about his neck, a sceptre in one hand and a golden globe in the other. As soon as he re turned to the throne, the queen advanced to the chapel and was likewise Invested, and then the premier, Mr; Michelson, proposed a salute to tho king and queen. Tho people responded with earnestness and the exercises were concluded. I do not expect to witness, another coronation, and it will be some satisfaction to remember that the first and only one attended was that of a king whom the people of their own accord selected; for. if there is-anything more democratic than a republican form of government, it Is .tho fundamental principle that the people have a right to have whatever form of government thoy jtwibt y