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' -""No Filthy Sensation
THE OMAHA DEC
Best & West
VOL. XXXVI-NO. 15.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER SO, 1906.
SINGLE COPr FIVE CENTS.
AROUND THE WORLD WITH WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
Norway, the Land of the Midnight Son, is Full of Beautiful and Majestic Scenery and is the Most Democratic Country in All Europe, Having No Titled Class Among Its Citizenship
The
Omaha
At
J
ERGEN, Norway. June 29. (Special Correspondence of The
Bee.) Norway was so full of attractions at the time of
oat visit that I am at a loss to know In what order to
treat them. As those things which are permanent will
Interest a larger number than the transient ceremonies
tiattending the crowning of a new king. I shall give preference
tto the most distinguishing feature of Norway, that which has been
Interwoven with her name, viz, the midnight sun.
I J win r In Ita aroialMlltv anil in tho fort that Itn rllmnt IN mod
erated by the Influence of the gulf stream, the coast of upper Nor
way furnishes the best opportunity which Europeans have to
mount the Arctic merry-go-round and view the sun through the
rhnla mfa-titlAaa .lav T la a wnl. BTTiaHanrA 4hla naaatnir front
day to day without intervening darkness, and one returns from it
somewhat exhausted, for the light tempts him to encroach upon
the hours of sleep. ' .
The North Cape, the northernmost point of the continent of
Europe, is usually the destination of the tourist, but it 1b not nec
essary to go so far to see all that there is worth seeing. There
are several towns above the Arctic circle where for several weeks
the sun never sinks In the horizon. At Bodo, which Is but little
more than a day's ride by boat from Trondhjem, the sun Is visible
' at midnight from May 30 to July 11. At Haromerfegt,. which is
the terminus of some of the steamboat lines, and which claims to
be the northernmost town In .the world, the sun does not set be
tween May 13 and July 28, while at Tromso, not quite so far north
as Hammerfest, the inhabitants have but ten days less of mid
night sun. .
We stopped at Svolvaer, one of the chief fishing stations of the
Lofoden Islands, nearly 200 miles north of the Arctic circle. We
arrived about seven In the evening, and even before reaching there
would have seen the sun but for a bank of clouds. bhind which It;
passed at about 11:30 on the previous night.' Svolvaer nestles
at the foot of some snow-crowned r-kn which shut out the north
era horizon, and it Is necessary to go out into the open sea or to
climb a mountain to get an unime.i unieu view. With ourusual
good luck we found an English-speaking Norwegian who had
studied in the United States, and with him to direct us. we spent
a memorable night amcng the islands.
' ... Sailing Through Scenery
. The channel to1 the north, known as Kaf tsund. Is one of the most
I picturesque along the entire coast, and the Troldfjord, which leads
Jjom It through a rdfckbound gorge to the outlet of a' famous
mountain lake, is not surpassed In rugged grandeur. Troldfjord
deserves to be described by a poet, for prose cannot do it justice.
If any of my readers have ever passed through the Royal Gorge
In southern Colorado they may understand me when I say that
Troldfjord Is a Royal Gorge with ita walls widened to a quarter
cf a mile and lengthened to a mile, and the space between them
filled with transparent sea. whose surface perfectly mirrors every
rock and shrub. At th upper end of the fjord Is a majestic cascade,
the dashing, splashing, foaming outlet of the lake 200 feet above.
Our launch ceased- ita throbbing and floated swanlike on the
... ;viainomiess wnier,- wnue we leaiesiea our eyes on-a picture so neau
' tlful that darkness hesitates to, draw- a curtain over Its 'charms.
" j. The mountain,' Dlgermulkollen, selected as atobservatlen point.
Is n -the Raf tsund, and not far from the Troldfjord. .lJ I cannot
glvp 'His 'height, bat when I guessed at It before-'the ascent I put It
at 500 or 600 feet; after ascending It I am satisfied that It is a thou
sand. We timed our trip 80 as to reach-the 'top at midnight, slak
ing our (hirst from "the 'snowbanks ar6nghV trail and "It "was the
"v. fauK of the clouds that we did not see the orb of day -at this sea
" sou and In this latitude he is orb of night as -veil as he reached
the lowest point; but they were kind to us a little later, for through
a rift In them we' saw the' faceof old' SoV Jus long enough tc be
sure that he, like ourselves, was up for all night. Even though
the clouds concealed the sun at the witching hour of midnight, the
v light was the light of day, and I had no difficulty In reading a paper
(which truth as well as loyalty to my own publication compels me
to say was the Commoner). The fact that we almost missed seeing
the sun at all leads me to remark that many make the entire trip
without catching a glimpse of it We were informed that an ex
cursion steamer bad gone to the North Cape' and back in mist and
rain just a few days before. s It had occurred to us in planning
ovr visit -to Norway that cloudy weather had to be taken Into con
sideration, but we found that clear nights are the exception rather
than the rule, especially during the latter part of the season.
Center of Cod .Fishery
' Svolvaer is a quiet place In summer, but, during January, Feb
ruary and March Its little, harbor ; Is full, of fishing smacks, for
tb.000 men flah In the waters of the Lofoden Islands. ' , Cod is the
principal Bah 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 moun
tain streams, the southern part of Norway offers a sufficient va
riety 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 aputh and west
and a chain of lakes almost connecting the 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 had to miss the northern fjord,
but ITurdanger, the -twenty-one mile ride across the mountains and
the railroad from Voss back to Bergen furnished such a wealth of
acenei y 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 attraction. These fjords seem to have been formed by a con
vulsion that opened great cracks In the mountains which line the
coast of Norway. In some places the shores are precipitous cliffs
reaching from the water upwards for 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 width from a few Inches to many
feet At one place we counted eleven of these In sight at one time,
and we were never out of hearing of their music. Some of them are
harnessed to little sawmills. At one point the boat halted within a
few hundred yards of a great glacier which .is crawling down a
mountain gorge and from whose mouth, as from a fountain, gushed
a ceaseless stream. For ages this mass of Ice has beu slowly moving
down from the mountains, and every day tons upon tons melt and
disappear, but Its losses at Its base are made good at Its top, and It
lives on like the human race, ever dying and yet ever young.
Not a Farmer's Paradise
Disembarking at Elde, we took a four hours' carriage ride,
following a mountain stream to its source, crossing the range at an
elevation of a thousand feet and descending along another stream
to the lake upon which the village of Voss Is situated. From this
point a scenic railroad, which passes through fifty-two tunnels In
seventy miles, took us back to Bergen. '
As might be gathered from what has already been said, Nor
way dees not Impress the tourist as a farmer's paradise, although
agriculture Is first among her Industries. The farms, as seen from
the routes of travel, seem very diminutive and are usually triangular
in form and look like wedges Inserted In the cracks of the moun
tains. Occasionally a valley Is broad enough to invite the cultivation
of a level place of land and the invitation was long ago accepted.
Potatoes grow well in Norway and are of excellent flavor. On
the coast boats they furnished the staple, and sometimes almost the
only vegetable, although the bill of fare often Included seven dif
ferent kinds of fish, nearly as many varieties of cold meat, half as
manjr brands of cheese, besides white, brown and black bread.
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KINO AND QUEEN OF NORWAY.
Rye, barley and wheat are grown In the southern districts, and
grass everywhere. 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 foreigners.
They build frames that look like sections of a fence and the green
hay Is hung upon4he boards or wire, as the case may be. The lower
rows are protected from the rain by the upper one, and -the air has
access to all oMt
About three hours' drive from Bergen there is a little wooded
Island on-which the great Norwegian , violinist, Ol'e Bull; "built a
summer home where he was wont to retire at the' conclusion of his
tours and where at last he died A He was not only a great admirer
of American institutions and of the American people In general, but
he married an American, and his daughter returns to Norway every
year to celebrate May 17, Norway's independence day, at her father's
home and with her father's countrymen. The daughter Is one of the
many connecting links between the two countries, and by her Invita
tion, extended through our consul, Mr. Cunningham, we had the
privilege of visiting this historic spot. Wo were slad to do so, be
cause Ole Bull was not only one of the great musicians of the last
century, but he was one of the greatest democrats that Norway has
produced a democrat not In a partisan sense, but In thai broader
sense In which It describes 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 Chrlstlania.
It was dug 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 flctton seem tame, t ', i- v
It so happened that we arrived in Norway just in time to attend
the coronation of King Haakon J I, and we had tour first opportunity,
to see royalty on parade. The new' king is a son of the king of Den
mark, and his wife. Queen Maud, is daughter of the.klng 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 probably 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 anta& nlsm to the reigning house. It was then tendered
to the son of King Frederick and'accepted. I shall speak later of the
circumstance which explain this selection; It is sufficient at present
to say that the new king Is a sober, earnest, sensible looking young
man of about 35 and seems to have made a very favorable lmpres-,
sion upon the Norwegian people.
By the courtesy of Minister Graves, who represents our country
at Stockholm, and who, our minister to Norway not having received
his appointment In time, was our nation's special ambassador to at
tend the coronation, we received Invitations to the coronation cere
monies and were presented at court. While the newspaper reports
6f the coronation may rob .-what I am about to say of its freshness
as news, I shall venture to describe what wo saw, begging the read
er's Indulgence if I betray a lack of familiarity with the technical
phrases employed on such occasions.
The coronation took place at Trondhjem, the former capital, a
city situated on one of the numerous fjords that Indent the western
const. The building selected for the occasion was the Gothic ca
thedral, the largest in Scandinavia, which was commenced in the
eleventh and completed In the fourteenth century. It is a hlstorla
building and belonged to the bishopric of which Iceland was a part
'beforo America was discovered by Columbus. The cathedral has Suf
fered from several fires, and a part ef It was In ruins for three
centuries. It is now sufficiently restored to furnish a larger audience
room than Is to be found In most cities of the size. Under the dome
a circular space was left for the royal party, while the visitors were
seated, the foreign representatives nearest the center, on raised
seats in the nave and transepts. A broad .aisle was. left, extending
from the entrance through the center to the -chapel at the other end.
Lutheran Ministers at Ceremony
Just before time for the king to arrive, a company of white
robed Lutheran priests marched from the chapel to the door, and a
stalwart body of men they were. They marched back at the head
of the procession, the king following, his crimson, ermine-lined robe
trailing many feet behind or it-would have trailed but for the fact
that it was carried by four attendants. The king was accompanied
; by several officers and followed by the standard-bearer, holding aloft
the royal banner. Then came the queen, wearing a robe similar to
the king's, but It only required three attendants to keep its folds
from the floor. She was attended by three maids of honor. The king
and queen were escorted to thrones on opposite sides of the aisle,
and the representatives of royal families occupied seats next to
them. The prince of Wale, sat nearest the queen, next to him Prince
Henry of Germany, and the American ambassador next. Near tho
king sat Denmark's representative, then Russia's, and next to him
the representative from France. There was gold braid galore; some
of the foreign representatives had enough on their clothes to put
the sultan of Sulu to shame. I never before saw so much gold, and
I have been wondering since whether there may not be a new yellow
peril of which our financiers have. little dreamed. Our representa
tives used les? of this ornamentation (they all wore military uni
forms) than those of any other 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 the mints Into the volume
of the world's currency. It might 'so enlarge the' Volume of . money
as to make the money changers clamor tor the demonetization of
gold, and then the sllverltes would be called -gold bugs for -Insisting
upon the free and unlimited coinage of gold! ' - ,
Late Squeal of an Old Scalp Lifter
Geronimo Mates an Attack on the Military Record of. General Crook
AMONG northern Indians, hostile or peaceful, General George
Crook was esteemed a brave and truthftn. soldier. When
called out to pursue and punish marauding bands, or In ac
cepting the gage of battle from Indiana on the warpath,
the intrepid "White Cloud.", as the Indians named him,
performed the task with such vigor and effectiveness that one ex
perience was enough for the hostlles. . At the council fire he, was
equally effective in palaver, but when an agreement was made in
writing or by word, General Crook stood by It, 'even though good
faith Imperilled his command. How many agreements with Indians
were made by him during his campaigns on the western frontier it
would be hard to say. They probabfy are unnumbered, xr any one
of them was broken by General Crook the fact was not asserted dur
ing his lifetime. On the contrary, his good faith and kindliness in
dealing with the Indians 6ccasloned much criticism from the very
large class who believed that the only good Indian was a dead one.
It would be surprising, therefore, If one did not consider the
source, to find the charge of treachery and falsehood lodged against
the soldierly record of General Crook. The author of the charge
Is the Apache chief, Geronimo, the untamed man-killer, and unrecon
structed savage, who has been induced to put In book form the story
'of Apache wars in the southwest Several chapters of the story are
printed in the New York Herald. Those relating to the campaigns
of Generals Crook and Miles are here reproduced:
"In the summer of 1883 a rumor was current that the officers
were again planning to Imprison our leaders. This rumor served
to revive the memory- of all our past wrongs the massacre In the
.tent at Apache Pass, the fate of Mangus-Colorado, and my own un
just imprisonment, which might easily have been death to me.
Just at this time we were told that the officers wanted us to come
up the river above Geronimo to a fort (Fort Thomas) to hold a
council with them. We did not believe, that any good could come
of this conference, or that there was any need of It, so we held a
council ourselves and, fearing treachery, decided to leave the reserva
tion. We thought it more manly to die on the warpath than to be
killed in prison.
"There were In all about two hundred and fifty Inldans, chiefly
the Bedoukohe and Nedni Apaches, led by myself and Whoa. We
went through Apache Pass, and Just west of there had a fight with
the United States troops. In this battle we killed three soldiers and
lost none. , .
"We went on toward Old Mexico, but on the second day after
this United States soldiers overtook us about S o'clock In the after
noon and we fought until dark. The ground where we were at
tacked was very rough, which was to our advantage, for the troops
were compelled to dismount In order to fight us. I do not know
bow many soldiers we killed, but we lost only one warrior and three
children. .We .had plenty of guns and ammunition at this time.
Many of the guns and much ammunition we had accumulated while
living in the reservation, and the remainder we had obtained
from the White Mountain Apaches when we left the reservation.
"The troops did not follow us any longer, so we went south al
most to Casa Crande and camped In -the Sierra de Sanarlpa moun
tains. We ranged in the mountains of Old Mexico for about a year,
then returned to San Carlos, taking with us a herd of cattle and
horses. . .
"Soon after, we-arrived at San Carlos the officer In charge, Gen
eral Crook, took the horses and cattle away from us. ' I told him'
that these were not white men's cattle, but belonged to us, for we
"5wia ymASPTi from the Mexicans during our wars. I also told him
that? we tO?-?ntend to kill these animals, but that we wished to
keep thefiV aiiS-ajrte stock on our range. He would not listen to
me, but took the stock. I went up near Fort Apache and General
Crook ordered officers, soldiers and scouts to see that I was ar
rested. If I offered resistance they were' instructed to kill -me.
"This information was.brought to me by the Indians. , ,; When I
learned of this proposed action I left for Old Mexico, and about four
hundred Indians went with me- They, were the Bedonkohe,
Chokenen and Nedni Apaches. At this time Whoa was dead, and
Nalche was the only chief wKh me. We went south into Sonora and
camped In the mountains. Troops followed us, but did not attack
us until we were camped In the mountains west of Casa Grande.
Here we were attacked by government Indian scouts. One boy was
killed and nearly all of our women and children were captured.
"After this battle we went south of Casa Grande and made a
camp, but within a few days this camp was attacked by Mexican
soldiers. We skirmished with them all day, killing a few Mexicans,
but sustaining no loss ourselves.
"That night we went east into the foothlllaof the Sierra Madre
mountains and made another camp. Mexican troops trailed us, and
after a few days attacked our camp again. This time the Mexicans
had a very large army, and. we avoided a general engagement. It is
( senseless to fight when you cannot hope to win. - " ,
"That night we held a council of war; our scouts had reported
bands of United Stat? and Mexican troops at many points In' the
mountains. We estimated that about two thousand soldiers were
ranging these mountains seeking to capture us.
"General Crook had come down Into Mexico with the United
States troops. They were camped in the Sierra de Antunet moun
tains. Scouts told me that General Crook wished to see me and I
went to his camp. When I arrived General Crook said to me, 'Why
did you leave the reservation?' I said: 'You told me that I might
live In the reservation the same as white people lived. One year I
raised a crop of corn, and gathered and stored It, and the next year
I put In a crop of oats, and when the crop was almost ready to
harvest you told your soldiers to put me In prison, and if I resisted
to kill me. It I had been let alone I would now have been In good
circumstances, but Instead of that you and the Mexicans are hunting
me' with soldiers.' He said: 'I never gave any such orders; the
troops at Fort Apache, who spread this .report, knew that It was
untrue.' Then I agreed to go back with him to San Carlos.
"It was hard for me to believe him at that time. Now I know
that what he said was untrue, and I firmly believe that' he did issue
the orders for me to be put in prison or to be killed in case I offered
resistance. . . .
"We started with all our trlbu to go with General Crook back
to the .United States, but I feared treachery and concluded to re
main In .Mexico. We were not under any, guard at this time. The
United States troops marched in front and the Indians followed, and
when we became suspicious we turned back. I do not know how far
the United States army went after myself and some warriors turned
back before we were missed, and I do not care. ... '
-"I have suffered much from such unjust orders as those of
General Crook. Such acts have caused much distress to my people.
I think that General Crook's death was sent by the Almighty as a
punishment for the many evil deeds he committed.
"Soon General Miles was made commander of all the western
posts, and troops trailed us continually. They were led by Captain
Lawton, who had good stouts. -The Mexican soldiers also became
more active and mora numerous. We had skirmishes almost every
day, and aq we finally decided to break up into small bands. With
six men and four women I made for the range of mounatlns near
Hot Springs, New Mexico. We passed many cattle ranches, but had
no trouble with the cowboys. We killed cattle to eat whenever we
were In need of food, but we frequently suffered greatly for water.
. ...
; Continued on. Page Two.) -
Cantata '-..Written by Pastor "
, After, some excellent, music, instrumental and .vocal, a member
of the clergy ascended a pulpit wt far from the king and queen atid
delivered an earnest address. He was a typical Norwegian, powerful
of frame and strong of face such as we might imagine one of the
Viking chiefs to have been. Then there was more music, and it may
interest the readers to know that all the music was prepared for the
occasion, the words of the cantata being by, the pastor of the church
and the hymns being written in the language of the peasants. Finally
the king arose, proceeded down the aisle to the chapel, and, kneel
ing, received 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 returned to the
throne the queen advanced to the chapel and was likewise Invested,
,ind then the premier, Mr. Mlchelson,' proposed a salute to the king
and queen. The people responded' with earnestness and the exercises
were concluded. '.'.: :. "' . ; f
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 the .fundamental principle that the people have a'
right to have whatever form 6f. government they desire. Jefferson
emphasized this doctrine when the people of France called Napoleon
to the throne, and it'has Bible, sanction as 'well; for when the chil
dren of Israel still demanded asking even after' "Samuel explained
what a king would do, he was. told to let them have their way.
The next day we put on our best clothes and joined the line
that passed before the king and queen. It was not a very satisfying
experience, but it is worth something to know how such things are
done, and, i may add, the more an American sees of- it the more he
appreciates the simplicity of public life In his own country.
Norway is Democratic
: Norway, in spite of the choosing of a king,' js the, most' demo
cratlc country In northern Europe. She has. no.; nobility, confers no -titles
and had to go ouUlde of her own realm to find' oneof royal
birth. She had her kings and princes In the early days,'- but one
Norwegian statesman ' explained to us that when they lost their
privileges they emigrated to America and went to farming. The
choice of a Dane was not strange, if a king was to be chosen from
without, for Norway was united with Denmark for more than tjhree
centuries, and there has always been" a friendly feeling, between the
two countries. It was expedient, too, under the circumstucea' to
offer the crown to the son of the Danish-king, for this 'brought
Norway's throne into-kinship with the thrones of .England and
Russia, as well as with that of Denmark, in fact, the' circumstances
and the situation had a good deal to do with the four-to-one vote
in favor of a monarchy. When it Is remembered that Norway's
paramount aim was to secure Independence and that this, might
have been jeopardized by an attempt to establish a republic at .the
same time, It is really surprising that one-fifth of the people had- the
courage to vote to plant a republic amid surrounding monarchies.
There are many In Norway who prefer a president to" a Klngand
who object to having two and a half millions of people taxed nearly
$200,000 a year to pay the salary of a kingly figurehead, but the
monarchists reply that the king's position Is purely ornamental and
enables the government to maintain cordial relations with other
European countries while the people govern themselves through the
Storthing. They point out that the king has much less power than
our president. While this is true, they forget that a president elected
by the people and holding office but four years can be trusted with
more executive authority than, an hereditary monarch. The Storth
ing has absolute power, and as its members are elected by universal
suffrage every three years, and as there is but the one parliamentary
body, public sentiment finds prompt expression in the government.
It can be truthfully said, therefore, that with the exception of the
executive branch of the government, Norway is thoroughly demo
cratic and that the influence of the king Is reduced to a minimum.
Norway has a promising future. Her people are hardy and
.intelligent. Education has teen compulsory for fifty years, and it U
the country's boast that It spends more per capita, on schools than
any other country In Europe. Because of Norway's immense ship
ping interests she demanded a separate xonsular service, and It was
the refusal of Sweden to consent to this that led to the separation.
Now that" her destiny Is in the hands of her own people,' much Is to
be expected of her. Her sons and daughters, those who have emi
grated to America as well as those who have remained at home,
prove to the world that it Is possible for a people to acquire the
refinements of civilisation without losing their original strength and
vigor. .(Copyright, l0C.j. IV. J. BRYAN,
