The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-02-04
Letter from Gothenburg, sweden.

A<CAtSA AOhh IS SWC0cus
We commend to our readers the following ex-
tract of letter to one of our citizens, from one
ofhis descendants, a Portland boy, now resident
in Gothenburg, Sweden, as possessing valua-
BILE general Information; especially as to the
climate of that region, and the still more nor
therly portion of western Europe; with some
particulars which will surprise all who have
not made the climate Of the various portions
of the earth, special study:
GoTHENBURG, Dec. 90, 1868.
My DEAR GRANDFATHER:-Thisi is q glad
day for the North-land. The sun has reached
his winter solstice, and to-day commences his
return to the land he had so nearly forsaken.
received your interesting and instructive
letter long ago, and have only waited that
something might turn up worthy of being the
subject of an epstle to yourself. But he, who
waits for turn-ups, waits in vain, and l have
gained nothing by my delay, except the ne
cessity Of asking your pardon.
As you are a lover OF nature, / have, at
last, taken this day of natures glad change.
as the one in which to address you; KNOWN g
that the day at least is worthy.
The sun does not rise now till nearly o
o'clock, skins along the southern horizon, and
sHdNo uHuCi az - ftttic dilcI tuIee. AT noon
he gains an altitude of only 10 deg, and u
clad with sunset glow all day long. The
moon shines brightly from her seat near the
zenith, and when It's clear, the larger stars
may be discovered at singh noon"
As you, however, are also lover OF the en-
act, j will give you the figures. -Gothenburg,
lat. 81 deg. AZ m. "a is $. Dec %, sun
rises, S.45. sets, BIB; length of day, CPS night,
1882. June %, sun rises, 3.02, sets, 9.02,
length of day, Is, night 9.
What seems strange to me is, that while the
shortest day is 6.2S, the shortest night is only
9. should have supposed they would be Of
equal length.
This climate does not at allcorrespond with
this latitude. The winter seems to be made
up of rain, drizzle and fog. Although within
deg. of Greenland, the thermometer has not
yet fallen TO Is deg. 1t has frozen but nights
this winter. We have had but one inch of
snow, which quickly melted away. There
was one mornings skating on little pond
under the trees; but tried the ice again this
morning and found it would not bear. Last
evening We had heavy gale from the north,
and tonight ii is showing, and we may get a
little winter. Last winter, the snow laid on
the ground but few days; there was no
sleighing, and the river was open the winter
long.
Looking out of my window, see that the
cloud has passed away, and the moon is smi-
ling on the thin veil of snow-fakes, which to-
morrow's sun will call home.
Along the whole coast Of Norway, up to the
North Cape in lat. II deg, the salt water new
er freezes. Think of that, ye dwellers in AZ
l-2deg. on the Atlantic side of North Amer
lea.
Yet, with all this winter mildness, the Their
mometer rarely rises above 20 deg, in the
summer, and not an ear of Indian corn can be
grown throughout the length and breadth OF
the land. The Gu!f Stream, which flows bu
you and on to us, explains the whole story
and throws upon the notrhernmost European
shores, enough trees Of the tropics, to warm
the natives during the long night of winter.