Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-08-18
SWEDEN AND SWEDES.
INTERESTING LETTER FROM "aEGoRD-
UNIoH" CORRESPONDENT.
Description Of the Countzy-Its Produc-
tions = Re igion = schools Lax Mor.
ais Of the People Industries-Ete

fONeQsH utAs u A1te years DooH attraCbiLS
some attention on the part of those Amer
leans who visit Europe for health or pleas
ure. Even some prominent Californians,
among whom I might mention Charles
Croker and J. w. Mackay, have deemed
it fit 20 deviaSe from the beaten track of
European tourists, and spend few weeks
in this northern land There are some
well.known Caiiornisns here even at the
present time, as for instance Horace j.
Smith, OF Santa Barbara, and Charles A.
Sumner, NJ. c., of San Francisco. As this
country is seldom mentioned in the Amer.
lean newspapers, and rarely ever in any
OF the Associated Press dispatches, it
might not De amiss to give few sketches
which would tend 20 make your readers
more familiar with . people from among
whose ranks our own in America are being
so strongly augmented. Sweden forms the
eastern part OF the Scandinavian peninsula,
and is divided from Norway through that
III eyed mountain chain known as kolen
1.-THE keel. 1t extends from So 20 to the
very considerable northern latitude of go
Z and contains an area of l6S, 042 square
miles. Fully one.teuth Of this area is
taken mp by
BEAUTIFUL SHEETS OF WATER,
Amongwhich Lakes Venern, Ve.tern, Nal
aren and Hjelmaren are the largest. The
character Of the country is generally that
of a low plateau, as only one-third Of its
area rsachsa an altitude of 300 feet, while
lels than one. twelfth astains q hight of
9. 600 feet. The principal formation con.
sistg Of metsmorphic or stratified primary
rocks, aud Nature has supplied her noun
tsins with immense quantities Of iron and
copper ores. Silver, lead, sulphur and
zinc is also found, but the mining indus
tries are almost exclusively confined to the
frst.named metals Although the tillable
area of the country is comparatively small,
il would be q mistake TO suppose that agri-
culture IS neglected, OF that Sweden is a
sort of wilderness where but few pro-
ductions OF the vegetable kingdom thrive
and exist Such is not the case, for even
In those sections whers the metamorphic
bedrock is generally exposed may be found
evidences Of 10 uncomfortable vegetation,
and such psrts of the country which rest
on later geological formations are capable
Of comparison with many of the most fer
tile countries of Europe. This Is es-
pscially true as regards the extensive plains
of Skane and the islands of GotIand and
Gland, where the underlying formation
dates back to Che silurian period. Even
THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS
Are, as in California, covered with thin
layer of sand or sandy loan, which sup
ports extensive forests. The trees are
not large when compared So our sequoias
aud the redwoods along Russian river,
but suffice to FIJI that emptiness which
in their sbs.noe would arise. It must
also be admitted that the climate of
Sweden, although cold and severe in win
ter, is moi only healthy, but at the same
time more tempered than at the same
high latitude in any other country. A
Swedish landscape, clad In its midsum.
mer dress and encircled with its tree
covered mountains and variegated meadows,
forms picture which even stranger from
more favored regions cannot cease to ad-
mire. The principal characteristic in all
these lovely sceneries is formed by the
innumerable mirrors rejecting placid lakes,
rapid streams, and here and there ma
jestie cataract, for Sweden is decidedly a
country of inland waters, although it is
Finland that has been given the poetic
title of "the land OF thousand lakes
Nearly all the principal rivers empty into
the Gulf of Bothuis, while some take
their course TO the already mentioned 10
land seas. Gota-elf, one of the widest
rivers in the country, carries the waters
OF Lake Veuern and its connecting system
Of minor lakes TO Kattegss. 1t is in this
river that the
FAMOUS FALLS OF TRoLLHATTAN
Are situated They are four in number
extending FOR distance of one kilometer,
with total fall of over thirty-two meters.
Thousands of strangers visit this place
every summer, and many foreigners come
to Sweden for Che cole purpose of seeing
Trollhattan. In the falls themselves there
can be no innovation, for they are already
described in the ancient sagas, which tell
how Shareholder and Hergrim fought for
the beautiful 0gn Alfafostre on the pre-.
cipitous rocks which oyerhang this gigantic
chasm, but the more practically inclined
American of our day finds side by side of
a majestic nature new evidences of what
human skill and ingenuity can accomplish
for the purpose of making highways for
commerce. On the cast side of these tur-
bulent waters whose combined force is
estimated at 225, 900 borse.powers, and
blasted through solid rock, is canal with
eleven locks, by mems of which vessels
coming from Gothenburg are raised to the
level Of the inland lakes above. A vessel
going as far as Stockholm has to pass
through several canals with total number
of seventy.four locks, and many travellers
avail themselves of this picturesque route
in their rambles through the interior.
THE POPULATION OF SWEDEN
Is at present little over 4 500. 900, as
against $500, 600 in 1850, and less than
2. 500 600 in 1900 And strange as it may
seem in the face of the heavy emigration
for which last year wss noted, there was
even then an aotnal increase in the popu-
lstion of Is per cent. A very small pro-
portion, or only $780, 900 in all, live in the
towns and cities, of which Stockholm, with
10, 000 is the largest, while Gothenburg,
with SO, goo, comes second, and Mslmo,
with 40, 900, third. The people are mainly
descendants from the same race, and with
the exception of about Is 900 Firms, G, 900
nomadic Laps and I.500 Jews, there are
but few permanent residents of other ex-
fractions. The established religion Is the
Evangelical Lutheran, but there is complete
religious tolerance for all other seets ex-
cspt the Mormons, whose teachers find 10
favor with the governing authorities. In
al educational point Of view, Sweden &C.
cupies pre.eminently high position, and
sincerely doubt if any country can show
less ignorance, superstition and crime
which all 20 hand in hand-among the
masses OF the people. The higher branches
of science and literature are taught at the
celebrated Universities of Upsala (estab-
lished l477) and Lund l666), whence have
come number of msn of more than ma
tional fame. The former, with corps Of
40 Professors and l,500 students, has a
library of over 200 GOO volumes and 10000
manuscripts.
THE FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
Is SIS perfect as experience and liberal
expenditure can make it, but with all this
the Swedish people have one blemish on
their character which it seems extended
educational facilities has not succeeded in
diminishing. refer to the lax morals and
astonishing amount of RIGHTEOUSNESS exist
ing among the lower or working classes,