The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-11-13
A DREARY EXISTENCE.
THE LONESOME LIFE LED BY SOME
OF THE NORWEGIAN WOMEN.

OF THE NORWEGIAN WOMEN.
/ Tending the Cattle High Up ia the Noun
! alence of Insanity-EviI Results of In
! termarriage.
/ The saeters are great feature ia Nugyye-
! gian life, and in May or carly June the cattle
arc driven from the pastures in the lower
! valleys and about the home farm 70 tie uas-
lures high up i'll the mountains where they
are kept until September. One or two girls.
the daughters OF the house. 70 with them and
remain alone III the sacteTs, tending the cattle
and making butter and cheese during the
endless summer days. The girls at the saeters
lead lonely lives III the isolated spots that they
go TO, with only fortnightly visits at the most
from their relatives or lovers, who take them
provisions and look to the progress OF the but
ter and cheese making.
At the AJAX saetcr at the end Of the Istcr,laI
we found three women, but only one Of them
was young enough to lit into the pretty pic
turc that one mcousciously paints Of sactcr
life. All three OF them came To- the door Of
the turf rooted hut and looked an equal sur
prise and welcome when our train appeared
climbing the last grassy knoll and leading tho
ponies 10y their brides. Two Young hrifers
stood as il p"triiicl "a: our approach their
eyes evidently not used 10 the spectacle and
then came slowly toward Us with a Juvenile
curiosity - apparent as To bc luu-hahle in
these dumb animals. Will" the PONIES
cropped grass and rested W. fca-t.d uuI. eyes
ON the scenery listened 10 IN. roar vi the
Isicrfo~S AT the ,I.d uf the valley ;.ud watched
The afternoon shadows creeping Uu th. ppro-
sit" wall Of granite
THE WOMEN ~ THE SAETEE
By the all OF a-phras,. book ,yc couvclscI
with th" women iu the sl"tcr, and paid them
compliments when they showed us the lars Of
milk and The rolls Of butter in the dairy room.
They showed us the one living room where
thay slept with huge chimney in the cor
ncr with cc.yernous fireplace, in which they
cooked their food, and last they conducted Us
t. 4 little ni-hc of a room. cleaner ami neatcr
III tn" dairy room, if possible, and set on
tin white pine table pitchers of such milk a.
W had never dreamed OF before We frank
glass after glass OF il, pressed some small coins
IL their hands, and had our arm nearly shaken
oft IN return, and then, urging them To- como
20 America, We descended the hill and away
We cOull see them looking after us rs long as
the little procession was in sight, and the
thought of the lonely life of those women
made the group in the doorway fairly pat
thctic To Us. By the end of this month lira
IN the high SI"t"rS becomes even more drearv-
y touch of frost comes To- the air, the nights
begin TO grow dusk. and then the bears, if
there are any in the neiShboring mountains.
are apt to come providing about the sactcrS ut
night.
Insanity, which ia Norway affects an
amazing proportion Of the inhabitants, is
said to be often duc to the solitary, isolated
lives that the women lead at the sacters in
summer, with So few recrcations or lighter
amusemeuts to relieve the strain of rlclan-
choly that CONES with the alienation of tho
long summer daylight with the dark winters,
and the depression that the constant presence
of this stui"nduU, mountain scenery brings
The interm1rl wing Of generations in these
small communities and thinly populated
regions has added To the evil as wall. In
southern Norway, where the people are Of
a lighter AMI Suycr temperament, with more
festivals ami uI..UsemcntS. their bright COS
TUNES, n softer scenery about them, and
living more in villages and cougyc-atcd
farnhouscS, the percentage OF insanity il
much less than III tL,~.. northern fior,i- anil
vallcvs--Enryvay Letter