The Dickinson press., 1888-11-24
THE lAPP'S QUERY AS HIS REIN.
DEER HOME is INVADED.

THE LAPP'S QUERY AS HIS REIN.
DEER HOME is INVADED.
Il Great Feat of I.ocolnotion Due tr
I:nsli,i, and Scotch Enterprise Noun
tain of Orc-Picturesquc ~Sccncry-SoIne
Curious Remarks.
y railway within the Arctic circle is now
an accomplished fact, and to I.nglishmen and
to ScotcEmcn is due this great feat of locomo
ton which will connect the Gulf of Bothnia
with a very high latitude OH the Norwegian
coast, but with open waterfall the year round
on the North sea. Geliwara Just now is the
center of great activity, for the Swedish and
Norwegian railway has brought tho mex
Iaustlble ores Of its mountains to the shores Of
the Gulf of Bothnia, and Il small fleet of En-.
;siisl steamers daily AWAIT the morning and
evening trains at Lulea, which bring from 400
tol0O tola of ore, drawn by a powerfulci:giIe
of North British msn,fac ure, whilst l0,NNDor
zoo t"tH' oi northern coal stands piled upon
the railway q,iays. Tie Swedes in Norbotten
are not altogether friendly to this great un
IeItaNii., hut the Swedish government
wisely recognize TIE great results which En-
glish contractors and British capital have
secured for what WAS practically an mac.
crssiI,lc district, and where for over eighty
years the wealth of the mineral district has
been recognized, but there has been no mode
of conveyance which could bring it to the
highways of commerce..
The mountain itself is of some 500, 900 acres
in area, and wherever you turn on its face,
aud even on lis summit, traces of the ore are
tn lie found, sometimes at the highest levels
!rotfudinIs; or at tins lower workings ut Il
very few feet from the surface. The railway
company are themselves working the mines
OF lodes, which are situated on different parts
OF the mountains, and from which small
tralnway lines descend to the line which for
five miles steadily ascends the mountains
IRON GcllWala, where even a grand hotel is
being erected, and Il new church is already
complete, in which all nationalities, 1nclud-
ing the Lapps, meet for service. Although
the railway is not yet open for passenger
traffic, permission was accorded me to jour
ney to the mines by the courteous resident
director at Luleu, Mr.. Henry Millett, and al
though Pullman cars have not yet been
transported to these northern ATTITUDES, 4,
very laudable attempt had been made to
ilTlnspose u break van into n sleeping car,
where | passed two nights OH my journey up
and down.
Starting from the town and port of Lulca,
which, like SO many other Swedish towns,
las been half laid low by fire, the train
skirts for miles the side of the Gulf of Both
MA and passes the remarkable old church of
Galnlc Stadln, an edifice Boosting eight cen
turtles of antiquity, and with a carved and
si!ded tryptich of such remarkable beauty
and d~elicacy that $4,000 has been offered and
refused by tho parish for the unique srcci
men of Flemish carving. l was present at
the monthly communion of the parish, and
was much struck with the solemn demeancr
OF the peasants, as man and wife walked to
the altar together and received the com
ii!union i'll both kinds in their mouth, but
without being allowed to touch the elements
or handle the chalice. The officiating priest
took the eastward position, and during the
communion of tho people the ''Agnus Del
was sung by n choir in the gallery. AT Cell
w;tla there is an old but not very interesting
church, now abandoned, as it is full of hui
man remains, and a new and modern build,
ing stands about $50 yards from the railway
station.
The road to this wonderful center of enter
prise and activity travcrses q district which
wonderfully reminds the traveller of the
country between Port Arthur and Winnipeg,
on the Canadian Pacific railway, but the
view from Gellwara itself is much more i'll
t~cresting and mountainous than can he seen
ON the Canadian side of the Rocky noun
talns. Tho mountain itself from which the
railway draws its ore is 1000 feet above the
SEA level, and the view from it's summit dis.
closes Il series of hills and mountains stretch.
iiiS to the Norwegian frontier, towards which
the track is being steadily laid. a member
OF the house of Cecil is one of the railway
directors, and Messrs. Wilkinson g. Jarvis
of Victor in street, Westminster, are tho
energetic contractors to whose pluck and de,
termination, amid many discouragements OF
local disputants, this great work of crossing
tho Attic Circle by railway has been accom-
plished. When the line has been completed
to Ofoten it will be the recognized tourisl
route by which tourists, who nave ascendec
the North Cape, can cross the Norwegian
mountain ranges and return southwark t.
Stockholm by rail or water from lulea
where the Swedish and Norwegian railway
now terminates, but from which there will
be q connection with the Sundsvall route t.
Stockholm at Boden.
The mind of local editors and local press
men is proverbially small, and it is amusin:
to read i'll the Ncrbotten journal of the ''pa
triotic' attempts to save Sweden from tn
grasp of foreign intruders, but it is onl.
through English capital and British enter
prise that the great forests of the north o
Sweden have been utilized for the European
market, and that this remarkable railwa,
communication has been begun, continued
and will ere long, l believe, be successful,
ended, not very far removed from the mos
northern town in the world. One remarkabl
fact l learnt at Il lode where eight Scotcl
miners were at work, that at the same pric
for piece work as paid to the Swedes, the.
had secured seven kroners per diem (Gs
7;5d.), and the Swedes never got beyon,
three. Thu most curious remarks are mad
by tho Lapps, who come down to see the Ell
gines draw i'll their loads of coal and dra,
out their loads of ore. is this power frol
heavensH is the first query of the Lapp be
holder as he sees his reindeer home at last il
vaded.-Cor. London Post.