Wichita eagle., 1888-10-31
AN ARCTIC RAILWAY.
THE LAPP's QUERY AS HIS REIN
DEER HOME is INVADED.

a Great Feat of Locomotion Due to
English and Scotch Enterprise-A Msun-
tain of Ore-Picturesque Scenery-Some
Curious Remarks
A railway within the Arctic circle is now
an accomplished fact, and to Englishmen and
to Scotchmen is due this great feat of locomo-
ton which will connect the Gulf of Bothnia
with very high latitude ON the Norwegian
coast. but with open water all the year round
on the North sea Gellwara just now II the
center OF great activity, for the Swedish and
Norwegian railway has brought the mex
haustible ores of its mountains to the shores OF
the Gulf Of Bothnia, and small feet Of En-
glish steamers daily await the morning and
evening trains at Lulea, which bring from 100
to 500 tons of ore, drawn by powerful engine
Of North British manufacture. whilst 10, 900 OF
1850 tons of northern coal stands piled upon
the railway quays. The Swedes in Norbotten
are not altogether friendly to this great I'M
dertaking, but the Swedish government
wisely recognize the great results which En-
glish contractors and British capital have
secured for what was practically an mac
/ cessible 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 800 900 acrea
In area, and wherever you turn on its face,
and even on its summit, traces of the ore are
to be found, sometimes at the highest levels
Protruding; or at the lower workings at
very few feet from the surface. The railway
company are themselves working the mines
or lodes, which are situated on different parts
OF the mountains, and from which small
tramway lines descend to the line which for
i've miles steadily ascends the mountains
from Geilwara, where even a grand hotel IL
being erected, and a new church is already
complete, in which all nationalities, includ-
ing the Laps, 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 Lulea, Mr. Henry Miuett, and al
though Pullman cars have not yet been
transported to these northern ATTITUDES, a
very laudable attempt had been made to
transpose a break van into a sleeping car,
where passed two nights on my journey up
and down.
Starting from the town and port of Lulea,
which, like so many other Swedish towns,
has been half laid low by fire, the train
skirts for miles the side of the Gulf of Both
MIA and passes the remarkable old church of
Gamle Stadln, an edifice Boosting eight cen
turtles of antiquity, and with a carved and
gilded tr.yptich Of such remarkable beauty
and delicacy that $1,000 has been offered and
refused by the parish for the unique speci-
men Of Flemish carving. l was present at
the monthly communion of the parish, and
was much struck with the solemn demeanor
OF the peasants, as man and wife walked to
the altar together and received the com
munion in both kinds in their mouth but
without being allowed to touch the elements
or handle the chaiice. The officiating priest
took the eastward position, and during the
communion OF the people the "Agnus Del"
was sung by choir in the gallery. At Cell
wara 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 trayerses 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 in
teresting and mountainous than can be seen
on the Canadian side of the Rocky noun
tains. The mountain itself from which the
railway draws its ore is 2,C00 feet above the
sea level, and the view from its summit dis
closes a series of hills and mountains stretch
ing 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 81 Jarvis,
of Victor ia street, Westminster, are the
energetic contractors to whose pluck and de-
termination, amid many discouragements Of
local disputants, this great work of crossing
the Attic Circle by railway has been accom-
plished. When the line has been completed
to Ofoten it viii be the recognized tourist
route by which tourists, who have assembled
the North Cape, can cross tho Norwegian
mountain ranges and return southwark to
Stockholm by rail or water from Lulea,
where the Swedish and Norwegian railway
now terminates, but from which there will
be connection with the Sundsvau route to
Stockholm at Boden
The mind of local editors and local press
men is proyerbia,ly small, and it Is amusing
to read in the Norbotten journal Of the ''pa-
triotic" atteInl 3 to save Sweden from the
grasp VI lOitlsH iutTuutIS, Uut IL Is only
through English capital and British enter
prise TINT the great forests of the north Of
Sweden have been utilized for the European
market, and that this remarkable railway
communication has been begun, continued,
and viii ere long. believe, be successfully
ended, not very far removed from the most
northern town il the world. One remarkable
fact l learnt at a lode where eight Scotch
miners We're at work, that at the same price
for piece work paid to the Swedes, they
had secured seven kroners per diem as
TEd.), and the Swedes never got beyond
three The most curious remarks are made
by the Laps, who come down to see the en-
gines draw in their loads Of coal and draw
out their loads Of ore. as this power from
heavenf is tie first query of the LApp be
holder as he sees his reindeer home at last In
vaded-Cor. London Post