The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1888-11-08
An ARCTIC RAILW AY.
THE LAPP'S QUERY AS tiS REIN
DEER HOME iSr INVADED.

Great Feat of Locomotion Due to
English ard Scotcl, Enterprise-A NIouI.-
tain of Crc-Picturcsque Scenery-Somc
Curious Remarks.
4 railway within the Arctic circle is now
an accomplished fact, and to En@llshmen and
80 Scotchmen is due tins .reat feat Of iocolnO-
lion which Will connect the Gulf Of BOthnil
with a very high latitude OF the Norweg ian
coast but with open water all the year round
on the North sea. GclIwara Just now is the
center of great activity, fol tic Swedish and
Norwegian railway has brought TIE mex
haustble ores of its mountains to the shores of
the Gulf OF BOthnia, and small fleet of En-
gllsh steamers daily await the morning and
evening trains at Lulca, which bring from 400
to 500 tons Of ore, drawn by powerful engine
OF North British mInufac uEc, whilst II, 0OJor
1900 tons Of northern coal stands piled upon
the railway quays. The SWeles III Norbotten
are pot altogether friendly to this great un-
dertakng, but the Swedish government
wisely recognize the great results which En-
glish contractors and British capital have
secured for what was practically an mac
ccssiblc district, and where for over eighty
years the wealth Cf the mineral district has
been rec gniZcd, but there has been 10 mode
Of conveyance which could bring it to the
highways of commerce.
The mountain Itself Is Of some 800. 900 aCr>S
III area, and wherever YOU turn on its face,
and even on It's summit, traces OF the ore are
TO be found, sometimes ct the highest Levels
protruding; Or at the lower workings al a
very few feet from the surface. The railway
company are themselves working, the mines
or lOdes, which are situated on different parts
hH OtaIn and f1,t,, Nyli al, All
tramway lines descend to the line which for
five miles steadily ascends the mountains
from Gellwara, where even a grand hotel is
being erected, and a new church is already
complete, in which all nationalities Includ-
ing the LappS, meet for service Although
the railway Is not yet open for Passenger
traffic, permission was accorded nc to jour
ney TO the mines by the courteous resident
director a LuIea, Mr. Henry Nillctt, and al
though Pullman ears have not Vet been
transported to these northern ATTITUDES, a
very laudubIe 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 Calf of Both
MIA and passes the remarkable Old church CT
Ganilc Stadln. an cdifiCc boasting eight cen
tulics of antiquity, and with q carved and
gilded tryptich OF such remarkable beauty
and delicacy that s., COZ has been offered and
refused by the parish for the unique spcci-
men Of Flemish carving. | WAS present at
the monthly communion Of the parish, and
was much stluul with the solemn tcmc1no-
of the peasants, as man and wife walked to
a. hnJ- nd N-NI la
muniOn III 10th kinds III their mouth, lat
without being allowed to touch the elements
or handle the chalice. The oficiating priest
took the eastward position, and during the
communion of the people the ~ mus Del
was sung b. choir i'll the gallery. At Cell
wara there is an old but not very interesting
church, now abandoned, as it is full of hu-
man remains, and new and modern build
:ng stands about $50 yards from tic railW av
station
The road TO this wonderful certcr Of enter
prise and activity travcI seS 4 distI ict which
wonderfully reminds the traveller Of tho
country between Port Arthur and Winnipeg
On the Canadian Pacific railway, buU the
view from GcIIwara itself is much more in.
.eresting and mountainous t4an can be seer
Oh the Canadian side OF the Rocky II yuu
taius. The mountain itself from which Inc
railway draws its ore is I020 feet above tho
sea level, and tho view from its summit dis
closes a serios Of hills and mountains stretch
ing to the Norwegian frontier tC rrards which
.he track is being stead Iv laid A member
Of the house of Cecil is one of the railway
directors, and Messrs Wilkinson G Jarvis
of Victor ia street, Westminster, are thf
energetic contractors 10 whose pluck and de
termination, amid many discouragements Of
local disputants, this great work Of CT ssing
the Artic Circle by railway has been accom-
plished. When the line las been ccmpletel
TO Ofoten it will be the recognized touris
route by which tourists, who have ascendet
the North Cape, can cross tie NorWe2ia,
mountain ranges and return southwark L
Stockholm by rail or water from Lulea
where the Swedish and Norwegian railwa!
now terminates, hut from which there Wi
be q connection with the SunGsvali route L
Stockholm at Boden.
The mind Of local editors and local press
men is prOvcrbialy small, and it is amUsin:
, to read in the NorJottcn journal Of the pa
triotic" attempts to save Sweden from tn
grasp of foreign intrudcrs but it is oul,
through English capital ard British enter
prise that the great forests of the north O
Sweden have been utilized for the Euro pear
market, and that this remarkable ra.lw.,
f communication has bec-l begun, continued
and VIII ere long, l belle. be successful,
endeG, not very far removed from tia mos
northern town in the world. One TeIaarEabl
fact ! learnt at lode where eight Scotcl
miners were NJ WORK, that at the same pric
for piece worl. as paid - the Swedes, the.
had secured seven kroners per diem Is
I'D and the Swedes never got beycn
three. The most ct.rlo:Is remarks are mad
, bv the La0uS who come down = see the en-
gInes draw Ill their loads OF cCaI and dray
out their loads Of ore. Is this power fro1
heave1z' is the first query Of the Lanp be
holder Is he sees his reindeer ho-le - las Il
vadeI.-Cor London Post.
The finest solitaire diamonds owned i