The Portland daily press., 1892-01-22
SWEDEN And THE SW EDES.
A New Book Thereon by Minister
William W. Thomas, Jr.
AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF 4
FRIENDLY PEOPLE.

Sketches of the History of the Country and
Life Among Its People The King and His
Family - Hunting and Fishing = Mr..
Thomas's Flag-Customs and Character
istics.
den and Norway, preface, a poetical
introduction, and $50 pages of reading
matter, with 400 Or 800 pictures, large
and small, interspersed, make up the
contents of Mr.. William W. Thomas,
jr.'s handsomely printed and elegantly
bound new book on "SWeden and the
Swedes " 1t does not possess the char
acter of an encyclopedia or of a book of
travels. There are no long tables of fig
ures or dull chapters which the reader
would hasten to skip, convinced of their
harmlessness by glance. But the book
is lively and full OF human interest of the
contemporaneous sort, and it is impos-
sible to read it without absorbing unin-
tentionally much information pleasantly
told The style is familiar, clear and en-
tirely unpretentious. The author had
much to say and has said it in a natural
way, so that his work is pervaded by his
own personality, making it none the less
agreeable. A fairly good portrait of Mr..
Thomas fronts the title page, and the
other pictures are of various kinds and
degrees of merit, some woodcuts finding
place, but the majority being fine re-
productions from photographs of indi-
viduals, scenery, interiors, paintings, etc.
They add greatly to the value, as well as
the interest of the book. Itshould be re-
membered that MI. Thomas has visited
Sweden not only as consul and twice
as minister, but also as private citizen,
and has had advantages unsurpassed for
becoming acquainted with the country,
and it's people of all classes He has
produced a book which will entitle him
to high place on the list of Maine au-
thors.
Scope and Substance of the Work.
The southernmost point of Sweden is
as far north as the mid-coast of Labrador,
Its area is larger than that of Texas, or
four times as great as all New England.
With it's wonders of shore and sky Stod-
dard has made our people somewhat
familiar, as Bayard Taylor did our IA
theirs and mothers. The opening chap
ter of Sweden and the Swedes gives
good general description OF the PENN
sula and concludes with a story illustra-
tive of the independent ways of the peo-
Pile. They have never been serfs or
slaves. They have always been free
men, very generally owners of the free
hold of their farms, and by their cour-
age and independence have made and
unmade even the kings of the realm.
The closing chapter is devoted to the
Swedes in America. 1t is 254 years since
their first colony landed on the Delaware
nearly half century before the arrival
of William Penn, but it was only in 1868
that the present mighty tide of emigra-
ton began to pour in upon us, For the
welve years from 1878 to 1890, one year
excepted, Sweden stood third in the list
of countries from which our immigrants
came. The British empire and Germany
alone furnished more. Probably, Mr..
Thomas thinks, not less than 100000
Swedes and their descendants are now
living in our country and count them
selves Americans. They live within
their means, are noted for their honesty,
industry, economy and thriftand no other
foreign race learn our language Sc. readily
or speak it so correctly. He character
ICES them as ''order-loving as well as lib
God-fearing and law-abid-
ing"
In the fifty chapters between these two
many pictures of life on the great north
ern peninsula are depicted. One de-
scribes winter at Stockholm, another
Christmas in the northiand, a third be-
trothals and weddings, fourth the mid
night sun. We can glance at only a few
of them.
Housekeeping in Stockholm.
One gets an excellent idea of the every
day life of the people from these pages.
One chapter is devoted to housekeeping
in Stockholm, and it is full of informa-
ton. In the cities the Swedes live in
flats. The lower floor is apt to be damp,
the second is frequently low-studded,
but the third is lofty and spacious, the
most expensive and desirable of the
whole house. And speaking of the
houses, they are SO built that insurance
is fabulously cheap. By paying $3.50
per $1,000 you may insure your house
forever. Mr.. Thomas insured his furni-
ture for $2500 for year at cost of ST.
25. Regulations, somewhat arbitrary,
prevent the CONGREGATIONS to which we
are accustomed, and in great measure
smaller fires. Servants are paid by the
year and are engaged for year or six
months. Except in April or October it
is difficult to engage help. The servant |