Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-06-15

Cme Deen decreasing. There are near
~ 10000 people remaining, and there
is not on the surface of tho globe
more intensely loyal and patriotic
people. They are really Chauvinistic.
They will not for a moment concede
that any other land can compare with
theirs in attractiveneSS
Iceland in fact, is not by any means
so forbidding a country as its name
implies. 1t is no more a land of ice
than Greenland is a land of verdure
1t is not nearly so cold as in many
places in the United States. not TO
mention the Canadian dominion The
30 and 50 degrees below zero registered
every winter in the Northwest Terri
tory and ASSiniboia, and even the 30
and 40 below. experienced in Montana
and northern Dakota, are unheard of
in Iceland. Neither is the other eX-
IRENE felt, of great heat. such as these
very regions of North America endure
No Icelander knows what temperature
of a hundred in the shade is. There
are no sudden fluctuations or great
changes. The climate is remarkably
equable. A variation of 80 degrees in
i month is probably not on record in
the island. The climate is due, of
course. to the same cause that produces
a similar effect in the British IsleS
namely, the Gulf Stream. This great
ocean current washes the southern and
western shores of Iceland, and secures
it a mild winter and a balmy summer
There are glaciers in the island, of
course, but they form no icebergs.
The sea around the island is never fro
zen, nor indeed is any floating ice, in
foes and bergs, ever seen save on rare
occasions on the northern coast. Now
and then. in summer, prolonged storms
will carry floating ice across from the
Greenland coast, and drive it upon the
northern shore of Iceland. together
with the cold fog and rain. In this way
polar bears are also sometimes landed
on the island. On the other hand
the winters are so mild that thunder
storms often occur in them. In fact,
most OF the thunderstorms in Iceland
are in the winter months.
AgriculturaI1y, however, the climate
of Iceland is less favorably than that
of Manitoba. The summer is cooler,
and vegetation therefore natures less
rapidly. For that reason it is impos-
sible to grow grain there, save Il species
of oats. Corn, wheat and rye are out
Of the question. The contents of the
vegetable garden are also limited. To-
matoes and pumpkins, for example, can
not be grown; nor are fruit trees and
grape vines to be seen. The chief gar
den products are potatoes, cabbages,
carrots and turnips, all of which grow
in great luXuriance, and are of excel
lent quality. The only tree is the birch,
which only reaches a height of ten or
twelve feet. But the chief crop is
grass. The moist climate favors its
growth, and the island is thus abun-
dainty supplied with both pasture and
meadow lands. These sustain great
flOcks of horned sheep and herds OF
cattle and ponies, of all of which great
numbers are annually exported to Scot
land and elsewhere. Fish, wool, tai
low, feathers, sulphur, elder down and
shark oil are also important items of
foreign trade.
An important industry Of the island
nowadays is the entertainment of sum-
mer tourists, who have a great deal of
money behind them, and, by accuStOm-
ing the islanders to intercourse with
the outer world, help to rib off their
irregularities and 10 moderate the Chau-
yiniSm which, though a most harmless
characteristic Of the natives, has done
not a little to retard the progress Of
one Of the kindlieSt and most cultivated
races on the face of the earth. The
majority Of the tourists, do not, how
ever, 60 much further than Reykjavik,
and from there to the geysers and back
again. 1t is this part Of Iceland says
a recent writer in the London Standard,
which is most familiar to Englishmen,
who form the bulk Of the visitors, and
it is from the people in this southern
district that foreigners form their opin-
ion Of the folk at large. In reality,
the IcelanderS as whole are better
than the samples there seen. They
may not in other parts of the island
speak English with such audacity,
or be hail-fellows we1l-met, as in the
main street Of the little capital. But
in almost any part of the inhabited
districts the courteous visitor, especially
if he possess a little Danish, may find
the utmost hospitality, and less eager
ness to make the most out of him than
the presence of the foreigner has so
rapidly developed in supplemented
Scandinavia. Even if the ''reiser'' is
ignorant Of Danish or Icelandic, which
is the old form of Morse, he will sell
dom be reduced to the language of
signs. A "Kandidat," fresh from Reyk-
javik college, OF, it may be, from the
University of Copenhagen, will talk
to him in Latin, unless he may have
grown too rusty to keep UP CONVEX
sation in any dead tongue, or, thanks
to the conversation of our public
schools, he pronounces the ancient
speech SO strangely that he is forced to
converse for an evening in the "praeste-
gard by exchanging remarks with his
host in writing.