Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-09-09
BETTER THAN ITS NAME.
THERE ARE SOME GOOD POINTS
ABOUT ICELAND.
washed By the Calf stream. II las an
Equ4ble climsse. Extremes q Heat md
Cold Being TnknoHa-AIuays = Land
Of Learned Men.

Iceland in fact. is not by any means
so forbidding a country as lis name
implies II Is no more q lane d ice
than Greenland is a land o. verdure-
Il Is not nearly so cold as many
pla.es in the United States. not 10
mention the Canadian dominion The
fifty and sixty degrees below zero
registered every winterin the NORTH
west territory and Assinibo q. and
even the thirly-fye and forty below
experienced ia Montana and Northern
Dakota. arc unheard u ID Iceland
Neither j. the other extreme felt, uf
grsSs heat such as these very regions
% North America endure. No Ice
lander knows what a Temperature Of
one hundred in the shade Is There
are no sudden fluctuations or great
changes The climate j. remarkably
equabie. A variation OF thirty de-
grees in month is probably not on
record in the island The climate is
due, OF course. 10 the same cause that
produces the same effect in the
British isles, namely. the Gull stream
This great ocean current washes the
southern and western shores OF Irn-
land, and secures il a mild winter
and a balmy sumner There are
glaciers in the island, Of course, but
they form no isebergs
The sea AROUND the island Is never
frozen, nor indeed is any floating ice,
in foes or bs-gs. ever seen. save on
rare occasions on the northern coast.
Now and then in summer. prolonged
storms wall carry floating ice across
from the Greenland coast and drive
il upon the northern shore Of Iceland,
together with cold fog ami rain In
this way polar bears are landed
on the island, On the other
hand the winters are 50 mild
that thundcrstorms often occur ia
them. In fact. most OF the thunder
storms in Iceland are in the winter
months.
Alphabetically, however. the eli-
mate OF Iceland is less favorable than
that Of Manitoba. The summer is
cooler. and vegetation. therefore,
natures less rapidly. For this reason
il is impossible to grow any grain
there except a species Of oats. Corn.
wheat and rye are out OF the ques-
tion. The contents Of the vegetable
garden are also limited Tomatoes
and pumpkins. for example. cannot
be grown; nor are fruit trees and
grape vines to be seen. The chief
garden products are potatoes. cab
bages, carrots and turnips, all 81
which grow with great luxuriance
and are Of excellent quality. The
only tree IS the birch. which only
reaches a height Of ten or twelve
( feet. But the chief crop - grass.
The moist climate favors its growth.
and the island is abundantly supplied
with both pasture and meadow lands.
These sustain great hOcks Of horned
sheep and herds Of cattle and ponies.
Of all Of which great numbers are an.
nually exported to Scotland and else
where. Fish, wool. tallow, feathers.
sulphur. elder down and shark oil are
also important items Of foreign trade.
An important industry OF the
islands nowadays is the entertain
ment OF summer tourists, who leave
o great deal Of money behind them.
and by accustoming the islanders to
1 intercourse with the outside world,
help to rub off their Irregularities.
and to moderate the Chauvinism
which, though most harmless char
acteristic Of the natives, has done
not little TO retard the progress Of
\ one OF the kindliest and most culti-
4 waited races on the face Of the earth.
I + re majority Of the tourists do not,
/ however, 90 much further than Reyk-
/ jayik, and from there to the geysers
and back again. II Is this part OF
4 Iceland which Is most familiar 10
Englishmen, who form the bulk Of
the visitors, and it is from the peo-
pie in this southern district that for
eigners form their opinion Of the folk
at large.
In almost any part Of the inhabited
districts the courteous visitor, cspe-
cially If he possesses q little Danish,
may find the utmost hospitality and
/ less eagerness TO make the most out
OF him than the presence OF the for
eigner has so rapidly developed in
simple. minded Scandinavia. Even If
the "reiser" is ignorant Of Danish or
Icelandic, which is the old form OF
Morse, he will seldom be reduced TO
the language Of signs. A ''kandidat, .
fresh from the Reykjavik college, or,
it may be. from the university oil
Copenhagen. will talk TO him in
Latin, unless he may have grown too
rusty to keep up conversation in
any dead tongue, or, thanks TO the
conversation Of our public schools,
he pronounces the ancient speech sC
strangely that he is forced TO con
verse for an evening in the ''praeste
gard" by exchanging remarks witt
his host in writing.
Iceland has always been land o
learned men, and to this day eruditt
Icelanders may be found in almos'
every university in Europe. In M
country is a scholar held in so higf
esteem. The tourist Is conscious