The state herald. (Holyoke, Logan County, Colo.) 1887-1921, 1893-08-04
BETTER THAN IT'S NAME.
There ARE SOME ooop POINTS
ABOUT ICELAND.

There ARE soME ooop POINTS
ABOUT ioELANp.
washed BY the Gulf Stream, Il Has an
Equabls Cllmatc, Extremes OF Heat and
Cold Being Unknown . Land
Of Lssfnsd Men:
Iceland. in fact, is not by any means
30 forbidding country as its namo
implies. 1t Is no more q land OF ice
than Greenland Is land OF verduro
1t Is not nearly so cold as many
places in the United States, not to
mention tho Canadian dominion. Tho
fifty and sixty dogreos below zorro
registered every wintor In tho North
west territory and Assiniboia, and
even the thirty-fvo and forty below
experienced III Montana and Northern
Dakota, are utihcard Of In Iceland.
Neither ID the other extreme folt, Of
great heat. such as these very regions
Of North America endure. No Ice
lander knows what temperature Of
ono hundred In the shade Is. There
are no sudden fluctuations or great
changes. The climate Is remarkably
equablo. A variation OF thirty de-
grees In month is probably not on
record Id the island. The climate is
duo, OF course, to the Same cause that
produces the same effect in tho
British isles, namely. tho Gulf stream.
This great ocean current washes tho
southern and western shores OF Ice
land, and secures 1t q mild winter
and . balmy summc: T'hore arc
glaciers In the island, OF course, but
they foH>pM eborgs
The sea around the Island Is never
frozen. nor indeed is any floating ice.
In foes or bergs, ever seen, save on
rare occasions on the northern coast
Now and then In summer, prolonged
storms will carry floating leo across
from the Greenland coast and drive
1t upon tho northern shore OF Iceland,
together with cold fog and rain. In
this way polar bears arc landed
on the island. On tho other
hand tho winters are 80 mild
that thundorstOrms often occur In
them. In fact, most OF tho thunder
storms in Iceland arc In tho winter
months.
Alphabetically. however, tho eli
mate of Iceland is less favorable than
that OF Manitoba. Tho summer is
cooler, and vegetation. reforo,
natures less rapidly. For this reason
it is impossible to grow any grain
thore except a species OF oats. Corn,
wheat and rye arc out OF tho quos-
tion. Tho contents OF tho vegetable
garden arc also limited. Tomatoes
and pumpkins, for example. cannot
be grown; nor arc fruit trees and
grape vines TO DO seon. Tho chief
garden products aro potatoes, cab
bagcs, carrots and turnips, all OF
which grow with great luxurianco
and arc Of excellent quality. Tho
only tree Is the birch. which only
reaches height OF ton or twelve
feet But tho chief crop Is grass.
The moist climate favors its growth,
and the island is abundantly supplied
with both pasture and meadow lands,
These sustain great ilocks of horned
sheep and herds OF cattle and ponies,
Of all Of which great numbers arc an
aually exported TO Scotland and else
where. Fish. wool. tallow, feathers,
sulphur, cider down and shark oil arc
also important items OF foreign trade.
An important Industry OF tho
islands nowadays Is tho entertain
mont OF summer tourists, who leave
great deal Of money behind them.
and by accustoming tho islanders to
intercourse with the outside world,
nelp TO rub OF their sngularitics.
.~----a---s~-- 49, -lhessis.i..,
which. though most harmless char
icteristic OF tho natives. has dono
not . little TO rotard the progress OF
ono OF tho klndllcst and most Guilt
rated races on tho facc OF tho Garth
Tie majority OF tho tourists do not,
however. go much further than Royk-
iavik, and from there to tho gcyscrs
and back again. II Is this part OF
Iceland which Is most familiar to
Englishmen. who form tho bulk OF
the visitors, and II Is from tho peo-
ple In this southern distric. that for
slgncrs form their opinion Of the folk
1t large.
In almost any part OF the inhabited
districts tho courteous visitor. espc-
cially II ho possesses little Danish.
may find tho utmost hospitality and
loss eagcrncss To mako the most out
Of him than tho presence Of tho for
cignor has so rapidly developed In
simple. minded Scandinavia Even II
the '.rciscr" Is ignorant OF Danish Or
lcelandic, which Is tho old form o,
Morse. he will seldom bc reduced TO
the Language Of signs. A "kandidat, "
fresh from the Rcykjayik college, or.
II may DO. from tho university OF
Copenhagen. will talk to him In
Latin. unless no may have grown too
rusty TO keep mp conversation In
any dead tongue. or. thanks 10 the
conversation Of our public schools.
he pronounccs tho ancient speech 10
strangely that he IN forced 20 con
verse for nm evening In tho "pracsto-
gard" by exchanging remarks with
his host In writing.
Iceland has always been u land OF
learned men. and to this day crudiio
lcciandors may BIO found In almost
every university In Europe In no
country Is u scholar held In 40 high
esteem Tho tourist IL conscious
that tho respect Of his farmer hos,
rises pcrceptlbly when hc learns tina,
tho stranger Is "studcnt." and. II ho
only stays long enough the pastor
will bc sent for 20 discourse with,
and possibly sample tho quality oil
tho Highlander" who l. known 70 bc
q Cambridge doctor. or n professor
In tina ancient university which has
given home 10 ono Of tho hosts
learned countrymon.
Jokrs aad Their Admirers.
Tho woman who talks had tho mrr