Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-09-22
ICELAND'S ALTHING.
A Picture of the Parliament House, Witt
the Lepislatura In Session

A Picture of the Parliament House, With
the Legislature In Session.
A deep hush fell upon the stran-
gers gallery as the clerk of the low
er house rose to read the record.
The viking blood within me began
to leap as caught here and there a
word that has not been used in our
common English tongue since it was
tricked out in Norman frippery by
the Bastard eight centuries ago. It
was the parliament house in Rel
kiavik, and the althing was in ses-
sion. AS the president seized a pen
to sign the record l glanced diff
IDENTIFY at my companions. For the
lack of a grille, the women sat to
the left of the gallery, as in church,
and the men to the right. There
were a tishwife from the quay, one
or two farmers daughters in town
for days shopping and others OBJ
viously present, as in another place,
to hear their relatives declaim. The
men represented on their side the
same range of interests and included
also the captain Of the Iceland bri-
gade of the Salvation Army, a Dan
ish lieutenant, a French bagman
and an official of the house. In
corner sat another Englishman,
young artist from the potteries. AS
the president rose the door noisily
opened and there trooped in, as if
to another place, a couple of half
shod youngsters from the Latin
school,
The senate house is square and
lofty, with decorated ceiling, and
around the walls hang portraits in
oil Of famous althing men. The
benches are in a horseshoe, and
each of the "a members has his APP
pointed place, with couple of ink
pots and a spittoon. Out of his six
and eightpence day (and travelling
expenses) he can readily afford a
we'll filled snuff horn, and the regu-
larity wherewith some of the con-
script fathers laid a train Of gun
powder along the gulley between
the index and the thumb was sight
for Russell, c. j., himself.
The session lasts for couple of
months only, and some of the al
thing men have travelled for weeks
to fulfill their duties. The Danish
mail steamer makes one of its voy-
ages sort of parliamentary train.
Starting from Reythafjorthr, on the
east coast, it circles the island north
ward and picks up the senator's from
ford to ford. Some of them come
in on saddleback, driving before
them a long train of pack ponies
and remounts. The senator's repre-
sent the strongest elements in the
public life of Iceland law
yers, merchants, divisional magis-
trates and the like. There is also an
upper house, filled half by election
from the lower and half by the king.
The president wore no uniform to
denote his rank-a frock coat mid
way in smartness between Dom
Paul and the colonial secretary, sur
mounted by a .cravat that might
have cost krone. AS he read, in a
robust viking note, from the orders
of the day, the Danish governor
strolled in, gold laced and epaulet-
ed, sat at the desk reserved for him,
lifted the lid to fetch out his papers,
| glanced round for an attendant, who
is also the curator of the museum,
to bring him an agenda and took
stock nonchalantly of the house.
The horseshoe still divided it's in
terest between snufing, following
the text of the reader and glancing
through the newspaper, which con-
tanned intelligence brought north
by the mail. Except for size and
grandeur, the scene most wildly
recalled to my memory was the
Glasgow city council chamber
New York Post.