Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-10-05

have husbands who pay taxes upon this
| amount, are now qualified to vote in mu-
| nicipal elections. An unmarried woman liv-
| Ing with her parents is disfranchised unless
| she, too, has an income equaling the sum
| hxeu by the law-the newly, amended law
| being based upon a property qualification,
with no distinction as regards SEX The eX
ercise of the franchise, as matter of
course, Qualihes Norwegian women for hold
! ing any office in the gift of the municipal
| authorities, whose jurisdiction extends 20
he various departments of public works,
4 the public schools and even the harbor COM
mission The agitation which has reen car
RED on since 1884 has been planned by Miss
Gina krog, who has been called the Susan
b. Anthony of Norway"
Vote and Hold Office.
The reform is the natural outcome OF
enlightened public opinion and Of public
sentiment, which liberal thinkers, like Ib-
sen, have been instrumental in shaping.
| Miss Krog is woman about fifty years of
age, of much culture and social influence,
with the natural gift of leadership. Thor
oughly fitted for the work she has Under
taken, she regards her present triumph only
as encouragement for future agitation and
is pledged to continue what she has begun,
until men and women are equal before the
law in every particular.
With climate rather colder than that
of Norway, the life of Sweden differs some
what from that of its progressive neighbors.
Being the real residence of the court, which
visits ChriStiana only at stated seasons, the
social life is more conventional, although
the rulers, since the first Bernadotte, have
become more and more democratic. Not
only is the palace thrown open on certain
days to the general public, but professions
OF inquisitive foreigners and loyal subjects
are conducted through the private rooms
where the king has been reading an hour
before and the queens work basket and her
sewing implements are standing Just as she
left them upon her table ...-.f.f-r- --s. POI,
The schools like those of Norway are
graded, and the sexes are taught separately.
the course being practically The same for
both. In the home of Slojd, girls well
boys are carefully trained in the use of
tools, the plane and chisel. the saw and
lathe, and they acquire much skill in all
sorts of joiners' and carpenters work. On
the farms, also, they help in all the out-of-
door work, as well looking after the
dairy and the housekeeping. There are
fewer women employed in the shops, appar-
emily, than in Norway, but they manage
restaurants and hotels, where they are
often placed in authority over corps Of wait
erS.
The Great Festivals.
The great festival seasons are Easter
Whitsuntide and Christmas, which are Gel
ebrated with church-going, feastng, visit
ing and gift making. Skating and sleigh
ing the chief recreations during the
long winters, in which people of all classes
participate, anu IN lnlS sport women oil all
ages and conditions, as in Holland, become
very proficient. The love of music Is al
most universal, and while the country has
given some great artists to the world, there
are to be found in every town and hamlet
many who although they win never achieve
either fame or fortune, have voices which
would be considered phenomenal. Chorus
singing. the wonderful folk songs. are a
part of all gala making without which fair
or festival would be incomplete.
A few women have left their lasting i'm
press upon the literature of Sweden. The
most noted of the older school were Char
lotta Nordenfly and Anna Maria Lenugren,
the poet, who is usually compared with
Mrs. Hemans. Frederika Bremen, who is
remembered by the lovers of delightful
books through Mary Howitt's TRANSACTIONS
of her novels and her letters. Homes of
the New World" has been accredited to
Sweden, but was in reality a native Of
Finland.
The more liberal educational advantages
are developing artists and writers of tai
ent, who no longer have to overcome the
opposition that once met them on every
hand.
Sectional Prejudice.
The Danes as a nation have little love
for their northern neighbors-a sectional
prejudice that has been embodied in the
proverb. Don't be a Swedish goose or a
Danish fox will eat you
Inheritors Of land of level fields and
pastures, with fertile soil. the Danes find
life somewhat less difficult than it is for
all who dwell beyond the stormy Skage--
rack and Cattegat. Their closer proximity
to the other countries of Europe seems to
have checked the development of the freer
spirit of the northern countries Women in
Denmark have comparatively few rights.
They are subseryient to their fathers and
husbands, who are their lawful guardians
There is among them, however, a marked
artistic spirit, which, given any scope, man
ifests itself often surprisingly, and is TO
be found among the peasantry as often as
elsewhere.
Danish women almost equal the French
as cooks. and 1t is imperative that every
girl shall be thoroughly trained, not only
in this branch of domestic art but in Sow
ing, knitting. darning and mending. all
their schooling and training tending TO 1T
them, not for an independent career which
it must be confessed comparatively few of
them regard with favor, but for good house
wives.
Even the queen. who is the mother OF the
present Queen Of England. did not depart
from this rule The family was poor. and
although the royal mother married her
handsome daughters into hsif the reisning
families Of Europe, she had them taught
how to trim their own bonnets and cut and
make their own gowns. And it is an ac-
complishment which. 1t is said Queen Alex
andra has passed on to her own daughter