Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-09-12

: little inn to rest the horses, when M
Englishman came in with great
basketful of speckled trout, which h,
had caught that evening in a little
stream near by. The fishing is goot
} all through these mountains.
On the bank of a pretty lake We
passed melancholy memorial erect
ed by the King of Norway and Swed
en- to the late Mr.. and Mrs. Daniel ID
Youmans of New York. He was the
well-known hat manufacturer They
We're driving along here five years
ago in stolkjaerre or two.wheeled
cart, and stopped to take kodac
picture af the scenery. They turned
their cart at right angles with the
narrow roadway, and one of the reins
becoming tangled in the thill caused
the horse to back off into the lake
which is bottomless, and both were
drowned. The horss was drowned
also. but the skydsgut, or driver, who
happened to be little boy. managed
to jump clear of the sinking cart aud
was saved. The king and all Norwe,
gians were deeply stirred by this dis.
aster, for accidents so seldom hap,
pen in this country. The officials
take every precaution for the protec.
ton of travellers. Captain Fleischer
an American, who has lived at Voss
for a quarter of a century. tells me
that the Youmans accident Is the
only one that he can remember.
We hated to leave Stalheim, where
there is a beautiful hotel situated at
the top of a precipitious rock 500
feet high, at the head of canyon
called the Naerdol. The view is one
of the grandest in Norway and in all
the world. 1t is equal to anything
in the Yosemite or the Yellowstone
Park. snowcapped mountains rising
four or five thousand feet on either
side of narrow gorge, broken here
and there by furious waterfalls that
come tumbling from the top and are
dissolved into mist before they reach
the bottom. This is one of the ia
vorite resorts of Kaiser Wilhelm,
who comes here every year. The no
tel is owned and kept by a German
under his patronage. and by paying
half crown the porter will show you
|
pies while he is here. We will al
ways remember Stalheim as the place
where we had the finest view, saw
the. prettiest girls and ate the best
dinner we have had in Norway.
| Nevertheless Voss is also good
place to come to- being a charming
little town, with a comfortable hotel
| kept by an AmericaniZed Norwegian,
| Captain Fleischer, a veteran of the
civil war who goes limping around
| because of the damage done to one Of
| his legs by confederate bullet
There are several other pensioners
of our government residing at Voss,
both veterans who wear Grand Army
badges and widows of brave Norwe-
gians who fell in our war
AT nearly every stopping place we
have heard of people from Mime
sofa Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and
other parts of the United States who
are over here for visits. Various
motives bring them back to the old
country. Some have made money in
America and want TO live at ease. "A
few thousand dollars is a fortune in
Norway, for money goes so much
| farther here than at home. A com
Portable house can he rented for $50
or $50 year. and the other expenses
of living correspond. Other people
| come back to Norway because their
parents have grown old and feeble
and are no longer able to take care OF
The farm, or because their parents are
dead and have left little estate
which needs looking after. Young
men often return after a few years in
| the United States to marry their true
loves and take their wives back with
them. Occasionally you hear of a
man or a woman who has returned to
| Norway because of poor health and
Inconsistencies. but the most of those
who are visiting their old homes ap-
pear to have come for the purpose of
Dragging about the new world and
| their success in it. 1t Is amusing to
see how the Americanized Norwegian
patroniZes those who have stayed at
home and to hear him boast about
the superior advantages of his adot-
ed country. The native American is
always accused of boastfulness when
he goes abroad. but he cannot hold a
candle in this respect to his natur-
allied fellow citizen.
At Skogstad we met two Ameri-
canized Norwegians from Iowa and
North Dakota. One went to the
United States forty-seven years ago
and the other twenty-six. Both have
prospered, and have come back to
blow about it, They are making
themselves as disagreeable as posi-
BILE. drawing odious comparisons he
tween conditions here and there and
running down their native country
They tell people that nobody in
american would farm such land OF
own such cattle or drive such horses
or use such primitive implam"nts, ana
riGicule their old neiGhb RS becans,
o. their industrious and frugal hab!-'
and the economy they are obligel g
practIce to make both ends meet
They tip back their chairs on the nc
Ital IOlch after supper, put thpi.