Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-09-02

1t is of course the climatic and out
door life that makes the Norwegian
girls the finest specimens of the sex
and the manual labor they perform
develops their muscular strength un
til they are capable orras great endur
ance as the men.
One of the natural consequences
of the large emigration has been to
| give Norway n larger proportion o.
women than any other country in Eu
rope. In all the other countries the
men exceed the women in numbers,
but as the majority of the emigrants
are young men, the proportion of the
sexes has been reversed here. An
other reason is found in the terrible
| fatality among fishermen. OF the
| 1927 deaths by accident in Norway
during the ten years from 1880 to
| 1880, 6,O47 were due to drowning.
AS rule too, the Norwegians are
possessed of large families. The av
erage number of children to the fam
lily in Norway is 40, the largest
| any country in Europe except Ho
land, where the per centage is 4.SS
The smallest families are found In
France, where they average SO per
| sons.
Women have a wide sphere in Nor.
way. They work on even terms with
men everywhere except in the me-
| chanical trades and the fisheries. and
even there 12 per cent Of the boats
engaged are owned by women, most
of them widows whose husbands have
been drowned The women of Nor
way have participated actively in the
economical. intellectual and Industrial
development of the nation. Since
1882 all the schools from the universi-
ties down and all the professions have
been open to them; they have been
admitted to the government service
rs in tn United States, and, as l have
told you in recent letter, they have
acquired the right of suffrage in mu-
nicipal affairs. Under the laws of
Norway woman has personal control
of her own earnings and estate as in
the United States, and can appeal for
the intervention of the courts if her
husband or father should squander
property in which she has an inter
est. This freedom is unusual in Eu-
rope and a striking contrast to the
limited rights and restricted condi-
ton of women in Germany and
France.
The trout and salmon streams of
Norway are generally leased by the
season to Englishmen. In a cottage
in the yard of the hotel where we are
stopping lives Manchester manufac-
turer of sporting inclinations, who, the
landlord says, pays $4,000 kroner,
which is over $4,000 for the privilege
of fishing the stream that runs into
the fjord at this place. but from other
sources | learn that the rental for
| about four miles of the river Is a little
more than thousand dollars, and ii
| is considered very high price. Amer
| lean enterprise has not advanced this
far. We are beginning to lease OF
| Englishmen and Scotsmen their cas-
| ties and shooting preserves, and they
come over to Norway, where they can
| get better sport for 10 or 15 per cent
of the money.
All through the interior of Norway
| are fishing camps-log houses fittet
| up in primitive manner, convenient
| TO trout and salmon streams, which
can be hired for $3.50 or thereabouts
| for the season with the exclusive
| right to fish n-certain waters and the
| services of man and woman. The
later does the cooking and washing
| and takes care of the house, while the
| former looks after the boats and fish
| ng tackle and makes himself generally
useful. For $500 year one can hire
the best kind of cabin and the fish
| ing privilege in several miles OF the
streams Fishing, however, Is regu
lated by strict laws, like those OF
| Scotland and every farmer is an in
| spector in the interest OF the govern
ment and the public to see that they
are obeyed. Persons renting fish
| ing privileges cannot use nets and
must permit the farmers owning land
within a certain distance Of the
streams to catch whatever they need
| for their own tables. This is his
toric privilege, although 1t is not very
much used. A small string every
| few days is sufficient for the largest
| famlly. Norwegian IdTIheT never
| has time to fish for fun.
In the central part OF the country
south of Trondhjem, there Is good
shootlng-elk deer and grouse. The
later are exceedingly plentiful. The
number shot and SHARED annually is
| estimated at more than a million, or
440 tons dead weight. while that oi
other birds and hares amounts to 26O
| tons.
In northern Norway. along the bare
and rocky coast. the sea birds breed
| in colonies and are found in enormous
| numbers upon the cliffs. where they
are caught or shot partly for theii
feathers and partly for their flesh
| being shipped in barrels of ice to Ger
many, England and other countries
The elder duck. valuable on account OF
| its down. is found along the entire
coast. 1t lays from five to eight eggs
| in nest of down. From each nest
| about one ounce of down Is taken
l g.. IL