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

1t was built in l271-76. The me
mortal tablets on the walls to its
pastors run back to 1880, the Bible
was printed in 1889. and the can
delabra upon the altar bear the date
of 1888. Holberg, the famous poet
who is regarded as the founder OF
modern Danish literature, was born
here, and acted as tutor to the child
rem of the pastors family in 1902. So
you see that in many respects it is
up to date
There is an old museum on the Ber-
gen road known as the Finneloft, a
guild hall built in the year 1900,
which is filled with relies of early
times. 1t is perfectly preserved, be-
ing built of squared timbers that have
been soaked with tar every century or
two, and is one of the best specimens
in Norway of medieval architecture
! The contents. which represent the
life and habits of the people from FIVE
hundred to thousand years back.
were mostly gathered from homes in
the nelghborhood.
This valley was one of the earliest
settled portions of Norway, and here
the light of civilization first dawned
upon the Norwegians. From these
| fjords sailed the vikings who CON
quered England, Scotland and Ireland;
who settled Iceland aud Greenland.
and probably cruised down the New
England coast. The battles whio h
united Norway in single nation were
fought in this locality a thousand
years ago by Harald Haarfager. the
first great hero of Norwegian history
Colonel Norton of Texas swore that
he would not cut his hair or beard un-
| I'll Andrew Jackson was elected Pres
ident, and kept the path. He has
| been a picturesque figure at political
conventions ever since, and always
seemed proud of his peculiar distinc
ton. Harald Haarfager made vow
that he would not trim his whiskers
| until he had subdued the several jarls
or earls who ruled over portions of
Norway and united the entire king
dom under his own sovereignty. He
| accomplished this in S73. and when
| a traveller finds monument marked
with those significant dates-ST2-1S72
he may know without reference to
his guide-book that it was erected to
commemorate the thousandth ami
versary of some battle that took place
near that spot, for the fighting was
fierce and long. Haraid Haarfager is
buried at Haraldshaug, where an obe-
lisk of red granite marks his grave
Around it are arranged eight smaller
shafts representing the eight earl
doms into which the country was di
vided when he undertook his plan of
union.
When you see a shaft of stone
erected upon a rocky Island in any Of
the fjords, or upon the summit of a
mountain or hill, you may know that
it was the rendezvous of the local
chieftains in the medieval age. They
called it a thing the place for con
sultation-and from ii the name of
the Norwegian parliament is derived
-storthing, which means large as
sembly.
At these places also the jarls. or
| their subordinate chieftains, used to
sit in judgment to administer penal
| ties for crimes and other offenses and
to settle disputes between their fol
| lowers and a custom which was in
augurated then still prevails among
the rural districts Of Norway where
controversies between neighbors are
submitted to a Cancellation commits
sion known as a forligelseskomision
composed of three persons selected IL
| the usual way, one by each Of the dis
putants and the third by those
two. This commission usually sue
ceeds in reconciling the parties, who
| generally abide by its decision. In
| fact public opinion requires them TO
do SO. Either party has the right of
appeal to the courts, but when a man
has submitted his case to the arbitra-
tion of his nelghbors and declines to
accept their decision he loses the re.
spect and confidence of The com
munity. In almost every case when
| the dispute involves money the al bi-
traitors make a formal repJrt in writ
ing. which is filed with the clark o. .he
court and has the force of Il lawful
record. This system greatly reduced
litigation in Norway.
! The other day a Chicago gul lost
her diary while driving through one
of the pretty little valleys east of this
place, and was much concerned. She
asked the hotel-keeper TO post no
tice and offer a reward, but he de
clined to do so on the ground that
such a method OF advertising lost prop
erty was not customary in Norway and
would be considered very bad form
He promised, however. that he would
have an announcement made from the
pulpit of the church on the next
Sunday, which would be very much
better because everybody would be
there. while comparatively few peo
Pile would see a notice in the hotel.
William +. Curtis