Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-09-10
At THE WORLDS TIP END.
w. r.. CURTIS WRITES FROM EU-
RoPE's SoRTHERsMosT
POINT.
beautiful Flowers That Bloom There
Through the Warming influence
of the Gulf Stream.

Letter to the Chicago Record-Herald.
NORTH CAPE. Norway. July 2s.-
The North Cape of Norway. the north
ernmost point of European territory
and the tip end of the world, is an
enormous rock 96s feet high with green
trimmings. which projects into the
Arctic Sea very much like the prov of
a battleship. The promontory, long
and narrow, is the end of an island.
which is intersected by fjords that run
deep into the land and offer scenery
that is stern and rugged, but sublime.
From The top the view of the Arctic
ocean extends unbroken to the horizon.
with occasionally a fishing boat float
ing like a bird upon the water.
1t seems strange that in all the &C.
equations of the world. in all the OPP
~portunities Of usefulness offered to
mankind. any human being possessed
of reasoning faculties and an immortal
soul should come to this dreary place
10 fish. But even here are numerous
fishing camps, where men stay all win
ter. suffer hardships and privations.
and expose their lives to the dangers
that are always before them for the
sake of earning $3.50 or $500 a year
Although we are only 800 miles from
the ice fields
The Fords Are Never Frozen.
The gulf stream m up here to give
the North Cape a warm bath every
morning. and its influence upon the at
mosphere is seen in the timid punches
of green grass, the cushions of dwarfed
pine and Juniper that cover ~crev;ces n
the rocks. and the abundance of flow
ers. brave little things, more beautiful
than any of their WI species in milder
climates. Upon the top of the North
Cape is found an abundance of ordin-
airy field daisies. double buttercups as
large as a pigeons egg. and yellow
violets such as we never saw before.
There is one brave little flower TO
which l would like to pay a tribute.
It is known to botanists as saxifraga
tatyledon, and grows in punches Ike
the tassels of broom corn. The buds
are purple and take on a reddish tinge
when they begin to unfold, but in
fun bloom they are pure white, and
can be found on every mountain top
in Norway, on the edges of perpetual
snow. The limit of vegetation is 5000
feet. Only a few brown MOSES and
crusty liehens can endure that height,
but the little flower to which | allude
is always beside them, tapping up
water from the melting glaciers with
It's tiny roots and clinging to cracks
In the precipices, where no man or an
imal can ever reach it. and where no
bird ever goes. When its summer
usefulness is finished it scatters its
seeds with the winds, and the SHOWS
of winter cover them and keep them
warm. When the sun appears in the
spring and the rocks are uncovered
they swell with the consciousness of
their mission until they burst and
terminate and grow and bloom and
~beautify these bare and forbidding
mountains with a courage and endur-
ance that no other plant has ever
shown.
\ Hard Climb.
A zigzag path has been constructed
to the top of the North Cape for the
convenience of passengers, with iron
Sanctions, supporting a rope to which
they can cling. The climb is not rec
commended to invalids or fat people, or
to those who are short of wind, al
though | have not heard that anybody
was ever injured by it. OF course
every passenger is ambitious to make
the attempt. 1t is part of the pro-
gramme. For those who are wise or
lazy, fishing lines are provided, which
they can throw over the rail of the
steamer and catch a COD or a hallbut
perhaps. At the foot of the path is a
cabin, in which four or five men
spend the summer and assist the wom-
en- in the climb, carrying their kodaks.
blankets and wraps that are taken as
q precaution against cold. at diff
ferent places the ascent is so steep that
steps have been chiseled out of the
rock.
It takes about an hour to make the
ascent and 20 minutes more to cross