The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1905-10-11
TWO YEARS IN THE LAND OF THE n
- SUN -

| travel on skis. and clad in red -bordered
reindeer suits and wearing red caps,
they look, as they dash down the hills,
like flying gnomes, avoiding the rocks
and brush in their course, and keeping
fearlessly on till the bottom is reached.
These people are child-like in their
manners, being easily moved to laugh
ter or to tears. Their eyes look as If
crying prevailed, for they are red and
swollen from the smoke which cholies
their tents. in which the opening is
made to answer for chimney. But
the Lapps do not confine their visits
TO Sundays. On weekdays they are
often seen about the little stores in
the village where they tyade, their
principal purchase being coffee, of
which they are very fond. Sometimes
the Lapps bring their herds down to
the valleys. One morning l was
aroused from sleep by a constant
clicking sound, like the irregular beat
ing of castanets; and, parting the cur
tain, l looked out to see, just below
the window, herd of eighty reindeer
with their little masters nearby. The
clicking sound is made by a swapping
together of the divided hoofs as the
creatures move about.
THE NORWEGIAN LAPPS.
While racially the same, the Nor
.wegian Lapps-they are all Mon
golians-are divided by their mode OF
life into two classes or tribes, viz, the
sea Lapps, who live by fishing close to
the coast, and the mountain Lapps,
who depend wholly on the reindeer for
their subsistence. When a Lapp has
a thousand reindeer, he is said to be
very rich. The pastoral Lapps are
necessarily nomads, their abode being
influenced by the supply Of moss for
their herds. Short of stature, dark
brown in color, and with coarse black
hair, these vivacious little people form
striking contrast to the clumsy, quiet
Morse fishermen, near whom they have
lived for so long without the slightest
strain of intermixture.
At Hemnas-and this will apply TO
other class, which, while numerically
fewer, is perhaps the most important
in a social way. / refer to the mer-
chants, professional men and govern
ment officials. These are people of
culture, with social needs, which they
crafty by closer relations with their
equals than is the custom in more
densely populated communities. In
this land and with this class,
generous, whole-hearted hospitality is
the rule. The presence of visitor is
regarded as favor to his host. Visits
are seldom for less than week. and
in case of storm, which is not infre-
quent, the week becomes two. These
people are not eXiles from more fa-
vored places. Many of the best fam
lilies have lived for centuries in Nord-
land, and have as much ancestral
pride, and with better reason, than
the titled heirs of We're de We're. Here
silver and china tell of wealth and
taste. The furniture is usually of the
old-fashioned massive kind, steps being
required to climb to the high mahogany
four-poster before dropping into silk
covered bed of elder down.
The customs are not unlike those OF
similar class in the United States,
particularly in the South In the morn
ing coffee and cakes are served in bed.
The shoes are blacked and the clothes
brushed by servant. Breakfast is at
ten; then come calls on neighbors. if
there are any; the evening usually end
ing with dance.
But despite these social pleasures,
the winters are woefully depressing:
and, whether from the more favored
South, or to the manner born, one
yearns for the return of the sun, and
the glimpse of a wild flower, harblnger
of the spring that has seemed so long
delayed.-New York Post.