Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-21

ing, and after l had amused myself by re-
citing some verses from the 'Kalevala.'
Finland's national poem. he would follow
with further selections from it, or with a
long string of Finnish folklore verse. All
Firms. practically. learn long passages of the
'Kalevala and other national poems: even
the laborers delight to recite them, and
often indulge In informal competitive re-
citals they work.
|, They all sing the national songs. too,
with understanding. and sometimes very
well. AS l rode along under the stars last
January it seemed to me that every one I
heard singing had good voice, and that
the bells made most harmonious accom-
paniment to the singing But perhaps l
was predujiced, for l had not been in my
own country and among my own people for
dozen years before.
Warm as 1 was able to keep in the
sleigh, 1t took five ten minutes to
thaw out at each post house. for my eye
lashes and eyebrows and mustache would
always be frozen stiff when we arrived, my
mustache generally being frozen fast to the
long hair of my wolfskin coat. The stoves
in the post houses are great porcelain af-
fairs, filled at intervals with charcoal,
which burns out in a comparatively short
time, but leaves the stove hot for hours.
diffusing a pleasant heat, entirely unlike
the heat given out by the American cast
iron coal stove.
THE post houses are useful institutions,
maintained by the government and never
locked. The traveller may enter at any
time of the day or night, sure of warmth.
food clean beds and first-class. careful at
tendance The charges made are uniform
and reasonable and cards giving the prices
as established by law are posted conspicu-
ously in the main room. No Intoxicating
liquors are sold in any circumstances, I'M
der pain of severe punishment.
LAS the days in the winter are not sharp
ly divided travellers are as likely to be
aStir at midnight at noon, and their ar
rivals and departures at all hours of the
day give an air of almost constant liveli-
ness to the post houses.
THE farther I went from the railroad the
less travelled were the roads and the more
broken the country. I crossed several val
legs, at the bottom of each of which was a
river, now frozen, but In the summer a
deep. rushing, ice-cold stream, quite big
enough for navigation so far as volume of
water is concerned. but too full of rapids
and occasional waterfalls to permit the
passage of boats.
Finland being a great timber country
these rivers are much used in the summer
to send RATS of logs to the big mills far
Their south. In the winter the timber along
parts of the route 1 traversed adds much
to the beauty of the scene We passed
miles of silent evergreens, pines and frs.
the deep green needles of their foliage be-
Ing beautifully decorated with the immacu-
lately white crystal needles of frost pro-
duced by the intense cold and forming a
striking contrast to the deep color of the
foliage.
I'VE also passed many miles of birch for
ests, the white trunks of the trees hardly
contrasting at all with the white of the
snow. By the time we reached the great
birch forests we began to have reindeer
sleighs on the road as travelling companions
in great numbers. L tempted to con-
tinue my journey beyond Kemijarvi by REIN
deer. just for the added experience but
finally decided otherwise, to my present re-
greet for 1 fear I shall not soon get SO far
north again.
Though all the northern and eastern
part of my long journey was largely
through forests, the southerly and westerly
stretches were through broad. well-culti-
waited farms. Few of these establishments
are Of less than 1.2O0 acres in extent. and
the farm houses, great log structures
boarded over and painted white. seemed to
me the most perfect embodiment OF home
Illness and hospitality in the whole world
But then, Finland is my home land"