The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-04-22


enter any house they choose and seat
themselves without ceremony at the BAN
quet board, while the wood wife and
daughters of the household supply them
with milk or other liquid refreshment.
-
Norwegian peasants are said to be the
most honest class of people in the world
Several years ago an English tourist. in
going from Trondjhem to Christana lost
fifteen or twenty sovereigns on the road.
Upon his arrival at Christiana, he wrote
of his loss to the country judges and in
a few days received every one of the lost
sovereigns. The peasants had picked up
the coins dropped along the road and had
handed them over, to the magistrates
The homes Of the well-to-do peasants
are made up of half dozen, and some
times more separate buildings Practical
~ all the necessities of life are manu-
featured at home There are vast store
rooms for the bear skins and furs, the
reindeer boots, blankets and dresses piles
of round oatmeal cakes, each a foot and
half In diameter, which are kept for
the laborers.5 The kitchen is a separat e
building, and, in addition, there is a log
house where the preserved meats are
kept Some of the bedrooms have elegant
~ eurtained beds and priceless old fur
niture, but the floors are always bare.
Newspapers languish in Norway. The
largest circulation does not exceed Is, 600
and most of the publications receive as
sistance from the government or from
political clubs. Reporters receive IS a
week. and the leading editors are some
times paid as much as $40 per week.
Frugality and thrift are national char
acteristics of the Norwegians; the social
conditions are peculiar to the country
There is no privileged nobility or aristoc-
racy of wealth. Consequently there is no
sharply drawn line of distinction between
the classes
Sweden was the first country to recog-
nlZe the equality of sons and daughters In
the matter of inheriting property This
was due to an event which happened
more than one thousand years ago While
the King of Sweden was engaged In for
eign wars, the Danes invaded the land.
But the women, led by the beautiful maid
Blenda, defeated and drove the invaders
from the country In recognition of their
bravery, the grateful King decreed to
Swedish daughters the right to equal in
heritance.
In Stockholm there is an "old servants
home,' where servants too old to work
are given shelter and care In their last
days.
Gustavus .Adolphus was Sweden's great
est King. lie was the hero of the Thirty
Years war, and was called the Lion of
the North. At the head of an army of
900 men he crossed the Baltic and made
himself master from the Alps to the
Polar sea. He was the first condueror, to
introduce the principles of humanity into
warfare. He was magnanimous TO the
ma tons he conquered and true and loyal
to his allies. He was killed at the height
of his influence and fame on the field of
LutZen in 1852.
America owes a lasting debt of graft
tude to the Swede. John Ericsson. in
ventor of the cheese box" Monitor.
which saved the northern navy from de-
struction in 1862 and revolutionized naval
warfare.
Some of the worlds greatest musicians
have come from the Scandinavian penin-
sula. Ole Bull, Christine Nilsson, Jenny
Lind and Edward Griey. the great COM
poser
Alfred Bernhard Nobel. who died In
1896, was the richest man in Sweden. He
established the great institutions for the
advancement of science, and left an en-
dowed fund for the Nobel prizes which
are awarded for scientific discoveries and
research.
Swedish physicians never give their
patients nervous relapses by sending
them bills for professional services rem
dered. Each family has an attending
physician who is paid by the year, ac-
cording to the wealth of the family and
the amount Of attention require !. Ten
dollars a year Is considered a good fee,
while 500 is regarded as a princey re-
muneration.
King Oscar II. rivals the Kaiser N
versatility and accomplishments. He is
an excellent musician and composer,
poet, author. historian and dramatist. His
water colors have been awarded prizes
at expositions, and he reads and writes
eight languages and speaks five 6uently.
The Crown Princess Victoria, who is the
second cousin, of the Kaiser. delights in
sculpture. She is fond OF American music.
especially coon" songs. In a handsome
silver frame on her desk is a portrait of
Nicholas IL. the great white Gar of all
the Russias," and scrawled across the
bottom of the portrait is the careless in
scription, From Nicky to Vicky. 3d.
which shows that royalty is human after
AL.