Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1906-09-29
NEWS Of SCANDINAVIA
Recent Occurrences of Interest
in Norway, Sweden and
Denmark.
THEKLA BERNAYS IN NORWAY
Dt, Louis Globe Democrat Correspond
emit Tells of Her Observa-
tiOns There.
gHEKLA BERNAYs IN NORWAY
NORWAY.
Christiania.


some interesting gossip from Norway.
In the main she liked the country. but
the weather was bad and very uncer-
tain. She complains Of the means OF
transportation of all classes, even the
railways, of being slow and unpunctual.
The general use of margarine In notes
and eating houses and the pervaslye
odor of fish. However, the scenery
is real scenery and the writer never
tires of expressing admiration for the
grandeur of the ever-changing pan
Dramas A most vivid description IS
given of the picturesque sunset at
Mode, of which she says there can be
few places in the world of such ex-
quisite beauty. In summing up her
impressions of Norway and the Nor
Wegians she says: AT Molde, at
Irondhjem and at Christiania | had
the good luck to meet Norwegians of
more than ordinary culture, whose
company | eagerly cultivated, hoping
to get enlightenment as to the char
acter.stics of the people who inhabited
this country of theirs which was some
times repulsive and sometimes SYM
pathetic and always fascinating. l am
afraid I was baffied. A land of mys-
terry and melancholy Norway seemed
before I ever saw it's shores. 1t is so
still. A country of strong contrasts,
in the emotional and artistic sense
rather than in the industrial and COM
mercial. A country which will always
preserve remoteness, retain an air Of
hauteur toward the great head of the
travelling public, country which does
not care to compete for the prizes in
the ordinary lottery of life and yet
stands in it's rugged aloofness alone,
not from weakness, but from a con-
sciousness Of strength, different, but
not less than that of other nations.
Strength based on restrained desire!
But then so many Norwegians whom
asked whether the type Ibsen drew
in his Peer Gynt' was fair estimate
of their countrymen, frankly replied
in the affirmative. AS a matter Of
fact Ibsen is quoted as having callei
his Peer Gynt representative of Nor
way. in the sense that Germany has
been called the Hamlet among ma
tons. 1t is true that Ibsen was Wroth
with the land of his birth when he
composed that satirical play, in which
the hero makes the irreparable mis-
take of being instead of true to his
best self, merely self-suff1cient And
only escaped the awful doom of losing
the identity of his soul (Which the but
ton maker threatens to melt up with
other souls, in order to recast the
amalgam into new shapes) by the con-
slant and unselish love Of woman.
Still, if Norwegians recognize them
selves in this type that would argue
that their hatitual reserve is a mask
which hides rather long list of short
comings in their moral makeup. Yet
others, who know them we'll, English
and German travellers, who have made
Norway the habitual scene of long va
cations. praise the people as singularly
honest and honorable in all their deal.
ing with strangers. hospitabIe and kind
to an extraordinary degree, eager to
learn. intelligent. 1t is a matter of
statistics that Norway has no illiterate
population. excepting a few detectives
An admirable showing for a country
VIGOROUSLY poor. But have the Nor
wegians enterprise, tenacity Of pur-
pose, thrift and energy? I have heard
them accused Of laziness and pride
false pride. If, it is said. the vast
fo
fortunes with the Americans would
consent to work as hard in their own
country as they do in the United
States. Norway would make different
showing. But at home they would
hate to be seen doing the hard mental
labor they are not ashamed to do in
America. and so, much ground in Nor
way that might be made to bear crops,
lies fallow. covered with rocks and
brush. The splendid power nature has
given them in the great waterfalls is
only a decoration to the Landscape as
yet. when it might be turned to ac-
count industriously. Not even the
scenic quality of Norway is adequately
exploited. the travel in Switzerland is
| now so congested during the summer
that a part of it's overflow might
I easily be directed to the country which
| resembles it in many respects. and for
Europeans surely lies close at hand"
Captain Roald Amandsen. the IA
Dious Norwegian explorer, whose dis
covery of the northwest passage is a
matter OF history arrived at Seattle.
Wash, Sept. Is. He was met by COM
mittees from the chamber of commerce;
and the local Norwegian society and
| by the Norwegian consul. Captain
Amundsen will not admit that he has
exactly, determined the location Of the
magnetic pole, but he intimates that
he has come near. to it. Captain
Amundsen's discoveries Will be Of in
calcuable benefit to- science and navi-
cation. The passage across the waters
north of this continent, occupied three
ye:-7 No -coun4airs were 1iscoveraa.
.ln add j., . 49, aa y. V. =