Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1907-07-12
Letter from Judge Forrest.
Trondhjem. Norway.
June 10th, 1907.

June 10th, 1907.
Editor Leader: Today is the first
rainy day we have had In Norway and
DR.. Wendt and VIM. Tank are taking
things easy while they insist that |
write you a letter for all Of our friends
in Lincoln County.
We are certainly having great
trip and everything looks good to us.
In fact we are seeing too much, so
that it will take month or two after
we get home to think the different
sights over and compare them In our
mind to determine which we think is
the most important, interesting or
beautiful, and on that account 1t Is
difficult to pick out of the whole mat
ter for short letter.
A week ago last Monday we left
Christiania by rail after seeing that
city thoroly, and went to town called
Faggerness, in Valders, and immedi-
ately after we left Christiania the
sights commenced as we plunged into
the mountains through wilderness
of evergreen trees, crystal waters,
quaint old Dutch tiled houses and
picturesque people. 1t did not seem
that mountains could be higher or
grander and were soon entirely out of
adjectives and exclamations and quit
trying to say anything about each
new wonder of scenic beauty as it
came into sight and just looked. At
night we stopped at tourist hotel at
Faggerpess and in the morning, in
company with Mr.. and Mrs. Sexe who
had proceeded us here on account OF
it having been the home of Mrs.
Sexes parents, we started in carriages
for drive of lit miles to Laerdal, and
on this trip we soon found that the
country coming from Christiania had
been pretty smooth compared with
that over which we were to drive,
which was over the most rugged
mountains in Southern Norway.
The road was perfect and gave the
writer his first definite understanding
of the power of the old world mon
archial governments, for century after
century, to impress into the service
of the state the Drawn and muscle of
their populations to do stupenduous
public works where time is not con-
Isideration in any undertaking, for the
reason that there will always be
plenty of hands to continue In the
inn hof tho 1oct laoHa1
time to do. This road is literally cut
out of solid rock for over hundred
miles and curls around the face of
precipice after precipice, great noun
tains of rock reaching to perpetual
snow above it and in many places
overhanging so as to shut out day
light, while hundreds of feet straight
down roars and bOils into soap-like
foam the clear, cold waters of a noun
tain river, and along its open edge
every ten feet for its whole length are
set heavy cut stones. and there are a
dozen or more of these kings high
ways more than three hundred miles
in length and a great many more
shorter ones nearly every rod ofwhich
shows the drill marks like lacework
where giant powder has torn frag
ment by fragment from the great
rock mountains until a splendid, easy
roads is made, and by dates cut in the
cliffs the traveller can see that it has
taken several years to make a mile.
| The season here is as late or later
than in the States, so that on the tops
of all the mountains there is still
snow many feet deep which is melt
ing rapidly in the June sun. In every
direction can be seen what is one of
the most beautiful sights in Norway,
or anywhere else, and that is i'm
mense falls OF perfectly clear water
rushing down the sides Of the highest
mountains, boiling and foaming along
steep declivities and then suddenly
leaping off the edge and down per-
pendicular wall of rock two, three, six
hundred or thousand feet until it
finds a passage to the sea through a
ford. At many places on the two
days and half trip we could see a
dozen of these beautiful water falls at
one time and we were hardly ever out
of sight of one or more.
/ After arriving at Laerdal we took a
steamer on Songen Fjord, the longest
in Norway, and went to Goodrangen
at which place we again took rigs and
drove to Vose and on this ride Of
about SO miles we went over the
highest mountains on which there
was many feet Of snow that will never
melt of which we snowballed each
other to a finish as the boys says. At
Vose we took the train for Bergen
and on this railroad we saw the
achievement of a task that must have
been stupenduous; here the railroad
runs over and through a range OF
mountains that are rugged almost
beyond description and every rod OF
the road is blasted through the rock
and in two hours we went through
fifty-three tunnels from 100 to 15Ot
meters long. At Bergan alone we saw
more than would make long letter
of description among which was the
fish market where several hundred
fishing boats sell their catch every