The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1908-01-23
TRIP TO NORWAr
r. O. Richards Gives an interesting
Series Of letters Relating to His
Native Country and its People.
Letter Number One

Christiana, Norway, to Brookings
Weekly Register
The backward spring and the rainy
cool summer weather, which seems
to have visited all northern ATTITUDES
this year has made no exception of
Scandinavia.
Rain seems to have been a daily
occurrence here most Of the time and
the temperature for spring and sum
mer weather has been unusually low
To the average person, who has not
made the popularity of Scandinavian
climate "A study, low temperature for
summer weather may seem natural,
because of the geographical situation
o. the peninsula which extends from
about 5S degrees to II degrees north
ern latitude corresponding in latitude
to that section of the American con
tinent commencing at a point in cen
trail Labrador and running, say POO
miles north, and into the Arctic circle.
Thus judging from the degrees Of
latitude within which the Scandina-
Wan peninsula lies, one would expect
the climate to be uniformly severe
and inclement, but this is only the
case on the east coast and among the
central mountains. The climate of the
west coast is unusually mild, being in
huenced by the Atlantic and the Gulf
Stream, which impinges upon it,
In the same latitude which Frank
lin persisted in the Aritc regions of
America and in which lies the almost
uninhabitaDle regions of eastern ST
IBERIA, the waters of these western
bays tiordsl Of Norway never freeze
except in their upper eXtremities. AS
one proceeds from west to east and
in some degrees even from north to
south, the temperate character Of the
climate changes, and the winters be-
come more severe.
The climate is perhaps most equable
at Skdenas near Stavanger. Norway,
where the mean temperature of Jan
uary is 3f7 degrees Fahrenheit that
Of July J5.4 degrees. difference POI
degrees. There is no snow in the
winter along the coast north from that
point to Bergen though il rains CON
siderable during the winter months
AT Stockholm on the other hand. the
mean temperature Of January is 2IS
degrees and that OF July 63.5 degrees:
difference 81 degrees, and there,
snow lies on the ground most of the
winter but the climate is dry, cold
and the atmosphere is delightfully."-
bracing
The line, which marks a mean Jan
uary temperature of 50 degrees Fair
enheit runs from Loften island in
the Attic circle southwark along the
west coast Of Norway, passing a little
to the east Of Bergen and through the
inner part OF Stayanger bay (fjordD,
thence southeast to Cape LindesneS,
thence northeast to Christiana bay
(fjord) and southwark to Gotenburg
and Copenhagen The line marking
a mean temperature of % degrees
Fahrenheit passes through Hammer
fest, Saltdalen Rorocs, Christiana and
Upsala. In the depth Of winter, there
fore, the LOften islands, in the artic
40
gen, nor Hammerfest than Christiana:
again while the mean temperature of
the whole year at the north cape is
35.6 degrees Fahrenheit, it is no high
erat Ostersund in Jemtland 552 miles
farther south. 1t will thus be seen
that while the climate along the west
coast OF the Scandinavian peninsula
is comparatively equable throughout
year on account Of the gulf stream,
that OF the east coast and the inter
ior of the country is made up of a
long severe winter and short and
sometimes oppressiyely hot summer.
The average temperature of the sea
is 3i2 to degrees Fahrenheit warmer
than the air, being ofcourse, lower
than that of the air in summer and
higher in winter. The heathiest part
Of the peninsula is probably the island
of karmo, where the death rate is
only - per thousand, the lowest in
the world. The average death rate
for Norway is 10, for Sweden, 20 per
thousand
The rainfall in the interior Of the
peninsula is less than on the coast
The mean rainfall is about 81 inches,
that of the east coast II inches and
that of the west coast averages about
40 inches though in some places the
rainfall sometimes reaches from 20 to
90 inches per annum.
Scandinavia is the largest peninsula
in Europe and contains an area of
about 290,5o0 square miles and meas
ures 1850 miles directly north and
south from Cape Lindesnes to Vadso,
while the coast line of Norway alone
disregarding indentations of the in