The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1912-08-29
SWEDEN.

A petition has been sent to the king
asking for a change of the day of elec-
ton from Sunday to'a week day, the
latter to be made a holiday. The
clergy of the diocese of Karlstad has
taken up the matter, and upon a mo-
ton by Bishop Eklund a ministerial
conference endorsed the proposed
change.
Five foreign pickpockets that were
themselves most unceremoniously
picked" up by the police of Stock
holm were not set free, or even 'sent
to the workhouse'' for so many days.
The authorities kept them until their
identity was established, and then
they were placed on a steamer going
to Denmark. The police of Denmark
next took charge Of them and saw
that they were safely put across the
southern boundary.
Otto R. Holmberg, conservator of
the Botanical Institute at Lund, has
returned from a scientific expedition
to Trans-Caucasia and Armenia. He
stayed in those countries for three
months, and his work was carried on
under favorable conditions, excepting
a few weeks of rainy weather. The
plant life of those countries is very
sparsely represented at the botanical
institutions of Sweden, and some of
the localities which Mr.. Holmberg *
plored had never been Investigated by
an expert botanist. The collection of
plants made by Mr.. Holmberg on this
trip is quite rich, and it will be a valu-
able addition to the collections of the
institution which he represents.
James E. Sullivan, the American
Stockholm, upon his return to New
York a few days ago expressed his ex-
periences as follows: "There wasn't,
a deterrent note in the whole series,
and I have cen a better a
aged set of sports since I've been in
the game. One of the things which
particularly appealed to me was the
cheering of the Swedes upon the re-
suit of an American victory. All
around the entire stand from one Sec
ton to another the cheer, 'Rah, Rah,
Rah, America would ring out as spon-
%taneously as if the Swedes were yell
ing for their own. And when $4,000
people give the athletes Of another
nation such a tribute, it's something to
treasure in ones memory"
j. M. Johlin, a member of the Sec
ond chamber of the riksdag, who re-
Gently passed through America on
his way from Alaska to Sweden, ex-
pressed himself as follows on Swedish
politics.: "We have three principal
parties, the liberals, the conserva-
tives, and the socialists. The liberals
were placed in power last September.
They have 102 members in the second
chamber of the riksdag, while the So
have 62. In the first chamber the con
servatives have a majority of about
20. They therefore are still in a posi-
ton tt block legislation. The prin-
cipal political issues in which we are
interested now are the liquor ques-
ton, the question Of granting old age
pensions, and the matter of charging
the navy. The conservatives are for
building more and larger dread
thoughts, the socialists would drop this
question entirely, while we, in the
liberal party, favor building a limited
number of smaller vessels and with
the balance of the money provide a
system of old ~ pensions. We want
to devote more Of the revenue to de-
veloping the industries of the country
and providing for the social we'll be-
ing of the people. Instead of the army
we are substituting a system similar
to that used in Germany. All the men
are now required to do military serv-
ice. They have to serve 240 days in
all, within a period of three years. BY
this means we are able, should a con
%tingency arise, to put a strong volun-
teer army into the field on short no.
tice."
Stockholm is the city of telephones
! par excellence. There are ~, 900 ap-
paratuses installed, which is one for
every ~ man, woman and child in the
city. OF the large cities of Europe,
Copenhagen comes next, with one
phone for every lila inhabitants.
Kristiania is a good third with one for
every 14.2 persons. Next comes Hell.
singfors, 16; Berlin, 1866; London,
1858; Paris, 1868.
The work on the electri6cation of the
railway from Kiruna to the Norwegian
boundary is rushed with great force,
The power station ia located at Lule
liver. about IS miles from Gellivare,