The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-05-21
LONGEST DAY BEGINS TO-DAY AT NORTH CAPE OF. NORWAY

From today until July 22, over two months. there will be continuous day-
 Land of the Midnight Sun" That
 little village near the North Cape has the longest day of any civilized com munity in the world, extending from May 21 to July g. during which per iod the sun ig at all times visible, ex- cept when obscured by clouds. The
 trip to the North Cape is now made every year by thousands of tourists, both European and American, and the season beginning today is likely to be the greatest in history, since many of those who go to Sweden for the Olympic games will likely extend their journey to the far-famed Land holm or Christian the tourist goes by rail to sTrondhjem, from which point the "Nordkap'' boats leave. These craft. while comfortable and seawor> thy. are not particularly luxurious, and those who demand the most se- lect of appointments would do well to leave North Cape off their itiner- ary. The tariff for the round trip from Trondhjem ranges from S75 to $1O0. The starting place is an inter- esting little city, and has cathedral dating from the twelfth century, in have been crowned. The trip in it's first stages offers many natural beauties of fjords and snow-clad peaks-almost, but not quite as grand and splendid as the views that delight the eyes of the tourists to the Rockies of the United States and Canada. As no seafarer would think of passing the equator without the observance of the prescribed rites supposed to propitiate Neptune, 30 it is in the crossing of the Arctic circle. The deity of the sea having been properly placated, the Nordkap boats proceed to Tromso, passing en route several magnificentIy beautiful islands. Trom- so is little city of some 10000 resi- dents, having largely postcard ana souvenir dealers and Lapps. The lat ter do thriving business in small and entirely useless articles fashion ed from bone with the least possible amount of toll, since the Lapp has a constitutional prejudice against work. Tromso is almost within the borders of the 'Land of the Midnight Sun" since for weeks during the Summer an hour of each twenty-four. Some 150 miles further to the North the boats stop at Hammerfest, whose three Or four thousand people are supported almost entirely by the cod liver oil industry. Hammerfest and North. are well within the mystic Land of the Midnight Sum-" but the end of the voyage comes only with the arrival of the tourist boat at Nordkap, a great rock that pushes out into the sea and towers a thou sand feet above it. The ascent of the towering rock is by no means easy and at the top the tourist finds a little restaurantand--if there are no clouds to obscure the view-the mid.i night sun. It is not such a wonder ful sight after all-a cold, distanct, apparently sall but burnt out ball of fire hanging just above the horizon. far out on the waste of waters. Then, as you watch and the booming a gun announces midnight, the tourist req Iizes that he has viewed what he came to see, buys few postcards, and boards the waiting vessel for the homeward trip. It is unique, but 1t is not overlapping to those who have .sseen America first"