The Oakes times., 1913-05-15
sW EDEN.


In the death of Thore Fries which
occurred recently at Uppland, Swedene
lost one of its most prominent scien-
fists. He was 81 years of age and
had been in active life up to the last
few days. He was son of the great
botanist, Magnus Fries, and himself
also became recognized for his work
in botany as we'll as other sciences.
At the age of 25 he acquired his de-
gree of doctor of philosophy and from
that time on was connected with the
various schools as botanist and pro-
fessor of economy. In 1899, at the
age of 81, be retired from school
work with a pension and since that
time has been working along individ-
ual lines as he chose. He was a man
of wide interests and the author of
some notable scientific works.
P. Hellberg, a paper maker at Cote.
borg, has for the past five years been
experimenting with the making of
yarn from the Swedish kraft" pa
per and has now successfully pro-
duced an article that gives every
promise of being a valuable one. The
statement is made that the yarn he
now produces is 20 per cent. stronger
than any hitherto made from paper
fibre. Rope, carpets and rugs and
other weavings made of this yarn are
waterproof and almost fireproof. So
confident is the inventor of the value
of his discovery that company cap
italized at 100000 crowns has been
organized at Arvika to put the paper
yarn products on the market.
The railway department is at pres
ent making some experiments with
ball bearings in a passenger coach in
use on the Stockholm-Goteborg line,
the idea being to displace the babbit
bearings in use if the results justify
this change. A first-class coach has
been fitted out with ball bearings at
the Orebro factory and the first OBJ
servations are very satisfactory. The
department has now ordered second
coach with view to further expert
ments The claim is made that ball
bearings will prevent the heating
which is SO common in the old style
of bearing and at the same time the
friction is reduced and the coach re-
quires less motive power.
The Vinberg community in Halland
has taken drastic action to suppress
the Gipsey evil by passing an ordin-
ance providing for a fine of 1000
crowns to any one in the commune
that is guilty of selling or renting
house to Gipseys. Sweden is during
the summer months infested with
these wandering mendicants who live
mostly by begging but do not draw
the line at stealing and minor crimes
to gain their livelihood. The working
of the Vinberg ordinance will be
watched with interest and it may be
that other communities will also do
something to discourage the evil.
The new railway line between Ka-
rungi and Mataring is now in full
swing and the authorities expect to
have the line pretty well completed
this summer. The undertaking is
quite big one as the country through
which the line goes is marshy in plac-
es and requires heavy filling for the
roadbed. The rails are already laid
as far as Korpikyla village. It is ex-
pected that the contractor will have
force of men numbering well up to
thousand on the job during the sum-
mer. The new line will open up a
very fine piece of country, besides
making some desirable connections
for tourists.
The tourist hotel on Vising island
near Stockholm has been sold to the
theosophical society which will estab-
lish school in the building. 1t is
also stated that the Kungsgard estate
has also been leased to the society.
The cult has been making quite
marked gains in the country in recent
years. Katherin Tingley, a high
priestess of the theosophical school,
visited Sweden some years ago and
attracted much attention to herself
and her doctrines owing to the sue
cess of her school at Point Iona,
California, which is center. of the
theosophists in the United States.