Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1913-05-01
NORWAY.

The Aardal settlement will have a
new church as a gift from Aardal peo-
pie in America.
Three boys ran away from the
Linden school home, near Stavanger,
stole sailboat and sailed straight
into the North Sea. But they soon
took seaslck, and decided to cast the
anchor. The cable broke, and the
anchor was lost. Now they hoisted
the sails again and started in a south
erly direction. But they did not get
far. There was very little food on
board the boat, and so the boys had to
return. They were not acquainted
with the waters, and the boat soon
struck the ground, jumping from one
skerry to another. Soon the keel was
knocked In, and the water poured into
the hold. Finally the Adventures had
to run their craft ashore. and there
was an end to the two days expedl-
ton. Now the boys are in a tight
place where they have plenty of time
to regret their exploits.
More small towns and hamlets In
Norway use electricity than in any
other country, owing to the abundance
of water power. In the country dis
tricts not only are there plants for
each collection OF five or six houses,
but in many cases even small farms
have their own generating plants.
In Kristiania the electric plant is
owned and managed by the city The
plant was built in 1891 by a German
firm and cost $2,144,O00, Of which
$1,340,O00 has already been paid off
from annual profits. Notwithstanding
the large profit made by the city, cur.
rent Is furnished consumers at very
low prices. For lighting purposes the
rates, per kilowatt hour, during the
last ten years, have been as follows:
1902 and 1908. 1874 cents; 1904, 1879
cents; 1905 to 1910, S.04 cents; 1911,
6.97 cents. For technical purposes the
rate has always been the present one,
5.36 cents per kilowatt hour. On con.
tracts the prices are even lower. Thus,
the lighting rate is $3.50 per 100 watts
per year and rates for technical uses
are s24.12 per horsepower up to Is,
and $18.76 per horsepower If more
than Is horsepower is used.
Bergensfjord, the second ship of the
Norwegian-American line, was launch
ed April with elaborate ceremony at
Birkenhead, Eng. AS the big hull,
over which waved the Norwegian flag,
slid on the ways into the River Mer-
sey the official party, including the
staff of the Norwegian consulate in
Liverpool and officers of the company,
cheered with the crowd that invari-
ably gathers to witness the plunge Of
a big liner from its land home into the
sea. Bergensfjord is sister ship to
Kristianiafjord, launched from the
same yard November 20, and now be-
ing prepared for her maiden trip
across the Atlantic. The new vessel,
like her sister, is $50 feet with beam
Of 81 feet and tonnage of about 49,
900. The latest devices for insuring
safety have been provided, particu-
larry the double bottom which win
minimize IL not wholly prevent any
serious injury from submerged ice
bergs. Nine water-tight bulkheads ex.
tend from the bottom to the upper
deck and In addition the vessel win
be provided with wireless telegraphy
and submarine signalling apparatus.
The Norwegian-American line, incor-
porated as Den Norske Amerika LIME,
Is subsidized by the Norwegian gov
eminent and the project Of an indie
pendent line between America and
Norway has been made national
movement by Norwegians on both
sides of the Atlantic. A third vessel
Of the fleet is to be called Trandhjems-
ford, the construction of which is
planned for the near future.
A mass meeting was held at Stryn,
Nordfjord, to discuss the best ways
of making use Of the wild berries of
the locality. The result was that a
committee was elected to make ar
rangements for drying. picking, and
selling the wild berry crop. The i'm
portance of this crop may be inferred
from the fact that in Harnindal, a
small valley, blueberries were sold for
$500 last rail-.
A proposition to establish sepa.
rate department Of education has been
turned down by the government be.
cause II would increase the expenses
to an unwarrantable extent.
Gullik Medgaard, Tunhood. found
out to his own cost the truth of the
old saying that goats eat everything"
One evening while he was milking the
goats in the barn his pocketbook
dropped out without his knowledge.
Returning to the house he missed it.
and as he could not find 1t in the house
he went into the barn second time
to look for 1t. Yes, indeed! A goat
was just enjoying so kroner (s1S.5o)
bill. and he just saved It, though in a
very mutilated condition The rest of
the money l24.20-had gone into
the NAV If the greedy beast. Only
few strips Of leather was left