Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1914-12-17
important Events In Sweden,
Norway and Denmark.
BRIEFS FROM OLD COUNTRY
interesting TERRA From ere Three
Great Kingdoms u the Ncrts, So.
lected for scandinavians and
Their Descendants.
sy MARTIN W, eolANn,
rssay

interesting letters from Norway
have already quoted, states HI his
latest epfstIe that the fear of war
hung heavily upon the people of Nor
way as he was writing There was q
general feeling that In spite Of Itself,
the country might be- drawn into the
conflict. Affenposten. the largest and
strongest paper In Cllriatiania SAYS.
81 IT were folly now To shut our eyes to-.
thu faAt that there Ii great danger.
Tlge situation Is such that we may at
any moment find ourselves involved IN
the war, and without even d chance.
To decide for ourselves which side we.
want to take Everybody admits that
Norway Is far from prepared To meet.
such q danger The army il small
and poorly equipped. And Id the mat
ter OF food supply on hand the eoun.
try Ii not in as good shape as are
the other Scandinavian countries.
Norway, continues Mr.. stromme. Ii.
about half as large again as the state.
OF Minnesota. hut on the 77 .000. 900
acres In Norway only one.nineteentl
part Ii tiliable soil. and Of this less
than one-half II actually titled Sweden.
Is one-third larger than Norway, has
twice as large d population, and four
times as much land under cultivation
Denmark II only one-eighth the size Of
Norway, but has about the same NUM-
Der of people and three times Al much
land under cultivation hi Norway
one-thirty ninth. III sweden ne.tNants
NTH and IN Denmark three-tifths III the
total land area Is cultivated Iii other
words, the number of acres under euls
tiSafion IL Ia Norway about equal to
the number OF people, while in Sweden
ii Is twice, and In Denmark three times
as large. While tie population Of
Norway has been steadily increasing
the number OF persons engaged in
farming Is less than Ii was 80 years
ago AS illustrative OF the situation
we may take the figures from the 1a-
diciai district In the southwestern corr
ner Of the country. This III ore OF
The comparatively rich districts. Some
data just published shows that IN.
this district the deposits fin the nav
ings banks amount To s9t for each
man, woman ard child In the district,
while the average Of savings deposits
per capita for the whole country IL
about seventy dollars. lii Lister and
MandeI, which comprise the ,iiatrict
spoken Of. the debt or the several com
nunities fl less than pile.third Or the
average for the whole country. Now,
the population or this district has in
the last so years increased from "a.
900 TO $4,000, although there has dur
ing that period been loss Of 81.
coo by emigration TO America But
the number of people Oh the farms has
gone down from IA 900 To d.. 00o. And
similar state of affairs obtains In
the other districts of Norway. How.
eTer, while farming Ii not, then, as
popular and Hourishing an 1t might
be, tlia country Is now, owing to spe-
ciai Efforts of the government and mu-
nicipal authorities. fairly well sup
Piled with corn and -four and other
necessary food The city of Chris.
tfanfa has laid I'm supply and has
BID hand at the present writing 10000
bushels OF rye a0s00a bushels Of bar
ley. and $4,000 bushels OF wheat Be
sides which the city has in its ware
houses 100000 pounds Of wheat -four
and 10000 pounds Of rye and bar.
ley -four. These stores the city will
sell as occasion demands. The prices
now fixed Reem pretty hish: Wheat,
kroner $3.50 and Gold Medal wheat
-four, kroner 81 per 100 Kilograms.
DIR. F'ritiof hansen believes In the
possibilities OF commerce between Nor
way and Siberia by means OF the ocean
route north of Norway, and In . re-
cent lecture before the Geographical
Society OF Norway ret forth bis views,
based upcn observe lions made during
his siberian expedition last summer,
Commerce between the two countries.
Doctor Nansen believes, could be
maintained from the flrst Of August
until October. A feet OF vessels
should be able TO make the voyage Cur
ing this period. but 1t Is not probable
mat any DuE FEEnEB NUA&N MANI ah1i@
than one tour. Ice conditions through
the Kara sea might be observed by
means OF weekly aeroplane fights. A
general idea Of the zee condition for
the season might be blamed BY study.
lng the nleteorSIogica data from the
preceding season, as 1t has been OBJ
served that severe winter In Siberia
ID invariably followed By bad Ice con
ditions I'm the Kara sea
Al rsaristiania dispatch says that the
report that the Norwegian vessel He'll
con was fired upon by German war
shin eff the coast OF Chile and com
PEELED to deliver Its cargo of coal has
caused d sensation III the Norwegian
capital. The captain of the Heiieon
reported from Ansofagasta that the
German stopped him within Chilean
satora and compelled him 90 deliver
his -2rgo Of coal to the cruiser. The.
Heiicon was bound for 3 ueutrsI port.
The captain stated that d blg hole was
torn In the port side ~ tie Heiicon By
shot from flae cruisers Runs.