Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1916-11-30
Norway.

pNsTcN IN TIE NEW IuEk ENtutnk nA@A
on the wonderful activity OF the Morse
men In shipbuilding. The Norwegians
are keeping the shipbuilders az America
busy supplying ships for the merchant
marine Of Norway. '4One yard" says
the article In the Evening Mail. stook
orders In September for ak ships Of
5000 tons each and four at $3.50 each.
Another booked orders Tor three ships
OF 5000 tons each. Charles nj. Schwab
contracted to build 3,0o0-toh ship In
his Union Iron Works plant at San
Francisco. and the Willamette Iron
and Steel company engaged to con.
struct two vessels of 5.TU0 tons each.
All these for Norwegian account. OF
the total OF a0S.6S6 tons OF ships con-
tracted for In September I'm American
yards nearly one-half--95, 600 tons--is
to Norway's credit. Norway has
population OF about 100000 or less
than half that of the city of New York,
The whole government revenue only
equals what the city of New York
spends on the one item or Its public
schools. The wealth OF the country In
negligible compared with that of the
United States, the richest nation Of
the world, Until n few years ago the
merchant marine of Norway was made
up Of small craft. or vessels bought
secondhand from the British or the
Germans. Enphemisticniiy the Morse
men We're referred to ms the junkmen
of the sea. They could take ships
that others considered past the are Of
usefulness, patch them up and keep
them In service an unconscionnble
number OF years. A change seems to
have come over the Norwegians They
no longer seek the mntlquated. They
want the newest md the best. Their
ship owners have made tremendous
profit out of the war. Their old aud
cheap ships have paid for themselves
over and over again. They have put
their profits Into additional ships. buy
ing wherever they could md not hag-
Cling over prices ms formerly. Nor
weginn shIpyards have been flooded
with orders and new shipyaris have
been built Some critical observers
have said Norway has gone ship mad;
that the people are straIning their
credit TO the utmost In order to set
ships, and that II there should be q
collapse In ocean rates Norway will
be hard hit financially. Possibly this
In so. but anyone who expects normal
rates on sen freights for the next fonr
or Ave years Ii likely 10 be tiisappoint-
ed. Assuredly Norway does not. and
the Norwegians rank among the
shrewdest of maritime people. Amer
leans have looked upon Norwegians
az hardy. slow. dull and piodding
people. There liz more OF enterprise,
Imagination, daring In what Norway
Is doing than has been displayed In
ocean trade by America In more than
haif d century. II the Norwegians'
vision LIS proved TO have been good,
America. mighty America, may rank
below Norway In the carrying trade
Of the sen, may have 10 pay tribute to
Norwegian shipbuilders to have Amer
ican-made goods transported to for
eign markets, may see, when II Is too
late, what the Norsemen have seen
early. Norway is embarked on great
adventure. III fortune fayors her she
will be third among maritime nations
only Great Britain and Germany
ranking higher. She will demonstrate
what small and poor nation, animat-
| ed by spirit of enterprise and c0ur-
| age, can do"
| Some time ago the Aero Club Of the
United States hung up prize Of $780,
| 900 for the first successful airplanc
| dight across the Atlantic, and Norway
| will enter the contest. along with Eng
land. Sweden. the United States and
Denmark The aviator for Norway
win be G. A. Kuibeck. His plan is TO
fly from Christiania via the British
isles. Mr.. kulbeck has received his
training MS aviator In the French
schools. He will be accompanied by
Torarin Johnson, an Icelandic enGi-
neer, who since 1905 has been In the
employ of the Wright brothers In
Ohio. After Christiania Mr. Kulbeck
will make Stavanger his FIRST stopping
point. Thence he will fly across the
North sea to Peterhcad. Scotland,
from which place he will continue
overland to Falmouth In south Eng
land. From Falmouth the passage
will be across the open Atlantic to ut.
Johns, In Newfoundland. The last
lap of the journey will be from st.
Johns to New York. Knlbeck win fly
In n hydroairpiane equipped with a II
cylinder motor Of 500 horse power.
The machine will be capable Of flying
~ hours without stopping.
4 dispatch from Christiania OF re-
cent date says that Alfred Gabrielsen.
formerly Of Minneapolis. secretary Of
the rwegian-American chamber of
commerce at Chicago. iectured before
the Commercial club of Chrfstiania on
the possibilities of trade between Nor
way and the United States. He
showed how the commercial relations
between the two countries had In
creased since the war began. While
formerly the principal imports to Nor
way from America were foodstuffs,
they now include nearly all useful