Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1916-10-26
Important Events in Sweden,
Norway and Denmark
BRIEFS FROM OLD COUNTRY
Interesting Items From the Three
Great Kingdoms Of the North, se-
iected for Scandinavians and
Their Descendants.
BY MARTIN w. oDLAND.
Norway.

AVA way <iAA sNNatll, NdNS u ItNSht
dispatch, have watched with growing
Irritation the continued interference
with Scandinavian mails and commerce
on the part of Great Britain, and there
Is every Indication that some decisive
action will be taken shortly. Officially.
the parliaments of Sweden and Nor
way maintain sileace--an ominons ST.
lence, i'll the opinion of the political
press of the two countries~~but the
ban has been lifted ON the influential
newspapers published at Christiania.
Voices are raised In these papers, with
the evident consent of the government.
vigorously attacking Britain aud Brit
ish methods. The Morgenbladet, for
instance, says: While our storthing
continues to maintain an absolute ST.
lence concerning conditions which are
Of vital Importance to the country, the
press has the duty to lift the veil now
hanging over Norway's position la com
mercial politics. This position Is far
from enviable. Let us take some of
the most fragrant examples: "Norwe-
gian manufacturers Of oleomargarine
are compelled to obtain the permission
and consent of the British embassy for
each shipment of their product. even
destined for Denmark! The Norwe-
SpitZbergen company, for instance.
| ordered l. tons of oleomargarine for
| its own workmen on Spitzbergen, but
the British legation demanded pledges
| and securities of kind which 1t was
practically impossible to give. - There
fore Norwegian product, intended for
Norwegians working on Spitzbergen,
| had to remain In the warehouses, al
| though the workmen were in dire need
| Of 1t. 1t Is q peculiar coincidence that
| dealers In coal, in Norwegian ports, are
| at the same time dealers In fish and
blubber. Dealers are now compelled
| to turn over to the British embassy a
| certain percentage of their catch, In
return for the permission to buy coal
| from Great Britain. They are also
forced to obtain permission from the
| embassy to sell small portions of their
catch to outsiders" Verdens Gang de-
| clares that 1.-The control Of the British
even goes so far as to put their own
superintendent In Norwegian facto-
ries, having complete charge Of the
raw materials, by-products, finished
products, packing and shipping. When
| the Norwegian government proposed
| to have this work superintendent by
| two Norwegians, appointed by the Nor.
| wegian prime minister, Great Britain
| CURLY refused. This control even OK.
tends to the manufacture of packing
boxes for oleomargarine, which are
shipped from one Norwegian port to
another In Norwegian steamers, which
are using coal mined in England I!
Aftenposten calls the attention Of the
people to the following fragrant case
Fifty thousand bags of oatmeal, which
Norway needed for its own use and
which were stored in Norwegian ware.
houses, could not be put on the market
because the mill which had done the
grinding had supplied the German Red
Cross with 400 bags of Norwegian oat.
meal, with the special permit Of the
Norwegian government. A small Ger.
man steamer which reached Christi
ania In June this year desired 30 small
lOaves of bread for the 20 men Of Its
crew. A baker who was on the point
OF delivering the 80 loaves was or.
dered to desist, on pain Of being cut off
from American flour supply for the
rest Of the war--his name was to be
put on the blacklist by the British
Summing up the situation, the Morgen.
bladet. In later issue, says: "In a
world cataclysm the voice of the small
nation Is iost-or, at the best, 1t IL
SO insignificant that the big DULLES
need pay no attention to protests. How
ever, the example of the bee shows
that even where an attack may be fol
lowed by death 1t Is sometimes prefer
able to die fighting for a good cause,
rather than submit to humiliati0ns
which no sovereign nation ought to suf-
fer. This Is not time for clustering,
for vain threats, or vain cries for ven
geance when the Hateful word In spo-
ken, IL will mean struggle for life
and death. May heaven prevent such
an event-but Great Britain will have
to be more of an assistant to heaven
In this preventing than she has been
I'm the past"
The Norwegian steamer Roney has
been torpedoed in the arctic. It's crew
| was landed. according to dispatch
from Christiania. The dispatch says
that 1t Is feared that the Norwegian
steamer Viking has met similar fate
In the arctic, as wreckagc with it's
| name has been washed ashore.
A new type of ship has arrived at
Christiania from the ship yards Of
tSristianiafjord. The ship, which re-
sembles a huge barge, liz constructed
entirely of concrete except for the ribs,
which are steel. 1t is said the hull
will resist damage better than steel or
wood, and that the ship lis therefore
safer.
To Wash Black Silk.
rhA trx ~.