The Parker post., 1916-05-06
F THE neutral ports of north
\ ern Europe one of the most
important and most pic

ern Europe one of the most
important and most pic
turesque is Bergen, Norway,
a third of which was swept away the
other day by 1858 first great con-
f1agration. In nearly thousand years
Bergen had never seen such prosper
ity as has come to it since the out
break of the war. 1t lies in north lati-
tude go degrees, just above the tip of
the British Isles and is the closest of
all the northern neutral ports to Amer
lea. In addition to this great advan-
tage, a remarkable mountain railway,
completed only six years ago, pours
freight and passengers into the port
from inland Norway, from Sweden,
Russia, Denmark and Germany, writes
Charles Phelps Gushing in the Kansas
City Star.
One result Of this happy combina-
tion of circumstances is that since the
war this city of eighty thousand or
ninety thousand population has gained
twenty-six new millionaires. 1t has
the largest merchant fleet in Norway
and stock in some Of it's steamship
lines has climbed from par to 500.
The recent fire, described as the
worst ever recorded in Norway, de-
stroyed the business section, with
many food warehouses, several of the
largest hotels, the electric plant, some
banks and newspaper buildings and a
number of schools. The loss was esti-
mated as not less than $15,000,000.
Bergen is losing no time about re-
building, and probably in few months
will be no worse off for the experience
than some of our own cities-as Chi
cago, San Francisco and Baltimore
have been. Only the tourist will be
the loser in the end-for much of the
'old town" was destroyed.
In Picturesque Setting.
There is not much danger, however,
that Bergen will cease to be admired
for picturesQueness. 1t lies at the
head Of long ford, on seven little
hills, and back of these hills loom
snow-capped mountains. It is like bit
of green Ireland set down in the bot
tom Of a stockade on high Scotch bens.
Bergen itself has the climate of April,
but on the barren rim of the cup round
about the season is winter.
In the streets of the compact little
town the babble of tongues is some
thing to compare with New York's
East side. Russians, Germans, Eng
lish, Norwegians, Swedes, Danes and
occasionally Dutchman or French
man gather here to buy and sell and
ship; the walters in the hotels all
speak at least three languages, and in
the rooms the rules are posted in four.
The little harbor is crowded with ships
of all sizes; new ships and new quays
are building and vessels change hands
every hour like stocks on the ex-
change. The sun gets it's first peek
into the valley on winter morning
at little past ten, then glides behind
mountain for while before it ap-
pears again. At three it is gone for
the day and the carpenters and masons
work on till supper time under arc
lights
Bergen looks little like Edinburgh
and has weather of much the same
brand-rain one minute, sunshine the
next, succeeded, perhaps, by a short
but ferocious blizzard. For some nine
hundred years the stock joke of the
town has been that the horses in
Bergen shy if they see a man without
an umbrella. At midday dinner every
one takes a long recess and the band,
even in winter, marches down the
street and plays for half an hour in
the city park. The tradition for this is
said to be German If so, Bergen comes
by 1t honestly, for it was once Ger
man city-a regular member in good
standing of the Hanseatic league.
Where the Old Hacks Go.
One of the advantages of travel is
that if you keep at it long enough you
occasionally discover some of the
things we all want to know. Now, I
have not yet journeyed far enough to
be able to say where the old pins go,
but am in position to state authori-
tatively that Bergen is the paradise of
the old-time hack. Do you remember
the hacks that used to stand in front
of the old Kansas City Union depot?
The hacks that clattered frantically
past the junction, with 'Wide-Awake"
screaming after their drivers to get