Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1916-07-20
NORWAY.

Perhaps no neutral country has de-
rived so much advantage as Norway
from the abnormal situation brought
about In the shipping world by the
war. One Of the reasons for this was,
Of course. the size of the Norwegian
mercantile marine, which ranged
fourth among the commercial fleets of
the world, and another is that Norwe-
gian shipping, instead of being to any
considerable extent organized into reg
ular lines, as Is the case with the ship
ping Of England and Germany. is
mostly devoted to the tramp" trade,
and therefore Is highly mobile. AL
ready during the last months Of 1914
Norwegian ship owners had made huge
profits, but the swift upward leap of
freight rates in the course of 1915
brought such golden harvest to them
as they had never known before. Only
few voyages sufiiced to bring In net
profits which largely exceeded the
whole capital of the companies con-
cerned. Even at the most inflated
prices the investment turned out well,
as dividends of so and 100 per cent
were not rare. In the case of the
Felix company and the Grefstad &
Herlossen company dividends of 200
per cent were distributed for the year
1915. The consequence of the prospect
of such huge returns as these was that
new companies sprang into existence,
and in some cases the founders had
not the slightest idea of where they
were going to obtain the ships with
which to carry on the intended bust
ness. Recently a Norwegian shipping
paper published an estimate, which
did not profess to be complete, that In
the year 1915, IA new shipping COM
panles were founded in Norway, with
q total capital of about $17,750,000.
Existing companies also raised new
capital to the extent of $5,500,O0O. A
similar activity has been going on dur
ing the present year, and II Is esti-
mated that so far 55 new companies
have been formed, with a total capital
of So, 100000, while three old concerns
have increased their capital by 81, 40O,-
600. In Germany. judging from recent
articles in the Hamburg press, these
developments are causing no small
amount of concern, because 1t is rec
ognized that there Is an absolute GER
tainty that another powerful competi-
tor is arising, who will enter into for
midable rivalry with German shipping
after the war is over. 1t is true that
most of these new Norwegian .compa-
MES have acquired ships from Greece,
Spain. Portugal and other less impor-
tant maritime countries, and have paid
high prices for old vessels, which
mostly do not come up to modern re-
quirements in the matter of cargo ca
pacity, safety and speed; but ut the
same time 1t cannot be denied that
these old tramps, In the hands of
astute. businesslike Norwegian own
ers, who are not hampered by re-
strictive legislation, are more powerful
weapons of commercial warfare than
they would be in the possession of
their former Portuguese or Spanish
owners.
Miss Molla Bjurstedt, from Norway.
and George NJ. Church, intercollegiate
champion. won the mixed doubles clay
court title by beating Mrs. Harry
Bickel of Toronto and Conrad Doyle
in two straight sets Gil, go.
A salmon weighing about 35 pounds
was recently caught In Osterfjord. and
hotel keeper in Bergen paid $50
for II.
The so-called Monks church in Stav-
anger which is a relic from the middle
ages, is to be repaired at cost of
5000. In connection with the cathe-
dral It Is to be used for confirmation
classes, weddings. baptism services,
etc.
About three months ago the city
government of Trondhjem opened
public fish store. During the first
month $500 sales were made and
there was a handsome profit. though
the price was reduced as much as 90
per cent on certain kinds Of fish.
A burial chamber was struck in an
excavation at Time, Jaderen. II Is
~ feet long and 2 feet wide. and made
of powders. Conservator Guessing of
the museum Of Stavanger has reported
that the find dates from the time of
the migrations. or the fifth century of
the Christian era. Among the objects
found in the tomb were remains Of
sword, spear. two bronze buckles, a
fire flint, and remains of an earthen
jar in which food had been placed for
the benefit of the person for whom the
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