Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-07-30
OLAF'S
CELEBRATED AT
MAPLELAKES sun.
Norsernen Of Red River Val
ley Gather at Picnic for
Speeches.

Speeches.
About 1900 Norwegians of the Red
river valley travelled yesterday morn
ing to Maple Lake from q number OF
towns in North Dakota and Minneso-
ia in automobiles bedecked with the
Star-Spangled banner and pennants
each bearing the name of the society
to which the passengers belonged. An
elaborate program, including speech
es, choral singing and band concert,
was carried out, and at n time near
ly 5000 people were on h ground,
the crowd having been considerably
augmented by the summer cottagers
who live along the shores of the lake.
The Grand Forks delegation, men,
bers Of Warden lodge Of Sons of Nor
ay as ell as of the Bjarne singing So.
cfety, left early in the morning in a
long procession of automobiles. The
weather was ideal, and the trip to
Maple Lake was made without
toward incidents.
About 2 o'clock the band of Fertile,
the picnickers to the speakers stand
OF shrdl hrdl mfwyp fmfwyp m m m
where the program Of the day was
carried out. The union choir of sing
ers of the Bragg (Thief River Falls),
(Crookston) and Bjarne
'(Grand Forks) societies rendered a
number of songs and then Oluf Vaks-
Wig of Grand Forks mounted the plat
form to introduce the chief speaker Of
the day, A. H. Lindelie.
Spoke in Norwegian.
Mr.. Lindelie who spoke in Nor
weigian. said in part, as follows:
Some among us believe that it is
improper for us as Americans to cell
citrate the Seventeenth of Mya. This
is a narrow point of view. The Seven
teenth OF May stands for the same
principles and ideals as the Fourth
Of July. There are also some among
US who believe it wrong for us as
Americans to celebrate st. Olaf's day.
This is also narrow m~fndedness. Olaf
something more than just a Nor
wegian. He was n of the great men
in the history of the world because
he vas imbued with great ideals and
because he sacrificed his life for his
ideals. He is also great because he
conquered in death. Therefore we
name him Saint Olaf" I
The speaker then briefly. reviewed
the life of the Morse king who made
Norway one country and made the ma
ton Christian. and some Of the char
acteristic traits of the king and his
age were applied by Mr.. Lindelie to!
present day conditions in America.
Speaking about the "hyphen'' in ma
~tionality, Mr.. Linde1ie said:
For the last three years 1t has
been the custom to refer to the hy-
phen when people gathered at an oc-
casion like this. 1t would not look
well II I were the exception from the
rule. 81
II want you to understand that I
do not feel humbled in the least be-
cause I descend from the land Of
Saint Ilaf. Let me say that every one
who is ashamed of his mother and
his home land is a mean u who is
not worthy Of being a citizen in any
country.
The "Hyphen Eaters"
"Some scribbler recently said in a
magizen article that the hyphen real
ly was the same as the minus char
acter. For instance, when we say,
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS." it should
mean: Norwegian less American
and the result is: Nothing. This
smart fellow forgot to say that Nor
wegian and American Ire identical.
Granted that it is SO, the man is in a
way right. If to be Norwegian is one,
and to be American is also one, then
one less one makes nought. But his
method is wrong. If a Norwegian
horse gets first prize. in Norway and,
after being taken to America, also
gets first prize, it is difficult to under
stand that one of these two prizes will
result in the complete disappearance
of the horse. Furthermore, it Is dan.
gerous for these hyphen-eaters to ad.
NIT that Norwegian Is also Number
one. 3
II may not be nearly as smart a.
this scribbler. But, anyhow, I will
venture a new hypothesis regarding
the hyphen. It is true that in tn
Roman script the hyphen looks likt
Gothic script which is used so 'widel!
in Norway, the hyphen consists Of twt
parallel and horizontal dashes, ant
this character is in mathematics ar
Indication Of equality. Thus it would
be in English. One equals one. II
common language 1t would be Nor
wegian-American, that is, Norwegian
equals American.
Ideals Are the Same.
This 1 take to be the true signin
canoe Of the hyphen, at least, as ia
as Americans of Norwegian descen
are concerned. You, Sons and Daugh
ters Of Norway, who have Saint Olaf
and Sverre's blood coursing in you
veins: Can there be any other sig
n%ifcance of the hyphen- Haral'
Haarfagre fought for the same ideal
as our Lincoln: Union. Sverre 'spok
against Roma in behalf of religion
liberty just like the pilgrims who emf
grated to the shores Of America an,
formed the beginning of this nation
Falsen and Christie, the men of Eids
void, wrote into the constitution Q
Norway the same, immortal principle
which Franklin wrote into America
constitution. The colors In the Nor
wegian flag are the same as In TIL
american. Saint Olaf fought and die
for the same ideals for which .Ameri
ca and her allies are fighting today
Progress and civilization. Therefor
I feel warranted in suggesting tha
the fhyphen from now on means tn
sign of equality"
Referring to the possibility the
Norway may be drawn into the wa,
MI, Lindelie said that every MOI
wegian In America would stand b