Evening star., 1919-04-11


aFifteen years ago Stockholm had
more telephone subscribers than Paris
or London. And the population "i
Stockholm was then about that OF
Washington, D. C.
Move Is, Not Surprising.
TN view of stockholm's surprising
Industrial activity-iron founorles'
shipbuilding plants. sugar, TOBACCO;
cotton, leather, soap. iurnltule s,,r amu
food products factories-it Is not sur
rrising that the city should reach out
for new Industries like that OF motion
picture production.
"As a patron, as well as maker, OF
the motion picture Stockholm mas Pc
culiar qualifications. Stocknolm mas
in gayety-employing the term in no
opprobrious sense-but with this ais
tinction: in Paris the visitors hock
to places of amusement, IN Stocknoln
it is the home folk who rare fortn
Of an evening. Not alone the blades
and bellies, but the staid elder folk
seek the cafes, the concert halls and
the numerous theaters.
"When the movie invaded Stock
holm one suspects its rivals for pat
ronage were not the candy stores or
the dance halls. Instead the cinema
had to compete with the flower shops.
Of which Stockholm has more than
any other city of it's size, and the
concerts. A Stockholm shop girls dis
sipation is not sweetmeats, but flow
ers; the tbeaux go armed with bou-
ouets and not with boxes Of candy.
'To' the American who has done his
travelling in Europe with the admir-
able aid of the magic picture. scenes
from London, Paris and Vienna flash
more readily to mind than any of
Stockholm. Yet Stockholm. though In
tensely modern, is extremely pic
turesoue. Some call it the Venice of
the north. an apt enough comparison
If YOU will but reconstruct your Ven
ice in a setting of rocky islands and
craRlike peninsulas jutting among the
fiords of the Malar lake. where it
empties into an estuary of the Baltic.
Fortress Becomes Palace.
vikings built a fortress on the is
land commanding an entrance to their
inland sea- The fortress later became
a palace. Then came Berger Jarl. in
the midthirteenth century, and found
ed Sweden's overseas empire by an
expedition to Finland. To him also is
Of Stockholm.
"The island portion Of the modern
city, Staden (cfty). bears little trace
Of its history. Originally the city was
wood built and fire swept it time and
again. 1t suffered. too. from raids of
Danish kings. Once. in 1920, Christian
II of Denmark. to make sure OF his
hold on Swedish territory. assembled
the leading mobiles on the highest
point Of the island and decapitated
them. Thus II. the 81. spot came a5a, to ..b be
"Today Staden is connected with
other parts of the city by bridges. one
Of which, the Norrbro. or North
bridge, is stockholm's. Brooklyn
bridge in respect to trafHc' and its
"sweden's Longfellow wrote of this
bridge:
] ''Tower, heroes statues, palace. muses. fame
stand nobly mirrored lin the stream below;
While beneath marble. sveden's glory sleeps
"The Hour Is Twelve"
HAD he stood at midnight. or at
any other hour. in olden times. he
would not have written Of a clock
striking the hour. but of an old
watchman who came forth on the
tower OF st. James Church in the
! square below to chant:
''The hour Is twelve.
Gods mighty hand
Preserve our town
From fire and brand;
Tho hour il twelve"
J ION the same square Is the palace
upon the site of tho old royal resi-
dence which. only 200 years ago, burn
to the ground and nearly consumed
the body Of Charles XI. lying in state
at the time. and the future King
Charles XII. then a f1fteen-year old
boy.
Stockholm has no university, but
academies abound, including that
modelled after the French Academy,
and another devoted to science. For
Stockholm Is both the Pittsburgh and
Boston of Sweden. Its newspapers
carry extensive reviews OF current
French, German and English books.
yet comparatively few names Of
Swedish scientists. artists and writers
such as Linnaeus, Eorn and Ellen Key.
ra nonula rlx krlhWn in other lands