Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-02-25

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington, D. c.
Among the important capital cities
OF Europe and the world a new name
took it's place on January 1. This does
not mean that a new country has
sprung into existence, like Czechoslo-
vakia after the World war, but that
Norway, after calling it's great south
ern city "Christiania" for 300 years,
has changed it to "Oslo," resurrecting
a name which it bore for more than
800 years prior to 1924.
One might search the world over
and find few sites more admirably fit
ted to harbor great and thriving and
beautiful capital than that of this city
with the new-old name. Where the
Skagerak and the Kattegat-the chan
nelS that lead from the North sea to
the Baltic north Of Denmark-from
sharp peak like the top of a letter
a. great ford opens far into south
ern Norway. 1t is not a deep, somber
cash into towering mountains like
many of the fjords on the Atlantic
coast of Norway. 1t has a more hos
pitable aspect with relatively low
cliffs sloping walls covered with ever
green's, inviting bays and arms. AT
the innermOSt tip of this delightful,
winding, island-studded waterway,
some sixty miles from it's mouth, lies
Oslo. Innumerable little bays, blessed
with deep water, indent the shore near
the city, all filed with shipping. No
wonder Harald Hardraade selected
this forehead in 1850 as the place to
plant what he hoped would be the
great city of seafaring people. The
heavy commerce handled in past years
in Christiania-and today in Oslo
proves the value of his foresight.
But good as it is, the harbor is not
OSlo's only scenic asset. From the
scalloped shore the land rises on all
sides, gently at first, then sweeps ma
jestically into noble, forest-clad noun
tains The city has that rare combi-
nation, the beauty of the sea linked
with the beauty of bold hills and
peaks.
Christiania is in the latitude of Hud-
son bay and Kamchatka he is apt to
jump to wrong notion of the city's
climate. In summer balmy weather
holds sway in this amphitheater of
green hills dotted with beautiful sub
urbs and country estates. The deep
blues of hills and islands, the warm
colOrs of the houses, and the fruits
and flowers of the market places con-
Spire to create an illusion that one is
in the Sunny South. In the winter the
surrounding hills afford infinite oppor-
tunity for skiing and tobogganing,
sports which are dear to the Norwe-
gian heart.
Really a Modern City.
The ancient city of Oslo stood on
one bank of the Akers river, which
now flows through new Oslo. There
James VI of Scotland married Anne
of Denmark. There the famous first
giant monopoly, the Hansa league, had
a factory. A fire swept the old city
in 1924, nearly four centuries after it
had been founded, and when it was re-
built on the opposite bank of the river
by King Christian 1t acquired the
name Christiania. For years a suburb
has borne the name Oslo; thus the re-
cent change is comparable to New
York's taking the name of Yonkers.
In spite of its old associations, and
now the restoration of its ancient
name, Oslo is modern. Most of its
growth has taken place since the early
part of the Nineteenth century. About
the middle Of that century the popula-
ton of Christiania was some 10000,
and the city lay chiefly near the head
of Christiania ford. BY 1914 more
than 100000 people resided in the city,
and now Oslo is estimated to have
about 100000 Inhabitants. The city
has grown up the slopes.
The complex political relations that
Norway has had with its Scandinavian
neighbors and other countries is re-
fiected in the name by which its
chief city has been known and in the
names of its features. Christian "
for whom the city was named in 1924
was king of Denmark of which Nor
way was then a part The chief street
of the city, Karl Johans Gade, was
named for Berhadotte, Napoleon's
marshal, who was primarily king Of