Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-18
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BookIorer

Summer wish to do so. The residue of
his opinion, after the nuggets of most
enjoyed places have been skinned cut.
seems to be that he has had O nth
better time in other places in the world
and has found more adventures worth
relating. "For, after all, the five COM
ponent parts of the region roughly
known as Scandinavia are matter-of-
fact lands, inhabited by a matter-of-
fact people. There is no Southern
ebullition, except in slight degree,
among the SwedeS. Even when they
try to be gay, the Scandinavians merely
give the impression of being self-con-
sciously naughty against their wills.
Thus it has sometimes been difficult to
realize, after many years in warmer,
livelier, more colorful countries, that
of the cold and austere lands of the
North" He has, however, found some
thing well worth saying, though his
book could by no means be used as a
guide book to Denmark, Sweden, Fin
land, Lapland, Norway and Iceland.
He would not wish it so to be used, for
he many times calls upon the gods, or
the trolls, to guard him against falling
into the guide book habit OF listing art
treasures or scenic beauties. Like
Harry Franck'S other books, this Is a
accompanied on his journeys by INSTALL
ments of his family, his wife, four chill
dren, his father. The Summer began
with May /, when he landed in Gothen-
burg, Sweden, from de luxe steamer
of the SwediSh-American Line, and
ended in September, when Winter chill
was already falling upon the Scandi-
navian countries. Some of the abound
ing characteristics of all these Northern
countries which he mentions as not
contributing to his enjoyment, and still
less to the enjoyment OF less sea-
soned ''vagabond," are cold Summer
weather, almost continual ram ana
mist. high prices, queer breakfasts, re-
semblance of the towns to our own
small towns in the Middle West, and
feather beds in cases as bed coverings,
which are never long enough and are
always falling off on the floor. He
missed many things which he finds in
other countries-world famous art coll
lections and architecture, gayety OF life,
interesting local customs and costumes
Except in few localities), rapid and
adequate transportation with some ex-
ceptions).
Mr.. Franck first visited Denmark,
which he calls the land of bicycles, be-
replaced that earlier form OF individual
transportation. Men, women and chill
dren of all ages ride bicycles every
where, and 1t Is so difficult to obtain
a drivers license for an automobile, and
BICYCLES are so favored in matters OF
right of way, that conditions do not
seem likely to change. He speaks most
enthusiastically of Danish porcelain,
which, he says, ranks highest in the
arb lln
Sweden, where the aristocratic tradi-
lions of the people, their conviviality
and epicureanism appealed to him. He
says, Were I sentenced to spend my
life somewhere in Scandinavia, I should
certainly choose the Swedish capital. F"
The Swedish "smorgasbord," or hors
doeuvres, aroused his amazement,
though he was somewhat disturbed in
his conventional ideas when he found
the same viands on the table for break
fast that had appeared the night before.
All varieties of dried, sailed, picked
fish, all varieties of sausage, various raw
vegetables, many kinds of cheese, nu-
merous cold meats, besides butter and
an assortment of biscuits and breads,
did not seem to an American necessary
for each meal. Flying from Stockholm
to Helsingfors was an interesting ex-
perience, and the many islands Of the
Stockholm Archipelago and the Baltic
made a beautiful downward view. In
Helsingfors Socialism seemed to be
somewhat more active than in Stock
holm, where the Socialists are very
nice people" There was some Com
munism also, but Mr.. Franck's opinion
is that Finland is too near the Russian
experiment, with its unhappy results Tor
practically all the people, for Com
nunism to be very successful there.
Lapland, extending over the north OF
both Sweden and Finland, Is a sort OF
no mans land-at least land OF nom
ads. The Lap moves about with his
herds of reindeer and when he settles
down as a regular farmer is rarely sue
cessful. Mr.. Franck hiked over the
heaths and boys of Lapland, sleeping In
the camps of the Swedish Tourist So
ciety and fighting mosquitoes. There IS
a Lapland express from Sweden which
sounds very civilized, and Is so.
X y \
Every one knows of the scenic Won
ders of Norway and thousands OF cruise
and land tourists visit them every year.
Mr.. Franck journeyed, by steamer,
train, automobile, pony and on foot 20
many less frequented places, where ne
found some of the best scenery and
most typical Norwegian life and was
relieved of the presence OF Mrs. Jonn
Bull and Miss America. He marveled
at the tiny farmsteads clinging to
shelves in the cliffs above fjords, as II
they would fall off at any minute, and
at the industry which could wrest a liv-
ing from such scanty, rock soil. Yet
in the doorways of some of the saeters,
or huts, where the women and children
go in Summer, high on the mountain
plateaus, to pasture their cattle, ne saw
silk-Stockinged women. The economic
struggle may be hard one in Nor
way, but her people are up to date.
Iceland did not impress Mr.. F'ranck as
very remarkable for anything, except
perhaps the dilatorinesS of her people,
who could never make up their minds
to start anywhere until nearly noon.
The government building at ReykJavlk
he characterizes, 1.-THE general atmos-
phere of the place was very much like
that of the Office of some mining COM
pany, say, in Butte, Mont" One OF
the most interesting sights" in all the
Scandinavian countries is the outdoor
museum, which reproduceS Scandlna-
Wan villages and farmsteads, with all
their buildings, of several centuries
ago. The first of these museums was
the work of Skansen at Stockholm, the
second of AnderS Sandvig at Lilleham-
mer, Norway; the third of Peter Holm
at Aarhus, Denmark. In gathering
material for her historical trilogy,
"Kristin Lavransdatter," and her te-
tralogy, 1.-The Master of Hestviken,
Sigrid Undset spent much time in these
outdoor museums.
X X X X
An autobiography which is also some
thing of a social history Of the old East
Side Of New York City is Jews With
out Money" by Michael Gold. 1t Is the
story of the authors childhood among
the tenements, basement shops and
pushcarts of the East Side. Incl
dentally it is also the story of many
others who were associated with his