The Coolidge examiner., 1932-08-26

tor sees first, as he nears the Swed-
iSh coast, are those that encircle
the harbOr of GOthborg (GOthen-
burg), chief shipping center and
commercial port of the country; for
the usual approach to Sweden is
by the lonely passage" that rounds
the bleak northern tip of Scotland
and then threads down among the
islands in the Kattegat.
Goteborg and Stockholm are
linked by a road of water, the Gotta
canal. This connects the North and
Baltic seas and the large inland
lakes, Vanern-the largest lake in
Europe excluding Ladoga and One
ga, in Finland and Russia-and Va
tern and Malaren. The series Of
locks that provide for the varying
levels in the route-the highest
point is 30S feet above the Baltic
were an engineering triumph
when constructed nearly cen
tury ago.
Through Gotta Canal.
North of this belt Of water is an
other lake district" including the
Fryken lakes of Varmland, Lake
Siljan is Dalecarlia, and Dellen in
Halsingland, along the eastern
coast. Farther north come the ex-
tremes of summer and winter. Where
the Arctic circle cuts through the
fields along the Norwegian bound
ary the sun is visible for "a hours
of the day for seven weeks in June
and July. From any of the ac-
cessible mountain peaks the mid
night sun is a breath-taking specta-
Gle of magnificence.
With a few outstanding excep-
tions, there are no striking eX-
tremes of wealth and poverty in
Sweden. There are no slums in
Jonkoping, for instance, though it
is the home of the world-famouS
safety match, one of the most i'm
portant manufactures of the coun-
try. Eskilstuna steel, an equally
familiar trademark, has not pro-
duced a Swedish Pittsburgh of vi
cious volumes of smoke.
The miners at Kiruna, north Of
the Arctic circle, live in a model
community of neat, modern houses;
and Falun, center of the Bergs-
lagen mining interests, suggests
neither luxury nor squalor, al
though one corporation, generally
said to be the Oldest in the world,
has held continuous possession
since 1884 of the great mine, Stora
Kopparberget, with its vast under
ground pit.
Nearly All Live Comfortably.
The ordinary comforts Of life are
within the reach of the majority.
With a highly developed telephone
system, business and social matters
are handled largely over the wire.
At the hint of a delay, when a cali
is made. the Swedish operator an
swers, not Just a minute" but I'm
| the wink of an eye" and she means
literally and expeditiously just that.
The main railway lines, like the
telephone, are state-owned. Private
lines supplement rather than rival
this service, which includes about
- .l:.d &c +ba to+o1 yoilwav Tni1papc
of the country. Sweden has a more
extensively developed railway sys-
TEN, in proportion to population,
than any other European country
Third class is cheap and clean. Sec
one far outranks the ordinary Eu-
ropean second, and first offers lux
urious means of travel.
The electrified railway that is
farthest north in the world runs
from Boden, below the Arctic circle,
to Norvik, Norway's always ice-free
port, through which much of Swe-
denis iron ore is shipped. The elec-
trical current is supplied from POr-
Jus. a modern industrial town that
has sprung up in the wilderness Of
% years ago. The machine room
at Porjus is sunk into a blasted
mountain wall at a depth Of 165
feet, a precaution that gives hint
of the low temperatures of the Arc
| tic winter.
Electricity, derived from water
| falls and rivers, is being substituted
by modern industry as fuel that in
time will supplant the black coal
which Sweden lacks. Black coal
heads the list of imports, and keeps
the balance Of trade unfavorable to
Sweden, but white coal is beginning
to take its place
From the depths of the forests of
Sweden-they cover approximately
three-ffths of its land area-come
the commodities that head the ex-
ports. Wood pulp, planed and un-
planed boards. paper, beams, spars,
mastwOod, and box boards provide
nearly half of the nations annual
revenues from exports,