The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1950-01-05


yet ready to live in.
This is easy to understand when
one considers that all building ma
terials must be shipped in from the
south of Norway. Thus the build
ing program might be stymied for
three or four weeks just because
some little wiring material must be
shipped in from faraway Oslo.
Building activities are not made
any easier by the fact that from
October to February there is no
daylight and a rigorous Arctic win
ter with gales and blizzards sets in.
However, to compensate for some
of these hardships, the people in
the northland can enjoy the wonders
of the aurora borealis-the great
northern nights. / shall never for
get the sight of this glorious display
of nature on the ship between Mar
vik and Harstad, Norway.
Great quavering fingers of light
shot across the heavens-sometimes
white, then red, purple and orange
in ever changing patterns until one
was struck completely dumb.
This was a more spectacular and
beautiful display of lights than
hundred Radio City Music Halls
could put forth. People who have
seen the Midnight Sun say that it
is even more thrilling and impressive.
Also, in these northern areas live
the Lapps-a colorful little, nomadic
people who still make their living
from the reindeer. The reindeer
provides his transportation, meat,
milk, clothing and even materials
for shelter.
So considering these unusual
factors of the northland, one
can see that there are some compen-
sations to an otherwise bleak exist
ance.
Oslo, being the nations Capital
and largest city with 100000 inhabi-
tants, is naturally the center of Nor
wegian culture and industry. The
city itself is not particularly attract
i've enthusiastically and in it's gen.
eral layout. However, its natural
surroundings make it one of the
most beautiful capitals in the world
AT the foot of the city lies the
Oslofjord which brings oceans going
vessels to and from every point in
the world. In the summer the Os-
lofjord becomes alive with sailboats
of every description, and everybody
goes swimming and sunbathing to
make up for the long winter months
of darkness. To the rear of Oslo
are group of very imposing hills.
From these hills the view of the city
and the fjord below compares favor
ably to San Francisco, and / imagine
Rio de Janeiro.
The coloring of the sky and the
cloud formations seen from this hill
are mysteriously beautiful. The dark
blue clouds blend into similarly col
ored hills in the distance, and give
one the feeling that this is the
land of Peer Gynt, the Mountain
King and the trolls.
In these beautiful hills everybody
turns out at least once week to
go walking or skiing. Little tots
who have just learned to walk are
put on skis, and in several years
become real experts.
1t becomes quite embarrassing for
a full grown American from the
plains of the Midwest to struggle
stiffly along on skis while myriads
of "small fry" zoom in and around
him like so many little pursuit
planes.
| l think you can see that the real
feature of Oslo is it's superb scenery
and natural surroundings, offering
in both summer and winter a great
playground for it's inhabitants. Small
wonder that these people in spite of
many hardships still look so strong
and rosy-cheeked.
Before leaving the topic of skiing
completely we should mention the
great "ski-jump" which is built in
the Oslo hills. From this terrifying
structure, looking like a gigantic
sliding board for John Bunyan,
young Norwegians go hurtling out
into space like graceful eagles.
In February the city turns out
enmasse to see the ski jumping con-
test at the Holmenkollen Ski Jump.
During Easter vacation likewise
there is a mass exodus to the noun
tains several hours away from Oslo
where everybody skis and greets the
sun for the first time after a long
winter.
Painting seems to play tre-
mendous role in the culture of the
the people. Most every home has at
least several original oil paintings,
and many homes are veritable mu-
seums.
To indicate the vital interest in
art here it is we'll to mention the
Vigeland Park. This array of
hundreds of statues in public park
has no equal in the world-at least