USA > Oregon > The Oregon native son, 1900-1901 > Part 8
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From Hamburg we visited Bremen, and Friederichsruh, as well as Lubeck. and I expected to make some general observations thereon, but have been prevented from doing so. During the past two days (November 3d and 4tli) we enjoyed glimpses of Kiel, Schleswig, and Flensburg-all these in Schleswig- Holstein. Again I have been too con- stantly occupied getting around and · viewing these interesting Old-World lo- calities to find space for jotting down impressions.
Christiania, Norway, Nov. 8, 1899.
My last budget, signed at Flensburg, Germany, the 4th, was but a hasty and very imperfect outline of the much we had seen in the ten days it covered- hence I will recur here to some things connected with Germany.
We visited the docks in Hamburg: and, utilizing a tig, made the circuit of the harbor. The activity of that mart is something astonishing-the number and
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variety of floating craft constitute a be- wildering maze to a visitor from other lands. While on this feature I will call attention to the magnitude of Western Europe's (Nor' sea ports) ocean steam marine. First, the French line from Havre; second, the Red Star line- Netherlands-from Antwerp; third, the Holland-American line from Rotter- dam; fourth, the North German Lloyd line from Bremen and Bremershaven; fifth, the Hamburg-American line from Hamburg and Cuxhaven; and sixth, the Danish United line from Copenhagen. The latter company has a fleet of 120 steam vesels sailing the seas over.
From Hamburg we visited Bremen, and through the kindness of friends there were shown most features of spe- cial interest to visitors, but we have not the time to record a tithe of the many interesting things observed day after Gay. However I must mention one nota- ble instance of reckless extravagance in- dulged in. The "Rathskeller" (munici- pal cellar) of Bremen contains "butts" or hogsheads of Rheinwein (Rhudes- lieimer) stored there since away back in 1653-and the custodian furnishes an of- ficial estimate of the appreciation in value of said wine. at stated intervals, on the basis of allowing for accrued interest on original cost. Here is the document itself in plain English:
Rose Wine in the "Rathskeller" of Bre- men.
A calculation of the value of Rudesheimer stored there since 1653, (on basis of 3 decim- als).
In the year 1653 the cost price for "ein stuck" Rhein wine (288 gallons) was Gold- thaler 300 ($229.17 about). At the expiration of five years. that is in 1658, the, price for the same, calculated with 10 per cent com- pound interest (being 5 per cent interest and 5 per cent leakage). Goldthaler 483. After the year 1658, allowing only 714 per cent compound interest (5 per cent interest and 216 per cent for leakage), the cost price of the same quantity of this wine would be:
In the year 170S Goldthaler ... 17,968
In the year 1758 Goldthaler. 668,243
In the year 1808
Goldthaler 24.851,913
In the year 1858
Goldthaler. 924.240.000 In the year 1868
Goldthaler. 1,904,889.400
In the year 1878
Goldthaler 3.926,040,500
. In the year ISSS
Goldthaler. 8.091,700,000
In the year 1898
Goldthaler. .16,677,264.000
In Marks, 55,392,341,000-Goldthaler 28 Mark, 93.
The present value, in the year 1898, would be for:
-Marks .-
1 Stuck (8 Ohm) .55,392,341.000
1 Ohm 6,924,042,625
1/ Ohm (45 bottles) 1,731,010,656
1 bottle (8 glasses) 38,466,903
1 glass (1000 drops) 4,808,362
1 drop
Bremen, 1898.
4,808
Of this precious nectar I imbibed, say, half an ounce. As there are 20 minims per scruple, three scruples per dram, and eight drams per ounce, I disposed of say 240 minims or drops. As the official es- timate rates it at 4,808 marks per drop, I figure these 240 drops to represent I .- 153,920 marks swallowed at one gulp. And what shall I say of this priceless nectar? It is possibly as palatable as poor vinegar, but by no means so good ·as hard cider.
I may mention also that the commer- cial activity and steamship enterprise of the North German Lloyd Steamship Company, whose vessels run to and from this port, is similar to that of the Ham- burg-American Company, already refer- led to in my last letter; and there is a similarity to Hamburg in public im- provements such as urban parks. lakes. etc. Referring to two of the public mon- uments here-one of them a colossal statue of Gustavus Adolphus, is striking and characteristic, suggesting the dash and vigor of the man as he swept down from the North to aid struggling Prot- estant Germany. Of the other. a more modern production - the equestrian statue of Emperor William I, The Great -I have no words of commendation, be- ing heavy and expressionless in almost every particular.
It is an easy transition from Emperor William to Prince Bismarck, whose "Castle" at Friederichsruh, we paid a vis- it, and; by the courtesy of Count Her- bert Bismarck's secretary, were admit- ted to the grounds and mausoleum-the latter recently erected to the "Iron Chancellor." The village of Friederich- sruh is small and devoid of interest, and the so-called "Castle" is an aggregation
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. D. Canfield, Pioneers of 1847.
Mrs. Mary Sanders-Husted, A Pioneer of 1847.
Mrs. Harriet Kimball-Jewett, A Pioneer of 1847.
WHITMAN MASSACRE SURVIVORS
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of plain and unpretentions brick build- ings plastered over, with little or noth- ing suggestive externally of either cas- tle or palace. It looks rather like a boarding house: which, in truth, the building was originally when pur- chased by Bismarck. My thoughts here naturally turned to the force and ability with which Bismarck achieved his sagacious purposes.
The defeat of Denmark on
the Schleswig-Holstein question; the subse- quent defeat of Austria; and finally that of France; the latter resulting in the recovery of Alsace-Lorraine after an alienation of two centuries. In national affairs this is a great record: yet the later Emperor and the Chancellor disagreed: and the latter retired to private life at Friederichsruh with the gloomy asser- tion that he had never known a day's un- alloyed happiness. "The paths of glory lead but to the grave."
Leaving Hamburg for our northern journey we stopped, as already men- tioned, at Kiel, Schleswig and Flens- burg, in Holstein, ere proceeding to Co- penhagen, which city we reached by crossing over from Fredericia on the mainland (jutland) to Strib, on the island of Fune, and from the easternmost ex- tremity at Nyborg we again ferried over to Korsor, some fifteen miles distant on the island of Seeland; thence by rail to Copenhagen on the east shore of See- land.
Returning for a moment to Schleswig Holstein, undoubtedly one of the impell- ing motives to the acquisition of that duchy was the importance to Germany of a ship canal between the Baltic and the Elbe, and the assurance to Germany of such ports as Lubeck. Kiel, Schles- wig, and Flensburg, etc. The death tabout 1863) of the King of Denmark, who held Schleswig Holstein the same as in years gone Hanover had been held ior England, afforded Bismarck com- paratively cogent and plausible reasons for his course. The three chief actors. William I, Bismarck, and Von Moltke, are all dead and gone: but the Danishi King with whom they warred still lives and reigns. By the way, in this connec-
tion I may mention that Von Moltke was originally a Danish soldier, who went to Germany on leave, and I sup- pose, with the cession of Schleswig-Hol- stein, became endowed with all the rights and privileges of full German cit- izenship.
All that portion of Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark over which we journeyed is very attractive and productive, agri- culturally: the most part looking like the rolling prairie lands to be seen in Illinois northwesterly from Chicago, on the Burlington or Northwestern Rail- way routes; or as may be seen in Iowa, and those portions of Nebraska and Kansas lying between Omaha and Kan- sas City.
Of the city of Copenhagen, with its population of about 450.000, it may be said that over 350,000 have been added during the last fifty years, within which period its great commercial growth has taken place. In 1849, constitutional rights were demanded and obtained by the people. The general aspects of Co- penhagen are in the highest degree at- tractive-commercially and economical- ly, politicially and socially. It is imprac- ticable to refer to its many objects of in- terest, but one alone-the Thorvaldsen Museum-would repay any traveler for a visit. It contains some eighty speci- mens in marble and about two hundred plaster casts by this master artist. Here are also his personal belongings-the seals or signets, and antique coins col- lected during his life time; his library, furniture, and other effects. But not the least interesting items are 134 medals- bronze, silver, and gold-from Emper- ors, Kings and Popes. There are no less than eighteen gold medals received from Popes in the more than fifty years' ac- tivity that marked Thorvaldsen's career as a sculptor. After a residence of forty odd years at Rome, he was brought back to Copenhagen in triumphal state on a Danish man-o'-war which also bore the statuary and the personal belongings al- ready referred to.
As of current interest I may mention the opera house, a massive and becom . ing structure with a large auditorium ir .-
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OREGON NATIVE SON.
cluding four galleries, all of which I had the good fortune to see filled by an audi- ence that apparently in point of intelli- · gence, dress and good breeding would rank with any in the world, and this was . on a Sunday evening. At 4:00 o'clock P. M., of the same day, I attended the · "Circus Varieties," a large amphithea- . ter, presenting an entertainment similar to that of the Orpheum in San Francisco or Los Angeles, or Keith's, in Boston or New York. Previously I had lunched at one of the most popular restaurants, fre- quented by the notables of the city. In the forenoon I visited the Church of Our Lady, one of the oldest and most im- pressive structures in the city. After the opera, I said to my courier, an intelli- gent and well-bred man, educated,-"Do these people who attend the opera and "Circus Varieties"-all go to church in the forenoon?" to which he replied that Copenhagen people are not very devoted church-goers.
I have already indicated the commer- cial importance of Copenhagen by men- tion of the Danish United Steamship Co. running a fleet of 120 ocean steamers. The regular packets of Denmark go out of the Baltic from Copenhagen via Gote- borg and even up to Christiania, thence south or west, via Christiansand, the extreme southerly port of Norway, from which no less than eight steamship lines diverge, to Hamburg, Antwerp, Leith, Hull, London, Grangemouth, New York, etc. A curious circumstance connected with the trade of Denmark is that corn is brought from the United States to fat- ten hogs, and the cured bacon shipped to South American ports. England with a milder climate and more fertile soil, is one of Denmark's largest cus- tomers for poultry, eggs, butter, and other dairy products.
Possibly a brief reference to the two "castles" near the city of Copenhagen may be acceptable. The elder one, Fred- ericksborg, dating from 1630, is in a state of perfect restoration, and is now used as a museum, containing pictorial mural work illustrating the development of Scandinavian civilization, along with
the portraits, armor, furniture, etc., of past generations. The other so-called castle-more properly palace-is at Fredensborg, and was built in 1720 to commemorate, as it were, the peace be- tween Denmark and Sweden. Leaving Copenhagen we traveled due north over the island of Seeland, to a point some thirty miles distant, where we crossed another arm of the sea to reach the inainland of the Scandinavian peninsula. In doing this we passed Helsingor the "Elsinore" of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." In driving by carriage, as we had that afternoon between Fredericksborg and Fredensborg, our way lay through splendid forests of birch and oak, and I thought of the exchange of compliments between Hamlet and Horatio about the "eager and the nipping air" while on the watch to see the kingly ghost appear on his solemn march, but our courier dis- posed of this romantic trend of mind by sententiously remarking, "Hamlet did not exist." Passing on from Elsinore to Goteborg we came down to more modern and prosiac times. The founding of this thriving city, some 100,000 people, pos- sibly dates back several centuries, but. like Copenhagen, Hamburg and Bre- men, its great growth has been within the present generation. From this point a canal of about 350 miles cuts across Sweden to Stockholm, reaching in its course an elevation of nearly 400 feet. which is overcome by a succession of locks.
The general appearance to a traveler by rail of Denmark, Sweden and Nor- way, is very prepossessing. The people are tidy-looking without exception; and if there be no multi-millionaires in these parts, there is no poverty, in the sense of destitution, apparent to the tourist-on the contrary, everything indicates a con- dition of wholesome thrift and comfort I confess to my surprise at the mildnes: of the climate and the variety of foreign farm products flourishing here. For ex- ample, in Norway at 60 degrees north latitude, we found excellent apples and pears of home raising, and such veget bles as sweet carrots, cauliflower, col
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ery, turnips, beets, etc .- all, in my opinion, equally as good as those of Cal- ifornia. In season, green peas, beans, strawberries and other small fruits and vegetables abound. As to the tempera- ture: So far in our journeyings from Hamburg to Christiania we have not ex- perienced any weather colder than we encountered at Bar Harbor, Me., the second week in September, and in New York the first week of October.
As to the eating houses and cooking: The food is invariably good; not always the kind that foreigners are used to, but always good. I have yet to taste poor coffee since sailing from New York, Oc- tober 14th; and bread is invariably good. The railway cars are after the English style, though the accommodations are better than were those of Great Britain or Southwestern Europe, when I last traveled there. They are lighted by in- candescent lamps, and heated by steam -temperature and ventilation subject to regulation by convenient appliances within easy reach of the traveler. As to train service: We have found the rail- way employes invariably courteous and painstaking in their duties and attention to the comfort of passengers. All con- veniences to be had in the United States are found in the cars of North Germany and Scandinavia-not so lavish or elabor- ate, yet everything that is necessary, and some Americans might even prefer the style of sleeping-car which is similar to that known in the United States as the Mann Boudoir car.
Owing to our very brief stay at differ- ent points and the inconvenience and mental abstraction sure to be occasioned by attempting, when sight-seeing, to jot down notes on the spot, our budgets thus far have lacked somewhat in reg- ular continuity, which probably those to follow may also lack.
Our journey from Goteborg, Sweden, to Christiania, Norway, was made under most favorable circumstances. The day was fair and the atmosphere mild. afford- ing an excellent opportunity for observ- ing the country, which had presented a practically uninterrupted agricultural as-
pect up to Goteborg, and continued so for some distance north of it; but upon nearing the frontier appearances chang- ed to what we have been wont to think of as the "rock-bound coast of Norway" -fewer farms, frequent rocky tracts, and more forests coming into view. In gen- eral birch, maple, oak, mountain ash, as well as pine fir and larch or tamarack, were visible, though the firs along the line of the railroad were not large as compared with American timber of the same variety-particularly Pacific Coast pine and fir. I noticed during the after- noon four saw mills close by the rail- road, and they were turning out good lumber from timber cut near contiguous lakes or streams, whose waters I noticed had an amber tinge, indicating that hem- lock grew in the forests along their banks.
The atmosphere at this time was bril- liant, and up to five o'clock P. M., we had passed three inlets or fjords, all strikingly beautiful in their picturesque- ness and each having a thriving town situated at the head of navigation, front- ing on bays literally alive with trading craft. These vessels for the most part, were probably engaged in transporting lumber; but a number of electrically lighted manufacturing plants on shore indicated the presence of other indus- tries besides lumbering. All these fac- tories showed unmistakable signs of re- cent origin. Approaching night shut off further observations, and at 7:55 we reached Christiania. The following morning, the weather being propitious, we began early to take in the city; and here again the modern appearance of the place impressed us. A little German guide-book indicated that the popula- tion of Christiania has grown from 25,- 000 in the fifties to about 200,000 at the present time, and its general appearance confirms the statement. The excavations of the hills and the presence of whole blocks of solidly constructed handsome, symmetrical, modern buildings, give ample proof of the rapid growth of the city. We were told that during the pres- ent year 800 new buildings have been
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OREGON NATIVE SON.
erected, or are now in course of erection; and their architectural appearance is without exception effective and harmoni- ous.
The public buildings (especially the palace of King Oscar II), are well situ- ated and grand in general outline. From the top of the palace, from the tower of the water reservoir on St. John's Hill, and also from the old fortress, we had a fine view of the city. The waterways winding about in these Scandinavian cit- ies give them a special charm. The re- taining walls between which they flow, all of massive well-finished masonry, pre- sent a neat and attractive appearance, in no wise resembling the ragged, soiled and unkempt facings of the wharves or quays of most American seaport cities. The statutes, too, in the little public squares and parks adorning the city are not the least of its attractions; for, in the main, they are highly meritorious. The equestrian statue of John Charles Bern- adotte, one of Napoleon's "Marshalls of France," graces the open plaza in front of the royal palace, situated on a com- manding eminence overlooking a fine, broad avenue called John Charles street.
And here a few words regarding Bern- adotte. It will be remembered that after the political upheavals of the French Revolution, Bernadotte, a Frenchman by birth, was one of the many men whom Napoleon singled out for preferment in the army and eventually helped to a throne. The reigning King of Sweden, Charles XIII, being without a lineal suc- cessor, the Swedish Diet, at the King's suggestion and in recognition of the su- perior valor and wisdom of the man, elected Bernadotte as Crown Prince and heir to the throne (1810), whereupon, with Napoleon's consent, he accepted the proffered honor. and at once became the active colleague of Charles in admin- istering the government: and on the death of that monarch ( 1816) succeeded to the crown. under the title of Charles XIV. He reigned for twenty-six years, when he died ( 1844), and was succeeded by his son. Oscar I; who in turn was fol- lowed by his own son, Charles XV
(1859). The latter died after a briei reign of thirteen years, leaving the throne to his brother, Oscar II (1872), who now occupies it with great ability and credit. I believe it is a fact that of all the kingly arrangements contrived or connived at by Napoleon that of Sweden and Norway alone remains in the same dynastic line which was thus established.
Christiania, like Copenhagen, has all the notable features of interest insepara- ble from a European capital-the royal palace, state university, national muse- um, grand opera house, medieval churches, etc., etc., each of which is worth a visit, on account of the many in- teresting objects it contains. In . this category I will mention but one-the old Viking ship, discovered by chance a few years ago in a clay bank on the Norway coast not far from Christiania. This genuine relic, in complete form, has been set up on stocks, under a shed in the University grounds, and all its belong- ings, sailing equipments, cooking uten- sils, and even the bones of its owner and master-are there for the inspection of the curious. The vessel is eighty feet long, with a sixteen feet beam. A coun- terpart of it was constructed and exhib- ited at the Chicago Exposition of 1893. A full description of the original is im- practicable in a letter, as may be inferred from the fact that one published by a professor of the Christiania University occupies no less than fourteen Svo pages. The beholder, in looking over this sturdy specimen of boat building of a thousand years ago, can very readily understand that Lief Ericsson, or any other bold Viking rover, could easily have made a voyage to America in sucli a craft, as history claims was done.
The through trains between Chris- tiania and Stockholm being run only at night we were prevented from seeing the country lying between the two cities, but were told that it is largely sterile, with much rocky and water surface, and for- ests such as have already been mentioned herein. We reached Stockholm at 7:00 A.M., and devoted two days to that city and its environs, and feel justified in say-
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ing that it is one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. The city is built on seven islands (holms)-and thereby hangs a tale. The story goes that in days of old, when the capital of Sweden was in the interior, Birger Jarl, a Swed- ish chieftain, believing that the capital should be a seaport city, threw a stock (stick) of wood into one of the fjords, de- claring as he did so that wherever it might wash ashore there should be lo- cated the capital. The stick went ashore at the seven islands; hence the founding of Stockholm, attributed to him.
It is impossible to enter into details, but probably the chief object of interest in the city is the Church of Ridderhol- mien, in which ordinary religious services are no longer held. Many notables have been laid to rest within its sacred walls, but now only the remains of royalty are placed there. In it are to be found the tombs of Gustavus Adolphus. Charles XII, Charles XIV (Bernadotte), and many others-the three of special emi- nence referred to occupying transepts on the main floor. The massive red granite sarcophagus in which lie the remains of Bernadotte, hewn as it is out of one solid block, is if anything more impos- ing than that of Napoleon in the Hotel des Invalides, Paris. The royal palace. containing four hundred and eighty rooms, is regal; but what interested me more was the Swedish Museum, particu- larly its collections of implements, uten- sils, etc., of the Stone Age. The Stock- holm and Copenhagen collections of this kind are said to equal any in the world, and they are certainly by far the finest I have ever seen. The variety and finish of all sorts of stone utensils, implements, weapons, ornaments etc .. is most impres- sive. Next tothis in interest is a museum for "cyclorama," an exhibition viewed form the center of a circular area) which is by far the best arrangement and pre- sentation of a bird and aninial collection
I have ever niet with anywhere.
As already stated regarding Christi- ania, not the least of the numerous at- tractive features of Stockholm are the usually fine and nieritorious statues. Tak- ing them in chronological order I will name Birger Jarl, founder of Stockholm1; Gustav Wasa (or Vasa), liberator of Sweden; Gustavus Adolphus, the hero of the thirty years' war, and Charles XII, the intrepid warrior and adversary of Peter the Great of Russia; and Charles XIV (Bernadotte). Also Lin- naeus, the famous botanist; Berzelius, the renowned chemist: Nils Ericsson, railroad constructor and brother of Jolin Ericsson, of American Monitor fame. One of two exceptionally good groups of statuary in bronze is found adjoining the museum-The Wrestlers, by Molin -two athletic youths, rival lovers, lash- 'ed to each other by a sash encircling both, and engaged in a fierce and deadly struggle. The pedestal supporting this impressive spectacle is of granite, upon each of the four sides of which is a sculp- tured panel in bas relief; three of these are in bronze and tell the story of the ill- starred lovers, while the fourth, as it suggestive of the main design, is a repro- duction from an old Norse tombstone carved upon the granite itself. rudely representing two figures similarly posed in a death struggle, and a kneeling maid- en, grief-stricken over her anticipated loss. The second group is a fountain in one of the Squares, the series of figures composing it being very perfect in form and finish.
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