AND SHIP NEWS He may seek entertainment at the concert of some singing society, at a musical revue, or, best of all, if he is at Stockholm during the season, at the Royal Opera. He may attend a soccer game or a general track meet or the performance of some gymnastic club. If he wants physical recreation he may satisfy himself by bathing in the sea, sailing or motor-boating among the picturesque islands in the Baltic or the Kattegat or rowing or canoeing on the lakes. Tennis and golf await him in the South of Sweden and trout fishing in the North. Stockholm, built on a cluster of islands, embraced by the arms of the sea, is a city of picturesque contrasts, from the stately magnificence of the Royal Palace, to the quaint charm of the old markets where the stalls and carts are brightly decked with flowers. Its nobility is symbolized in the thousands of coats-ofarms that hang on the walls of Riddarhuset (Hall of Knights), and its community spirit has found distinguishing expression in the Town Hall, of which William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet, has said, "No work comparable in method or achievement has been accomplished since the Italian cities felt the excitement of the Renaissance." Places of interest in Stockholm which no traveler can afford to miss are: Skansen, probably the most unique open-air museum in the world, where the everyday life of Sweden's past is daily reproduced; the Northern Museum, with its remarkable collection of Nordic antiquities; the National Museum, with priceless masterpieces of Swedish painting and sculpture, and one of the finest archeological collections in the world; the old "City between the bridges," with its medieval, narrow streets; the Royal Opera, the Dramatic Theatre, and Riddarholm Church, "Sweden's Pantheon," with the tombs of many kings, including Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. Fascinating excursions can be made westward into Lake Mälaren to Drottningholm Chateau, Gripsholm Castle and Skokloster Palace, northward to Uppsala, with its great Cathedral and University, and eastward into the Archipelago down to Saltsjöbaden (Salt Sea Baths), as well as to Sandhamn, the scene of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club regattas. Stockholm has recently been the scene of many international conventions, and its life has always a cosmopolitan flavor, its own celebrities of the arts, literature, science, and affairs attracting kindred spirits from cultural centers throughout the world. The Swedish Northland Lapland holds a weird lure in her mysterious grandeur. The summer sun swings high around the whole horizon, and does not set for weeks. The winter sky is filled with the amazing spectacle of the aurora borealis. Mountains of iron ore rise from the Arctic plateau and, beyond these, among still higher mountains, lie eternal glaciers, while the melting snows of lofty slopes form mighty rivers that tumble over foaming waterfalls down to the Bothnian Gulf. Yet, for all its wild majesty, it is a hospitable land, where the Lapps. sustain their herds of reindeer, where industrial workers have built up thriving communities, where spring comes suddenly, as if some magic wand had been waved, and sprinkles the valleys with flowers of every hue. From the culture and refinement of Stockholm to this realm of Arctic beauty is a dramatic change, but the traveler makes it comfortably by the Lapland Express or by excellent steamers via Lulea. Abisko, on the shore of lovely Lake Torne Träsk, is the ultimate goal. Here the midnight sun may be seen in all its splendor. Near by are picturesque mountains to be climbed, and in the valleys are encampments of the Lapp tribes, those mysterious nomads of the North, strange people who seem to have been lifted bodily out of some primitive era before civilization lured mankind within doors. Jämtland is the Swedish playground of nature pine forests, its deep ravines, with foaming rivers, lovers. Its mountain ranges, garmented with immense AND SHIP NEWS ter the scene of skiing and tobogganing contests. Nearby is the famous Tännforsen Waterfall. To visit the Swedish Northland is to get near to nature in her noblest moods. Göta Canal You go up to the woods in ships and down to the sea again, on the inland voyage from Gothenburg to Stockholm. You recline leisurely in a deck chair and gaze dreamily while the most variegated panorama glides by, you go ashore for a brisk walk through some forest lane or to visit some celebrated place, you come aboard again, and the vessel sails on a pleasant com bination of cruise and ramble, the like of which you I will not see in all the world. The steamer starts at Gothenburg and sails up the Great Inland Waterway. can be obtained by applying to the travel information bureau of the Swedish American Line, 21 State Street, New York. Göta River, winding through an idyllic country. Pass- Göta Canal-One of the Seventy-four Locks on This ing the impressive old fortress of Bohus, the vessel soon reaches Trollhättan Falls, famous in modern industry for its powerful hydro-electric station. Here the traveler enjoys a view of the wild rapids while the steamer climbs a veritable stairway of locks. Presently the broad expanse of Lake Vänern opens up, and the scene has changed in a few minutes from a narrow canyon hewn in the rocks to the majestic sweep of an inland sea. Traversing Vänern the vessel again rises through a series of locks, and now, 300 feet above Göta Canal-Scene Near Motala-One of the Many sea level, enters a narrow river and, nosing her way A call is made at Vadstena, famous for its medieval castle and the convent church, which is sacred to the memory of St. Bridget, Sweden's most distinguished international figure of the Fourteenth Century. Detours are sometimes made to the isle of Visingsö, with castle ruins, and to the model industrial town of Jönköping, where Swedish safety matches have been made for every civilized community in the world. From Vadstena the regular tour is continued past Motala, famous for the manufacture of engines. At Berg, with its fifteen locks, excursions may be made to Vreta Convent Church. Through the picturesque archipelago of the Baltic the steamer comes into the Södertälje Canal, a masterpiece of engineering, and proceeds thence among thousands of forest-clad islands of Lake Mälaren to the Capital. Dalecarlia Red-cheeked country lasses and merry swains, gorgeously arrayed in costumes of traditional design, dancing the picturesque folk dances on the village greensward to the plaintive music of violins and accordions; children tumbling in daisy fields between groves of smiling birches; red cottages trimmed in white, and herds of goats or cows trailing into the barn-yards; quaintly-curved boats rippling the surface of a lake; deep in the pine woods the glowing "heaps" of the charcoal burners, and in the mining regions huge hills of debris, where men have wrestled with the earth for her treasure--this is Dalecarlia. Falun, and the villages on lovely Lake SiljanLeksand, Rättvik, Mora and Orsa-these are the principal centers in the province of the Dalesmen of old, the sturdy warriors who in 1521, followed the great Gustavus Vasa down to Stockholm and delivered Sweden from the yoke of a tyrannical invader. At Falun men of this race had founded the Great Copper Mountain Mining Company, now 700 years old and "still going strong," the oldest existing industrial corporation in the world. This company now owns many large saw, pulp and paper mills, and the biggest steel works in Sweden. But tourists usually come to Dalecarlia to see its natural beauty and the quaint, colorful life of the peasants and villagers, who have preserved much of their provincial culture uncorrupted for hundreds of years. A complete itinerary of four tours, itemizing the Rättvik-Historic Church, on Beautiful Lake Sitjan, in points of interest and the time required to cover each, Famous Dalecarlia AND SHIP NEWS Their picturesque homes and handicrafts long occupied the attention of Carl Larsson, who never tired of weaving these motifs into his decorative paintings. Anders Zorn, after winning success as a painter in many cities, both in Europe and America, withdrew to idyllic Mora and turned out an amazing succession of portraits and figure compositions for which his humble neighbors served as models. The beauty loved by these men of genius still dwells Castles of Sweden Castles, chateaux, and palaces of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance-visions of glamour and romance are conjured up by these words. Royal pomp and circumstance, battles and banquets and balls live again in our imagination as we wander among ruined, ivyhung towers or step with bated breath into stately halls that have been lovingly guarded intact for hundreds of years. Sweden cherishes many monuments of the days when knighthood was in flower. In Kalmar Royal In Kalmar Royal Castle, with its gorgeous interior, may still be seen the decorations placed there in the Sixteenth Century. On the Island of Öland are the stately ruins of Borgholm Castle, dating from the Thirteenth Century. And near by in striking contrast is the charming Solliden. the favorite summer palace of the present Queen. In Stockholm stands the Royal Palace in serene magnificence. A short excursion into Lake Mälaren takes the traveler to Drottningholm Royal Chateau. famed for its art objects, especially the gobelin tapes The Midnight Sun.-The Tourist who thrills to the beauty of Nature will be enchanted by "The Land of Sunlight Nights." During a period of the summer he may have the curious experience of actually seeing the sun many degrees above the horizon at midnight. This view is taken at Torne Träsk in Lapland. tries, which were a gift of Louis XV of France to Gustavus III. Picturesquely rising from an island in the lake is Gripsholm Royal Castle, now a historical museum. On the way to Uppsala is Skokloster, the fin st privately owned palace in Sweden. Here are valuable paintings and tapestries and the largest private collection of arms in the world. Vadstena Castle, on Lake Vättern, erected in the Sixteenth Century, and Orebro Castle, on Lake Hjälmaren, are admired for their architectural beauty and historical associations. Of simpler structure, but no less impressive, are the oldest fortresses of Bohus, Marstrand, etc., near Gothenburg. In Skåne is a great number of palaces and castles occupied by royal princes and noble families, of which the most interesting are: Sofiero, the summer palace of the Not many hours' sail from the Swedish mainland lies the solitary Island of Gotland, "The Pearl of the Baltic." A saga relates that of old it was enchanted, hiding beneath the waves by day, and rising to the surface only at night, a curious poetic anticipation of its actual history, for, after a varying career in ancient times, it rose to a position of splendor in the Middle Ages, fell again into obscurity, and now, because of its romantic story, is gaining fame among tourists as one of the most entrancing spots in Europe. The pride of Gotland is Visby, "The City of Ruins and Roses," once a secure stronghold for the merchant princes of the Hanseatic League who plied a glamorous sea-trade between the East and the West. The military wall, two miles long, which almost completely surrounded the old city, is there still, with its thirtyseven lofty towers all intact. Within this wall fifteen magnificent cathedrals and churches were erected through the lavish generosity of the merchants, and, even in the remaining ruins, the architectural loveliness survives. Other monuments of those spacious days are to be seen in the towering ivy-covered mansions of private citizens who were so rich that "their hogs drank from silver troughs." Visby is the delight of painters, who strive to match In their palettes the exquisite color play of the yellowish-gray walls rising against a sapphire sky and reflected in the indigo sea, of the tiled roofs of cottages almost smothered with rambler roses, and of the glowing shadows that fall upon the ancient cobbles of winding streets. Soft color values lie also in the massed foliage of mulberry and walnut trees, and in the arbors where grapes are ripening in the sun. Outside the walls of the city are many relics of olden times, such as the famous Dalhem Church, consecrated in 1209 and now restored, or the pagan graves, monuments and ruins of forts which date back to the Stone Age. To see Visby is to have a dream come true. I Shipping George W. Hinman, Financial Writer in Hearst Newspapers Eloquently and Na recent issue of Hearst's New York American, as, probably in every other Hearst newspaper of that date, appeared an article on the subject of American shipping in foreign trade by George W. Hinman, leading financial writer at Chicago on Hearst newspapers, who had the following to say, well worthy the attention of all friends of American shipping: Why use our own ships when we can use other ships more cheaply? Why produce our own transportation at sea when we can get transportation from other nations for less money? Why build up the American merchant marine when it costs less to use the ready-made merchant marine of another country? These questions are suggested by an Eastern writer. They are answered in a way to discourage Congress and the people in any effort to retain the United States fleet which was left over from the war. The questions and answers, though published late in the week, are circulating through the West and Middle West. They call for attention. Do the persons who ask these questions realize that their argument to keep America out of ocean commerce was made sixty and seventy years ago to keep America out of the manufacturing business? Do they understand that Americans were told, away back in the days when this was a land of farms, how foolish they were to try to be a great industrial country? Have they not read of Europe's familiar advice that Americans should let others, who could manufacture goods more cheaply, do all the manufacturing for this nation and let the home people devote themselves to farming and mining and lumbering? Have they not heard how common it once was among the theorists and college professors to teach and preach that it was the whole business of the United States to buy factory goods in the cheapest market and sell farm products in the dearest What Would Have Happened? What would have happened, where should we be today, if this argument had prevailed? We should be a little more of a country than Canada, but not much more. We should have perhaps a population of 30,000,000 instead of 113,000,000. We should be producing industrially about $5,000,000,000 a year instead of $50,000,000,000. We should be suffering universal distress every time the crops were poor and enjoying only mild prosperity when the crops were good. Europe would have the workship of the world and this country would have no workship worth mentioning. In the economy of nations, in the operations of world business, in the general progress of mankind, we should be less than Italy, hardly more important than Spain. As a nation of the first class, we should be one of the panAmericans. That is all. The most delusive argument on earth for a nation is the argument about the cheapest way being the best way. No nation that amounts to anything applies that argument to its own affairs. Foreign competitors handed it out to the United States to stop the progress of American manufacturers. They hand it out to the United States today to prevent the development of a merchant marine. To maintain and upbuild the American merchant marine in one way or another would cost $30,000,000 or $40,000,000 a year at most-a tiny sum compared with what it once cost us, directly and indirectly, to start on the way to the industrial supremacy that we now enjoy! Yet, in deference to the piffling argument for cheapness, Congress hesitates, the Government pauses, and many of the people begrudge the money. Generous Subsidies Our Government Now Pay There is money for domestic waterways which so far have proved a failure. Over $37,000,000 is asked from this Congress. There is money for public buildings in which there is little progress and no profit. Some $50,000,000 or $60,000,000 is asked for them. There is money to hunt timber wolves, and destroy prairie dogs, and poison coyotes. It is granted as soon as asked for. But when it comes to the merchant marine, which is an investment far less risky and far more promising than seemed the tariff tax of sixty years ago, the parsimony and false economy begin. Great Britain's profits from her shipping are expected to be $700,000,000 for the year now closing. Nor will that be all. For these millions will be only the direct profits. They probably do not equal the indirect profits which Great Britain obtains from delivering her own goods and thus meeting and defeating foreign competition in the markets of the world. Her merchant fleet is the source of her greatest financial strength. It often is described as her "life". With a sixth of the world's trade today and a fifth or a fourth if we will only take it in the years to come, do we care to have the same sort of "life", the same sort of source from which to invigorate our commerce? Is it worth a few millions paid down today to secure such an enormous mortgage on the world's commercial treasury tomorrow? That is the real question. What is our answer? Should Our Shipbuilders Be Deprived of a If this were a free trade country to which Mr. Smith were appealing for justice then there would have been justification for his method of putting the matter of the 50 per cent duty on repairs made abroad to American ships. In that case he could have asked that free trade be made general. But he was presenting his argument to a country in which protection is a long established policy. Why, then, ask for more free trade and less protection, instead of more protection and less free trade? Protection has made the United States the wealthiest country in the world, by diversifying and increasing its industries. How natural to ask that protection that has accomplished so much for the country's industries should be extended to all American industries needing protection, including our ships in foreign trade and our shipbuilders? Margaret E. Willing, whose husband, Bernice L. Willing, was master of the steamship A. Brooke Taylor, succeeded in having the ship sold at auction at Norfolk, to satisfy her late husband's claim for wages due. Ship sold for $22,000. GENERAL-FREE AND BONDED-STORAGE All our Piers and Warehouses are protected by Automatic Sprinkler System, thereby obtaining lowest insurance rates. Direct all rail connections with Trunk Lines, independent of float or lighter system. Storage in transit privilege. Service guaranteed by over 50 years' experience, security and protection combined. All employees bonded. Cotton fumigating plant on premises at Clifton. Our modern warehouses serve any and all of the above 1000 ft. piers. AMERICAN DOCK & POUCH TERMINALS Executives Office: 17 STATE ST., N. Y. C. Phone 7950 Bowling Green |