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I T Is strange and directly contrary
to what one would naturally ex
pect, but the common people of
frozen northern Europe are more
advanced In Intelligence than those of
the south. The farther north one
goes, too, the more Intelligent the peo
ple nre, till we reach almost the re
mote edge of habltablc-ness. It is a
fact, for instance, that in Norway there
is much less illiteracy than in some of
our own southern states, with all our
boasted freedom and enlightenment.
Education Is compulsory In Norway, as
in all Scandinavia. In Finland, whose
arctic'border is 700 miles north of the
northernmost edge of Labrador, the co
educational system has existed for
nearly 300 years, and the women have
legal and civil rights such as are en
joyed in only four states of the Ameri
can union. They have full suffrage.
* *t
Undoubtedly darkness, eight months’
winter and tho seclusion of the snow
bound conduce to study and deep re
flection. Writers intensely thoughtful,
intensely imaginative, nre tho product
of frozen lands. Swedenborg was a
Swede, Ibsen a Norwegian. Tolstoi Is
a Russian. The forerunner of the pres
ent day woman story writer was a
Swede, Frcderika Bremer. She was
also the forerunner of the new woman
of Sweden. In Stockholm is the
Frederika Bremer club of today, noted
for its good works in all that pertains
to the advancement of the feminine
sex. Neither Swedish women nor men
do things by halves. Their natures are
too intensely earnest for that.
at ».
It is hard to say just what the name
Scandinavia includes. Geographically |
it embraces Denmark, Sweden and I
Norway. Each of these three coun
tries sneers and makes faces at the
other two. The tall, handsome Danes,
with their dark or red gold hair and
their graceful, polished manners, think
they are the It of Scandinavia; Nor
wegians with their courage, robustness
and quickness look with contempt
on the Swedes, while Sweden—well,
Sweden is as conceited as Boston.
Norway Is more isolated than either
Sweden or Denmark, : and in Norway
are found more of the primitive Scan
dinavian customs than in either of the
other countries. Formerly the women
of each Norwegian province had their
own characteristic dress, though now
they are giving up the old garb along
with the old ideas. Some of the quaint
est antique jewels and gems among
those so sought after today are to be
found in the shops of Norway. Haru-
anger embroidery is much better
known than the region whence it origi
nated. It has been made for genera
tions by the peasant women of the
Hardanger mountains along the west
coast of Norway.
Hardanger costumes are the most
picturesque and attractive of any of
the provincial dresses of Norway. The
variety and > artistic quality of the
needlework on the best gowns and
bridal frocks of the Hardanger girls
make it almost equal to Japanese
handiwork. Each district had formerly
its own distinguishing costume for a
bride. One familiar with the feminine
costumes in different parts of Norway
could tell at a glance what part of the
country a, woman came from. But
tourists, the everlasting British and
American tourists, invaded every fiord
and corner of the North Way, which is
what the word Norway means. Then
for the first time in the history of the
country Norwegian women began to
understand what fashion meant, and
now it is goodby to the picturesque old
costumes. I suppose part of the Nor
wegian peasant girls are even putting
themselves into corsets.
The comparative enlightenment of
the women of a country may be in-
| fallibly judged by the Interest they today that Denmark reached the height
| take in movements for the emancipa- of its glory and power—a glory and
i tion and uplifting of their own sex. ] power never attained before, appar-
Gauged by this standard Norway has j ently never will be again—under a wo-
: her fair share of enlightened women. ; man ruler, Margaret the Great, who
'One of them is Fraulein Gina Krog. a reigned from 1373 to 1412. Margaret
handsome woman of Christiania. She' united into one kingdom Denmark,
fortnightly publication In Sweden and Norway and made them
and founded the first wo- into an illustrious, prosperous Scan-
in the kingdom. She is a dinavian nationality. But her succes-
eloquent public speaker. ! sor was a man. and under him the
Another well known Norwegian wo- ! great, united kingdom quickly fell to
man is Fraulein Frederika Morek, a
teacher and president of the Norwegian
women teachers’ union. The modern
movement of woman has reached even
Norway, the scene of Balzac’s “Seraph-
ita” and Marie Corelli's ’‘Thelma." land
of the magical and mystical, land of
the weirdly imaginative.
pieces.
It «
Racially Scandinavia has overflowed
into Finland. The Finns are a super
ior race because they are a mixed rac«
of the mingled blood of Germans. Rus
sians. Swedes. Magyars and their owr
original Asiatic stock. During the re
cent heroic struggle of the Finns
; against Russian aggression the brave
women of the country worked equally
with the men to secure their liberties,
nor did either men or women give up
the fight till home rule and the per-
the
, „ , ,, . t. „ I OC«CO -KID UIDHO. HID II UII1DU otOOd
men have municipal suftrage. All the I by th# mpn> and tho men stood by the
women.
For the matter of fact American
, , , tourist, who sadly needs to cultivate
as yet no women lawyers or clergymen. J his lmag , natlon> F| Dland is a more fas .
cinating region to visit than Scandi
navia. > It has not been made common
by the trail of the summer traveler.
k K
For some reason where the other two |
Scandinavian countries have one dis- j
tinguished woman. Sweden has ten. |
It is because we are enlightened and j
. " , ~ ^ , , . the fight tui home rule and the r
progressive, say the Swedes and pat ; fcct , ^ and clvJ , c(Juality of
themselves on the back^_ Swedish wo- . aexes were thefrs . The women st
schools and universities are open to j
them on equal terms with m°n. and |
there are Swedish women doctors, but |
It is to be observed that wherever
there is a state church their women are [
barred from being ordained as min
isters.
It It
Tho leading novelist of all Scandi
navia is a Swede. Selma Lagerlof,
Various of the ancient pagan observ
ances yet mingle in a mystical, poetic
way with the Christianity of the Finns.
Many of them repeat to this day mag-
a thing some of the "advanced think
ers” of our own country, even includ
ing scientific men, begin to believo
single woman of middle age. She is In j leal, rhythmic runes and Incantations,
full sympathy and In active co-opera
tion with the feminist movement, in
which respect she puts to shame those
American and English women writers j there is something in. Pagan Finns
who isolate themselves in their sup- j believed In woodland divinities and
posed superiority and profess contempt j thought these dwelt in particular
for the woman movement. ' trees. In some neighborhoods each
Neither America nor Great Britain i family had a special tree and divinity
has a woman painter who .can, com
pare with the Swedish Anna Boberg,
the only polar artist. She has painted
marvelous views of sunlit snow” peaks
and dazzling snow fields, Anna Boberg
is a single woman, wedded only to her
art. Her studio is within the arctic
circle, upon a rock above the sea, on
an island inhabited cniy by a light- , , ,
house keeper. There a- good part of | Sirls Industrial and other schools
every year Anna Boberg lives and i throughout Europe for the benefit o-
of its own. In their secret hearts Finns
here and there still believe in the wood
land divinity. It Is a pretty supersti
tion anyhow.
k k
A famous Finnish woman Is Baroness
Alexandra Gripenberg of Helsingfors.
She is an editor and has made a study
paints, her fingers sometimes so be
numbed with cold that the brushes
have to be strapped to them. But the
fascination of the weird north has en- W hich la in Norway, part in Sweden
Finnish women.
Finally there is Lapland, part o>
tered into the soul of Anna Boberg and
holds her. Two years ago there was
an exhibition of her arctic paintings
in Paris. It was so remarkable as to
call out the enthhsiastlc admiration of
even the artistic French.
*! It
A union of Swedish women founded
and maintains a flourishing co-opera
tive department store. something,
again, that no American women have
ever yet done. But Swedish women,
when they profess to believe in any-
part in Russia, though blue bloodei
Scandinavians would nevor own the
Lapps as even distant cousins. Thera
is not much to be said of Lapp women
except that they have one privilege
other women do not. A Lapp woman
may have as many husbands as she
likes and live with them all. Polyandry
is permissible in Lapland.
HELEN BARNABY.
KNEW HOW IT WAS.
. , ... , j. , _ ,, . “Mr. Wright took me for such a nice
th.ng actually go in for it In the face j waIk yesterday evening.” said a young
of bitter opposition from the menfehop- Iady to a .. dear friend.” ”1 enjoyed it
keepers, opposition even to the extent
of slander and the refusal of truckmen
to carry their goods, the women per
severed, and their co-operative store
is as successful as the famous ones of
England.
*• #►
Mine., Vibecke Salicath is a Danish
journalist and a beautiful woman. She
is a noted philanthropist and active in
so much.” “Yes. I understand," re
marked the other. "You went through
Shortacre woods and back through
Spinney lane ” “We did. but how dc
you know that?" “And when you rest
ed at the stile Mr. Wright kissed you?"
continued the second girl. “Oh, that’s
too bad of you! You must have been
watching us." “No. The fact is that
I’ve been for a walk with Mr. Wright
the feminist movement Who knows i myself, and so has my sister!”
Kate Clyde Sees a JHew Slay Out of It
W HAT a number of house- i Servants are becoming specialists
hold and house furnishing rapidly, and general housework maids
magazines have sprung are almost impossible to find,
up on ail sides! It looks j You can get all the cooks, laun-
liko an attempt to make housekeeping ■ dressbs, parlor maids and nurses you
more attractive. want, but the average housekeeper of
W e are told how to live at the rate I small means cannot afford more than
of so many cents a day. There are J one servant, and there you are.
pictures showing how to set the table ^ One servant, if she knows anything,
for different occasions, how to plan. won’t do all the work even of an
"original” decorations for different: apartment nowadays. •
holidays and all that sort of tiling. j
It really makes your mouth water if ^ ^
you have no itome of your own.
But one subject is touched on very
lightly—the servant question.
Unfortunately that is becoming
worse than ever.
I fail to see what the solution is to
be unless a superior kind of young t
woman takes tip general housework |
for small families, because she prefers •
being alone to mixing with other j
servants.
Good wages and great freedom in
off hours might make a position of this
sort preferable to standing for hours
behind a counter, especially if the
young woman were treated with the
dignity of a housekeeper and made to
feci that she held a position of trust
and responsibility.
X It
The position of general housework
maid in a small apartment places a
any way menial should be smashed. I By the way. speaking of hand em-
A campaign of education should be j broidered blouses. I wish you could
entered on at once. It should be made have seen the dozen I brought over
so attractive that those who must la
bor with their hands will choose it in
stead of the numerous other make
shifts which are supposed to be less
menial.
It »t
Meantime there is ' a great oppor-
jirl in such intimate relations with the tunity still open for some man or wo
man endowed with the necessary gray
Consulting household
matter to effect this overthrow. of the
popular notion concerning the servant
girl. There is still a’ vacant place on
the calendar of household saints for
such a reformer.
The short woman should never wear
a corselet skirt.
This melancholy fact occurred to me
very forcibly the other day while call
ing on a friend.
She wore a very pretty white em-
. broidered waist, which instead of be-
family that it would be better to look ing confined gracefully at the waist
for a more refined, educated woman; H ne pouched over a hi S h boned con-
than idle ordinary servant anyway. j tinuation of the skirt, which made her
Perhaps with the improvements in i look absurdly short waisted and
the way of servants’ rooms, etc., in all
the up to date apartments and with
more freedom as to hours a different
class of maids or "acting housekeepers”
may present itself;
Let us hope.
•5 X‘
It might not be ah impossible task
either to educate the young woman
who has her own way to make into the
belief that housework need not be made
"stuffy.’
Too bad women don’t realize what
caricatures they make of themselves
sometimes!
*» »5
I have good news for you.
They say blouse waists and em- |
broideries in general are to be much j
cheaper this summer.
Well, it’s a good thing. Why
shouldn’t we have cheap hand em-
The most ! o
aid to bo th-
father, King
h!s ".other is th
mother, beaut if
distinguishes : -
Maud are cousin:
made menial. It is only when it is
badly done that it becomes so.
Any young woman who has the de
termination and the capacity to learn
to do housework as it should be done
need not worry over her sociaKposi-
tion. She will find that she will be a
person of infinitely more consequence
to mankind than if she had devoted
herself to almost any one of the avoca-
ti-.ns that are popularly supposed to be
"genteel.”
The fact is the time has come when
a competent house worker may easily
occupy a leading place in the house
hold. No woman who has mastered
the secrets of domestic economy need
| ever become a mere drudge. She will
I not be permitted to become so. She
i has only to wake up to the fact that
! she is a treasure, and there is no fear
that her worth will remain unrecog
nized.
•t at
What the house servant business
needs is reform.
tured kingdom of Norway j Every other branch of domestic
be four years old in July. ; science has made tremendous strides
the :v•: son of the present king of Denmark, forward during the present generation.
: King Edward of England. She resembles her j This alone has been permitted to lan-
N..:v':ru. end has not the round, placid face that ; guish, and even to degenerate.
Victoria’s descendants. King Haakon and Queen It should be reconstructed from the
1 very base. The theory that it is in
a menial occupation. Anything that is broidery in this country, I should like
k® to know, or at least machine embroid-
“ — - - - ery looIts like handwork?
GUEEN h'.AUD OF NORWAY AND HER SON OLAF.
If it is
well done you can hardly tell the dif
ference in the smaller patterns.
Over in France every woman can
embroider, and you can pick up the
most charming
designs at a
nominal cost.
I understand
there are sev- '
eral schools of |
embroidery in;
New York un- j
der the charge j
of French work- j
women. Pretty
soon we shall
have a native
brand of em
broideries equal,
if not superior,
to the foreign t
workmen. Baby 1
clothes, blouses |
ar.d negligees!
from Paris last spring.
One with' a beautifully designed yoke
was only S3, and the most expensive,
a filmy creation simply covered with
wreaths and blossoms, cost just 45
francs ($9).
*S ‘It
It Is high time the blouse industry
was revolutionized here.
I have paid as high as $18 for a ma
chine made waist trimmed with very
ordinary lace medallions.
*! It
I understand one society woman Is
going to have different lecturers at her
house during Lent. The subjects are
to. be taken from the lives of women
in all. kinds of
<&£$¥■? —*•-- — J
occupation and
con ditions —
sweatshop, fac
tory, stage, etc.
As much
possible per
sonal interviews
and experiences
are to be used.
“A Series of
Studies In
American Na
ture,” I believe
the originator
of the idea
calls it.
Anyway, it is
going to be lots
The short icoman and the ^ or
corselet shirt. luxurious uppei
ten to lounge
back in richly upholstered arm chairs
and listen to tales of the struggles of
the other half.
tt H
Which reminds me. speaking of lec
tures, that one of the most amusing I
ever listened to was entitled "Biograph
Fakes.”
The young man who gave it told of
his experiences with a biograph com
pany. They had a place fitted up on ;
top of a New York roof, and there !
with the aid of supers, scenery and j
stage properties they gave scenes from | several reasons,
all over Europe. Very good ones too.
Mrs. George von Lengerke Meyer, wife of the new postmaster general makes
a pretty picture with her two young lady daughters. All three will make an
attractive addition to Washington society. Mrs. Meyer was Miss Alice Apple-
ton of Lenox, Mass. She was prominent and popular socially while her hus
band was ambassador to Russia, but no doubt she is quite willing to exchange
the St. Petersburg climate for that of Washington. It is more salubrious for
The servant question.
with touches of
handwork upon them need not be so
expensive then, and, indeed, the change
in price begins to be felt already.
Women will have hand embroidery
on their clothes, and they refuse to
pay any longer crazy prices for it be
cause it must be imported.
New York.
vorite fruit, and at Cowes she was ac- ! taste of wine Prince Edward had from
customed to eat them freely. For years : his nurse, they know nothing of al-
Princess Henry of Battenberg was a j cohol. Princess Patricia of Connaught
teetotaler, but of late she has suffered 1 and her married sister also abjure
ROYAL TEETOTALERS.
The practice cf abstaining altogether
from alcohol has widely pervaded the
royal British circle. Queen Victoria of | because, contrary to instructions,
Spain does not know the taste of al
cohol. Her special "tipple” is made
from oranges—the fresh fruit squeezed
into a glass, which is filled up with
aerated water. Oranges are her fa-
so much from rheumatism that she has
been ordered a little whisky, which she
regards as a penance.
Both Princess Christian’s daughters,
too, are teetotalers.
The Princess of Wales, who is an ex
ceedingly considerate mistress, once
dismissed an undernurse on the spot,
he
had given Prince Edward, when he was
five, a sip of the v. ine allowed her for
lunch. All the children of the prince
and princess are being brought up
strict teetotalers, and save for the one
wine. Another royal teetotaler is the
Duchess of Argyll, and the two young
daughters of the princess royal, their
highnesses Alexandra and Maud, have
never in their lives touched wine.
TEARS AND LAUGHTER.
One may, I think, say both his laughs
and cries
May well be guessed at by his watery
eyes.
Some things are of that nature as to make
One’s fancy chuckle, while his heart-doth
ache.
PROGRESS
THE WORLD OF WOMEN.
Miss
has by
a fortu
ni.wi - i
M rs.
ex; 7 : t
climb!:
holds ;
eorin:-.
S3,lie 1
Louis i ascent was continued by cutting steps
s won in an ice wall. Mrs. Bullock-Workman
She left her husband at 33.800 feet and
continued the ascent accompanied by
a gold- and a porter.
There ■ xists in Austria a law for
bidding women to organize for political
purposes, yet in the face of this ob
stacle a band of women in Vienna have
oldfteld.
intrepid
by her
ras. now
mntain-
eight of
world's record f
She has scaled
, In tho Nun Kun range. The J formed a woman suiffirage commiuee.i
have prepared a petition to their par
liament and have held a well attended
meeting in Vienna.
The latest contribution to the solu
tion of the housing problem for New
York professional women has been of
fered by the recent opening of a unique
apartment house near Madison square.
An energetic business woman who has
developed this enterprise from a small
beginning has leased a new six story
house with twenty-four apartments
I I
and all the modem conveniences, from ]
hot water supply to mail chute and I
j elevator. !
i If you get a new lace gown get Irish !
! point. Lady Aberdeen, wife of the lord I
; lieutenant of Ireland, is fostering by all i
: means In her power the lace making in- j
1 dustry among Irishwomen as a means I
‘ of aiding them financially. j
In his new book. "Mind of Women
: and the Lower Races,” Professor W. L
Thomas of Chicago university, says
that the modern woman is on the plane
with the savage intellectually and thaci
few women and no blacks have ever en- I
tered the world of modern intellectual I
life.
Lettie C. and Pearl M. Dillon, sisters, j
have been for- three years rural letter
carries in Keokuk county, la., and have |
never missed a run. Through blizzard. !
hurricane, snow, sleet and flood they I
have traveled. Sometimes they have I
had to give up their mail wagon and
make the route on horseback, but they
always got there just the same.
Make the best of everything, your
self included. Personal appearance
counts for a great deal. Vary the meals
and take a real Interest in them.
Miss Vernette L. Gibbons, a student I
at the Chicago university, has gone to |
South Africa to teach chemistry In a j
school for Boer girls. I
Theresa Roubideaux, an Indian wo
man a hundred years old, has lately
taken up her allotment of land In sev
eralty in Oklahoma. What white wo-
man can beat it?
Make an effort to show your best self
at home and to make your best better
and better in every w r ay. A woman
must never stop learning because she
is married.
The natives of the Sandwich islands
estimate women by their weight.
Miss Mary Clark conducts a pepper
mint farm at Galien, near Indianapolis.