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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.