PROSPEROUS ICELAND.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12538, 8 May 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

PROSPEROUS ICELAND.

The futur.' of Iceland is I lie Mr of an article contributed to the > v ricati Scandinavian Review York), by Gudmunder "Wagntissnn , i> one of the literary men 01 ',' country. Because of the nnfoi'tn! naming of the island, the i>hysio n |' climatic features of Icolaiul are ~,, ally misunderstood. While it that Iceland lies north of the xoii|; boundary of the Arctic ice <•lilt* Stream, which encircles the jj, is usually .strong enough to ki>,,,|'. drift-ice a considerable distance lo north. However, the main cnriv r .. drifting ice is sufficiently near ~!' nueneo the climate of Iceland, ,' eially in the summer, when 111.• ln " of ice that have gathered din-in,',' I preceding winter are carrietl heinjj, by the Gulf Stream.

As a consequence, the winter,, ~(1 land are. very mild, while the sii ]r . are comparatively cold. In th,, 1912, tlje mean temperature j n southern part of the island u ils degrees Fahrenheit for the entiiv, while for the four summer inoi 1; i was only -18.9 degrees. Clouding, vaik for a great part of the \ear ducing masses of vapor whirl,' stautly rise from the ocean ai|, ; carrietl in over the country stutiiu,' winter. ]n 1912 the southern ,|ji of Iceland had more than. 200 ( | ; . rainy weather, 25 days of snow, A , of fog. How this cold, raw ( .i', has influenced the land and th,i,i is .shown in the following "There are hardly any fore,;',' in such a climate only the dwarji will thrive, and even this is sv

The greater part of the counti!' very little vegetation: it is mour.* oils', with deserts of lava nr ( j r v saiul. and with large stretches (yj.i by eternal snow. The rock lo rn] ., in the mountains are of very M j' t ', porous stone, such as basalt, <lo| 0 „' ami tufa, which .crumble easily t . the influence of the almo.sphrr,, i

in this way the sides of tin"' w are covered with gravel, whieli u'i ever sliding down and is poorly j,]j.' for vegetation. Generally .spo.iV* therefore, it is only a small |, a| . the country, chiefly regions jilotit-'-coasts and in the river v;ilh>ys, Jjf sunless and raw weather has :i i CA ~ Huenced the eh-uvctcr of the .... liy damping all initiative ami prnilv' a tendency to melancholy, "wlnV mirrored in their literature. ~/ "Agriculture .and iis>li>iig iUo , two main industries of the f!m! In former times agriculture \vn< ,i tically the onlv pursuit, and lishij. with small rowboats—was piu-siir<| ( ' as ;1 side issue by the farmers, present, however, only 51 per cy the population live by Farming is practised about as i ; : been for the last thousand yoais. ! cultivation of the soil is ti-ually? fined to a yard around Ihe ) t which, however, is roiistanSJy j ; extended. The cultivation of nm! : fields consists solely in the irrjni' or draining of the meadows for"• Potatoes and various kinds of oalJ are grown for domestic use. {'. will not ripen.

"The stock consists of shepp, (J and horses, and it is from 111o.?o"J tlie limner derives his chief i w . During the -brief sumtner ii is in;.; ant to fcathoi 1 as much hay .is p#l in order to keen those- animals tand if the weather is unfavnraK i- sometime.';- a difficult task. Tli*

pie on tlie farms often show :ui at superhuman .strength and endurar.-: utilising; tlie few lair summer I. -and there is always a dearth ofd hands.

"In some parts of the cnunm productio of butter has incrrasnd: much, and a new market- ha opened- in, the country of our ; noighbar, England: Youn:: lop]horses have also in the IVw: been very much in domain], :m<]' becoiiu> an important article of 01; The fisheries of Iceland hmi creased of late until they now pr, two-thirds of the wealth ol the cor Most of the lisb is salted and-t and then sent to the Moditm; countries, but some of the Mennu: it fresh to England. Last full a load o l ' dried fish was brought Iceland to New York in the hiHermid, said to have been tl.. Icelandic shin to visit America the days, of Leif the Lucky. T! was sold at Now York, and w; purchase nufey a load of ::ia:: bought for the -Islanders, who■ supplies from Europe lind beeur by the great war. . The most urgent need ol leek! cording to thi = writer, is modern t of transportation. Practically it. l lire tralf.ie is carried on by sw,i the aid ol Danish an<l Norwegian i:ers. and small trading posts liiivi-': liiiilt along the entire coast-line. pipulation has been drawn lion fertile lands of the interim' don the barren coast, and the only a? that can lie counted on to tk change in this condition is i!io: road.

In spite of all drawbacks, kit it is clear tivit Iceland, has mis rapid advance and is now a really;, perous c.iuntry. In forty years nation's annual income bus inns tenfold, important roads and : bridges have been built, and a i graph line of 5000 kilometers lias' erected. The national wealth doubled, and the banks ciirulatt annual sum of 50.000,000 nr &)f>\ kroner. More - than, thirty arc banks liave been established, will posits amounting to 3,0000(Jfl ten During; the present year llic fustfi landic steamship lino has been slsv During the nineteenth ceiiuinl population of Iceland increased:™ 39,000 to 85,000. althougli . 30,000 i sons had omigWtod to America. 1 Many readers may possibly l> ,: fi prised' to learn that Iceland kl literature of her own and a distindl telleetual life: 1 "The literature of Iceland, 'fi bloomed so richly in the twelfth.] thirteenth centuries, has never I entirely silenced. Poetry lias :l ished in all times, and there is t-i any period of our history whiche] represented .by fairly good skalds. J year we celebrated the two hiiiu''*! anniversary of the birth ol tlk'ij Hallgrimur Pictiir.sson. II* 1 ,v; j ; l greatest and . most spiritual ;• writer that. Iceland has nroducM.his memory ;;:as honored by thaw'; ing services in all the clmvchos ot■ laiid on the first Sunday in Lout "It is in the course of the M l ' tury, however, that the liieni«« Iceland has bloomed as never » A verv considerable literary '*; in alj.'fields has grown up in - n ■ £ paratively short, time, and liass" 1 - "To carry the name of Iceland W' over the great ocean which. •'■U'T* f the island. . ... \ "Hitherto all our higher int* vlifo has been nourished from * Jj !ish university, but on June hj.,. I'llie centenary of the birth of I<* a'reat champion of liberty, .Inn' l ?' sion an Icelandic university «>. t .a\bli'shed in Reykjavik. This »;• is vet in its infancy ami < ia " cv«?u a Voof over its head, bin '"j futV ll ' o ifc will surely beeoim 1 "., centre for the intellectual lib 1 0, t „ lancit and, perhaps, also an it'H''" link\in the educational develop^ 11 ti le yforth." „{£ Iceland is described as one M . mosi-Vbeautiful countries in thM and vrben it becomes hotter \ f mnv confidently expected tM' moiint,ain scenery of the islnnd » £ tract jurists from America a , rope. '.Large cupola-shaped i ti rise lilte Oriental temples % ocean V' the level plain „: covered with perpetual sno«- l? there "a> many mightv and ' waterfallls. great lakos, • j springs, .and craters still i ti , play of colors is said .to be . especially, m the fair, rniki nights. \ .-