James Lewis Howe

“ The larger possibilities of electric industries are now being recognized in Norway, and capital is being rapidly supplied by the wealthier countries of Europe. Unless the restrictions placed upon industry by a government strongly tinctured by socialistic ideas shall prevent, Norway will in the near future become one of the greatest, if not the greatest, industrial center of Europe. In possibilities it yields only to America. At present there are about twelve electric industries already in operation in Norway and several more are nearly ready to begin work. ”

“ Next to farming the chief industry of Norway is fishing, and in winter all the farmers living on the fjords become fishermen. The great center of the fishing industry is the Lofoten Islands, on the west coast, north of the Arctic circle. Here in winter and early spring assemble upwards of 40,000 fishermen from all of the fjords of western Norway, even from below Bergen. The fishing is chiefly in Vest-fjord, the broad, open body of water between the Lofotens and the mainland, for here the cod swarm in immense numbers. The fishermen scatter ”

“ The Norwegians are by tradition and habit farmers and fishermen and it remains to be seen how effectively they can be transformed into industrial labor. Nitrate factories will naturally spring up elsewhere, since it is an industry, remarkable in that the demand for the product is actually unlimited, while the raw materials cost almost nothing, limestone being the only expense, and no fuel is required. Any place where water-power is cheap and limestone can be obtained is suitable for a nitrate factory. ”

“ All the difficulties have been successfully overcome and from the stills the nitrogen is boiled off in an almost pure condition. Delicate tests in the laboratory show that on the average not over 0.2 per cent, of oxygen is present. The commercial weakness of the process is the fact that there is no use for the fairly pure oxygen which is left, which in many places would be very valuable and probably pay the whole cost of operating. The calcium carbid is ground and exposed for two days in an atmosphere of the pure nitrogen. ”

“ It seems possible, however, that Norway may find an unlooked-for value in some of her deposits of minerals of rare elements, for which at any time there may be a great demand. Among her older rocks have already been discovered many minerals of great scientific interest, including Broeggerite, the most radio-active of known minerals. Nevertheless, it is to her unrivaled water-power that Norway must primarily look for her industrial development. ”

“ With increasing supply the price of nitrate will of course drop, which will be a boon to the farmers. As there is unlimited water-power in Norway, and the industry is already established there, that land will have a great advantage in future competition. ”

“ A steam ferry-boat conveys freight trains the length of the lake and a larger one is now building by means of which all trains will go through without change from Notodden to Saaheim, where the lower Rjukan works are situated. It is said to be rather a cross for the owners of the railroad to run passenger trains, but this the government compels them to do. A busy town has sprung up at Saaheim and here, as at most industrial towns in Scandinavia, the workmen are well housed. Every house has a garden where not only vegetables, but also flowers are cultivated with great care. ”

“ The nitrate which has solidified in tanks is broken up, ground and shipped in air-tight barrels. It is guaranteed to contain 13 per cent, nitrogen, but generally runs somewhat higher. The market is of course unlimited, except as far as it is in competition with Chili saltpeter and with ammonium sulfate. It has been found possible to compete with Chili saltpeter even on the Pacific coast. The greatest difficulty which would seem to militate against the artificial product, is that it is very hygroscopic, or rather, deliquescent. ”

“ Doubtless the water-power of America surpasses that of Norway, but here it is scattered from Maine to Georgia, and from Idaho to Texas. In Norway it is everywhere, from Kristiania to North Cape. In winter the whole highland of Norway, and this includes the largest proportion of her area, is covered with deep snow. ”

“ Farming and grazing have always been the chief industries of Norway and at present more than half the population are so engaged. In the south, where the valleys are broader, general farming is practised, but in the north the life of the farmer is hard. ”

“ To the ordinary traveler it would seem that Scandinavia leads the world to-day in applied electricity. It is well known that Stockholm is better supplied with telephones than any other city of the world, having one instrument for every six of its inhabitants. ”

“ While the absorption of nitrogen is an exothermic reaction, it must be started and supported in the initial stages by a supply of heat from some external source, and for this electric heating with carbon anodes is used. ”

“ The most important woods are pine and spruce, and in the more northern portions birch is abundant, indeed far beyond the line of conifers the white birch continues, until it becomes at last so stunted that it is hardly more than a bush, and we are above the tree-line. The fashion of building houses is evidence of the wealth of timber. ”

“ A season's catch is often valued at nearly $2,000,000. The fish are brought on shore and dried; the heads and backbones are ground for fertilizer, or boiled with hay for cattle food; the livers are tried for cod-liver oil. ”

“ In various parts of Norway copper is found and has been worked from time to time, but the deposits have thus far proved poor and limited in extent, and none of the mines have been commercial successes. ”

“ The gases coming from the furnaces are cooled by passing through pipes in boilers, and thus incidentally furnish more steam than is needed for the whole plant, completely eliminating the item of coal, usually such an important part of the cost of manufacture in all industrial plants. ”

“ As regards mineral resources, for a land of mountains Norway seems to be exceedingly poor. At Kongsberg are silver mines which have been worked for nearly three centuries, but the output is now comparatively small. ”

“ Cattle are pastured in summer as far up the mountains as grass can he found, while every wisp of hay is gathered for winter use, not only on the lower levels, but among rocks and on slopes so steep that cattle could not find a foothold. ”

“ A few years ago a calcium carbid plant was established at Odda at the head of the Sör-fjord, one of the most beautiful branches of the Hardanger-fjord. To turn the carbid into cyanamid merely requires heating in an atmosphere of nitrogen, and nitrogen composes four-fifths of the air. But the problem of separating the oxygen and nitrogen of the air is by no means easy of solution on a large scale. Suffice ”

“ The contrary seems to be the ease, for almost every town of any size has been repeatedly devastated by fire, so that old houses are by no means common, indeed most Norwegian cities have a decidedly modern appearance. ”

“ From this almost wasteful use of lumber as it would seem to us, it follows that all Norwegian houses are very substantially built and one would imagine that they would be of rather slow-burning construction. ”

“ The work in these mines seems to be kept up at present, not so much from productiveness or profit, as for the purpose of furnishing employment to the families of those who have been brought up in the mines. ”