Rugged, Beautiful Norway Described;! Festival Footnotes
Writer Tells of Labor-Capital Board
MEDORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE HIKE
(Editor's note, The following
it an article by Leonard Car
penter, Veritas orchards, Med
ford, who, with Mrs. Carpen
ter, has been touring Europe)
BY LEONARD CARPENTER
Oslo, Norway It has been a
cold spring over here, and so
we are enjoying the blossoms
of Medlord at mid-April. Tulips,
apples, lilacs, etc., in gorgeous
bloom. In Oslo the lilacs are as
tall as trees and supply purple
bouquets 20 feet tall. The Nor
wegians are like the Danes in
their use of flowers, and it cer
tainly makes the visitor happy
to see so much beauty.
We are now on our final
round cf sightseeing, and during
these eight days we will visit
or have already visited the
fjord country. Until relatively
a few years ago the western
half of Norway was cut off from
the rest of the world by its
mountain barriers and the fjords
which penetrated the mountains
very deeply. Now a railroad and
a highway make overland travel
possible, and of course, the plane
has annihilated distance.
Land Pressed Down
I cannot get the picture my
self, but a geologist told me that
millions of years ago an ice cap
covered all of Norway to such
a great depth that its weight
pressed down the land to below
sea level. Then as the ice melted,
the huge volume of water re
leased, together with the action
'of the sea, carved the steep sided,
almost perpendicular, rock
slopes. Even today there is some
indication that the rise of the
land mass is still slowly going on.
The result has been a country
of hard, solid rock mountains
on whose summits snow falls
to a great depth only to be rapid
ly melted by the hot sun of the
long 20 to 24 hour days of these
latitudes. On the north slopes,
huge glaciers are still present.
Ye Editor wants to know about
labor-management relations. "I
have always been interested in
a Supreme Court to take care
of these disputes and some one
told m'e recently that Norway
and Sweden had successfully
achieved this goal." The Trade
Union Federation of about half
a million members and the Nor
wegian Employers Federation
are recognized as spokesmen for
the two sides.
Board Set Up
Since a law. passed in 1945 a
wage board has been set up with
seven members, three from gov
ernment and two each from la
bor and capital. Strikes and lock
outs are legal, but a decision
from the wage board is binding
on both parties with no appeal.
There is the law, and the re
sult has been very little indus
trial strife.
To carry the Investigation a
little further, let me quote a
financial man whose business is
confined to selling bonds and
stocks: "There is a permanent
chairman of the wage board ap
pointed by the government, and
since 1946 he has been excellent,
unbiased, and a first rate lawyer.
Now ha is quitting to go back
to his private practice. The other
six members usually serve in
one or two disputes only, and
the two employer members are
for their own federation natur
ally, and the two labor members
ditto. The two government mem
bers as well as the chairman are
appointed by the existing gov
ernment which is now and for
some time past has been labor
socialist." I think Ye Editor has
his answer.
Drinking Hours Limited
It is practically impossible to
buy a drink stronger than sherry
in Norway before 3 p.m. You can
go to the government owned
spirits store and buy all the bot
tled goods you can afford in
Oslo, and as far as I know in only
two other cities, of which Bergen
is now one. Even with meals,
no cocktails and no highballs.
Just why this is the law no one
knows. But, oh boy, don't drunk
drive in Norway! Three weeks
in the city jail is the penalty with
no alternative.
"When I have taken this one
glass of beer with you then I
am through, because if I had
two glasses and then in driving
my car some one should run
into me, or I should have an
accident, I would have to go to
the police station, and a little
drop of blood would be taken
from my ear, and the test would
show I am drunk. No matter
whose fault it was, I would go
to jail for three weeks.
"Careful Driver"
"I have a good friend," con
tinued my host, "who drove out
along one of our steep, twisting
country roads to make a visit.
He had one glass of beer and
he thought I will drive home
verv carefully. And then he
thought one more glass of beer
would be good this warm eve-
nine and I will drive home very
carefully. And so after a while
he said good-bye and he got in
his car and he said, I will be a
very careful driver so the police
won't blow their breath in my
face, and so he drove back up
the steep, narrow, winding road
vprv rarefullv. and when he
reached Oslo there was a line
of three hundred cars following
him and the police wondered
why there should be such a long
line of cars. So they asked, and
when thev found how careful
mv friend had been, they took
a drop of blood from his ear
and put him in jail for three
Housing problems are acute
Wp. nnd Derhaps with more
than in many other places.
Never, during the five years of
norman nccuDation. did tne Nor
wegians cease their underground
resistance to tne mvaaers, uiu
they were met by ruthless mexn
nrU nf simDresslon. Men, women.
and children were killed or sent
into exile. Whole towns were
destroyed, warships sailed far
nn the fiords shelling every
hnllHins on both sides, churches,
v, n m o s. hnsnitals. hotels and
schools were knocked to pieces
and dynamite was placed in tun
nels on bridges and under public
buildings, ready for a vast de
struction. So many war prison
ers were used on preparations
for wholesale wrecking that
when the time came to do the
deed, the underground was so
well informed that much of the
destruction was avoided.
New Transportation
Until very recently the only
method of visiting the fjords
was by boats, but during the last
five or six years old hotels have
been modernized and means of
transportation have been sup
plied. A typical day's travel
might find us leaving our hotel
by bus at 7:15 a.m. to catch a
9 o'clock boat upon which we
crossed a fjord in three hours,
and then another short bus trip
and a train for an hour or two.
You can get some idea of the
country if you can imagine each
of our costal rivers like the
Klamath, Rogue, Umpqua, Eel,
etc., being arms of the ocean.
Boats would then sail up to Med-
ford. but to travel north and
south ferries would be needed.
There would be no through
north and south roads, and very
few east and west highways
Sweden, Denmark and even east
ern Norway do not have this
problem, nor can they be com
pared in sheer, ruggea Deauty
with western Norway.
Must Reduce Luggage
In taking a trip such as this
it is important to reduce baggage
to the minimum and that means
laundry work every evening,
and the greatest gift to the pres
ent day traveler is nylon. Cot
ton and wool will not dry quick
ly enough and when dry your
shirt, must be ironed, but an Or
ion shirt, having dried on a coat
hanger, looks as fair and smooth
as the best ironed shirts.
Beds in Scandinavia are very
hard and instead of sheets and
blankets, a puffy comforter in
serted into an envelope made of
linen is supplied. These "puffies"
are so short that it is impossible
to tuck them in at the bottom,
and so narrow that the , same
is true at the sides. Every night
before going to bed I have taken
the comforter out of its case,
and since I find it too warm
to sleep under, I have used bath
towels, bed spreads, and my coat.
In rural Norway breakfasts
and often lunch are smorgasbord.
Hot coffee, boiled egg, usually
hard, and oatmeal are the hot
dishes. Half a dozen kinds of
pickled fish, ham, beef, lamb and
veal, four or five cheeses, eight
or nine big bowls of marmalade
and jams, a platter of mixed
vegetables, six different kinds
of bread and an- equal number
of crackers, pitchers of milk,
mounds of butter, and undoubt
edly many more things which I
have forgotten, but no fruit. That
is the great lack.
Teacher and Stone Mason
The man who told me this
story said that he knew the
teacher. "This teacher and the
stone mason live in the same
apartment building on opposite
sides of the hall, and they often
have a glass of beer together.
One evening the teacher said,
"Tell me what you actually make
a year." The stone mason an
swered, " I have a seasonal job
and so can only work about eight
months each year, but I average
about 24,000 kroner what do
you maice?" - "By wonting in
the evenings and giving some
private lessons I make about 13,-
000 kroner," answered the
teacher. "Do you really? I call
that very good for a teacher,"
said the stone mason.
I have yet to meet a Scandi
navian who has been in the
United States who does not wish
and long to return there. From
the contractor who says "Sure
you have labor troubles, but
when the dispute is settled the
American man will do a far bet
ter job than the majority of our
labor in this socialistic country
where everything is done for
them." To the chauffeur who
worked in a restaurant in New
York and as a waiter on a cruise
ship who says "Sure I get lots
of security, but when I was in
these other jobs I could save
enough to have a six months
holiday back in Sweden every
two years, while I don't save
a cent and I and my family can't
afford a holiday except right
near Stockholm.
All aboard the clock is 7:30
p.m. Oslo time. At 8:30 tomor
row morning I'll be in Old New
York.
With the beginning' of sum
mer, rehearsals for the annual
Oregon Shakespearean Festival
have also begun in the Eliza
bethan shell above Lithia park
in Ashland. In addition to the
sound of voices, a great deal of
hammering and sawing may be
heard as workmen labor to fin
ish the benches, which will re
place the metal chairs provided
for festival audiences in . past
summers.
In order to speed construction
of these benches, and to insure
peace and quiet during rehears
als, Bill Ball organized a work
party of festival actors to aid
the workmen one morning. Ac
cording to Bill, the group com
pleted approximately one-sixth
of the benches Thursday morn
ing before rehearsal.
Rogue River
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Rogue River Mrs. Lois
Jones, (nee Simer) who is mak
ing her home with her parents
on Foots creek while her hus
band is in service, was in town
Thursday trying to locate a for
mer classmate, Barbara Brown,
from Salmon, Idaho. Mrs. Jones
had learned through her home
town newspaper that Miss
Brown is visiting her grand
mother at Rogue River while
her mother, Mrs. Mildred Brown
attends college.
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Ham
ley from San Fernando Valley,
Calif., are guests of Mr. and
Mrs. Harry Nelson, who have
taken them to Oregon Caves,
Crater lake and other scenic
points during the past few days.
Herman Kurt, a prominent
rancher at Hornbrook, Calif,
visited Mr. and Mrs. Herman
Holzhauser last week.
Member of Live Oak Grange
H.E.C. have begun collecting
for a rummage sale which they
plan to hold August 2.
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Hutch
ins, Santa Monica, Calif., spent
the past week at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. W. F. White on West
Evans road.
Mr. and Mrs. William Hub
bard, Baker, Mont., were guests
of Mr. and Mrs. Ferd Strietz
of Highway 99 the past week
end. Other guests at the Strietz
home were their daughter and
son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley
Lewis of Ashland. Lewis, a grad
uate of S.O.C., was one of four
honor students of the 1952 class.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mack of
Los Angeles stopped here Thurs-
Instead of beginning immedi
ately to block out the action of
the plays, each director devotes
one rehearsal to reading his play
through to acquaint the actors
with the content, and explains
the areas of the large Elizabeth
an stage to actors unfamiliar
with it.
Glimpses of Oregon's
Shakespearean Festival
who was unable to return be
cause of the business responsi
bilities he assumed on the death
of his father; and Brad and Bar
bara Curtis who are touring the
nightclub circuit this summer.
Another actor new to the fes
tival, Tom Brennan of Ohio, had
a strange experience as he hitch
hiked his way to Ashland. Tom
was given a ride by a man who
informed him that he had travel
ed 5,400 miles trying to escape a
woman who was waiting for him
in each town he passed through.
St. Peter's Church To Honor Missions
St. Peter's Lutheran church of
Medford will celebrate its an
nual Mission Sunday today, ac
cording to the pastor, the Rev.
Kenneth F. Korby.
Two services will mark the
celebration, one at 11 a.m. and
the other at 3 p.m. At the after
noon service, the Rev. Richard
Graef, Zion Lutheran church,
Klamath Falls, will speak.
Special collections for foreign
missions will be taken at both
services and sent to the Luther
an church Missouri synod. The
synod has missionaries in 26
countries. Most recent missions
include those in Cuba, Japan,
New Guinea, the Philippine
Islands, Hawaii and Central Am
erica and to the Moslems In In
dia. Some of the missions have be
gun as a direct result of the
Lutheran Hour radio program
sponsored by the laymen of the
synod, the pastor stated.
Anyone not having a church
connection is invited to attend
both services today, he said.
Tokyo (U.R) Japan plans to
let its wartime pilots, grounded
since the surrender seven years
ago, take refresher courses, it
was learned Friday,
Among the new faces seen at
the theater this week are those
of Marjorle Lovberg, who will
be seen as Hero in "Much Ado
About Nothing"; Eleanor Pros-
ser, who will play Beatrice in
the same show; Patrick Hines,
who has been cast as Leonato
another character in "Much
Ado"; and Rick Risso, who has
the title role in "Henry V" and
will be seen as Ferdinand in
"The Tempest."
Some of those returning are
Jack Taylor, who appeared in
festival productions two years
ago; Bill Oyler, who will repeat
as Pistol in "Henry" and will
portray Brutus in "Julius Cae
sar"; H. Paul Kliss, who will
play Prospero in "The Temp
est"; Bill Ball, who will play the
contrasting parts of Ariel in
"The Tempest" and Marcus An
tonius in "Caesar"; and Clara
Daniels, a long-time festival vet
eran who will be seen as Mar
garet in "Much Ado."
Former festival actors who
are not returning for the season
are George and Ann Eckstein,
who will spend the summer at
Martha's Vineyard; Hal Burdick
Jr., who will also spend the sum
mer In the east; George Peppard,
Something new has been add
ed to the appearance of the cos
tuming director, Doug Russell.
Doug is now sporting a mous
tache. At list the costume depart
ment has been moved down to
the theater, which means that
actors no longer have to walk
or drive the distance out to the
college, the former costume
headquarters, for fittings. The
new costume room is the former
girls' dressing room next to the
prop room.
One of the livelier cast mem
bers, John Bethencourt of Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, has already pro
vided the company with many
laughs. One of these came before
"Henry" rehearsal the other
night when John remarked that
his mother had admonished
him when he left home two
years ago to never become an ac
tor. John's accent lends itself
very well to the part of Harf leur
"Henry," which he was as
signed by director Philip Hanson.
day, to visit Mrs, Mack's uncle
and family, the Garfield Laws,
They were enroute to Washing
ton.
Mrs. Joyce Casey arrived last
week from Albuquerque, N.M.,
to make her home with Mr. and
Mrs. U. U. Casey of East Evans
road, while her husband, a mar
ine, is in service.
The night shift at the Carlson
mill at Wime'r was taken off last
Monday because of a shortage of
logs.
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A-n other bit of horseplay
brought laughs before rehearsal
Friday evening when Jack Tay
lor, Paul Reinhardt and Pat
Hines decided to substitute a
production of Gilbert and Sulli
van's "H.M.S. Pinafore" for
"The Tempest," and began sing
ing parts of the light opera to
an audience of three other com
pany members.
1? 14 VMrVA
A large investment has been
made in new equipment for
lighting control, according to
Bill Patton, lighting director,
and the new switchboard has
been installed. New effects were
achieved the other night when
lights with different colored
gelatins were played on the
trees around the theater. R.S.
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