Lögberg - 09.10.1958, Blaðsíða 2

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LÖGBERG, FIMMTUDAGINN 9. OKTÓBER 1958
A Pre-emmenfr Lawyer
Coníinued from Page 1
ated there in the spring of
1923, and the went to Yale
for his law and graduated
there in 1925. He was in law
practice with his father for
three or four years in Port
land, Oregon, and he died in
1943.
Mrs. Eremeef now lives
with her father in his spaci
ous 14-room Dutch Colonial
home in Portland, as do Mrs.
Eremeef’s son, Jon Bardi
Eremeef, 26; in the army at
the present time; and Mrs
Joseph ( K a r e n ) Eoff, s
daughter of Mrs. Eremeef. A
great granddaughter, Deborah
Eoff, was two July 2nd.
Mr. Skulason early in life
became very much interested
in politics, and is a Republ
ican. In 1908 he was elected
to the House of Representa-
tives for the State of North
Dakota, where he became
very prominent because of
his ability as a public speaker.
He was the author of North
Dakota’s non-partisan judici-
ary law and the child labor
law.
Mr. Skulason rose to pro-
minence in his profession
very quickly. During his en-
tire residence in the State his
services were sought from
all over the State of North
Dakota. This was because he
was a marvelous trial lawyer
and a very eloquent speaker
In 1911, at the age of 41,
Mr. Skulason heeded the ad
vice of Horace Greeley who
said, “Go west young man
and grow up with the coun-
try,” and went west and
settled in the beautiful City
of Portland, Oregon. For
some time he was in partner-
ship with the late Guy C. H.
Corliss; later on he was in
the Clark firm of Clark,
Skulason & Clark; and was
also in practice with his son,
Rolfe W. Skulason; but most
of the time he was in practice
alone.
Bardi Skulason has always
been a very loyal and in-
tensely American. He is, and
has always been, a great
patriot. In line with that he
enlisted as a volunteer in
World War I, althought he
was then well past the age
limit for army service.
Mr. Skulason has always
been a good friend of North
Dakota. He exemplified this
by establishing the Skulason
Scholarship at the University
of North Dakota in 1924,
which annually pays $250.00
to be awarded to a worthy and
needy student.
Bardi’s rise to prominence
in the practice of his profes-
sion in the great City of Port-
land, Oregon, was just as
rapid as it was while he was
practicing in North Dakota.
In 1923 he represented Mrs.
Loretta Day of Portland,
Oregon, formerly of Wallace
Idaho, in a case which in-
volved a very large sum of
money over the estate of her
husband. After much litiga-
tion he secured a settlement
of $1,200,000, and received a
fee of $400,000, which in that
day, and even in the inflation
of today, is a tremendously
large amount. According to
the Portland Oregonian this
was the largest attorney’s fee
up to that time ever paid to
any attorney west of the
Mississippi River.
In 1942, Mr. Skulason was
appointed consul for Iceland
in Portland; and also in 1942
he was appointed by the late
Governor Snell to serve on
the public welfare board, and
he is still active in both.
At the time Mr. Skulason
celebrated his 87th birthday
he was working on a million
dollar trust case. His client
had entered into a trust
agreement with one of the
banks in Portland, Oregon, in
1950. In 1954 this man became
dissatisfied with the trust
agreement and wanted to
change it or break it, and the
bank would not agree. He
went to one of the big law
firms in the city, put his case
before them, and after study-
ing matter they told him that
it was not possible to have it
set aside, and charged him a
fee of $750. He went to other
lawyers and the answer was
the same, that the agreement
could not be set aside. Finally
he came to see Mr. Skulason,
told him about this trust
agreement, and he said, “I be-
lieve it can be set aside.” He
brought the action and it was
set aside. In those cases the
judges set the fees ,and Mr.
Skulason’ was allowed a fee
of $25,000.
On the 28th of May, 1958,
the Multnomah County Bar
Association, which includes
the City of Portland, Oregon,
held a testimonial dinner in
honor of Bardi Skulason in
recognition of his great abili-
ty and marvelous career. This
is an honor that comes to very
few men. The North Dakota
Bar Association, at their an-
nual meeting in Jamestown,
North Dakota, in June of this
year passed a resolution of
congratulations to Mr. Skula-
son for his wonderful record
and achievements.
Mr. Skulason, who neither
drinks nor smokes, enjoys
certain TV features, especial-
ly those of an educational
type, and also enjoys the sing-
ing of some of our artists. He
reads in eight languages,
Swedish, Danish, Norwegian,
Icelandic, French, German,
Latin and English; is fond of
classics, good fiction, philo-
sophy and poetry, particu-
larly Poe and Burns.
Mr. Skulason is noted for
his kindly and ingratiating
smile. He has demonstrated
very vividly what Shake-
speare meant when he said:
“What thou wilt,
Thou must rather enforce it
with a smile,
Than hew to it with thy
sword.”
Bardi G. Skulason has
achieved fame in the practice
of law which places him No. 1
among lawyers of Icelandic
descent in North America.
Not only that, but he has be-
come one of the great lawyers
of this country .
Norsk doktorsritgerð
um Bandamannasögu
í marzmánuði síðastliðnum
varði cand. phil. Hallvard
Mageröy doktorsritgerð við
Oslóarháskóla. Ritgerðin, sem
nefnist „Studiar í Banda-
mannasaga,“ var gefin út á
forlagi Ejnars Munkgaards í
Kaupmannahöfn 1957 í Bibli-
otheca Arnamagnæana, en rit-
stjóri þess er Jón Helgason
prófessor.
Mageröy var um skeið
lektor við Háskóla íslands, og
er ritgerðin tileinkuð skólan-
um. í formála flytur höfundur
þakklæti sitt til kunningja og
samstarfsmanna hér á landi
og þá sérstaklega Alexanders
Jóhannessonar prófessors og
Einars Ólafs Sveinssonar pró-
fessors.
Blaðið „Norsk Tidend“ átti
viðtal við Mageröy 22. marz
s.l., skömmu eftir doktors-
vörnina. Þar segir hann, að
af Bandamannasögu séu til 30
ólík handrit, dreifð í mörgum
löndum.
— Það var eðlilega fyrsta
verk mitt, segir Mageröy, að
reyna að komast að raun um,
hvaða textar voru uppruna^
legastir. Það kom í ljós, að öll
afrit áttu rót sína að rekja til
tveggja skinnhandrita frá
miðöldum. Þeir, sem eftir
þeim hafa ritað, virðast ekki
hafa gætt nákvæmni við verk
sín.
Mageröy telur líklegt, að
eldra skinnhandritið sé frá
1340, en hitt sé hundrað árum
yngra. En texta handritanna
telur hann það ólíka, að ekki
sé unnt að segja með vissu,
hvor þeirra standi nær hinum
upprunalega texta.
Blaðið getur þess, að Mag-
eröy sé hinn fyrsti þar í landi,
sem aðhyllist kenningar ís-
lenzkra fræðimanna á seinni
árum, en þær eru í stuttu
máli að skoða beri íslendinga
sögur fyrst og fremst sem
bókmenntaleg verk.
— Meginþráður Banda-
mannasögu, segir Mageröy að
lokum, á vafalaust við sögu-
leg rök að styðjast, en höfund-
ur hefur lagfært efnið í hendi
sér og spunnið úr því af hin-
um mesta hagleik, því að
Bandamannasaga er meistara-
verk. —Alþbl., 18. júlí
Ó bænastund!
Ó bænastund! Ó bænastund!
sem býður mér á Guðs míns
fund,
og kallar mig frá sorg og synd
að sælli Drottins náðarlind.
Ég finn hjá þér í kulda kífs
Guðs kraft og endurnæring
lífs;
og freistni sigrað fær mín
lund
í faðmi þín,’ ó bænastund.
Ó bænastund! Ó bænastund!
mitt bænarmál á Guðs míns
fund
þú flytur, svo hans gæzku-
gnótt
mér geti líknað vel og fljótt.
Og fyrst hann kallar: „ Kom
til mín!“
ég kem, ó Guð, í trú til þín,
og legg í þína náðarmund
allt mæðufár á bænastund.
Ó bænastund! ó bænastund!
þín blessun græðir hjartans
und,
unz frelsaður ég héðan held
við hinzta jarðlífs ævikveld,
og frelsara minn fæ að sjá
í fullri sælu himnum á.
Og við þann mikla fagnaðs-
fund
þú fylling nærð, óbænastund!
Kolbeinn Sæmundsson
Búendur í Manitoba skipaðir í stjórnarráð
Labaí-fr's Manitoba Brewery Limited
Emest Moncrieff
John B. Craig
Mark G. Smerchanski
Roland Couture
FormaBur stjórnarráðsins, Frank J. Schlingerman, tilkynnti kjör
fjögurra nýrra stjörnarráSsmanna, allir Manitobabúar. sem eina af
breytingunum þessa viku er markar stofnun Labatt’s Manitoba
Brewery Limited.
Mr. Moncrieff er forseti fitandard Aero Engines Ltd. í Winni-
peg. Hann var flugstjóri, er gat sér oröstfr í strföinu meS R.C.A.F.
Aö stríðinu loknu gekk hann í þjónustu T.C.A. og síöar hjá Standard
Aero. Mr. Moncrieff á sæti f stjórnarnefnd Red Cross Manitoba
Division, í stjórnarráöi Misericordia Hospital og í stjórnarnefnd
Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Hann er fyrrverandi forseti Air Industries
and Transport Association of Canada.
Mr. Craig er forseti og framkvæmdastjóri Western Manitoba
Broadcasters Limited. Hann hefir tekið mikinn þátt í félagsmálum
í Brandon f mörg ár, f National War Finance Committee, the
Community Chest, Y.M.C.A. of á Arena Board. Hann er fyrrverandi
forseti Kinsman Club, Brandon Chamber of Commerce, Manitoba
Chamber of Commerce. Hann á sæti í skólaráöi Brandon College.
Mr. Smerchanski er consulting mining geologist og forseti Eco
Explorations Limited, Rlverton Airways Limited, New Manitoba
Mining & Smelting Limited, vara-forseti Beattie Duqueene Mines
Limited og f framkvæmdanefnd God’s Lake Gold Mines Limited.
Auk þess aö vera virkur meölimur í mörgum verkfræðingafélögum
hefir hann átt sæti í mörgum nefndum lfknarstofnana f Winnipeg,
Hospital Committee Building Fund, St. Boniface Hospital Advisory
Board, Ukranian Studies Fund og Holy Family Home for the Aged.
Hann var skipaöur í stjórnarráö Manitoba-háskólans 1953 og sama
ár f stjórn Greater Winnipeg Transtt Commission.
Mr. Couture er búsettur í St. Boniface og útskrifaöur af
Manitoba-háskóla. ÁÖur en hann varð forstjóri Radio Station
CKSB 1950, var hann ritari og gjaldkeri fyrir Henri d’Eschambault
Limited og Manitoba Co-op Honey Producers. Hann hefir veriö f
stjórnarráöi St. Boniface Hospital og forseti St. Boniface Chamber
of Commerce og í stjórnarráöi Greater Winnipeg Transit Commis-
sion. Hann er f stjórnarnefnd Apex Controls Limited.
Um leið og hann fagnaöi hinum nýju Manitoba stjórnarráðsmönn-
tim lét John P. Labatt, forseti Labatt’s Manitoba Brewery Limited,
þess getið að félagið myndi halda áfram að framleiða bæöi Shea og
Labatt afurðir.