Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.07.1989, Síða 3

FÖSTUDAGUR 7. JÚLÍ 1989-3
Lundar Icelandic settlement
By Jón Jónsson from Sleðbrjót
Jón Sigurðsson began to decrease
the number of cattle he had. Cattle
raising, he felt, was not profitable. He
farmed in partnership with his son
Jón, who married Ingibjörg, a daugh-
ter of Eiríkur Hallsson, from Máseli
in the Jökulsárhiíð of Iceland.
The total possessions of Jón when
he arrived in Winnipeg were $35.00.
With these funds he bought an ox for
$32.00. Aside from the three dollars,
he began his life here in Canada vir-.
tually broke. When this was written
shortly before 1910, Jón and his son
owned five quarter sections of land,
a good stock of cattle, horses, some
sheep and pigs. They owned a hay
baler, including the conventional hay
making implements.
Four of his quarter sections he
bought when land values were low,
and others in the district considered
land investment to be throwing away
hard earned savings. Only one—
quarter section did he purchase for
$3.50 per acre, from the Saskatche-
wan Land Company. The others he
bought for $180, $200, and $240, re-
spectively. He would not part with
these lands when this was written at
four times the original costs. Many
others in the area regret not having
purchased these lands instead of con-
sidering them a poor investment.
Jón has been a very helpful indiv-
idual. He has been generous in his
help to newcomers in the area, and
dug deep into his pocket to help des-
titute relatives in Iceland who wished
to emigrate to Canada. On arrival, he
helped them to get started in a gener-
ous sort of way. The author of this
article, Jón Jónsson from Sleðbrjót ad-
mits he received this type of help
from Jón Sigurðsson. They were first
cousins.
Jón has always taken an active role
in community affairs, and acted as
chairman on many occasions. He lost
his wife in 1902. His grandchildren
carry the names Jon and Bjorg.
The story of these three families,
who were original settlers in the dis-
trict, have been described in con-
siderable detail, mainly because they
are representative of the early settlers
in and around Lundar. The story was
common, a strong desire to come
here, the struggle with various mat-
ters during the trip from Iceland, in-
cluding poverty and lack of funds
during the early years. The burden of
coping with life without a knowledge
of the English language was one of
their major difficulties.
Regardless of these hurdles to over-
come, they have fared rather well
and their security is safe even if they
were to be confronted by some
major difficulties.
The following settlers came during
the next three years.
Skúli Sigfússon had been a fisher-
man in Iceland. He arrived here at
the age of seventeen as mentioned
earlier in the story of Jón Sigfússon,
his brother. Skúli had also worked for
his brother Sveinn for some time,
who had been a merchant at Norð-
firði. For the first nine years in this
country, he worked for his brother
Jón. He took land and started
farming.
In January 1908, he married Gu-
ðrún Árnason, a stepdaughter of Ar-
nór Árnason, a metal casing em-
ployee in Chicago.
Skúli has had many cattle and was
the first farmer in the area to acquire
purebred cattle. In 1894 he began cat-
tle buying and has an implement
dealership. Skúli is rather well fixed
financially, owning seven quarter sec-
tions of land. He manages an exten-
sive fishing operation along the
eastern shore of Lake Manitoba.
TVanslated from the Almanak,
E.A.
Underground heat and mapping
Underground heat has been a
characteristic of Iceland's geology
from the time it was formed through
internal earthly eruption. Its begin-
ning must be thought of in terms of
the geological clock, if a time-concept
is applied to this phenomena. Until
recently, the utilization of this
resource was confined to use as a
laundry facility, where the hot water
broke through the earth's crust to ex-
pose itself in convenient streams for
housewives who found it very useful
for washing clothes.
Upon visiting Iceland, Reykjavík
becomes the first stop and a trip into
the city soon brings to your attention
the hot water phenomena. One of the
best known streets is named Lau-
gavegur. It was on this street that hot
springs had one time served as a pub-
lic laundry for the residents of this
capital city. The dictionary defines
"laug” as bath, or hot spring.
During Iceland's post-war years,
they began to harness this natural
heat resource. It now heats the
homes in Reykjavík, and they have
begun to extract the last units of heat
Canada's
of New
The small fishing and tourist town
of Gimli, Man., is well-known as
the original settlerqent of the largest
population of Icelanders outside of
Iceland. Less well-known is the fact
that Gimli was the principal town of
the Republic of Iceland that existed
for 12 years slightly over a century
ago — between 1875 and 1887. The
''country within a country” was a
large area 42 miles long and 11 miles
wide along the west shore of Lake
Winnipeg. Only Icelanders were al-
lowed to settle in the area. They were
allowed by the Canadian government
to use their own civil law, but not
from the effluent before returning it
back to mother nature. By leading the
water through pipes under sidewalks
and open fields they can be kept clear
of snow and dangerous icing
conditions.
Engineering practices have to be
applied to measure the heat potential
of underground sources. This calls
into action surveying methods to de-
termine area, depth, and heat poten-
tial of each field.
A recent article in the Morgunblað
gives an interesting insight into the
methods they use to map these areas.
The following is a translation as it ap-
peared in the Morgunblað. "New
equipment promises results, but is
expensive. The power company has
been trying new methods in under-
ground heat exploration and mapping
during recent years. According to
Knút Árnason, physicist with the
power company, the new method is
designated TEM, an abbreviation of
TVansient Electro Magnetic. It is
based on creating a variable magnet-
ic field, by leading an electric current
Republic
Iceland
criminal law. The Icelandic language
was guaranteed. The settlers drafted
their own charter that contained a
comprehensive social welfare system
including support for widows, the
poor and the old. Canadian Iceland-
ers continue to harbour a home-
grown "nationalism," marked each
year on the first Monday in August
with a massive cultural festival in
Gimli.
Source: David Arnason, "The Myth
of Beginnings” in the 1988 program.
Submitted by Tim Anderson
Freelance Writer
through an above-ground wire loop.
The magnetic field induces currents
in the earth, and by studying the field
created apart from the earth currents,
the resistance underground below
the electrical loop can be measured.
"Until recently the Schlumberger
method has been used. According to
Knút, it is considered to have a num-
ber of weaknesses when compared
with the TEM method. The latter has
proven to be superior in Iceland. It
is time saving compared to the old
method. The TEM equipment is on
the other hand expensive. The pow-
er corporation has not been able to
afford the purchase of this equip-
ment, according to Kpút, because of
retraction in their activities. The
TEM equipment has been rented
from abroad at considerable added
expense."
TVanslated in part from The Mor-
gunblað. E.A.
tuc FAIREST FARES
I 1 11« 1 JHWm I l l mr%m mwmmm
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