Tíminn - 17.06.1930, Side 17

TlMINN
r-’Sj (DJ

H.f, Sjóklæðagerð Islands, Reykjavík Símnefni: Sjóklæðageröin Talsímar: Verksmiðjan, SkiMinaanesi 1085 og Útbúið, Reykjavík 1513. Síðan haustið 1927 hafa sjóklæði vor rutt sér Hafið því hugfast, að notendur sjóklæða spara óðfluga til rúms á íslenzkum sjóklæðamarkaði, "Ð s^r ^ me® Þv* kaupa eingöngu sjóklæði vor, sökum yfirburða sinna fram yfir önnur sjóklæði, Ær og styrkja jafnframt íslenzkan iðnað. sem seld hafa verið hór á landi. - Þessu til sönn- íf unar eru lofsamleg ummæli, sem vér höfum með- II ^ Í y Munið eftir vörumerkinu, þegar þér kaupíð sjóklæðí.
tekið frá ýmsum togara-skipshöfnum og kaupsýslu-CO | I )| mönnum. - Það er flestra mál, að það sé bæðiVl \ J # jí ^am^an<^ samvinnufólaga hefir sölu-umboð menningar og hagnaðar atriði að kaupa innlenda sJU w/ Jí fyrir oss, sem nær til allra kaupfólaga á íslandi. framleiðslu, ef hún stendur jafn framarlega og Jjjf Kaupfélagsstjórar geta því jöfnum höndum, sent erlendur iðnaður, hvað þásó hún betri. A oss e^a í* S. væntanlegar sjókiæðapantanir. H.f. Sjóklæðagerð Islands, Reykjavík
& S3

Icelandic fish which was then the chief article of export,
and brought goods of good quality to Iceland and cheaper
than the goods of the Norwegian merchants. But in 1602
when the Danish trade monopoly was established and all
foreign trade with lceland was forbidden by royal orders,
the English were prohibited fi*om Icelandic harbours.
In 1854 the trade with Iceland was at last opened to
all nations. From that time on trade between Iceland and
Great Britain has incresed greatly. In later yeai*s Iceland
has imported from Great Britain numerous commodities,
especially coal and petroleum. In 1927 ca. 15% of Ice-
landic exports were sold to Great Britain. The following
table shows the trade between Iceland and Great Britain
during the years 1924—’28:
a. Imports from Great Britain, 1000 krónur.
In 1924 kr. 2275,1
— 1925 — 24070,6
— 1926 — 15161,2
— 1927 — 16481,3
— 1928 — 20207,1
b. Exports from Iceland, 1000 krónur.
In 1924 kr. 12596,4
— 1925 — 10407,2
— 1926 — 7522,8
— 1927 — 9279,7
— 1928 — 13101,1
From the year 1000 (Introduction of Christianity in
Iceland) to 1264 (When the Icelanders lost their indepen-
dence and came under Norwegian rule) a few Icelanders
went to England to study. Thus Saint Þorlákur Þórhalls-
son (d. 1193) bishop at Skálholt in South-Iceland studied
at Lincoln. His nephew, Páll Jónsson (d. 1211), also
bishop at Skálholt, studied in England.
Later the intercourse between Iceland and Great
Britain was prohibited, but after the introduction of Re-
formation in Iceland (about 1550), Icelanders again went
to England to study.
In the 19th centry two learned Icelanders lived in
England. Guðbrandur Vigfússon, Phil. Dr., who was a
Professor in Icelandic at Oxford, and died there in 1889
devoted his career to Icelandic litterature and
language. The other Icelander, Eiríkur Magnússon M. A.,
lived in England from 1862; froml871 as librarian at the
University of Cambridge. He made a number of trans-
lations from Icelandic into English and from English into
Icelandic.
Many prominent people from Great Britain have
visited Iceland. We can only name a few here.
Sir Joseph Banks came to Iceland in 1772 accom-
panied by some scientists.
In the beginning of the 19th century two men, W. J.
Hooker and G. St. Macenzie visited Iceland and wrote
books about their visits (W. J. Hooker: Joumal of a tour
in Iceland, London 1811; G. St. Macenzie: Travels in the
island of Iceland, Edinb. 1811).
Ebenezer Henderson came to Iceland in 1814 og dwelt
there till 1815. He wrote an important book on Iceland and
Icelandic conditions „Iceland or a journal of a residence
in that island“, Edinb. 1818.
In respect to cultural connexion between Iceland and
Great Britain we must remember such English names as
M o r r i s, C r a g i e, W. P. K e r, M i s s B. S. P h i 1-
potts, H. G. Leach and D a s e n t (translator of the
N j a l’s s a g a and Prose Edda).
Among British authors whose works have been
translated into Icelandic are:
Milton, Pope, Shakespeare, Byron,
Scott, Defoe, Wallace, Moore, Macaulay,
Ruskin, Hall Caine.
Among Icelandic authors whose works have been
translated into English we can name:
Hallgrímur Pétursson, Jón Thorodd-
sen, Einar H. Kvaran, Guðmundur Kamban,
Jóhann Sigurjónsson and Indriði Einars-
s on.
Five Icelandic students are now studying in Eng-
land. In this connection we might mention Professor
G o r d o n of Leeds University as a friend of the Ice-
landers and who is recognized as an authority in Icelandic
litterature and languge.
The University of Leeds has now purchaised a great
Icelandic library and will no doubt in the future be an
important centre in England for studying Icelandic
language and htterature.
c3teíaní> anb XL 0*
According to the Icelandic Sagas Vínland, i. e. a
part of the coast of North-America was discovered by an
Icelander, Leif Ericson, and his comrades in the year
1000. This discovery was however abandoned by the Ice-
landers in the second decade of the llth century.
Nearly nine centuries after this the inhabitants of
the Sagaland once more felt urge for the New-World and
a small group migrated to Utah and settled in iSpanish
Fork in 1855.
This was but an indication of the immigration that
was to follow and whicli did not begin to any great ex-
tent until ca. 1870. In that year the first purely Icelandic
colony in America was established on Washington Island,
a little island at the northeastem extremity of lake
Michigan.
The greatest numbers of the Icelandic settlers came
between 1870 and 1895. This immigration was partly cau-
sed by lack of opportunities of the homeland. Now poli-
tical reforms in Iceland and an increased material pro-
sperity has caused that there has not been much recent
immigration.
The principal Icelandic communities m the United
States are in North Dakota, Pembina, Cavalier, Grand
Forks, Walsh and Bottenean Counties, Lincoln and Lyon
Counties, Minnesota and in and around Seattle, Washing-
ton. Smaller groups are there in Michigan, Wisconsin,
Nebraska, Illinois, Utah, New Jersey, New-York and
California. In all there are probably 10—15,000 Icelanders
and their decendants in the United States. It would take
far too much space here to try to describe the economic
and social development of the Icelandic settlements in
the United States. Instead of that we will try to mention
the further intercourse between Iceland and the U. S. A.
Before the Great War there was not much trade
between The U. S. A. and Iceland, but during the war it
increased vex*y much. In 1915 there were imported to
Iceland goods from The U. S. A. for 1,1 million Icelandic
krónur of which there were cereals for ca. 700,000 kr.,
coffee for ca. 100,000 kr. and petroleum for ca. 100,000
lu*. In the same year the exports from Iceland to The U.
S. A. amounted to scarcely 300,000 kr., whereof herring
for ca. 230,000 kr. In the later years the Icelanders have
imported from The U. S. A. quantity of flour, textiles,
machines, motor cars, rubber goods and various other
things. But the exports from Iceland to The U. S. A.
consist of dairy and fishing products.
The following table shows the value of trade between
Iceland and The U. S. A. during the years 1924—’28:
a. Imports frorn U. S. A., 1000 krónur.
1924 kr. 1159,8
1925 — 1408,7
1926 — 1545,5
1927 — 982,9
1928 — 1682,2
b. Exports from Iceland, 1000 krónur.
1924 kr. 577,0
1925 — 194,4
1926 — 625,7
1927 — 456,3
1928 — 1437,0
As to cultural connexion between Iceland and The
U. S. A. it can be said, that various books of American
authors have been translated into Icelandic as novels of
Harriet Beecher Stove, Washington Irving, Mark Twain
and Upton Sinclair, and philosopical articles by William
James. The great Icelandic poet Matthías Jochumsson
was no doubt influenced by Channings. A number of
famous Americans have shown interst in Icelandic littera-
ture. Longfellow carried on correspondance in Latin with
the famous Icelandic philologist Sveinbjöm Egilsson, and