fresh and preserved, that foreigners are usually afraid of. The
Norwegians are fond of things with a pronounced flavor, the more
pronounced the better, and cheese is one of the chief articles of
diet. A Norwegian housewife would not consider a meal complete without
five or six different kinds of cheese of all degrees of pungency in
taste and odor upon the table. At breakfast you are served sardines,
anchovies, smoked salmon, dried herring and five or six other kinds of
fish and an equal variety of cheese before they think of offering you
coffee and meat and potatoes. You get seven or eight kinds of bread
also, but it is all cold. The national bread, which is made of flour,
water and a little salt, with a sprinkling of caraway seed, rolled
very thin and punctured with holes like a cracker, is baked only once
or twice a year, and then in large quantities, as New England women
bake mince pies and put them on the top shelf to season. It is called
_grovboröd_, and tastes like a water cracker.

The servant-girl problem has been solved in Norway to the satisfaction
of all concerned, although it is doubtful whether a similar solution
would be accepted by domestic servants in the United States. In large
cities like Bergen and Christiania, there is a central employment
bureau under the direction of the municipal government, and twice a
year--one week before New Year's day and one week before St. John's
day, the 24th of June--there is a general change of servants by those
who are dissatisfied with existing conditions, and engagements are
made for the ensuing six months of the year. Families who want
servants, fill out blanks setting forth what is required and the wages
they are willing to pay. These are filed at the employment office and
are noted in a conspicuous manner upon a blackboard. Women or men in
search of employment go to this bureau during the weeks named,
examine the blackboard, and apply to the clerk in charge for further