716 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



Its efficiency was first established at the wreck 

 of the ship Ayrshire, near Long Branch, N. J., 

 when two hundred passengers, men, women, 

 children, and infants, were safely brought to 

 shore through a heavy-beating surf, which no 



other surf-boat or life-saving apparatus known 

 could have withstood. The surf-car had re- 

 mained unemployed at the life-station near the 

 spot of the wreck for nearly two years, and it 

 was now put in use, as a last resort, together 



A REVENUE RELIEF-CRUISER, 

 Anchored seaward of a vessel that has struck the ground on the sea-coast in a storm, too far off shore to be aided from land, 



a rope having been thrown by a cannon-ball across the vessel in distress, 

 shipwrecked people. 



The Life-Car is seen on its way to rescue the 



with Captain Ottinger's method for overcoming 

 the inertia of a rope when jerked suddenly from 

 a state of rest by a cannon-ball. After its reputa- 

 tion was thus established, it was often employed 



SURF-CAR. 



with distinguished effectiveness; though the full 

 scope of its possible usefulness has probably not 

 yet been proved. 



SWEDEN AND NOR WAY,* two kingdoms 

 of Northern Europe, united under the same 

 dynasty. King, Oscar II., born January 21, 

 1829 ; succeeded to the throne at the death of 

 his brother, Charles XV., September 18, 1872. 

 Married June 6, 1857, to Sophia, born July 9, 

 1836, daughter of the late Duke Wilhelm of 

 Nassau. Oldest son : Gustavus, heir-apparent, 

 Duke of Wermland, born June 16, 1858. 



The executive authority is in the hands of 

 the King, who acts under the advice of a Coun- 

 cil of State, composed of ten members, of whom 

 two have the title of State Ministers, and eight 

 that of Councilors of State ; of the latter five 

 are chiefs of departments. At the close of 

 1875, the Swedish Council of State was com- 



* For latest statistics of emigration, and the army of 

 Sweden, and the commercial navy of Norway, see ANNUAL 

 CYCLOPEDIA for 1874. 



posed of the following members: 1. The Min- 

 ister of State and Justice, Baron B. de Geer, 

 appointed May 11, 1875. 2. Minister of State 

 and Foreign Affairs, Major-General Oscar M. 

 de Bjornstjerna, appointed Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, December 17, 1872 ; 3. C. J. O. Baron 

 Alstromer, appointed June 15, 1870 ; 4. Chief 

 of the Department of the Navy, Baron F. W. 

 de Otter, appointed December 23, 1874; 5. 

 Chief of the Department of Ecclesiastical Af- 

 fairs, Dr. J. F. Carleson, appointed May 11, 

 1875 ; 6. Chief of the Department of the In- 

 terior, C. J. Thyselius, appointed May 11, 1875 ; 

 7. H. G. de Lagerstroll, appointed May 11, 

 1875 ; 8. hief of the Department of War, 

 Major-General Erik Oscar Weldenhielm, ap- 

 pointed December 5, 1871 ; 9. Dr. J. H. Lov6n 

 (June 5, 1874); 10. Chief of the Department 

 of Finance, Dr. H. L. Forsell, appointed May 

 11, 1875. 



In Norway the King exercises his authority 

 through a Council of State, composed of one 

 Minister of State and nine Councilors. Two 

 of the councilors, together with the minister, 

 form a delegation of the Council of State, re- 

 siding at Stockholm, near the King. 



The area and population of Sweden, in 1874, 

 are given in the following table. The towns 

 which, in 1874, had a population of more than 

 10,000 inhabitants, were : Stockholm, 150,446 ; 

 Goteborg, 63,748; Malmo, 30,676; Norrkoping, 

 26,365; Gene, 16,787; Carlskrona, 16,643; Up- 

 sala, 12,367; Jonkoping, 12,548; Lund, 11,680. 



