SUNDAY-SCHOOL CONVENTION. 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



709 



feet above the street the stone or other exterior ma- 

 terial is so constructed that its weight does not rest 

 on the steel skeleton. To use a builder's phrase, it 

 carries itself. Above the sixth story it becomes 

 necessary to rest the stonework, etc., on the steel 

 framework. The beams used in the floors are 

 usually of I section, carrying between them flat 

 arches of terra cotta. Partitions are made of terra 

 cotta or hollow brick. The floors for halls, etc., are 

 frequently covered with mosaic, the blocks being 

 small stones often colored in patterns, and set in 

 cement with the flat face upward. 



Interior Mechanism. A modern steel office or 

 business building requires a steam plant and an 

 electric plant, besides elaborate plumbing, wiring, 

 and ventilating apparatus. Water tanks have to be 

 provided to serve the upper stories, and these are 

 usually built into the space at the top of the eleva- 

 tor in order to take advantage of the warm air that 

 rises in the elevator shaft, and conduct it about the 

 tank to prevent freezing. Sometimes, as in the 

 American Tract Society building, a cold-water serv- 

 ice is arranged by the introduction of a refrigerat- 

 ing plant which circulates cold about the water 

 pipes. The elevators are run by steam power, 

 though often an electric motor forms the actual 

 connection between the steam engine and the op- 

 erating wire ropes. This permits of the use of an 

 electric storage battery to take the " peak " of the 

 load that is, serve, to deliver additional power 

 where a sudden increased demand is made on the 

 elevators. The engines and dynamos are usually 

 directly connected, and a dynamo is wound to 110 

 volts to give a current for incandescent light serv- 

 ice. In the very latest practice a 220-volt current 

 is used for the more powerful incandescent lamps 

 built for such a voltage. The enormous amount of 

 wiring in these structures may be inferred from the 

 fact that the contracts for the Manhattan Life In- 

 surance Company's building called for about 35 

 miles of wire. The pipes for gas, water, waste, and 

 ventilation footed up a total of 10 miles in the 

 same building. 



The cost of these structures varies with the elab- 

 oration of the details from 25 to 60 cents a cubic 

 foot. In the case of the Pulitzer building the cost 

 is given at $1,500,000. The time in which such a 

 building can be erected has been much reduced of 

 late, and contracts are made requiring only twelve 

 to twenty months for the completion of an entire 

 mammoth steel building. Some tendency has been 

 manifested by legislatures to restrict the height of 

 these structures, noticeably in Massachusetts. 

 Where they are unrestricted the tendency is to build 

 them higher and higher. This is generally objected 

 to by the owners of contiguous property, as their 

 foundations are undermined and are liable to dam- 

 age. Such liability has unquestionably been greatly 

 reduced, however, by advances in methods of con- 

 structing the foundations. 



SUNDAY - SCHOOL CONVENTION, THE 

 WORLD'S. The World's Third Convention of 

 Sunday-School Workers was held in London, 

 beginning July 12. The first of the preceding 

 conventions was held in London in 1889, and the 

 second in St. Louis, Mo., in 1893. The present 

 convention, which considerably exceeded the others 

 in the number of delegates, was attended by about 

 2,300 members, 300 of whom were from London, 

 1,500 from the rest of the United Kingdom, 250 

 from the United States, 20 from Canada, 5 from 

 Newfoundland, and 70 from the Continent of 

 Europe. Addresses of welcome were made by the 

 Marquis of Northampton, president of the British 

 Sunday-School Union and the Ragged School 

 Union, Mr. Edward Towers, and the Rev. John 

 Clifford, D. D., president of the Federation of Free 



Evangelical Churches. Mr. Edward Towers was 

 chosen president of the convention. The reports 

 of Sunday-school work in various parts of the 

 world included accounts of Sunday-School Union 

 missions on the Continent of Europe, a description 

 of the work of the Foreign Sunday-School Union, 

 and of the International Union of Primary 

 Teachers organized for study in the United States'; 

 the report of a Sunday-school missionary in India, 

 where an executive secretary and funds "for a ver- 

 nacular literature were wanted ; a report of progress 

 in Italy, where 15,000 children were gathered in 

 Protestant Sunday schools ; and accounts of the 

 work of 901 Sunday schools in Japan, to which 

 4,000 pupils had been added during the past year. 

 In Europe Sunday-school work was making real but 

 slow progress, and in the countries from which 

 special reports were made the number of pupils had 

 increased 41,000 since 1893. The International 

 Lesson Committee made a report, explaining the 

 method of proceeding in arranging the lesson 

 series, and mentioning some of the difficulties in 

 the way of providing a system that should be satis- 

 factory to every one and in the way of making 

 changes in the system except slowly. The ensuing 

 course of lessons was laid out for six years instead of 

 seven and would present the biographical element in 

 special prominence. About half of the available time 

 would be devoted to a chronological life of Christ and 

 other New Testament subjects. The International 

 Bible-Reading Association was described in a paper 

 relating to it as having 626,000 members and issu- 

 ing cards in 29 languages. The subjects were con- 

 sidered, in papers read and otherwise, of teachers' 

 private Bible study ; the history of training classes 

 for teachers from their beginning in 1848 to the 

 present time; normal classes; a special" dedication 

 service," in which teachers sign a written covenant 

 faithfully to perform certain duties; the "Home 

 Department," in which persons not able to attend 

 Sunday school pursue at home courses of lessons 

 which are marked out for them, and make stated 

 reports of their progress ; and grading and manage- 

 ment. 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY, two kingdoms in 

 northern Europe, united in the person of the sover- 

 eign. The throne in both monarchies descends to 

 the heirs of the house of Bernadotte. Affairs com- 

 mon to both are referred to a mixed Council of 

 State. The King is Oscar II, born Jan. 21, 1829, 

 who succeeded Carl XV, his brother, Sept. 18, 1872. 



Sweden. The legislative power is vested in the 

 Riksdag, consisting of the First Chamber of 150 

 members elected for nine years by the provincial 

 and municipal bodies, and the Second Chamber of 

 230 members elected for three years, 80 in the 

 towns and 150 in the rural districts, by natives of 

 Sweden who own or farm land of a certain value or 

 pay taxes on 800 kroner of income. The Council 

 of State at the beginning of 1898 was composed as ' 

 follows: Minister of State, Erik Gustaf Bostriin : 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Ludvig V. A. 

 Douglas; Minister of Justice, Per Samuel Ludvig 

 Annerstedt; Minister of War, Baron Axel Emil 

 Rappe; Minister of Marine, Jarl Casimir Eugene 

 Christerson; Minister of the Interior, Julius Ed- 

 vard von Krusenstjerna ; Minister of Finance, Count 

 Hans Hansson Wachtmeister ; Minister of Educa- 

 tion and Ecclesiastical Affairs, Gustaf Fredrik Gill- 

 jam ; Councilors of State, Baron Albert Lars Evert 

 Akerhielm and Sven Herman Wikblad. 



Area and Population. The area of Sweden is 

 172 876 square miles. The population was computed 

 to be 5,009,632 on Dec. 31, 1897, 2,437,926 males and 

 2 571 706 females. The number of marriages in 1896 

 was 29,376; of births, 137,833; of deaths, 80,784: 

 excess of births, 57,049. The emigration was 19,551, 



