ss some special inquiry is necessary.

The story is told that once when Oscar II went to Gothenburg to attend
a dedication or opening of something or other, where he was expected
to make a speech, he was intercepted at the railway station by an
enterprising reporter who wanted a copy of his speech. The paper was
to be published that afternoon, and there would be no time for a
stenographer to write out his notes afterward. The king greeted him
pleasantly and explained that he had no manuscript; that he intended
to speak without notes. The reporter was very much dissappointed,
and confided to the king that he was a new man and that his future
standing with his employer might be seriously affected if he failed
to get the speech. King Oscar responded sympathetically, invited the
reporter to get into his carriage, and while they were driving to the
hotel, gave a brief synopsis of what he expected to say.

Newspapers in Norway are not so good an investment; in fact, none of
them may be considered financial ventures. As a rule, they have to be
assisted by the government or by political clubs in order to survive.
Their subscription lists are limited, the largest circulation in
Norway not exceeding fifteen thousand and few publications print more
than five thousand copies, while advertising pays not more than ten or
twelve cents a line at top prices in the most expensive papers.

An ordinary newspaper reporter in Norway receives a salary of about
$5 a week, while the most competent editors are satisfied with $20 or
$25. Norway was the last of the European countries, except Turkey,
to adopt the art of printing, notwithstanding its early famous
literature, but to-day has four hundred and twenty-nine newspapers
and periodicals, an average of one to every five thousand of the
population; one hundred and ninety-six are political newspapers;
eighty-eight are literary weeklies, and one hundred and forty-five
are reviews, magazines, professional, religious, and scientific
publications.

_Norske Intelligens-Seddeler_ is one of the oldest papers in the
world, having been founded in Christiania in 1763, and has been the
organ of the government from the beginning. For a century and a
quarter its contents were limited to advertisements and official
announcements. It was a sort of a government gazette, but when Hjalmar
Loken took hold of it, ten or twelve years ago, he changed its
character entirely and has turned it into a good modern ne