At a signal the guests now rise and crowd about the hostess and the host, while each in turn proceeds to shake hands and with a more or less formal bow expresses thanks for the dinner.

Incidentally, the first words one learns in Rome may be Quanto costa?; in Paris Combien?; in Berlin, Verboten, but the most useful and most necessary words in Stockholm are Tack så mycket (Thank you very much). You may abbreviate it to a monosyllabic "tack" when thanking the telephone operator for giving you a number, the salesgirl for handing you your purchase, the street-car conductor for giv

ing you your change for the 15 öre (4 cents) car fare, or the usher at the opera for handing you a program. But everywhere it is an imperative courtesy.

At family dinners. the children of the household, upon being excused by their elders, go immediately to their mother with a "Thank you very much for the bountiful meal, mother," accompanied by a kiss on her brow. A similar ceremony follows with the father. If there are four or five youngsters, there is often spirited rivalry as to which shall be the first to say, "Tack så mycket," but it never degenerates into a meaningless formula; always it is a sincere expression of filial respect and gratitude.

AROUND THE FAMILY
FIREPLACE

Although the modern apartment houses in Stockholm have central heating systems, that somewhat grotesque yet picturesque institution, the expansive, ceilinghigh tile stove, one of which formerly occupied a large proportion of the space in every room of the establishment, has a lineal descendant in the colored-tile open fireplace which now graces only the drawing room. Around it the guests assemble after dinner for coffee. No andirons are used, as the bottom of the fireplace is raised about two feet above the floor of the room. It is piled high with small birch logs, which begin to burn brilliantly without kindling wood, as soon as a match is applied to the silvery bark.

Until one has seen a Swedish stove or

one of these fireplaces

in operation, he wonders what possible use the people of Stockholm can make of the countless cords of wood piled high on sloops and schooners. tied up along the city's miles of quays. After he has observed how the fuel burns, he wonders how the city's demands can be met, even though more than half of the country is forest land (see text, page 443).

With dinner concluded, the guests may be entertained by a musicale at home, or more probably seats have been "booked" at the Royal Opera House or the Dramatic Theater, or even the city's leading high-priced motion-picture house, where the best seats are always reserved and where long programs of excellent American and Swedish films are shown. The foreigner is especially fortunate if he sees on the screen one of the folk dramas of such writers as Selma Lagerlöf, Nobel prize winner with her "Story of Gösta Berling."

At the opera the visitor will see some such familiar work as "Faust" or "Carmen" or "Trovatore" well staged and competently sung in Swedish, for this is a government-supported institution. When distinguished guest artists come to Stockholm they are permitted to sing in the language of their choice, but the supporting cast and chorus invariably sing in Swedish.

There is no center aisle on the orchestra floor of the Opera House. Spectators must walk the entire width of the auditorium

between rows. Fortunately, the chairs are far apart, so that early arrivals are not forced to stand while others pass through to their seats.

After the opera the host of the evening invites his guests to the Grand Café, where they are entertained upon a terrace overlooking the myriad lights of the city reflected in the waters of Lake Mälaren. With an excellent orchestra playing Italian airs, one may indeed feel that he has been transported to Venice or Venice to him!

The terrace supper is scarcely less elaborate than the dinner of a few hours before, and there is in addition a Gargantuan silver tray of crushed ice in which repose numerous small, greenish oysters on the half shell. They have been imported from Denmark. An American will probably remain oblivious to the treat provided for him unless he learns by accident that his host has paid 25 cents each for these puny specimens of shellfish.

In the early hours of the morning taxicabs are called (there are few privately operated "bils" in the city) and the party is distributed to its several destinations. Thus does Stockholm entertain!

THE UNEMPLOYED PRESENT NO PROBLEM IN PROSPEROUS STOCKHOLM

A citizen of another country who is the recipient of such lavish hospitality is apt to feel a certain embarrassment or concern at the expense which his host has incurred. On the other hand, it is interesting to recall that while there are few large fortunes in Stockholm, there is probably a higher level of prosperity here than in any other capital of Europe.

An index to the economic stability of life in the metropolis is provided by the Government, which each week furnishes the newspapers with a statement concerning unemployment. The figures are published as a matter of course, exactly as our "vital statistics" of births, deaths, and marriage licenses. No special "surveys"

are ever necessary.

One of the newspaper clippings which I have preserved is from a Monday issue of the leading morning paper. It contains the information that during the previous week there had been 983 unemployed; that 981 of these had been given employment by the municipality, only two being out of work at the end of the week. And this in a city the size of Washington, D. C.! FLOWERS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN

THE LIFE OF STOCKHOLM

The love of plants and flowers may be born in the Swede, but it is also assiduously nurtured by his parents, for the humblest apartment in Stockholm has its window box, and in the leisure-class homes

every room has its vases of flowers throughout the year. In winter many families are served by flower vendors just as American households are served by the milkman, the iceman, or the grocer's boy.

In summer, before the hegira to the country and after the return to the city, the women of Stockholm are in the habit of making a daily pilgrimage to the flower market, in the square faced by the Concert Hall (see page 407).

In the early mornings of late August there is no lovelier sight in Europe than this square. Hundreds of stalks of flaming gladioli four to five feet tall, at five cents each; enormous tubs of fragrant, long-stemmed red roses, dahlias by the cartload, bushel baskets of asters of every hue, and veritable clouds of sweet peas amaze the visitor wholly unprepared for such a carnival of flowers in a city situated in the latitude of the northern extremity of Labrador.

Every public square in Stockholm is sprinkled with flower beds - carnations, pansies, dahlias, begonias, and other blossoms less familiar to American eyes. Lilies of the valley grow wild in this country, like the ubiquitous Swedish mushrooms.

A HEART-WARMING SURPRISE

A pleasing floral custom here links the emotional Tropics with the reticent North. One expects to receive the widely advertised leis when departing from Honolulu, but it comes as a heart-warming surprise to find that in this supposedly reserved. and austere city of Stockholm relatives and friends likewise say farewell with flowers, filling the railway compartment of the traveler with lilies and violets. Upon leaving Visby (see page 459) one evening, I found my stateroom on the toy steamer fragrant with Gottland's famous roses, bearing the card of the chief magistrate of the city.

The practice is a gesture of friendshipof sentiment, if you will-all the more appealing and long to be remembered because it comes from a people who normally wear a mask of aloofness difficult to pierce and often misunderstood, but which when once removed reveals a nature proud, generous, and hospitable.