SARPSBORG  , a seaport and manufacturing

town of Norway, in Smaalenene amt (county), 68 m . S.S.E. of Christiania on the Gothenburg railway . Pop . (1900) 6888 . It is the junction for an alternative line to Christiania following the Glommen valley . It sprang into importance through the utilization of the falls in the river Glommen for driving saw-mills and generating electric power . The Sarpsfos, south-east of the town, is a majestic fall, descending 74 ft. with a width of 120 ft . There are wood-pulp factories (one worked by an English company employing over moo hands), factories for calcium carbide (used for manufacturing acetylene gas), paper and aluminium; and spinning and weaving mills . There are two large electric supply stations, and power and light are furnished from this point to Frederikstad, 9 m . S.W . The port is at Sannesund, 1 m . S.; its quays can be reached by vessels drawing 20 ft .

The town was originally founded in the 1 rth

century, and destroyed by the Swedes in 1567 . The existing town dates from 1839 .