The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-09-28

as to prevent the water passing through
them, and sufficiently lofty to bid defiance
to inundatiOn at high tide. The rivers
and inland lakes in many parts of the
country are quite as dangerous as the sea,
and their waters require 10 be restrained
by dykes nearly as extensive as the sea.
dykes. The dvkes
when seen only at one spot, my not
probably strike the merely cursory ob.
server as very extraordinary but when
it is rccOllected that the greater part Of
Holland is fenced in by similar bulwarks
equally massive and costly, they will ap.
pear wonderful. The sum
total annually expended throughout HOl.
land in the repair Of dykes and regula-
tons Of water-levels is about 81, ,O0O, 900
United States currency.
TIE GREAT HISTORICAL INUNDATIoxs OF
HOLLAND.
In the time Of the Romans, the Ijssel
emptied itself into the Lake Fievo. Be-
yond this lake, to the South aud West,
the Ruider Zee-then also fresh water
lake discharged itself by . river; the
Wis, which followed nearly the present
channel Of that name, entering the ocean
between what are now the island Of Vile.
land and Tcr-schclling. The action of the
waters gradually destroyed the tract Of
land which, divided the lakes. In 1l7O,
during n great food. the waters Of the
southern lake rose to the gates of Utrecht,
and the lake was greatly extended, cspe.
cially towards the North. West Fries
land, it is said, however, still stretched
across the Znider Zee, from Pctten and
Mcdcmblick. to the Lauwer Zee. From
that time, for upwards Of 200 years, it
continued to increase, swallowing up
whole forests and many thousand acres Of
land, so that large ships might be navi.
gated we're carriages used to travel. AT
last, in 1896, Lake Fievo entirely disnp.
pear,d, the existing islands were formed,
or completely separated from the main
land, and the Zuidcr Zee converted into
an arm Of the German Ocean. The Gulf
Of Dollart, in the province Of GrOningen,
was the result Of the inundatioR- Ofsl277,
which swallowed up a villages. Similar
calamitics have several times produced
the same effects in that province. Even
so late as Iii, 1860 habitations disap
pearcd beneath the waters Of the ocean
which had thus broken its bounds.
RISK or INIEKNAL FLOODS Ds-SCDDEN RISE OF
THE RIVERS.
But Holland is exposed IN far greater
danger from internal inundatiOnS than
even from inroads OF the sea, arising from
the stopping up of the rivers by the ice
when the tiaw sets in. All the ice Of the
Rhine and Meuse must necessarily pass
the Dutch rivers; If then il happens that
the ice of the German Rhine gets loose
before the Dutch rivers are free, OF il the
ice is stopped in its course in narrow
part, il forums itself into one solid dam,
stretching across from one bank to the
other. sometimes two miles or more IN
length. adhcring closely to the bed Of the
river and rising in ircbcrgs high above its
SUI face. - as to arrest the passage OF the
water, which, n> it rises must necessarily
overflow the dykes behind it. In 1899,
hen the very existence Of a large part
of Holland was threatened by an innnda-
tion from this source, more Formidable
perhaps than any other on record, the
Rhine rose at Nljmrgan streM feet an one
h0ur: and when the accumulated waters
at last broke the ice dan, they hurried
down icebcrgs 30 tall as to conceal the
houses Of Nijmcgcn from the view Of those
on the opposite bank.
"PoLDERs.
Po!der is a name given to a piece Of
ground below the level Of the sea or river,
which, having once been morass or lake,
has been surrounded by embankmcnts,
and then cleared Of the water by pumps.
So large a part Of Holland was originally
in condition Of morass, that whole dis
tricts arc composed entirely Of polders
partitioned off BY dykes or ramparls; and
the ground thus drained is usually re-
for its richness and fertility.
Many of the polders in the Rynland, or
district around Lciden, are 80 feet below
the sea.
ROTTERDAM.
The form of Rotterdam is almost that
Of a triangle, one side Of which rests
upon the river Mas, or Macs. ItS situa-
ton is at the confluence Of this river with
the river ROtte-from which the city Is
said to derive its name-and about IL
miles from the ocean. The Macs is here
about half mile wide, deep enough 40
feet) for the largest ships, and affords .
safe and good harbor. From this river
are cut three great and principal canals,
which traverse the town, and cOmmuni-
cate with the various smaller canals that
intcrsect the city, These three canals are
wide and deep enough to admit vessels Of
! 200 tons burden; and as they are 6or-
dered with quays or streets on each side,
upon which are built the great warehouses,
cOunting-rOOms, and stores,
the vessels arc able to discharge their
cargoes into the very doors Of the con-
signees or owners Like Amsterdam,
this city is divided by its canals into q
great number of small islands, between
which the communication is kept up by
a great number Of iron balance bridges.
and few old fashioned draw. bridges. ]
have the impression that the canals are
larger than those Of Amster-
dam. There seems to be greater mum.
Der, and larger ships, scattered all over
the town" than noticed in that city. In
this, (he size Of the canalD I may be mis-
taken; in the great number Of1arge ships,
am not. The tide here rises about ~
feet, and as the water Of the Macs circu.
lates freely in the canals, this ebb and
flow of the tide clears the city Ofall filth
and renders its streets free from disagreea.
bic smells" This kind Of drainage is
very conducive to the general health OF
the city.
ITS STREETS.
The streets bordering the canals are
broad, clean, straight, and each planted
with one row Of linden trees The cross
is, those not on the canals
are not as broad, straight or clean as the
others, nor have they any trees adornIng
their sides. As in the case Of Amster'
dam, sidewalks are not here in favor. In.
deed, the necessity for them does not exist
to the same extent as in other cities
Here the heavy street wOrk, ,Gif l may SO
call it. is done in boats, hence the ways"