Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1866-01-25
NUMBER 35.
AMSTERDAM AND THE DUTJH.
SKETCH OF LIFE IN HOLLAND.

pleasantly describes Amsterdam and it's
people:
The city which lies nearly at the mouth
Of the Zuyder-Zee, has direct comDunica-
tlon by sea with almost all the provinces,
and thus she had became the mart for their
produce long before railroads had intro
duced a new means of communication,
which has not even yet superseded the vast
intercommunicatlon by water, which exis-
ted in this very extraordinary country, al
most every field of which may be reached
by water, and the manure from the cities is
thus, at very slight cost, spread over the
most distant fields The large barges
which are used for the sea voyage as well
as internal trade. carry about one hundred
tons. They are rugged with two masts,
placed considerably apart at sea, and
sometimes inland or on the rivers, they use
their sails. At other times they are pro-
PEELED with long straight poles, used by the
athletic boatmen who, placing the end OF
the poles against their chests, and walking
backwards, urge the boats forward at con-
siderable speed Inland, when the sails.
cannot be used, they are drawn by men, or
sometimes women. The tow rope has fiat
board, which is placed over the chest, and
thus the boat or barge is drawn along
Horses are seldom used. Indeed if one man
can pull one OF these boats along, it would
be false economy to use horse which
consumes as much food as seven men, to
do the work. These boats, in order to
turn in small space, and to afford consid-
cradle stowage are built very square at the
bows, and have very old fashioned look,
but they do a very large amount of work
Amsterdam may be said to be built in the
sea: all her buildings are raised on piles
! The Palace alone required 1866. In pass
ing along through the city | noticed the
foundation which was being prepared for
| house. Two sets of men were engaged
driving piles, while a third set, with cen
trliugal pump, were pumping out the wa
ter, very copious stream of which was
flowing from the pump. The pile driving
was done with the rudest machinery, such
as would in Eng land be superseded by the
winch or steam engine Here the object
seems to be to employ men, not to super
sede their labor with machinery.
The Protestant churches are rarely open
except OIL Sunday, and even then it is diff
cult to get seat. At Berne l found the
church locked, and | was refused admit
a
quarter Of an hour after the service had be-
gun In Amsterdam it was little better
| was allowed within the porch. but the
doors admitting to the seats were all locked.
lhe minister goes through Lii duties like
lesson OF which he wishes to get rid and
as he does not wish to be disturbed, those
who come late are locked out The chur-
ches are provided with large, heavy pom
derous looking Bibles, fastened with two
imposing clasps. The catechism and pray
ers are placed at the end instead of at the
beginning.
They do not allow families to sit togcth
er III pews all the women are placed in
the centre of the church and the men sit at
each side The men wear their hats even ,
during the service, and deither men nor
women stand up during the singing of the (
psalms which occurs three times in the ser /
vice, and collections are made during the
sermon. The collectors have implements
like landing nets. with long handles the
net is lined with black velvet These BAGS .
are sUkcd in succession under each persons
nose to receive the contribution. The col .
lectlons were made on Sunday morning.
What their object was did not learn, save
that one set of the bags was marked with /
n, and the others were plain. Most of
the congregation put something into each |
The clergyman was supplied with water
and he paused frequently in his discourse
to molsten his lips and throat--a very nee
essary precaution in using such a cultural
language as the Dutch.
found the Crystal Palace open on Sun
day evening, and a band engaged in its
weekly concerts. The building, which would
hardly be missed out of that Of Sydenham,
is simply large concert hall, with few
Hover beds i'll it, The company which num-
bered eight thousand, Were seated in groups
at small tables, where they had tea, coffee.
wine, NC, or strollng about the hall or ad-
Jacent ground The bdilding was lit wit .
gas, and thronged with people of all clas-
ses. The charge for admission was sixty
cents (ten-pence)
The fair at Amsterdam has attracted all .
the movable theatres and other similar
amusements. The tables are decked out .
with provisions of various kinds Vast
masses of the people, all sober, all well
conducted, are moving about In one spot .
is French kitchen the cooks are work
ing III public; it is well lit up. Adjoining
the cooking room are alcoves shut off by ,
curtains where visitors can taste the quickly |
cooked viands. One of the most amusing |
spectacles is the manufacturing of pancakes |
or irltters, it is carried on in the open air.
Upon large brazier, about three feet bv |
four feet, is pl iced plate of copper, close |
ly indented with little saucers about three |
inches in diameter, and placed in rows -
Two women sit on high chairs, each having
a large bowl of batter on the left hand
long handled timber spoon is used with the /
right hand to jerk spoonful of batter into |
each of the cups, which have already been !
creased, Here it fries few moments until |
an attendant reverses it with long fork !
They are then quickly gathered up with
fork, and taken away to be eaten. The /,
jerking of the batter never stops as soon
as the woman has got to one end of her
space it is time to begin again The whole
proceeding is indeed very funny These
fairs are a sort of saturnalia. They occur
annually, and are the means by which
very staid people throw off some of their
pent up animation. They are mostly enjoy
ed by middle and lower classes. All ser
wants consider they have prescriptive
right to the enjoyment of the fair. which
lasts a fortnight. If any of the better clas-