National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1868-01-24
and men catching fish above.

anu ihtH CdtCiiHS llSH dDONt.
Were it not for the windmills, the
river, the ocean and the rain would
soon flood the fields and meadows
and set all the houses aaOat; but.
because the mills are always going,
the boys and girls of Dutchland
sleep securely at night, go to school,
eat their three meals day, play III
the streets, 90 to church on sun
day, without ever dreaming of any
danger.
Once there was terrible disaster I;
dam gave way, and the water came
pouring in, covering the meadows,
drowning cattle and sheep, sweep
ing away farm houses, villages and
towns, destroying many lives and
making sad havoc. But the people
filed up the breach, set the wind
mills agoing, pumped the whole
country dry again, and ever since
have taken good care to keep all the
embankments strong and i'll repair.
There is a saying that .'eternal Vigi-
lance is the price of liberty but
here in Holland it is the price OF
life. Men are OH the watch all the
time to see that there are no weak
places in the embankmentS. They
are paid by government, and have
control of all the mills. They wage
constant wal fare with the ocean, at
a cost OF nearly three million dol
lars every year; but, with the wind
for an ally, they are enabled to keep
the marshes drained, and have
transformed the bogs into beautiful
meadows, pastures, orchards and
gardens, and built villages and
towns below the level of the sea.
The country is cut up by canals
some deep enough to float the larg-
/ est o. Sins. others small andnarrow,
I You see hundreds oi leafs. Stand
with me on the bank Of the great
canal which leads from the city OF
! Amsterdam to the ocean and see
the crafts. \ boy riding a horse
/ trOts past uS-the horse towing a
/ t'ekSchBjtcH. a packet boat, canal
omnibus or stage which plies be
/ tween Amsterdam and the adioin
ing villages. a man stands at the
helm and his good wife is in the
cabin dealing out bread, cheese and
beer to the passengers, who are eat
| ing, chatting, laughing and smoking
/ The boat skins lightly over the wa
ter and is far down in the bed oI
| the canal, almost before You have
had time to see what the people arr
up to on board.
Here comes a lazy, numbering craft
/ almost as broad as it is long, with a
man and a boy tngging at the tow
/ line. 1t is loaded with mud Scooped
mp from the bottom of the canal
They are taking it out into the coun
-. try TO spread it on the land. Here
is family craft--a boat which i,
at the same time a house-thc own
cr, with his wife and children, living
on board. The father is tugging a
the tow line. The air is still to day
and he is obliged to pull the boa
along the stream; if it were breczN
YOU would see him hoist the sail ant
80 scudding away. Ills wife has ;
long pole in her hands, and is push
inc with all her might to help he
husband and their two children, ;
. boy and a girl, are steering the craft
They live ON board-eat and sleel
there in a close cabin, Here the,
are today. tomorrow they will b'
at Haarlcm, and the day after Il
LcvdCn, perhaps, and next week vii
bc here at Amsterdam again with :
cargo of potatoes, or of wood, or o
something else. Now Il schooner
then a barge, and then n ship-hc
mast tall as church StccplcS-th
sailors in the shrouds getting read
, to shake out the sails. On the la,
| beyond the green meadows are hun
drcds of boats and bargeS with sail
. set to catch the little breath of win
p which puiis in our faces. Her
| comes a boat loaded with cabbage
r another loaded to the waters cdg
with turnips-.another filled wit
sheep. Here is a markct.man wit
I chickens and geese, which are cacl
, ling and gobbling.
/. The canals to a great extent Al
: the streets of Holland In the sun
g mcr they are throngcd with boat
t Of every description and mont
q hence, men, women and childrc
will be skimming up and down the.
C streets on skates, having many me
G ry times through the winter.