Connecticut western news., 1872-09-20
IN THE OLD WORLD.
A Look into Holland Diamonds, and how They are Polished-Characteristi of the Amsterdam Women, etc., etc.

the Amsterdam Women, etc., etc,
 At P. M., we took the steamer to Moordyk (passins through one of the many channels, arms of the sea, in fact which form 8 perfect net. work of inland navigation in this part of the Neither. lands) where we arrived by 7 o'clock and there entered the cars and by F. M. were comfortably located in the Hotel St. Antoine, at Antwerp. In Holland the laws of nature may be said to be re. versed. 'In no ether country do the keels of the ships float above the chim neys, and nowhere else does the frog croaking from among the bulrushes, look down upon tLe swallow on the housetop." Near Utrecht our engine gave out and we were obliged to wait two hours to procure another, so it was nearly 10 P. M. before we reached the Amstel House in Amsterdam.
 Hood calls Amsterdam "a vulgar Venice." It is different from any city we have yet visited, and it was viewed with the same eager interest we felt when we landed in Liverpool.
 In Venice the canals bathe the walls ol the houses that line them on each side, and with the exception of the Grand Canal and the Riva Schiavoni, the streets of water are gloomy thoroughfares whose interest is chiefly historical and political. But the canals of Amsterdam, with quays on each side, bordered on one side with trees and on the other with bright and cheerful buildings, and animated with the roll of vehicles and throngs of people, present q very different aspect. There are canals Ill both cities, but there the resemblance ceases.
 The morning after arriving was busily and agreeably occupied in visiting differ ent parts of the city. Our first visit was to the Palace of the King of Hol- land. It is rare stone structure built upon IA, GOO piles. It is very comforta- bly, fitted up, and the ballroom one of the finest in Europe. We ascended to the tower and from it bad an extended view over the Zuyder Zee and the flats of Holland, with Haarlem and Rotter- udm pld1nly III S1SnC.
 We afterward visited the picture gal lery In the national museum, and in it saw fine collection of the Dutch school of painting, among winch were some admirable works of art by Rembrandt, Cuyp, Don, Teniers, Van Dyke, Ru- bens, Wouvermann, and Schalken. All these artists, whose school is known wherever art is spoken of, find here illustrations and in some cases their most celebrated works are to be seen here only.
 We next visited the diamond polishing mills of MT. Costar. They consist of a row of dingy brick buildings some six stories high, situated but short dis. tance from the palace.
 The janitor met us at the door, and on informing hlm that we were desirous of viewing the establishment, took us up to the fifth story and presented us to the superintendent of the works, who in the most polite manner explained and showed us the different processes by which the diamond is polished. Dia- mond cutting has long been speciality of Amsterdam, and was at one time ex. clusively confined to that city. The diamond mills are nearly all controlled by Jews and nearly ten thousand men are employed in the different establish meDts. The mill in which we were ir employed six hundred men and boys After showing us quantity of rough diamonds, we were then taken to large room filled with tables, in the center ot each one was revolving metal plate on which the diamonds are polished.
 Diamond dust is placed on these plates which revolve two thousand times { minute, and against this disk the stone fastened firmly on an amalgam of zinc and quicksilver, is held until the proper facet is ground smooth, and so on unti the rough stone is made into a sparkling gem. In the office we were shown glass models of the most celebrated diamonds that have ever been cut by MT. Costar among which was that of the Koh-i-noor before and after it had been cut.
 The remainder of the afternoon was spent in the Geological Gardens, whicE were filled with rare animals and kept ir the most admirable order. We ther drove back to the hotel, making cir cult of the city, going by the quays and dykes, those peculiarities of Amsterdam that are to be found in no other place.
 It is a quaint old city, whose streets (many of them} are canals, and whose canals are streets. Canals here, there and everywhere, straight canals anc crooked ones. Its carts are mostly canal boats, and it's canal boats are mostly carts, though Q few wheeled carts are tolerated in it's few paved streets, but the drivers are not allowed to ride on theil carts, they must walk with their horses The people are remarkably healthy look ing and the business men as brisk anc active as you will see anywhere.
 The women are clean and tidy in thei1 appearance and wear singular-lookine head dresses consisting of band O silver or other metal across their fore heads, and at each side of their head an odd cork screw kind of an ornamen of the same metal as the band, whicl projects from two or three inches. The immense docks that we passed were filled with ships from all nations and wt were struck with the vast numbers O. vessels that were the homes of the fami 1 lies of the masters or the owners. Some of them had boxes of flowers, including the Dutch tulip, around the companion way, and over the sides of others, hand some, rosy checked, well-dressed girls who had completed their day work ane donned their Sunday go to meeting clothes, watched the passers by on tn, quay. The novelty of the scene mad, this drive along the docks one of tn, most interesting features of the day After dinner we spent the evening in tn garden attached to the Crystal Palace which was just back of the Amste House. and listened to an excellent con cert given by the principal musician of the place, for which we paid fv guilders. Since we arrived in Europ
 we have been wandering in Q maze o shillings, francs, centimes, Tires, soldis horins, kreutzers, silbergroschens an,