National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1872-02-16

To the dykes Holland owes its cxis
tence. They are immense ramparts o
earth and stone raised all along the coast
and sufficiently strong to prevent the ses
from forcing its way through them, AM
high enough to defy inundation. They
are also required to restrain the chan
nels Of the rivers, which are nearly a'
perilous to the kingdom as the ocean it.
self. The first thing necessary to the
dykes is q solid foundation, obtained by
ramming down the soil, and by lying a
substratum of clay, or, when that is moi
possible, by driving piles. The dyke is
formed of such earth MS will coherc
most readily, and its face is protected
by the Intervening of willow twigs,
whose interstices are filed with puddled
clay. This wicker-work, being renewed
every three or four years, makes such
an active demand for willow boughs
that the trees are extensively cultivated
in Holland for that purpose. Not fire.
quently the dykes are planted with trees,
because their spreading roots aid great
ly in holding the earth together. Some
times their base is faced with masonry,
and strengthened by huge heaps of
stones brought from other countries,
while the upper part of the dykes, rising
in some places as high as forty feet, is
thickly covered with turf. The vastest
of these artificial projections are at the
Helder, and ut the ives tern end of the
island of Walcheren. The annual ex-
stupendous dykes is not less than 10000
guilders about S36, 900, and taking care
of all the dykes of the kingdom and
regulating the water levels cost from g.
100000 to 100000 glnlders-22, 400, 600
to SO, 200, 900. A special corps of engi-
neers (waterstaat), numbering many men
of science, receive regular salaries for
guarding the country from all danger of
inundation. During the winter, when
great storms are common, these engi
neers are stationed at the points where
an irruption of the waters is most to be
feared, and ample supplies are at hand
to resist old Neptune in case of need.
Watchmen are posted day and night
along the line threatened with attack to
give instantaneous warning OF approach
ing peril, and to summon from the
neighboring villages workmen appoint
ed by the authorities to the scene of
danger. The rising tide at such times
is watched with intense anxiety and
when the calamity is anticipated an
alarm is rung. and every man hur-
ries to his duty. II the sea still rises a
new rampant is built on the top of the
dyke, and SO rapidly that the water is
almost always kept out. Should the
strength of the dyke be doubted, or a
breach be made, sheets of sail-cloth or
mats of rushes are placed on the outside
to resist the action of the sea. In the
event Of all these precautions failing, a
rampant is thrown up be-
hind that part of the sea-wall which has
shown signs of weakness, thus presenting
an inner barrier to the remorseless foe.
There have been numerous instances in
which all these efforts have been in
affectual and entire districts have been
overwhelmed and lost, with thousands
Of lives, in the great rivers or in the
ocean. What is now the Zuyder-Zee
was dry land up to the thirteenth cen
ury, and the Gulf of Dollart, in the
province of Groningen, was made in
l277 by an inundation which destroyed
lot less than forty-tive villages. The
iverage height of the Holland dykes is
Ibout thirty feet, and their breadth
It the base seventy feet, with room
'nough at the top for roadway. Their
otal cost is estimated at 81, ZOO, 900, 900.