Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-08-29

the Tdplu 1eiiiiS NAii iO"uAlI D6T
ceiye the ravages it has made on the
hill and mountain-sides of the coun-
try through which it forces its way.
Tie multitude of enormous ravines.
gorges, canons, and valleys which it
has excavated, and thrown the mate
rials thereof into the sea, account
for the filling up of 26,OOO square
miles of shallow ocean.
The Swiss mountains whose rains
and melted SHOWS tumble in torrents
towards the channel of the Rhine,
have been scraped and torn by gla-
ciers, and lowered in height, and re-
duced in size, by the action of water
and ice. The eye can detect at a
single glance where whole cubic
miles of rock have been worn away,
and carried off in the form of bowld-
ers, gravel, sand, and.sediment, and
rolled or foated into the Holland
Sea. The waters of the Rhine are
never clear and limpid, but always
dirty and murky like those of the
Missouri, and never fit to drink, on
account of the alluvial matter with
which they are charged. The Rhine
is deep, rapid running stream, the
apparent size and width of the Ohio
at relative distances between its
source and outlet; but, in the course
of a year, it discharges far more wa
ter than the Ohio, and it never runs
SO low; nor does it rise suddenly SO
high, but continues to flow through
out the year, with strong power
full current, fed by the melting SHOWS
of the Alps in summer, as by rains
at other seasons. In the course of
a year it conveys into the sea an
enormous quantity of sediment
millions of cubic yards in amount.
Holland is, therefore, constructed of
the parings and scrapings of the up
country. 1t may fairly be called
THE CHILD OF SWITZERLAND.
According to the Jewish inspired
mythology, Eve was made out of a
rib taken from the side of Adam
while he was in a deep sleep; and
according to inspired geology, Hol-
land was constructed from ribs taken
from the sides of the hoary old Alps.
Perhaps this Swiss origin of Holland
accounts for the irrepreSsible love of
liberty which inspires the bosom of
the Dutch. and which has enabled
them to beat back the implacable
waves on the one side, and the ty-
rants of bigotry on the other.
The ancient ocean-shore-lines of
Holland can readily be traced. They
nearly correspond with the present
boundary between Prussia and Hol-
land; and a line drawn from the Mo-
estrick, through Brussels and Ghent,
to Dunkirk, and in the northwest
corner of France, marks the old
shore in Belgium. The delta of the
Rhine begins near Cltyes, in Prus-
sia, 100 miles back from the ocean.
From there the great river
commenced to fill up the shallow
sea with the material abstracted from
the hill country esf nd
e7a THE RHINE EoosEs ITS NAME
a few miles below CIeves, at a vii
lage called ZeYenaar. One outlet
turns due north, and empties into
the Zuider Zee, so miles distant. The
two main branches, flowing west are
called the WaaI and the LEX. The
former unites with the Mas, and di-
Vides the numerous branches, spread
ing over a large district of country
to the south. The LEX throws off
one branch to Amsterdam. The
main stream flows through Rotter-
dam to the ocean, affordlng good
ship navigation from the sea to that
large city. ' ~
The delta of the Rhine, as exhibit
ed on good map, resembles the
spreading roots of a pine tree, and
among these roots is Holland; while
the branches of the upper waters,
which spread over the Alps, are like
the top of a tree; and, to perfect the
resemblance, the long channel, with
only two considerable affluents for
400 miles, viii do for the trunk of
the tree. The Rhine is perhaps the
only river which looses its name on
the route to the sea. Both above
and below Antwerp, branches of the
Rhine and the Meuse or Mas, mix
with branches of the Scheldt. The
whole country is gridironed over
with branches of the Rhine and which
in turn are joined and interlaced with
innumerable canals-partitioning and
subdividing Holland and portion
of Belgium into thousands of islands
with this strange difference from
islands elsewhere: that they are = (,
LOWER THAN THE WATER WHICH. SUR
ROUNDS THEM! -.
Holland began to be reclaimed
from the sea at a period which out
dates the Christian Era. The mighty
work, is, therefore, the labor of ma
ny, many centuries. At first the
German tribes from the districts
now called Westphalia and Hano.
ver, only operated on the edges of
the great marsh, which was covered
by the sea only in periods of high
tides accompanied by strong south
west winds, which rolled the waves
far inland over the low grounds,
which are first filled by the deposits
of the Rhine, and sand cast up by
the sea. They began by construct
ing embankments, inclosing the land
least subject to inundation from
high tides, making sluiceways to let
out the accumulating water from
the shore-side when the tide ebbed
and shutting them when it flowed.
These structures and contriVances,
were, of course, exceedingly rude,
and often gave way before the storm
driven waves. But the reclaimed
lands were found to be exceedingly
rich for pasturage, and the chief
wealth of the Teutons, was in theil
focks and herds-their cattle, sheep
and horses; and the inhabitants
were 10th to surrender back to the
sea those meadows which produced
grass and hay so luxufiantly, and
continued the struggle with the