The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1874-07-30
b Very Vulgar Venice.
noIdy Eou-es Konea 2iIe..str--
mat Car nails aua In WiE;cd
s1ndefa Aust.runu,.

Everybody has read Of Amsterdam, and
everybody, Of couFse, has heard it compared
inrumcrabie times TO y.nice. A correipon-
dent Of The Ciacmaoh Commesciq1, who
- e,ileElly seen 10th cities, gives this
charming Iescript o. til Dutch metropo-
IL.
We arrived at Amsterdam after dark,
anl TOOK lodgings in the Bible house
because next dry WAS Sunday, and because
all good Eng'ishmen aud Americans e.
tore. However there WAS little ccmfmt
10 that Bible for anybody, fancy, Just at
t.st tune. The house was suffering a rem
oY0tion, and that would have been enough
bur nsxt day the cold raw rain began to
rsnr dawn again, that everybody looked
seowly AMI bles their fingers for warmth
J here WAS not stLye IN tine whole nou-e,
ard tie walls of some OF the rcCms al least
only paper pasted upon netting. This
discovered by the corner Of my trunk uu-
tremendously making loop hole through
tie parer fertilization. The few hot days
y April wh"r all Europe pus on summer
q Ling dereived these people also, and
- as ether silly houses keepers always
vii 10, ;hey took the house cleaning fever,
far Inch others must thereafter suffer the
rhlll-. The landlords wife said everybody
had tone Just 80. Alas for the good sense
And care for comfort witch | had attribu.
TIL 70 flolland-h housewives / kne,
that more than all other women in the
world they drowned everybody out Of the
laa.e On Saturday, but that like all others
tltaF should freeze everybody out in spring
vas 10 much. | hope .hat race of house
grs viii not emigrate mucl to America,
whore with our tickle climate we have Of
trn spring days in winter. For eight
N this IN the year the climate Of Holland
: raw, cold, aud damp especially near the
sea.hnrc. ! was anxious to make acqIain
'nee with the peculiar characteristics of
tie country. Certainly as far as the eli
ma.e was concerned, made It most en-
YhH'icaliY, for was conir ed to room two
jtvs sick in consequence
:. he time was then past when | should
t.ke my trunks from the custom-huuse in
Amsterdam. and could imagine the Of
htafs opening them, and dipping to the
hotrom Of their carefully packed contents
nithoat the politeness which ones pres.
,aee imposed, and replacing them without
& "A to damage. Nevertheless. / came
~ see the town, ami sailed cut fortunate
y under clear sky, cold though it WAS.
knowing that the most interesting thing
to be scen n Amsterdam is Amsterdam
its"T, wandered about to my hearts con-
tent through all the highways and byways
observing be queer people and still queerer
houses.
. had not ha;f so good an opportunity
II seeing tie curious costumes Of the wo.
men here rs in Hague at the fair. the most
camIcal part Of which is the head dress and
bonnet. One of the latter resembles a
s;rGttins turkey, and when placed over a
sun white cap gives anaPplri.ion to fright.
-ea away witches, for which purpose the
whole heal gear was doubtless originally
invented. Little girls IN full dress wear
same white neckerchief and cap with
the brassy helmet ,hiding through Or
plan children from school may be seen
hand in hand clad in uniform Of black with
the inyariable head gear, neckerchief and
white apron, all alike peas from one pod
The ways Of these little children, are so
precisely like grown up women that it is
scarcely possible not to look upon them as
80 many comely dwarfs. a little party of
them gossiPins together st,nd with their
hands ulor their hips over their bunchy
rei ticoats, their hands incline toward each
other. and the toes OF their wooden shoes
turned in like many old wives No
wonder. The head gear and those wood
IN shoes would take the frUlicsomeness out
oi the most kitten like chIld-Eature in the
world.
he heaveniness which characterizss
the people is expressed in ali their ways
and means Of living Amsterdam is called
q vulgar Venice nd it is the heaviest
Carrcatufa OF that fairy like city OF the sea
The one sits ike a goose III domestic
fend, the other Ike swan on shinning
lake. Each is sad to have been built on a
andfed islands, but there is one most es-
sential difference III the situation, The
-astlsss tides reiieve Venice of the refuse
&C the city, while in Amsterdam the canals
are literally open sewers of staguant water,
receItacles for the otfal Of great city
Hence, not only the stencil and dnhealthi
ness arising Ia consequence, but often un-
slightly appearance of the smaller canals,
which correspond L. alleys in other cities.
II ,,,are correct system Of sewerage, indie
pendent Ct the canals, and the frequent
letting in OF fresh water into the latter, can
alone ohvi;te the difficulty. The town be-
ing built upon "A marsh, the foundation Of
OF the entire city is nothing mere substan-
ItR4 sLaH FilSSr IbNIG tilaH IJ,Igp Oh ,ntm
being used Tor the foundation of the ROYAL
palace alore. 1t is asserted as a rer,ark-
able fact that one house IN the city is er-
ectel on solid ground. Think, then, OF
5000, Que Of the s2SU000 who dwell up
on the tops of these wooden posts, living
in the damp, dark cellars oxcayated out Of
this swampy soil. To the credit of the cit5
famous as she is for her chtritss'e institu-
tions. it must be said that. like sister cities,
she Is ginning - pay more attention to
the health and comfort of the private
homes Of the poor than 10 the more Public
ones.
= The stolii and heavy appearance Of
the city j. occasioned mostly by the dismal
color Of The buildings aad the frequency of
haiky black boats, with masts prostrated
f.r convenience Of passing under bridges,
Winch hi! tue canals. These boats bring
All e.rts Of produce to the veyy doors Of the
rsos.e. fish being always brought alive
swifnmng in boat fun Of wa.er. (Shades
AZ al IL,