St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-08-04
The Centennial.
THE DRAINING OF HOLLAND.

The public works of the Netherlands.
the great engineering achievements by
which the Dutch having taken Holland.
are among the principal exhibits of the
Main building, and Col. g. +. Warning
has written an excellent description of
them for the Nation. saving that they
constitute "a school of practical Ell
gIncerin% such aS has never been pre-
Srnted {" the American people" He
would like to see the whole collection
"f plans and models, as they stand,
come mt" permanent possession of one
of our engineering schools. and hopes
that. IN any case, these schools NAV So
cure good photographs of the drawings,
ut least. Maps containing The provinces
of North and South Holland 300 wears
ago, when there was much less land
than water, and when most of the land
was hardly more than Il floating swamp.
stand III contrast with the map of to-
day. when there is only such water
space aS Is needed for the southern ont
lets of the Rhine. and for interior nav
lSatIon. llaarlcm lake occupied f.. 900
acres, and Threatened the adjoining re-
claimed country. and the cities of Am
Strrdam, llaaIlcm. and Le>den with
the dangers of Il stormy inland sca
Now, 1t has given place to Il fertile.
prosperous. and populouS district. l5
feet below the level of the sea. The
arm of the Iuydcr Zee. known as the
l q. Il lew Years ago covered l},OU acres
hl"ugh tins there has been construct
eel Il canal. securely protected 10y dikeS.
vide enough for Il busy traffic. and deep
enough t" float the Great Eastern. Ii
miles long. from Amsterdam To the
North sea. At its sea end there is AN
Artificial larhnr enclosed within two
hrrakwater piers made of huge blocks
ot hrton rc>tiu" on an artificial fuunda-
ti"n of ha>alt. and protected against
the waves 10y rocks and hrton piled
loosely. which stretch into one of the.
>t"linlc>t >ca> for three quarters of 4
mile. y locked dixie separates the can-
al from the IuNdrr Zee. and side canals
connect IT with the interior navigation.
Bc>l'c> the tract within has all been
pumped dry. and much of il brought
int" practical cultivation. so com
pIctr. says Col. Warning. "arc the il
lu>trIti"u> ut this work that any EN-
glnctr charged with a similar improve
mrnt would find every necessary detail
clearly sci before him. Complete
WORKING drawings OF the pondtrorI~
dIaInimg-r engines and pumps are given.
he construction of the dikr> and canals
l. infinitely given and every item of in
formation that an actual Inspection of
the ground could furnish. The plans
iol the reclamation of the /uNdcr Zee
itself. a SEA coNcrin" l~3OU acres To an
average depth "t more, than - feet. are
ais" afforded. The models ot the new
lIN"r from Rotterdam to the SEA. Col.
W aIlm% declares the crowuing touch.
he break water i made ot Il series ot
iaSclnc mattlc>>cS and layers of rock.
y model of one of these mattresses.
woven of little grass like twig>. loaded
with ballast. supplied with diminutilr
anchors and ropes fnr holding il in place
aud every appliance of its deposition i>
gwen. There l. also a section of Il
mattress. natural size. Il photograph of
such Il mattress anchored over lis place
and ready tn drop where il will receive
lis ladIn1 of stone. lr >moothcd over
10y men IN submarine aImoI, and made
ready To receive the next mattress. Al
to1ct her. ''unc comes to the conclusion
that. gwen IN rIa of Mater and peat.
and SIltN mud and sand. plus wind and
Il drop of old Tristan and BataNiau
blood. there will grow up a nation able,
I" accomplish all that has been achieved
10y ia" most favored peoples orcupN iug
I hc most fertile and SaluhIiuu> CONT
ucut y,