Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1879-12-10
Nafrliman & gumnaL.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1879.
Holland in November.

month oil logs. In England tnere mas not
been a sunny day for weeks. London is
dismal. Gas is necessary for all but four or
five hours at midday in the sunnest rooms.
Some of the churches are lighted at noon as
well as night, and many places of business
depend entirely on artificial illumination.
Holland is just as overcast with clouds, but
lacks the smoke which makes the pea-soup
and oppressive atmosphere of London, and
of much of England. From Harwich to Rot
terdam across the North Sea is night
journey by steamer, and at this season gen.
light, were up the Mas, one of the delta
mouths of the Rhine. None of the land on
either side is ten feet above the level of the
water at high tide. On the left we pass
Schiedam, noted for its schnapps, i. e. gin
favored with the juice of juniper berries
there are here two hundred and twenty dis
tilleries for its manufacture-andD Defthaven
where the pilgrims from Leyden embarked
for the new aud strange world in 1920. Rot
terdam is a city of canals, ships and bridges,
with few houses sprinkled between. The
masts of the vessels often hide the houses,
and the bridges are half the time tilted on
the end, or swung round on center pier so
as to be parallel with the sides of the canal.
The longest way round is often the short
est home, and if one is caught on an island,
Just before train-time, he begins to think of
Robinson Crusoe. The quays are fringed
with canal-boats and so thickly that they
are moored obliquely to the wharf. Delft,
ten miles north, is chiefly famous for the as
sassnation of William of Orange here in
1854, and for the fine monument which per-
petuates the wisdom, prudence and valor
which he displayed in securing Dutch inde-
pendence. Five miles on is The Hague, the
capital of Holland. When schoolboy and
studying geograpy we could not understand,
nor find anyone to tell us, why the article
was used with the name of this city. Why
did we not as well say The Berlin" The
Paris ?" This is the explanation The
place was formerly hunting park of the
counts of Holland, and from its enclosure was
called The Counts Hedge, or in Dutch IS
GraUen Hage. The whole name is retained
in Holland, but other nations drop out the
second word, and transating the article call
it, in brief, The Hague. This is modern
lied city. 1t has broad and handsome
streets, spacious squares, large and substan-
tial houses, and monuments of several kings
A fish-pond in the midst of the city is sup
piled with fresh water by steam-power, while
the overflow moves with slight impetus
towards Rotterdam, where it is again pumped
into the Mas.
A large portion of this kingdom was
formerly sea marsh, and much of its sur
face now lies many feet below the high tide
level of the ocean. The shores have high
barrier dykes, the rivers are enclosed with
embankments, and some of their mouths
have locks, which shut off the salt water al
high tide and through which at low tide the
| fresh water flows into the sea. If we &C
eastward from Leyden, or southeast from
near HARLEM, we descend by four broad
terraces-each having its system of canals
| by which the whole can be irrigated, anG
each having its border protected by an EN-
bankment-till we reach the lowest part oi
the old bed of the HARLEM lake, now GOV
cred with green meadows, gardens and
houses. The reclamation of this region cos
eighty dollars per acre, and the land is now
| III.
A project is en- foot for the drainage of the
Zuyder Zee, the great northern gulf of Hol
land. The estimated cost is one hundred
and sixty dollars per acre. Formerly wind
mills, which dot the whole surface of tn,
country, and which furnish power for grind
ing grain and saving wood, were used fol
pumping water, but steam has of late en-
tirely taken their place. In travelling ovel
the country we are surprised at the number
of the canals and intersecting bitches. The
breadth between the latter varies from thre,
to eight rods only, and on all the lower leveli
no part of the land is more than two fee
above the water. The farmers at this sea
son, having completed the harvest, save thu
last of the cabbages, are busy dredging tn,
canals and bitches, and spading their larg,
vegetable gardens for the next crop. From
the bottom of the canals they, with long
handled scoops, draw up the mud, and witt
it fertilize the soil. Most of the large
canals abound with eels and suckers, ant
often have other fish. The COWS through
out Holland, in this wet weather, as they
Craze in the fields, are blanketed with rub
Der cloth or canvas. This is only one o
many things which might be mentioned Il
show the care and painstaking Of this in
dustrious people.
Leyden is one of the Oldest towns in Hol
land, and interesting to Americans as hay
ing been the residence Of Rev. John Robin
son and his congregation for some years be
fore part of the band, led by Elder Brews
ter, came to America and founded tn
Plymouth colony. Its university, whicl
still enjoys good reputation, was in tn
seventeenth century one of the most famou
in Europe. Among its professors were Gre
thus, Descartes, Salmasus, Scaliger, Boel
have and Arminius. Its library contain
three hundred thousand volumes, and it
museum of natural history is one of tn
finest in Europe.
HARLEM, between Leyden aud Amstel
dam, is a neat and quaint old city, an
is renowned for its nurseries and fowe
gardens. Here in 1886 and 1887 was Tn
focus of the speculation in tulips whic
became so extrayagant that single bull
were sold for from three to eight thousan
dollars. 1t was like the American Ian
speculations of 1887, when fortunes wei
made in few months and often lost in
many days The organ of the Groote Ker
was long considered the largest and mo-
powerful in the world, but it hardly riva
that at Fribourg, Switzerland, in compal
or purity of tone. The organ in the Prime
Albert Memorial Hall in London is no
the largest in Europe, but we believe thi
this yields the palm in size to the Mus
Hall organ in Boston, and possibly to OIL
or two others in the United States. Haa
lem, before the discovery of chlorine, was
, | famous bleaching ground, thousands