Little Falls transcript., 1883-09-28
VEL i DYKED DUTCHM EN,
Who Bid Defiance to the Raging Sea, and
5. Even Propose to Capture More Sand
I y from It's Depths. s7 !. H53 III. 4. y
4 q euMeer M Mixture q the Monotonous and Pic
turesque in the Scenery and Curl
: ~ GUS Costumes Of the People.

Queer Mixture Of the Monotonons and Pic
turesque in the Scenery and Curl z
Gus Costumes Of the People.
i Very Cody Country. if the Old Adase Rela-
2@. tive to Cleanliness Hold
sa& True. r .l.'-
.. ss&.73., - ---.a----.,.. ~ ' -
AMSTERDAM, Holland, Special Correspond
ence. Sept l.-This is the only country in the
world where war always prevails. Tho inhab-
nants, though they are not Warlike in bearing,
never know . moment of real peace. The
siege is perpetual; the peril imminent and
constant. The besieged. inheritlng the savage
conflict from generation to generation, have
thrown up huge Notifications thousand miles
long, and begirt themselves with fortresses
stronger than those which flank the Thames or
those which project ths great harbors of
France. An army Of observation marches and
countermarches, never relaxing vigilance, while
the foe, now advancing and now resting, ever
hunders angrily at the gates More than 500
years ago the fight began; it will continue, un-
diminished in ferocity, 500 years hence. The
Toe is the sea; his allies, the rivers and the
lakes The Hollander says in the intervals of
this strange conflict: ''God made the sea; we
made the land" Ho appreciates, as nobody
else can, the fact that nature is the constant
enemy Of man and that civilization is man
made-the result of claiming her fierce moods
and refining her coarse methods. Holland was
originally q sort Of archipelago--a vast sea
made shallow by the alluvium washed down
from Central Europe through the changing
channels Of great streams. The area was equal
to that of Massachusetts aud Connecticut Here
and there the sand and mud washed level with
the surface OF the water and on this trembling
raft the people clustered, and grew precarious
food. and spawned broods of surprised chill
dren aud fought ever for firmer footing. Now
they drove back the ocean; now the ocean
drove them back and drowned them out. For
many centuries they have slept on the battle
field with weapon in hand and armor on, never
relaxing effort and never feeling for moment
secure. The incessant combat has made them
robust, patient, vigorous and overcoming
peop.e. But the victories have not been all on
one side. Every ten years, or 80, the savage
sea Wonld storm the Notifications and drown
10000 or 10000 Of the farmers. Then,
when the sand dunes were too low for defense,
they built great system Of dykes, reaching
Tar beneath the tides and far below, the Won
der Of the world. Still the brigand Meuse
would steal through its walls, or the Zyder Zoe
would burst its prison, or the barbarian sea
would leap its barriers, aud there was de-
str ruotive inundation about once in seven years
for centuries. Once $4,000 people were
drowned, at another time 100, ,OOO-a slaugh-
ter three times great that at Waterloo.
More than once since that great battle was
fought %, 900 Hollanders have been swept
away on single overflow. But the survivors
were obstinate. They drove back the sea ana
rebuilt their villages. They streng thened the
defences along the coast, aad erected wind
mills upon them which incessantly pumped
out the water and poured it into tbs sea- They
put the rampant rivers in strait Jackets of solid
masonry, divided them so that they would be
harmless, and taught them docility. Then
they constructed walls around the great lakes,
started wind mills on them, and pumped the
water out and poured it into the sea. In this
way they have reclaimed more fertile land
than there is in the State of Rhode
Island 1t was like draining Lake George.
an enterprise is now on foot TO
build dyke across the great inland gulf, the
Znider Zee, pump the lower half dry and ex-
pose to the sun vast area Of alable land. It
would be below the level Of the sea, of course
but the Dutch farmers are accustomed TO plow
below the level Of the keels of the ocean
steamers off the coast. Significant, indeed,
are the arms Of Hollands lion swimming in
the sea.
NOT VERY PICTURESQUE
rode 100 miles across the country yester-
nay 1t is about as monotonous IS the Jersey
flats. don't see how on earth 1t is that Dutch
artists, old and new, have succeeded in ex-
haa nh
pictures Of these level lands, which possess
intrinsicary 40 little sentiment or beauty.
Most of our through the polders-and
which was ones the bottom of the sea. No
fences anywhere. Along the railroad, OH the
land side, was broad, deep ditch,
and at right angles with this, other
bitches at intervals of few rods, flowed
level full of water aud disappeared in the
grass far inland. On the ocean side Of the
train huge embanRment rose, and sails were
visible above it, and foamy waves leaped up
here and there, and peeped over ieaiously at
the fertile acres and the broad ba cked brindle
COWS grazing. On the embankment windmills,
with enormous wings, like the sails of mer-
chantman, worked their pumps in sluggish
confderce Of victory. Every fifty rods along
the ditchos wooden gates rose, to cover small
bridges set there for convenience-about the
only object except the! COWS, to break the vision
Attempts are being made to grow trees, and,
at rather distant intervals. little house is set.
and the occupant has carted on enough dry
vegetable mould to make himself garden.
SPECIMENS OF DUTCH NEATNEss,
All that I have ever heard about tho neat
ness Of these Dutch people seems justified.
He who rises early shall see the Inhabitants
swar1ning like bees, armed with the imple-
ments of renovation. Men are on their knees
on the sidewalks; women with scrubb1ng
brushes cling to the windows with violent
gestures; the knockers shine like gold. At
the church door lies mat of sewed
rags, and by the side of the mat
stands man. his face furrowed
with anxiety, and when pass without seeing
it he chatters at me a word or two of gutteral
expvstu lation, aud, pointing to the mat, turns
me back to wipe my feet on it. There is not
o speck Of mud in the streets, but there is a
little ust, and the care-worn guardian knows
that dust ls subtle enemy that loves to fly
up and roost on the stained-glass oriels and the
carven pulpit These Dutchmen fear dirt
more than any other invader, In the local
records is the story how Napoleon and Alexan-
der of Russia. forming their brigand partner
ship in 1908, met at Utrecht to sign the
papers. They were about to enter house for
conference, when they were met by a woman
who placed herself sternly in the way. Seen
tlemen,' she said, ''you can't come in here
unless you put these stockings on" and she
handed each pair of coarse stockings to pull
over his boots. They laughed, conceded the
point, and entered thus equipped. have not
seen one of the wonderful dairies which are
the pride of Holland, but am told of one by
an acquaintance. Rs "
''She took me down to see the dairy says he.