Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-05-12
TRAVELS In HOLLAND.
SOME OF THE IRREGULARITIES, MANNERS
AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE.
A Country Reclaimed from the Seattle
Model Kitchen-Mute Conviviality-
Staging on Runners-Etc
From Professor E. Kemen. ]

from Professor Il. hemenI
| At the closing of my last letter our loca-
ton was Antwerp, with aggressive glance
at Gheel, the Getty of Fools" That ia a
good place to visit for curiosity's sake, but
as soon as that is satisfied, an excellent
place TO leave behind. Going from Ant
werp, city in which there is pleasure to
linger, we soon cross the border and are in
the neighboring Kingdom Of Holland, which
offers no fewer peculiarities than Belgium,
but of different kind. While Belgium is
full of stir and life, here we meet with
measured and steady calmness which is GU
rious to behold. Although the equanimous
and phlegmatic teNper of the Dutch is
well-known, one must visit their country
to be fully convinced of it. There is no
more silent and reserved person towards
strangers than the Dutchman, unless COM
PEELED by circumstances to converse. You
may sit for hours with him and play the
agreeable without receiving more than
monosyllabic answers until you give him
time-and a great deal of ito become
confident. But you can hardly ever draw
him into an animated conversation or dis
turb his equsnimity. Without showing
any stirring activity he is, nevertheless,
very industrious; he Is slow but steady.
The best proof of the persistent lahorious-
ness of the Dutch is their country itself
for, were it not for their continuous and I'M
wavering determination, there would prob
ably be no Holland. Indeed, considering
| the position of country which is in great
part below the level of the sea, and there.
| fore exposed to a complete inundation. it
| ia astonishing to see how it has conquered
the ocean and overcome difficulties which
no other nation has. Perhaps the reader
would like to know the mode of
| REoLAINING LAND FROM THE SEA,
| As practiced by the Dutch. It would re-
quire some knowledge of engineering pro.
oeedings to give an accurate and full de.
scription. We shall attempt, however, to
give an idea of the manner in which it is
done, as far as personal observation per.
| mits A number of wave. breakers, con.
sisting of rocks, arc run parallel some dis.
| lance into the sea. The breakers are con.
structed at short distances from one an.
other SO as to break the force of the waves
and render their action upon the shore
comparatively harmless The next thing
is the building of dams or dikes as near as
possible to the extremity OF the breakers.
Two lines of dikes are built towards the
sea. These dikes have foundation either
of rocks or piles, with superstrucsure of
earth. The outside, or seaside is protected
by solid blocks of rocks. After having
separated number of miles of water from
the sea, internal lakes have thus been
| formed, which must also be removed.
| More dams are run parallel through them,
forming narrow canals, whose outlet to-
wards the sea has been deepened. The
main body of water is gradually drained or
pumped into the canals and carried off.
The process is slow and expensive, but it is
done and it may be said that nearly one
| third of Holland has been reclaimed from
! the sea in this manner. Coming from Ant
werp in the beginning of winter we enter
Holland at a time of the year which, al
though presenting the country at disad-
vantage on account of snow and ice, is
nevertheless more interesting to foreigners
for that very reason. With regard to see.
merry End beauties of Nature, Holland does
not offer any attractions even in spring
time. The greater portion of the country
is low and inarshy, and cut up by canals,
rivers, lakes and inland seas. 1t is chiefly
used for grazing purposes; and in many
places the houses, surrounded by thin
growth of treeg, resemble floating arks in
| the midst of
THE WASTE OF WATER.
In winter, when all this water is frozen,
and ice and land is covered with snow,
these spots are similar to GASES in the DIES.
ert. Leaving the railroad near Berg.op.
| Zoom, we crossed the Brouwershaven Cat,
| large sheet of water, and at Moerdyck,
| the Hollands Deep, which is now spanned
by a bridge nearly five thousand feet long,
and we soon are at Breda. This town is
fortified, but offers nothing remarkable.
We had good opportunity, however, to
get an insight into Dutch life. The houses
are mostly of two or three stories, with
steep, red-tiled roofs. These tiles have
peculiar concave form which adspts them
to one another 80 accurately that neither
nails nor any other devices are needed to
hold them together. The exterior of the
houses is generally painted in snowy col
ors-red, yellow and blue predominating.
The interior is furnished very simply. The
furniture is of massive kind, and bears
the stamp of antiquity. Chairs, which
seem to defy the action of time /; tables,
which il would take several strong men to
move beds, which might safely hold a
| whole family--these are specimens of fur
niture used in Holland. The floor is gen.
orally sprinkled with sawdust every morn
ing to keep off moisture. OF course the
weather. class have their houses more ele.
gantly furnished, but those are exceptions.
CLEANLINESS AND COSTUME.
In the midst of this simplicity there is
one feature that strikes most forcibly every
stranger, namely, the excessive cleanliness
which reigns every where. This is espe.
cially the case with the kitchen. II is a
curious sight to step into Dutch kitchen
and behold the walls adorned on all sides
with shining brass or zinc vessels of all
sizee; kettles, pots and pans so secured
that they may be used as mirrors. They
seem to be there more for exhibition than
for actual use; and the good Frouwen vie
with one another in the cleanliness of their
respective homes. The costume worn by
the women is similar to that of the women
in East Flanders, with the exception that
the gold plate covering the forehead is in
Golf has longer appendices on the sides, ex-
tending about foot below the cheeks.
Those who can afford it wear on Sundays
black silk dresses, white lace.bordered
aprons, many colored ribbons, extremely
large gold earrings, breastpins, bracelets
and number of rings. In fact they ap-
pear lille moving jewelry shops, go fond
are they of glittering adornments. On the
other hand many women, even of the mid
die class, wear wooden shoes, probably
more as hygienic measure than for the
sake of economy. These shoes are lined
on the inside and keep the feet warm and
dry, which is of great Importance in wet
and moist country. Some of them have
quite an elegant form and resemble leather
shoes.
THF MEMS DRESS CONSISTS
OF short velvet jacket, vest and pants,
heavy shoes or boots, and in winter of fur
overcoat and cap. In the northern prov
inces and Vriesland fur-l lined cloth is chiefly
worn. The costume just described for
men and women is the ordinary or national
dress the aristocracy and better class in
large cities wear modern cut of clothes,