Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-06-12
Correspondence
HEIDLEBERG c

| SosNeioaS. As Is terueo 'cuoppy ny
sailors and is very dangerous to life
and vessels. II is generally thickly
ldotted with all kinds of ships. The
Norwegian flag floats on every breeze
and in almost every part of this sea
still retaining their original fame as
bold and skillful navigators The
dangers of this sea are at once made
evident by the numerous wrecks and
sunken vessels seen along it's coasts
and bays. All that remains above
water are the long painted masks.
Land appears and you come in sight of
the once famous Nstherland. For 20
miles up the river, with scarcely room
to pass by the numerous vessels, you
all through a wondrous curious
country. A land threaded with canals
and ornamented with windmills. In
a short time Rotterdam is reached.
1t is a queer, ancient looking town.
1t has crooked, narrow streets and
high buildings, everything is built of
stone. Streets, sidewalks and roofs
are all stone. They are almost
woodless people. | saw no wooden
house in Rotterdam. They do grow
willows, to make baskets, where there
is hardly any room for anything else
to grow. In gong through Holland
you can count 20 or 80 windmiils with
a single stroke of the eye. The mills
all constructed with four arms and
some are monstrous in size. The
Hollander of course knows his business
but the Yankee would suggest that he
put more than four arms on his mill
and get more power as the ., S. do.
Holland utilities the wind more than
any country of the same size in the
world. Holland IS so small on the
land that it has to put its working
machinery in the air 80 as to give men
and women room to walk. These
windmills are undertaking great
work, nothing less than to pump the
sea out of the land so as to make
more farms for Holland They sue
ceeded in making farms in the Zuyder
Zee and are succeeding elsewhere.
But the cities in Holland are no less
quaint, crowded and utilized than the
land. Holland is simply thread
work of canals. Some of the canals
are 7 feet above the land. II the
dykes broke the whole land might be
flooded. But skillful, ambitious
engineers construct and watch them
carefully. These can also serve as
fences for farms and divides them into,
in some parts, lots of from l to 10
or 20 acres. The land is mostly in
grass except gardens, and the canals
are used to navigate The farmer
carries his hay and other products
home on boats and boats the manure
along the canals and spreads it by a
single throw to the middle of the
narrow tracts Of land between the
canals. The meadow, or any land is
generally very narrow and as long as
possible. The stock is good and we'll
cared for. If it be a little damp and
cold they strap blanket on the COWS
when out grazing; women seem to care
for the stock more than the men and
are very steady patient workers. The
women, to say the least, look quite
practical for work in their bare heads
short dresses and large white wooden
clogs, trudging slowly along with
large painted tin pals to milk the
cows The Holland woman has no
time nor need for bangs, paint or false
hair, as ornaments, in short they are
as rare in Holland as a thunder storm
Some of the women wear head gear
that would astonish a North American
Indian. 1t consists Of silver plates
and on each side of the temples run
, out from these plates spirally twisted
; wire forming a cone 2 to 4 inches long
with it's base toward the cheek bone
1t seems to be some ancient primordial
legacy probably worn by Eve before
she could see herself as others saw
her. The people of Holland are not
very progressing in looks. Some of
the women have very fine hair and