St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-12-05
DORDRECHT,
4 City In Which Nine Tenths Of the Houses
Are Two Hundred Years Old.

4 City In Which Nine Tenths OF the Houses
Are Two Hundred Years Old.
Dordrecht is not city of sights. Il
has no famous cathedral. no Renais-
sance Hotel de Vile, no museums. no
historic remains in particular. Its in
terest is purely pictorial. do not pre-
tend to an extensive knowledge of Hol-
land; but l am told by those who do
possess that knowledge that this quaint
old place is to this day more like an
old Dutch city than any other place
south of the Zuyder Zee. do know
that. in the course of long days wan
derings through the narrow streets and
beside the shady canals, counted less
than score of houses which looked
new, and took note of so MANY dozens
of buildings bearing date prior to 1850
that at last l lost count. Dordrecht is
paradise of old houses. brown, red
and yellow. brought together in tan
gled confusion. large and small elbow
ing each other like people in crowd.
bort is picturesque as approached by
steam from the river, but it is picture
indeed when first seen feom a railway
station. The railway is not ten years
old at Dordrecht yet. and this is. Of
course, the newest end of the town.
Two or three of the brand new
French villas which are such hideous
denominations in the outskirts of everv
Dutch town, dot the road and damp the
ardor of the visitor But soon the true
Dordrecht reveals itself. lying straight
in front, the delicate spire of the cathe-
dral rising from the midst OF crow
stepped gables and autumn tinted tiles.
1t is useless to adopt landmarks or to
take bearings here. Make up your
mind to be lost at once, and you will
have no further anxiety.
In Dordrecht there is something new.
or rather something very old. in every
street. The houses are tall and fantas-
t;cally gabled. and as the streets are
mainly very narrow one can take walk
in the grateful shade on the hottest
summer day. Nine-tenths of the houses
are at least two hundred years old, and
many of them are century and half
old. In many of the buster streets and
along most of the canals. the old gables
lean totteringly forward. as though to
meet their venerable friends on tho
other side Of the way. The builders
men were very gingerly demolishing a
fine gabled old place. colored a mellow
russet brown, which was in danger of
falling down. owing to some settlement
in the sandy shifting soil. Great figures
Of beaten iron upon the front attested
that it was built in 1880. Every now and
again, in the streets of bort. 1 came
upon house large enough to have
looked well in an English park. A
double flight of steps, well-nigh wide
enough for the passage of the tradi-
tional coach and six. led up to massive
front door. behind which, when it was
occasionally opened. caught a glimpse
of hall ample. enough to hold an
eligible detached villa residence. Some
times coat of crowded quarterings
was floridly sculptured above the broken
pediment Of the door; sometimes q bit
of allegorical carving ornamented the
windows. There are very few old
towns anywhere which have retained
the olden homes of the departed mer-
chant princes IN such numbers or in
such admirable preservation as Dord-
recht. CasSeFs Family Magazine.