Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-01
srrx ONLY OUTSIDE OF CITIES.

At Brussels YOU have Waterloo to remind
you OF the great hatil.. W.-i".-, I'D 1t turned
out otherwise, M ;ht have :-lv,n Bonaparte
the sacking of London, and III the palace of
Holland at Amsterdam, there is a magnificent
reception room, the ceiling Of which Is 100
feet high; on the walls of this are groups IN
marble. and one Of these groups contained
skeleton When Napoleon BOnaparte took
the palace he covered this skeleton with
sheet of stucCO, and so 1t remains to-day.
Napoleon had a curious excuse for the cap
turing of Holland. He said France owned
the Rhine and other rivers which flow into
the north sea; that HOLLAND was made from
the alluvial deposits of these rivers. and that
III capturing it he was merely taking back the
ground that belonged TO France originally.
These Dutch cities are wonderful works OF
human industry. Rotterdam and Amster-
dam are cut up by canals, as New York and
Philadelphia are by streets. These canals
are walled with stone and their banks care
fully paved. Good bridges cross them, and
in many places the queerly shaped, high
Dutch houses rise straight up from the water
like those of Venice. 1he Dutch cities are
more picturesque than Venice, and their con-
structioH is fully rs wonderful They are
built upon piles, and this building is even
now going o.. | saw much pile driving in
Amsterdam! Great trees II and ~ feet long
were stood Oh end, and by driving machine
were forced inch by inch into the mud until
they reached the level of the ground. The
bridges are all built in this way, and the pal
ace of the king at Amsterdam rests on a
foundation Of nearly l+,UNO piles. There are
% islands and 800 bridges i'll Amsterdam, and
the city seems to have as firm u foundation
as that Of New York. The piles hold up
buildings as big as those of Broadway. The
extent of this sort of building in Holland can
hardly be appreciated, and the cost of build
ing the foundation Of a great house Is often
as great the putting up of the house itScl!
.neSe Dutch cities spend thousands of dOlla.>
daily in watching and taking care of the.
buildings and public works Worms sOmetiL e.
eat into the piles, and a slight break might
cause the loss Of much property. Eternal vigi-
lance is the price VIII h the Dutch have topay
for Holland Their great dykes cost them
over S2,ODOO0O year to keep in order, and
the sea is watched night and day. Through
out the country and the city the same con
Etant watChfulneSs is kept up. Everything is
Kept clean and well cared for Nothing, as
far as | can see, is wanted, and dirt seems to
be the whole nations greatest enemy.
Saturday is scrubbing day in the Dutch
cities, and on this day the towns 20 mad over
soap and water. Carpets are shaken in the
streets by women so that the noise sounds like
that of SO many fourth of July cannon, the
doorsteps are secured and the windows
washed until they shine like crystal note
especially the cleanliness Of the gas street
lamp har- -''A chat nf the windows of the
various houses not spot Is to be seen
upon them, and were it not for a sort Of q
movable screen which is put inside of the
window to keep out the eyes of the pasSer by,
one might see all that was going on inside as
easily as if there were no windows whatever.
Speaking Of windows, these Dutch like to
see, though they do not sometimes care about
being seen. They like to watch unobserved
the people who go along the streets upon
which they live, and see who knocks at their
front doors before they decide to let the per-
son in or not. For this purpose they have
little mirrors, some not larger than a cabinet
photograph and others about eight by ten
inches in size fastened to the wall outside of