The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-10-12

Even in Holland one doss not arrive at the
chops or the steak of the Briton. Her
butter is tender point with the Dutch
housewife. have known one to bring in
pan holding twenty-five or thirty pounds
from the dairy to set before q man who had
refused it in convincing proof of its excel.
lence. and to see her long pendant earrings
little BY little stop shaking, and the flaps Of
her white lawn cap to assert themselves az.
gressively. and the creases 20 out Of he j
forehead and the smile come back to her
eyes a. she slowly became assured that il
was butter in general and not her butter in
particular against which prejudice was
entertained was worth q journey to look on
Mevrouw's dining room has great cup.
board which extends nearly the length of il
and reaches from floor to ceiling. It is a
fine old cupboard, flush with the wall, and
with doors big and little opening into it 81
intervals. Perhaps ought rather to call il
series of cupboards. The wood is dark
oak, and some of the small square panels
open without visible knobs or handles upon
semi-secret recesses, wherein are stored
favorite bits of china. On high narrow
shelf over the tiled fireplace are displayed
Delft plates with others which, suspect, q
Indies. The ware, which is used every day,
ls thin and white, with gold bands, such az
was the pride of housewives thirty or forty
years ago. Her napkins have been bleached
snowy white on the grass just outside the
town, and they are big enough almost for
tablecloths.
May one invite You to look into bedroom
in North Holland? You will not sleep in it
soundly unless your nerves are quieter than
those of most Americans, for the chimes of
the village churches play bars from old
songs every fifteen minutes the day and
night through, and rs they seldom agree
very we'll about the time some sort of bell ia
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windows of Mevrouw's room are polished
till they are oil of a smile. Each window
has its spotless lace curtains and its shade
of soft white linen, which is raised and low
cred by most complicated system of cords
and rings, to the complete understanding of
which any but native must give the study
of lifetime. The candle chandelier, with
its glass pendants, is nearly always in pro
cess of wiping. Were there no mirrors the
polished mahogany doors of the wardrobe
would answer very tolerabiy. No bed ap-
pears, but in one corner is a door opening
upon q closet, within which one gets a
glimpse of white draperies. How the bed
was introduced into the closet, unless like
the bunch of grapes in the hottie it grew
there, is beyond telling, for the fine linen
curtains hang from an oval piece above its
middle, which expands above them into a
somewhat rudely carved model of ship,
too big, it would seem, to go through the
NOOAWu ElOAA V04o OvdA pAcC0 40 0u0H0uU0u
q cord with convenient ring handle to lay
hold of for help in getting up on a sleepy
morning.
The most interesting room in North Hol-
land house is the attic, which is used almost
invariably as linen storeroom. Even In
these degenerate days the chests are kept
full, though the linen which is in constant
use is not stored in drawers or boxes but
piled under the high sloping roof on shelves.
On the last occasion when followed New
rouw up stairs she had underwear enough
for half regiment out of its Golfers hung
on lines in the huge dim room airing.
To get an idea of home life as it is in Hol-
something of the farm houses as they lie
along the canals in North Holland, each set
back little from the waterway and cut off
from the world by its own little moat, and
often by. its own tiny drawbridge. The
grazing land which lies about 1t may be
monotonous, but the farm house has
on all four sides its heavy screen of willows.
The roof is matched. except in front, where
tiles and thatch are combined in odd, and
often elaborate, patterns. ''Werk en- LUST
work and pleasure). "Zomer Lust" (sum-
mer joy), or some equally characteristic
Dutch motto is inscribed on the walls or
the gateposts,. and everything is SO washed
seem the very leaves in autumn must have
compunctions about falling, and so adding
to the tasks of the yard sweeper. Holland
is the only country on the continent where
women do not work in the fields, the heart
and souleven of the peasant going all the
namon cakes (''Kaneelkoekjes'' and
'''poffertjes.'O As years 20 by one nation
becomes more and more like another. but
the Dutch housewife still retains much
of her old character.
ELIZA PUTNAM HEAroN.