The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-10-09

real man in the ladies' cabin and be
shocked. For the acme of stupidity, COM
mend me to the men who made the rules
for that boat.
About 7 a. M, we sighted the great
sand dunes which serve as dyke, and
keep the sea out of Holland, and soon
after were sailing up the nver Mas be-
tween great dykes that only allowed the
tops of the houses behind them to be
seen. The river was full of vessels,
most of them queer Dutch boats with
great broad bows; the row boats looked
so heavy and clumsy, it seemed as if
oars would scarcely propel them. The
river banks were lined with piles or
heavy walls nearly all the way, and the
muddy water OF the river could be
plainly traced long way out at sea.
Fishermen were drawing nets by the aid
of horse on shore. We passed Schiedam,
famous for Schnapps, with its hundreds
of distilleries. The custom officers ex-
amined the baggage while we sailed up
the river, and an hour and half run
brought us to Rotterdam; by that time
| was fully convinced that the Dutch
had taken Holland.
We saw many queer sights, the strange
costumes, the canals in many of the
streets, the odd buildings, one like a
great bottle about 100 feet high, evident
ly had been warehouse, but in the
lower part windows were cut and people
living there; the windows were richly
curtained, evidently they were people of
means. In one canal was a great stone
windmill over 100 feet high; these canals
seemed to be the great highways, for
boats loaded with vegetables, hay, wood,
etc, were constantly passing. The i'm
mense rudders on some of the boats
looked large enough to turn the Great
Eastern.
The wooden shoes worn by many of
the peopls looked funny enough, we
laughed to see the children running to
school clumpety clump and wondered how
they kept them on. The business streets
near the docks are raised to the dock
height, but most of the city is on level
with the canals, much below the surface
of the river. The docks along the river
are fine, and inside are great basins
where vessels can be unloaded into canal
boats or warehouses. There are many
elegant residences, on green banks
sloping down to the canals, surrounded
by beds of choice flowers, and many
handsome parks with splendid great
trees. On some streets the houses face
the canals, on others the backs were
toward them, nearly every one having
a pretty balcony overhanging the
water.
Here as in all parts of Holland, Bel
gium and part of Germany We saw the
/ small carts drawn by two or three dogs
and man, the dogs usually attached to
the axle, all pulling hard, the dogs seem.
ing to work willingly; when the cart
was empty the man often rode. These
combination teams drew loads heavy
, enough for a horse, in that part of tht
, world dogs are not the elegant creatures
of leisure they are with us. The HOLLAND
, railways are raised about II feet above
r the general level, and all the embank
ments are built of sand brought from
the sea shore, as there is no spare dir
in the country to make them. Tht
+ cattle which are very numerous are al
= of the spotted kind, and great number
of sheep are to be seen everywhere; the
5 small canals or bitches, serve as fences
s to keep them in place. The water il
: only six inches below the ground leve
r everywhere, and was puzzled to know
0 II how they kept sheep, when with us evel
S in damp fields they get foot rot, but
6 was told afterward they have mucl
0 trouble with them
t Windmills are everywhere and of al
1 sizes; the same may be said of tn
{ canals. The roads are slightly raises
v above the general level, often n grea
G dyke is utilized for the purpose, mos
1 of them are an air line and with row
+ of trees on each side. Looking acros
{ the country vessels seemed to be sailing
in all directions through the fields, tn
( dykes along each canal hiding tn
!, water.
O Passing Delft we we're reminded tina
e from Delft Haven the Pilgrims starte'
e for New England, and surely no create
: contrast could be imagined than betweel
s Holland aud Massachusetts,, it is wonder
full they ever stayed there. All the HOl
S land cities are built on piles, and som
c very large cities they have too. TIL
+ Hague, the capital, is a most charming
!, city, with its numerous canals, fine wild
S streets, handsome buildings and mag
S niticent trees. The Royal Gallery ha
y many paintings, mostly by Dutch an
j Flemish masters, two of them, Pau
@ POtter's "Bull" and Renbrandt's "SchoC
Il of Anatomy" are very famous. Th
n town hall contains very good collectio
of modern pictures, and great man
: curious old things, while in Baron Stal
s lgrobht's house are paintings valued.
n two millions of dollars; one of them b
a Teniers, painted on copper, at SSO,OOC
|, We called on the King at his rather plai
/; palace; he was unavOidably absent, bu
It had left man there with special order
v to show us everything in the place, S
# we wandered through the halls {
IS royalty, not finding anything very wol
!, derful, though he has some fine things
o notably a number of splendid vases 81
I. to eight feet high, some beautiful clocl
70 and tables, mostly presents, and Il
IL elegant silk hangings on the walls. I'll
n Queen cannot be a model house-keepe
It for the silk quilt on the Kings bed WI
s. badly ripped. There being only q
chambers, they were short OF rooms an
ID could not ask ms to remain over nigh
Of A table with set of solid malachite r
q. minded us of the man who had rin
ut set with piece of malachite; shown
IN it proudly to gentleman, the gentlema
ne L told him he had table at home mac
to out of such stone.
at In the great open court OF the o
ID Stockholders palace, John of Barnevel
Il was executed, and opposite the entran
I'd is the queerest of buildings, the old ja
is Beside the old palace is largo sheet
OF water, and beyond this wide OPP
n space full of great trees, the surrounding
il are singularly beautiful. On one SIT
nd the city is bounded by wide canal al
IS street, on the outer side is an immen
,ir field for the use of the children; hundre
in were there playing various game
an among which l was surprised to fiji
be cricket, while kite fliers were numero
ci- of course. Adjoining this field W
wv another equally as large, where lar
ell herd of spotted deer were feeding, a.
,e, beyond this large forest with q
Dir roads and paths cut through it, one We
n; wide and perfectly straight made
ry charming vista, the branches meeti
he overhead; it was easy to see where t
no architects Of old got ideas for the gre
us cathedrals they built. One narrow sire
let in the city had SO long a name, IL
ed it would reach across the street a
ire back.
es' The garbage wagons were Of vC
'ut novel pattern, made wholly of iron lik
I'm great box, the only opening, ahinged COY
on at the rear end; nothing fell out frC
that wagon. Most of the pavemel
. were stone, but some streets were paw
with ordinary bricks set on edge. I
streets, as in most European cities W.
very clean, machines being mostly us
a. s,,,oo,, ti,a,,, althnuOh labor ig go che,