Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-03-31
A DOUBLE DELUGE.
An Americans Experience with q
Holland Storm.
Mr.. Riddle. OF ST. Louis, Assiats in stop.
ping tho Folcs In n DIko-Ths
Magninccncc OF tho
Dutch Country.

So few members OF tho army OF
Americans which yearly pours to Eu-
rope go to Holland, unless II be simply
to fly through by rail, giving perhaps a
day to Amsterdam, that to those who
know the fair Low Countries" Il has
become n matter Of great surprise.
II would seem natural that the soldier
should wish TO sec tho fields where
were fought the most heroic battles OF
modern times; when the citizen soldiers
Of n small and unmilitary country
stood their ground against the mighty
lcgions of Alva, and did not talk Of dy-
ing in the last ditch, but died there
II would seem us II the sailor would
like TO visit the dock yards whence
Van Tromp, with his boom nailed to
his masthead went out and swept the
sea-" and at least TO look upon the
cabin where the great Peter of Russia
lived while very practically studying
naval architecture.
But above all Holland Is the paradise
for the mere seeker after novelty. In
fact, the novelty Is, Mt FIRST, almost too
marked; IL is bcwildering The rivers
pour along far over your head Instead
OF going down to sea IN ships" you
climb up long flights to get at them.
II seems Il mad land. The streets Of
tho cities arc water; the whole land
scape Is dotted with windmills grind
ing, not grain, but water; you may
walk along the scashoro for days and
be no more able TO find pebble than
TO find crown diamond, go little to
the north where what by courtesy may
be called the land is few inches above
high tide and there for miles and miles
you will find the sea sand neatly COW
cred with mating to prevent its blow
ing awayl A still more astonishing
thing Is that the men and women do
not seem lat FIRST sight always under
stooD TO belong TO the same race. The
men, most polite and courteous in all
classes, and hospitablc to marked de-
gree, arc staid, grave, formal and us
solemn Us the fourtcenthly Of the SER
mon OF Puritan divine. The women,
remarkably pretty, especially in Fries
land, which has more pretty girls in It
than any place on earth Of the same
population Tour own town, OF course,
cXccptcdl are gay, decidedly. although
dcmurcly, coqucttish, and not ut all
avcrsc to innocent fun. II, however,
the stranger bc so fortunate a. to gain
admittancc Us an intimate to the fam
ily circlc'oi some Dutchman, he gets to
know that the mon are really very jol-
~ fellows. and that their grave formal.
iiy is only a national custom instillcd
in them from bubyhool. But there Is
no country in Europe where It Il so
difficult for stranger to gain such nd
mittancc, for the Dutch DO not love
men of other races.
But tic more one knows Of this pco-
pie the more the curiosity grows as TO
who were their ancestors, and what in
the name Of all that is wonderful ever
led them to settle In such country; n
country that had not tree upon IL,
and has needed to have millions of
Norway pines driven into its unstable
soil to hold its houscs But, IN the
early days, how build houses ut all?
There was not stone in tho country;
there was no wood and no coal, 80 how
make bricks? As there was no wood,
absolutely mono, how make boats to
bring ncccssar es from other lands, or
that strange people live upon? The
soil was then certainly unfit for ngri.
culture, barren sand and water soaked
mud. There was no game except
water fowl, certainly no land animals
III for food or useful for their skins.
How catch fish in any such numbers as
TO DO mainstay Of life without boats,
the fishing during at least three
months OF the year being necessarily
on the sea? Why they went there and
how they survived are mysteries; we
only know that the tirclcss industry
and indomitable pluck Of the race has
made the land TO blossom as the rose,
and dotted II with fair cities.
The language Of the Dutch seems a
cross between German and English,
but the people are entirely unlike
either Germans or .Englishnen, and
quite as unlike their other neighbors,
the Flemish and the French. They do
not like their neighbers, and in return
these neighbors, Jealous Of the Hol.
lander's hard-earned success, are al
ways throwing hard words at them.
This Is long introduction 20 my
personal experience OF Holland
storm. l was visiting a gentleman
who lives on an island Just west Of the
mouth OF the Rhine. We had dined
and were enjoying some cigars when
the daughter Of one Of tho dyke guards
came TO the house with the news that
a northwestern storm was blowing
the one wind the Hollander dreada Al
ouoe the Whole household was m com
motion l had been once In a burTi.
cane In Cuba, but that was a drv storm,
the Holland storm was different was
provided by my host with an OH cos,
and fsherman'a hat WV