St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-05-14
A DOUBLE DELUGE.
An Americana Experience with Q
Holland Storm.


So few members Of the army of
Americans which yearly pours to EN-.
rope go to'Holland. unless it be simply
to hy through by rail. giving perhape .
day to Amsterdam, that to those who
know the fair ''Low Countries" |" it has
become q matter of great surprise.
1t would seem natural that the soldier
should wish to sec the fields where
were fought the most heroic battles Of
modern times; when the citizen soldiers
of . small and unmilitary country
stood their ground against the mighty
legions of Alva, and did not talk Of dy-
ing In the last ditch. but died there
It would seem Is il 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- y and at least to look upon the
cabin where the great Peter Of Russia
lived while very practically studying
nasal architecture.
But above all Holland Is the paradise
for the mere seeker after novelty. In
fact, the novelty Is. at first, almost too
marked; Il Is bewildcrinR. 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.
It seems a mad land. The streets Of
tho cities are water; the whole land.
scape 10 dotted with windmills grind.
ing. not grain, but water: you may
walk aaong the scashorc Cor days and
be no more able to find . pebble than
to find a crown diamond. 20 . 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
ercd with mating TO prevent its blow
ing awayi A still more astonishing
thing il that the men and women do
notseem lat first sight always under
stood) to belong to the same raea The
men. most polite and courteous In al
classes. and hospitable to . marked de-
gree, are. staid, grave. formal and -
rs the fourteenthly OF the cor.
mon Of Puritan divine. The women.
remarkably pretty. especially in Fries
land. which has more pretty girls In Il
than any place on earth Of the same
(our own town. Of course.
excepted) are gay. decidedly. although
demurcly. coQucttish. and not 1t al
sverse. to innocent fun. II. however.
the stranger be 90 fortunate ss 70 gain
rs IN intimate 10 the fam
lly circle of some Dutchman. he Rets 70
know that the men are really very jol-
II fellows. and that their grave formal
ity is only . nationa! custom iustilled
In them from babyhood. But there Il
no country in Europe where Il Is 50 |
iif3eult for q stranger 70 gain such ad- |
mit&ance. for tho Dutch do not love |
mon Of other races
But the more one knows Of this pco-
pie the more tho curiosity grows - to |
who were their ancestors. and what In
Tho name Of all that il wonderful ever |
led them to settle in such . country; .
country that had not tree upon Il.
md has needed to have millions of
Norway pines driven into its unstable
;oil to hold its houses But. In the
.arly days, how. build houses at all3
There was not . stone in the country;
here WAS no wood and no coal. 50 how
make briclrs2a As there was no wood
mono. how make boats 70
,rinR necessar;es from other lands, Or
o hunt aquatic animals? What did
hat strange people live upon7 The
oh WIS then certainly unfit for agri.
culture, barren sand and water soaked
mud. There was no game except
water fowl, certainly no land animals
il for food Or useful for their skinA
low catch fish in any such numbers -
o be,a mainstay Of life without bos&s.
he 6shing during 1t least three
months of the year being necessarily
n the seA?'' Why they went there and
,oSs they survived arc mysteries; We
nly know that the tireless industry
nd indomitable pluck Of the race has
oade the land to blossom = the rose.
nd dotted It with fair cities
The language Of the Dutch seems
row between German and English,
ne sale people are entirely unlike
itlser Germans or Englishmen. and
mite Is unlike their other neiXhbor@
he Flemish and the French. They do
OF like their neighbers. and In return
aese neighbors. Jealous OF the Hol-
.nderx hayd-earued success are a.