Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-04-29

tance. Lying, as most of it does, at
lower level than that of the sea, a nat
ural drainage Is impossible, and re-
| course must be had to artificial means.
The extent to which this system of arti-
iicially carrying off the rainfall as we'll
as the water that insensibly percolates
through the giant barriers that have
been raised can be appreciated only
by an actual inspection of the huge
pumps that are provided for the pur-
pose of raising and sending off the
superfiuous water. When the Haar-
lem Lake was drained an enormous
steam engine was constructed for the
purpose of working eleven great
pumps, each of sixty-three inches In
| diameter and ten-foot stroke, and in
actual work these pumps discharged
sixty-six tons of water ut every stroke.
For four years the pumping went
steadily on, or from May, 1S4S, to July,
1852, when the work was finally con-
cluded, seventy square miles of area
having been cleared of twelve feet of
water. So gigantic feat had never
been undertaken before, but it's COM
| plete success inspired the sturdy Hol
landers to still greater enterprise,
and 1t is probable that in the course of
time the draining of the Zuyder Zee
will add many hundred square miles
to the arabic land of Holland.
Having really more water than they
| know what to do with, the honest
| Dutchmen have utilized no small por.
ton of their surplus by making canals
from one end of the low lands
to the other. All the low re.
| gions of Holland are a network
Of artificial waterways, along
which float vessels bearing all sorts of
| town goods to the country and all varie.
ties of country produce to the towns
These artificial waterways are of every
size, from the huge ship canal that con.
meets Amsterdam with the ocean to the
branch country canal six or eight feet
wide, that was constructed because
some country town wanted to give It,
self airs over its neighbors; but all are
alike in one respect, in that all are GOV.
cred with boats, sometimes drawn by q
horse, sometimes by horse and COW,
sometimes by Il man, or a man harness.
ed up with n dog or steer or donkey.
Small steamboats, are also employed,
but only on the larger canals; on the
smaller, some form of animal locomotion
is almost universal. The canal, in short,
is an acknowledged feature of Hol.
land, and Amsterdam, Rotterdam and
other cities on or near the coast are as
much brides Of the sea as Venice. In
Amsterdam, for instance, the gondolier
and his song are the only things lack.
ing to make the city a Northern Venice,
and these are supplied by boatmen,
who work and sing not, but get their
passengers to the appointed destination
| just as surely as though every stroke of
the oar was accompanied by rhyme
from TassO. Amsterdam is, in fact, a
city of canals. The town is built on
about ninety islands, which, by the ar.
| official waterways, are cut up into all
| sorts of sizes and shapes, and OH them
are builded thousands upon thousands
of queer old houses, some, perhaps
most of them, dating back to the time
when the burghers banded themselves
together to overthrow the Spanish rule.
In the matter of canals, Rotterdam
| ana uOZen OtneT CltleS Ol tuc cOuSt
are exactly like Amsterdam, while all
| over the country dampness and mois-
ture are the rule. Situated on one of
the most inclement coasts in Europe,
a wind from almost any direction comes
laden with moisture, which settles on
every object, so that during half the
year and large part of the other half
the walls of the houses, both within and
without, the woodwork, and even the
domestic utensils, feel damp and clam.
my. To people who have been accus.
toned to a different climate, such per.
sistent dampness is very hard to bear,
and even the natives, accustomed as
they are to much moisture, suffer from
1t, for diseases such as rheumatism,
consumption and others induced by
the climate, are very common.
But the never-ceasing dampness has
another unfavorable feature, which, to.
gether with the fiat and depressed
country and the innumerable canals,
render Holland peculiarly liable to such
q disease as cholera. 1t Is generally
understood that Dutch housewives are
the neatest people on the earth. The