The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-04-24

extracts from some of the hastily
written letters received from her
since her arrival in Germany. Even
those who are not personally ac-
quainted with the writer may be in
terested in reading some account of
the way in which an American girl
manages to take care of herself on a
long journey in a far country. The
first letter was begun in Antwerp and
mailed from Cologne, and the other is
from Berlin.
Yesterday afternoon after dreary,
sleety morning in the ugly North sea,
which looks very much the color
and consistency of bean soup.-we
reached Flushing, Holland, the en-
trance to the Scheldt river, leading
up to Antwerp. Going up the river
the tide was against US and we were
obliged to cast anchor at 5:45 and re-
manned half way between Flushing
and Antwerp until after nine this
morning. At Flushing 1 had my
first glimpse of Holland, the Holland
of my imagination,-all windmills
like the old one at Lawrence,) red
tiled roofs and green fiat country. The
journey this morning up the broad &,
shallow Scheldt gave the best imag-
Unable view of rural Holland. What
delight after Dlizzardy New York
to see country as green as Kansas
in May, greener, think. 1 like the
thrifty Dutch landscape, every inch
of ground cultivated, neat houses al
ways red rooted, just peeping over
the dykes, long straight prim rows of
poplar trees. There were interest
ing boats too in the river, some as
handsome as violin cases, with elab-
orately carved beaks. Others, which
took to be house boats, their cabins
painted a vivid light green.
But the Dutch landscape lost its in
terest when in the blue distance the
airy spire of the great Antwerp
cathedral, and then the lesser towers
and pinnacles of the splendid city
came into view. How much more
satisfactory to approach a city by a
river than by railroad! If L had
first seen city in this way 1 think
my childish ideal would have been
satisfied. When we were almost to
the dock a self-important little steam
tug attached itself to us to bring us
in. The KeDsington is really too big
for this river. 1t is the largest boat
that comes to Antwerp, and it requir-
ed special dredging of the channel
to let her in.
Tuesday evening.
Early yesterday morning left my
Boston friends in their beds, got an
early breakfast, and started out to
"do" Antwerp with my Baedeker
guide boook) as escort. 1 stopped to
look at the exterior of the cathedral
once more, then went on to the Hotel
de Vile, the old Flemish town hall,
built in the 10Th century, a marvel of
architectural beauty and elegance,
and filled now with some great his
torical paintings. Afterwards 1 spent
an hour wandering through the
quaint narrow, winding streets,
watching the dogs Juggling at their
heavy loads; strolled through the old
market place where the Flemish wo-
men with their heads bare and their
skirts to their knees, sell vegetables;
got caught, much to my delight, in
funeral procession, which was headed
by long procession of priests in
black and white vestments. The
hearse was gorgeous with gilt and
black mouldings, and the horses were
draped in heavy black covers. Every
man on the street uncovered his
head for a moment as the hearse pass
ed. A little after ten 1
went to the Stein, a medieval castle,
once the seat of the Spanish Inquisi-
ton, now converted into a most re-
markable museum of antiquities. 1
couldn't begin to tell you of the
things in it,-ancient furniture, ar
NOR, lace, paintings, coins, china,
musical instruments,-aj joy forever it
must be to the antiquarian. To me
the most interesting things of all
were the dungeons underneath,
where the prisoners used to be kept,
and where there are still remains of
the old instruments of torture. They
gave me a candle and showed me the
stairway leading down, telling me to
look for myself. 1 confess it was a
bit gruesome, poking around all by
myself with this dim light in these
damp, pitch dark dungeons, looking
for instruments of torture, and imag-
lining the stories these massive walls
might tell of broken bodies and brok-
en- hearts. So only went into three