Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-07

bottles. where a party had been enjoying
themselves on the hotel porch-and from
TINS new point of vantage 1 could see over
the heads OF the crowd below and caught
a glimpse of the three equipages, with
prancing steeds that had occasioned all
the tumultuous cheering and excitement.
NO little queen came forth, as we ,xoect-
ed, but instead, there alighted four gor-
geously-clad Leyden students, college bows
IN SIX hose and velvet doublets They wore
large, soft sombreros. on which long os-
trlch plumeS waved and nodded, and their
stout legs were incased in shining boots OF
light tan kid, lined with royal purple vel
vet, that was pulled through the slashes at
the knee.
By speaking with an Englishman resid-
ing at The Hague we learned that II has
heen the Dutch costume for centuries for
the Leyden students, after the fashion of
the Nardi Gras festivities In New Orleans
10 appear once year in full regalia and
10 De given the liberty and keys of the
town. ~
Ihere were twelve students, and they
made a most picturesque GROUP as they
stood twanging their mandoIirs and pui
tars, singing love songs like old-time trnub-
, aupis, OF deiiGhtlnG the crowd with a roll
licking Dutch college song, that elected
ei'ouls Oh laughter and approval
To Amsterdam by Wheel
Next morning 1t had cleared sufficiently
Ior US to start forward once more on our
winding way, this time with our faces
turned toward Amsterdam and the north,
to visit the little Dutch town of Zaandam.
where we We're told windmills of all kinds
could he seen by the dozens, and Holland
erS found still uncontaminated by English
clothes and notions
by consulting our Holland time table.
Mneh we We're ready to depart from The
hague by wheel, We discovered that the
distance to Amsterdam was nearly If not
quite 1orty-three miles, so we lost no
t alrie III ,he morning, as an early start is a
great advantage for many reasons 1t en-
apies you, first to cover a good part Of
the distance before the heat of the day II
IL Is warm. and allows the wheeImen to go
as they please, having all day before them.
10 make their destination.
We have no record as fast riders as we
Had no desire to 90 more rapidly than We
could ride with perfect comfort and ease
ana on an average we only made eight
NlIes an hour, with ten as the maximum
Inc roads were good, and outside Am
stertam and in the town of Leyden
through which W. passed, catching only a
shnpse OF the famous university, we saw
many cyclists, but they WERE without CA
ceptlon, all men, so I'm afraid The Dutch
maidens have not followed the example of
their little queen, who is reported to be an
expert cyclist.
Amsterdam delighted us being much
more quaint and interesting than either
1 ne hague or Rotterdam. There are many
me residences, but the older part of the
city Is more picturesque, and nothing could
lie more fantastic than the long rows of
Dutch roofs, each with a long pole extend
ing out In front over the narrow street
by which furniture and trunks, etc, are
hauled up and taken in through the
upper windows of the dwellings as the
narrow halls and still narrower stairways
gong up at an angle of A. degrees make
any other means of ingress impossible
We left wheels at one of the small
shops, and wandered about On foot TO see
the town In the hours of daylight still re-
naming; as many OF the SOC allied streets
are nothing more than a six-foot space
along the sides of the canals, roughly
paved with huge cobble stones that have
no utilization with pneumatic tires. and
riders OF wheel if willing to stand the
Joting would stand a fair Chance of being
pushed into the canal by the first team
that came along. as We found il necessary
as pedestrians to hug the wall closely to
Keep from taking an involuntary bath.
Crowded With Boats.
The canals are innumerable and crowd
ed with boats, coming in and going out
and they seem TO carry every known COM
modify. Some are heavily laden with lum-
Der, others with fish or vegetables the
hcxt may have its low deck piled high
with pretty straw baskets, or have a quaint
cargo of wooden shoes, of all sizes imag-
Unable, strung together by dozens, ready
Tor export to the inland rural districts
where the poor are forced to wear the now
oesplsed old-time clogs, for reasons of econ
omy.
The prettiest sight of all is the flower
boats, lying in numbers mcoTed together
the decks quite hidden beneath a wealth of
blooming flowers in pots. Every flower you
love is here, looking as fresh and natural
as II 1t were in your own home garden
and as the fragrance of the roses gera-
NUNS and violets comes floating to YOU
over the water, the mass of bloom seems
10 be huge bouquets rising and falling with
the swell of the tide.
Queer sights ara many in Amsterdam,
one OF the most amusing being the combi-
nation of English and Dutch costumes
worn by many of the people. One sturdy
old man We met had on an English cut
away coat. which he wore ever a large and
full pair of Dutch jean brooches. His bare
feet were in wooden shoes. and on his
head. an old plug hat topped off the most
extraordinary tout ensemble, while the
unconscious individual, with stoid mein
sauntered along smoking his long pipe, en-
urely oblivious not only of the queer fig
ure he cut, but of our unconcealed merri-
ment.
Zaandam might be wonderfully attrac-
i've, but We doubted that i: could equal
dear old funny Amsterdam, even with all
its boased windmills, dykes and inevitable
TOURISTS. A. L. NJ.