The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-08-22

As Ih Northern hOII0ho-A NehthesS and "a BriIIiancy That Are Absolutely Painful Pervade the Whole PIace-
 Rules Whicn the I inhabitants Mu
 Observe.
 Far up in northern Holland among the dikes and canals of the little king dom lies Broeck the original Spotless Town. The palings of the fences of l Broeck are sky blue. The streets are paved with shining bricks of many col ors. The houses are rose colored, black, gray, purple, light blue or pale green. The doors are painted and gild- ed. For hours you may not see a soul in the streets or at the windows. The , streets and houses. bridges, windows and barns show neatness and a bril- liancy that are absolutely painful. At every step a new effect is disclosed, @ new scene is beheld, as if painted upon the drop curtain of a stage. Every thing is minute, compact, painted, spotless and clean. In the houses of Broeck for cleaning purposes you will find big brooms, little broonls, tooth brushes, aqua fotis, whiting for the window panes, rouge for the forks and ] spoons, coal dust for the copper, emery for the iron utensils, black powder for the floors and even small splinters of | wood with which to pick out the tiny bits of straw in the cracks between the bricks. Here are some of the rules of this wonderful town:
 Citizens must leave their shoes at the | door when entering house.
 Before or after sunset no one is al- | lowed to smoke excepting with pipe | having a cover, so that the ashes will not be scattered upon the street, i Any one crossing the village on | horseback must get out of the saddle. and lead the horse.
 A cuspidor shall be kept by the front door of each house, where it may be &C., cessible from the window.
 1 It is forbidden to cross the village in carriage or to drive animals through the streets.
 1 In addition to these established rules it is the custom for every citizen who sees a leaf or a bit of straw blown be- 1 fore his house by stle window to pick it up and throw it into the canal. The people go 50 paces out of the village | to dust their shoes. Dozens of boys 1 are paid to blow the dust from be- l tween the bricks in the streets four times an hour. In certain houses the guests are carried over the threshold so as not to soil the pavenents. At one time the mania for cleaning in Broeck reached such a point that the housewives of the village neglected even their religious duties for scrub- 1 ping and washing. The village pastor, after trying every sort of persuasion, preached a long sermon, in which he declared that every Dutchwoman who | had faithfully fulfilled her duties to- ward God in this world would find in the next a house packed full of furni- ture and stored with the most various and precious articles ofs use and orna- nent, which, not being distracted by other occupants, she would be able ] to brush wash and polish for all eter- 1 nifty. The prornis of this sublime recompense and the thought of this
 extreme happiness filled the women with such fervor and piety that for months thereafter the pastor had no cause for complaint.
 Around every house in Broeck are 1 buckets. benches, rakes, hoes and stakes, all colored red, blue, white or yellow. The brilliancy and variety of colors and the cleanliness, brightness and n1fniature pomp of the place are wonderful. At the windows there are embroidered curtains with rose col- ored ribbons. The blades, bands and nails of the gayly painted windmills shine like silver. The houses are brightly vanished and surrounded i with red and white railings and fences. The panes of glass in the windows are
 bordered by many lines of different hues. The trunks of all the trees are painted gray, from root to branch. Across the streams are many little wooden bridges, each painted as white as snow. The gutters are ornamented with sort of wooden festoons. per- forated like lace. The pointed fa- cades are surmounted with a small weathercock, a little lance or some thing resembling a bunch of flowers. Nearly every house has two doors, one in front and one behind, the last for everyday entrance and exit and
 the former opened only on great occa- sions, such as births, deaths and mar riages.
 The gardens are as peculiar as the
 houses. The paths are hardly wide 1 enough to walk in. One could put
 his arm around the fiowerbeds. The
 dainty arbors would barely hold two
 persons iteing close together. The lit-
 tie myrtle hedges would scarcely reach
 to the knees of a four-year-old child. Between the arbors and the flower
 beds run little canals which seem made
 to float paper boats. They are crossed
 by miniature wooden bridges, with
 colored pillars and parapets. There
 are ponds the size of a bath, which are almost concealed by lilliputian
 boats tied with red cords to blue 1 stakes, tiny staircases and miniature 1 kitchen gardens Everything could be
 measured with the hand, crossed at a leap, demolished by 8 blow. More
 over. there are trees cut in the shape
 of fans. plumes and disks, with their trunks colored white and blue At
 every step one discovers new effect,
 a fresh combination of hues, a novel caprice, some new absurdity.
 The rooms are very tiny and resem-
 ble so many bazaars. There are porce-