The Tucson citizen., 1902-09-30
WONDERFUL BROCK
THE ORIGINAL SPOTLESS TOWN IS
IN NORTHERN HOLLAND.

Whole Place-Rule., Which the In.
habitants Must Observe.
Far up in northern Holland among
the dikes and canals Of the little king
dom lies Brock, the original Spotless
Town. The palings of the fences Of
Brock 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 soul
in the streets or at the windows. The
streets and houses, bridges, windows
and barns show neatness and bril-
HaBcy that are absolutely painful. AT
every step new effect is disclosed,
new scene is beheld, as if painted upon
the drop curtain of stage. Every
thing is minute. compact, painted,
spotless and clean. In the houses OF
Brock for cleaning purposes you will
find big brooms little brooms, tooth.
brushes, aqua fortis. whiting for the
window panes. rouge for the forks and
spoOns. coal Gust for the copper, emery
for the iron utensils, brick powder for
the foors and even small spiinters 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 a house.
Before or after sunset no one fs allowed
TO smoke excepting with pipe having
cover, so that the ashes will not be scat
tered upon the street.
Any one crossing the village on horse
back 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 ac-
cessible from the window.
1t is forbidden to cross the village in .
Garriage or to drive animals through the
streets.
In addition to these established rules
1t is the custom for every citizen who
sees leaf or bit of straw blown be-
fore his house by the wind to pick it
up and throw it into the canal. The
people go 500 PAGES out of the village
to dust their shoes. Dozens Of boys
~
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 pavements. At
one time the mania for cleaning in
Brock reached such point that the
housewives of the village neglected
even their religious duties for scrub
A.AEA(~s-. hn r-fII 81
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 i'm
the 1&ext a house packed full OF furni-
tuM and stored with the most various
and precious articles OF use and Orna.
naent, which, not being distracted by
other occupations, she would be able
to brush, wash and polish for all eter'
Mtg. The promise Of this sublime
recompense and the thought Of this
extreme happiness filed the women
with such feryor and piety that for
months thereafter the pastor had no
: cause for complaint.
Around every house in Brock are
buckets, benches, rakes, hoes and
stakes, all colored red, blue, white OF
yellow. The brilliancy and variety OF
, colors and the cleanliness, brightness
land miniature pomp of the place are
wonderful. At the windows there are
embroidered curtains, with rose col
ored ribboHs. The blades, bands anC
nails Of the gayly painted windmills
shine like silver. The houses are
brightly vanished and surrounded
with red and white ratings and fences
The panes of glass in the windows are
bordered by many lines of differen
hues. The trunks of all the trees arr
painted gray from root to BRANCH
Across the streams are many LITTLE
wooden bridges, each painted as Wilt,
as snow. The cutters are ornamente{
with a sort Of wooden festoon, per
forated like lace. The pointed ia
cades are surmounted with a small
weathercock, little lance or some
thing resembling a bunch of flowers
Nearly every house has two doors
one in front and one behind, the las
for everyday entrance and exit an
the former opened only on great occa
sions, such as births, deaths and MAJ
riages.
The gardens are as peculiar as tn
houses. The paths are hardly wild
enough to walk in. One could pu
his arm around the dowerbeds. TIL
dainty arbors would barely hold tw
persons sitting close together. The Iii
tie myrtle hedges would scarcely reac
to the knees of a four-year-old child
Between the arbors and the fowe
beds run little canals which seem mad
to float paper boats. They are crosse
by miniature wooden bridges, wit
colored pillars and parapets. Thel
are ponds the size of bath. whic
are almost concealed by lilliputia
boats tied with red cords to blu
stakes. tiny staircases and miniatur
kitchen gardens. Everything could b
measured with the hand, crossed at
leap, demolished by blow. More