The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-02-15
GLOW the drawbridse which CROSSE

below the drawbridge which crossM =.
There are old houses on each side OF X,
and the street looks as though II were a
slice taken but OF the Middle Ages and
dropped down into tho present. Tho
church Is made OF well-burnt brown
bricks with doors and window frames
painted white. The windows arc hrched
and they have MANY pnnes. The church
has n clock tower and supolo and In
it's day It must have been one OF tho best
OF It's kind. Xix
The sexton livos In little house next
door She is q kind old Dutch lady, who
would be good looking II 1t were not that
she has lost her front teeth. She has tho
whitest OF caps. the roslest OF checks and
most pleasant smile She took mo
through the church and showed me It's
curious features, including the pulpit
Blblo. which dates back to 1928, or eight
Years after the Pilgrims left Holland.
She pointed out n stone In the wall which
was sent to the church by some OF the
people OF Chicago, and said that the Chi
cneoans had also taken away a stone
from the floor. She said that two Of the
grave-stones had been taken by Phila-
deluhia man for the Now England So
ciety OF Pennsylvania, and that this So
ciety also had tho old aims box.
This old church has been used since the
Pilgrims lett and 1t Is In use to-day.
It has seats for about two hundred peo-
ple-uuaint oak benches with reading
desks in front OF them. upon when ne
many Bibles Tho Bibles are in Dutch
ana thew look as old as the church It
self. They are somewhat Like tho 81 KIND
sold BY Our itinerant book agents, each
containing the hymns as we'll as the full
text OF the Scriptures.
Fire Boxes For Cold Feet.
Underneath each bench Is little
soh,are box-like footstoo with auger holo3
In the top. These stools are the only
heating arrangement OF the church 80.
fore service, the sexton put little pot
of glowing charcoal or peat IN each ~, stoo.
and the women put their feet on the top
or the stools and thus keep them warm
during the long service. The peat must
be we'll lighted and glowing or 1t VIII
smoke. making one think that the church
is On fire. When went up into the pull
Mi noticed that there were holes In It's
door and was told that boxes OF burn
ing charcoal or peat were placed below IL
to keep the dominic hot. .
T,ha collections are taken up In little
black bags fastened to long poles, which
the elders carry about during each SER
vice. There are always two collections.
one for the poor and the other for the
church and the elders. The elders have
sen ts OF honor not far from which Is the
new of the parson. The poor are given
the poorest seats, being showed away on
benches behind the preacher.
took look at the records OF tho
church. some of which chronicle the leav-
ing OF the Pilgrims on tho 22d Of July, 1920.
and. then wrote my name In the sigma
tura book MS all Americans who honor
the Pilgrim Fathers and appreciate the
hospitality of the Hollanders are request
ed to do-with a donation. I also gave
the donation.
The Dutch AS Church Goers.
The Dutch are very much like other
nations as regards church going. They
attend more regularly In the country
than in the city. The village churches
are full in the morning. and notwith-
standing the long sermons, the people
usually sit out the service. The first
chapter is read by the school master, and
in some churches a part Of the collection
is given to the school master. The offer
lings are more often copper than silver.
and in the poorer villages, cent Is a
common donation. The preachers are not
we'll paid. especially where they depend
upon the people for their salaries
The government gives certain yearly al
lowances to the different churches. The
Protestants, who are In the majority,
get a little over half million dollars a
year. the Roman Catholics not half so
much. and the Jews only about $4,000. All
religions are tolerated. but the royal FAM
lily and the most Of the people belong to
the Dutch Reformed Church. which ID
governed according to Presbyterian me-
thods.
Hollands School System.
Speaking about the schools, they are
about as good as any in Europe. The
Dutch are noted for their intelligence and
learning and the government has for Ill
most hundred years paid moro or less
attention to educational matters. Only
lately, however, has education been COM
'pulsory, the school age being from six to
thirteen.
Holland has four universities with
about three thousand students. It has
twenty-nine classical schools with more
than two thousand students and has
academies and schools OF all classes.
There Is a national academy Of art,
royal school of music horticulture
school and national normal college for
drawing teachers as we'll as others for
training. There are also night schools
for the working classes, Industrial
schools for the women and in Amsterdam
there Is a school for the training of lady
chemists
In the Fine Arts Academy at the Hague
there are eight different courses attended
by about five hundred students and other
art schools In Amsterdam and elsewhere.
Tho Dutch have housekeeping schools
for girls. schools for butter making, fruit
growing. horse doctoring and horseshoe
Ing, and in short schools for almost
everything under the sun. Lectures ON
agriculture are given to the farmers at
the expense OF the government, and in
Utrecht the night schools have classes
Tor carpenters. bricklayers. stone cutters,
goldsmiths, sculptors. painters and nth