Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1907-07-11
/ THE HALL OF KNIGHT
History Of Castle Where Peac,
Delegates viii Meet.
LARGE, GLOOMY STRUCTURE.
Begun Abort 1910, 1t Was FornerI.
Used as q Hunting Paiace-Inter;o,
Consists Of One huge Hall and serie,
Of Smaller Ones.


Consists Of One huge Hall and ssrie,
Of Smaller Ones.
The sittings Of the second peace con-
ference at The Hague will be held in !
thirteenth century castle built for IN
counts Of Holland In the days when
they, together with the bishops a
Utrecht and the dukes Of Guelder
ruled the Low Countries, says the New
York Tribune, The House In ths
Woods" CHuis ten Bosch, the forme,
royal villa in the Haagsche forest n
the orange salon Of which the frw
peace conference met In 1899. va,
found too small to accommodate tha
delegates of the forty-six countries n
be represented, and the Dutch govern
ment decided to fit up and place at tbs
disposal Of its distinguished guests thu
ancient castle known in recent year
as the Hall Of Knights.
The Hall Of knights is lam
gloomy structure Of stone and brN
in the heart Of an irregular pile Of Old
but more modern buildings which
taken together, form the Binnenhof
the fortress of the city. The Binnen
hot is the most historical spot in Hol
land, about it clustering the memories
Of the eighty-year struggle which
finally resulted in relieving the Dutch
from the Spanish yoke; the glories Of
ftc ~ vxyhn fhc ctaf
ruled and the shareholders lived hen
when Dutch commerce was the largest
in the world and triumphant Dutch
warships even assembled the Thames
and threatened London.
The building Of the old states gen.
eral. lying to the north, is now used
By the upper chamber Of the Ditch
parliament, while the ballroom Of the
stockholders residence, to the srA
has become the home Of the l@s
house. The other buildings inclosg
the square are used by the various
government departments. Along one
side Of the Binnenhof is an artificial
lake called the Vyver.
Il ~ AAoAA Va 4AAAS4lS SlaAOS III tne
center Of paved court and is reached
through half dozen picturesque por
tails, over which are chiseled the arms
Of the counts Of Holland. The moa
and postern have long since disappear
ed, and today the old building look
less like castle than like an ancieI
church. Begun about 124O BY Coul
William H., afterWard elected empert
Of Germany through the influence /
Innocent ~, the building was extern
ed by his son Floris, who used it as
hunting palace. The interior consist
Of single enormous hall, occupyin
the entire space within the churchlik
structure in front and a series Of small
er halls and rooms in the rear. TIL
large hall was the great dining room 0
the counts and their knights when the
made their hunting expeditions to tn
North sea marshes. It is here that TIL
plenary sessions Of the conference will
be held.
After the rise Of the republic the cas-
tie gradually fell into decay. Its main
use in those days was for the drawing
OF the national lottery, which TOOK
place IN the main hall, where the con-
Terence will sit, and the name Lottery
haiP' still clings to it, although lis
tnctly discouraged by the governmga
Toward the close OF the eighteenh
century portion Of the building was
restored and decorated, and after Louis
6onaparte was expelled in 1918 it was
used as the seat Of the high civil and
criminal courts. The courts were NOV
go several years ago, and in 1900 the
Work OF restoration began. Since 1901
tne main hall has been annually used
~ me queen for the ceremony Of read
ing the address Of the throne to the
houses Of parliament.
The hall Is about 50 by so feet an'
y lofty, but the huge beams and raj,
ers Of the vaulted roof give it cavern
Gus appearance. In preparation 70
me conference many electric light
hanging from the rafters. have bee
Installed to re-enforce the dim ligt
rom the high stained glass window
The desks for the delegates, arrange
IKE pewp n a church and flanked o
either aide ~ two lateral rows, are COZ
| ered with srsen baize, and each has
pewter ink well ret N the right han
corner. IA front Is low rostrum fc
| tne presiding of1cer, with the desks {
ne secretaries arranged behind in II
form o4 aemictrcle The whole oil