Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-09-18
HOLLAND, THE
LAND OF THE DUTCH
impressions that will be Lasting.
Editorial Correspondence.I

Arriving at the Hook of Holland, 9
bay and landing place of no other i'm
pOrtance than being good harbor fol-
making ports in England, we hurry or
to The Hague. This is a beautiful city,
and the capital of the Dutch. Here oul
English money must be changed into
Dutch cash, and, really, we are not
sorry. Queen Wilhemina, with her
German Prince Consort, is at her country
place, so we are admitted to and shown
over the palace. Not gorgeous, as are
England's, but large and comfortable.
We begin now to appreciate why the
Hollanders wear wooden shoes lthat is,
the peasants), as everything here is
chequered by canals. We also now
know the meaning of ''Spotiess Town, -
and where Sapolio got its great adver-
tisement. The people have mania for
cleaning. Actually the curb stones are
scrubbed by brushes and hand, and It is
really anuisance the way the people are
always throwing buckets of water over
windows. the sides Of houses, and in the
streets. The price of glass is kept up,
we believe, because the Dutch scrub and
rub the windows until they wear them
thin. The cohbls-stones of the streets
actually shine, and you need not be
surprised If reflected image greets
you from your feet as you walk.
The Hollanders are probably the
sweetest in disposition, the most frugal
and energetic of all Europe, besides
being the fastest. Everywhere are
flowers. Each window sill is long
flower box. with geraniums. fuchsias and
the like. blooming in profusion. On all
sides are public or private gardens, rich
in flowers. The quaint looks and GUS
toms Of the people are probably more
attractive than their public places. The
women work harder than the men, yet
all are steadily plucking away. They
drink light wines and beer in modera-
ton, and, as in other places, drinking
water is not kept on draught. The
women push carts and are the chief
vendors in stores. shops, bars and on
the streets. The trolley system is equal
to that in America and superior to
Britain's. Everything here works the
big, fat horse, the diminutive donkey
and even the dog. A Acurious sight is to
see one. two or three, and sometimes
four dogs. hitched to a iow-market
cart, filled with vegetables and one or
more children of the family, driven about
by the mother, she wearing her cap
and wooden shoes. In many instances
two dogs will pull about a cart of hay
with the driver on top, and several
times we saw two or three dogs pulling
a cart with as many persons in it. The
country is all a dead level" for the
most part six or eight feet below the
sea. The streets and roads are like
asphalt, and it requires little to move a
cart, as viii be judged by the foregoing.
We never could heretofore grasp the
situation in respect to these dikes. 1t
is as if we at home had built dirt en-
bankment around or in front ofa marshy
seaside so as to keep the tides out. Then
dig trenches through the marshes. and
by windmills pump back into the sea
the water that might ooze through.
This IS the situation in Holland. One
half of the country-that bordening on
the seals several feet below sea level.
The government maintains the embank-
ments, some faced with stone, and sees
that each property owner keeps his
canals pumped to low level. The re
claimed land is fertile to high degree,
and dotted everywhere with myriads OF
Holstein cattle. The grass is so luxu-
RANT that they pasture fourhea of cat
tie where one is supported in our famous
bluegrass sections. The face of the
country is broad expanse of fertile
fields, minus trees and fences, the
canals acting as fences. The wind
mills are reproduced in familiar
pictures, and the whole country is a:
portrayed, but must be seen to be APP
preciated and enjoyed. The stork is a.
common here as the buzzard is with US
and is protected by law. He builds ir
summer upon the farmers s chimney top
and fiocks with the cattle in the fields
We run down from The Hague Il
Scheveningen, the Atlantic City oi
Holland. Here wealth is evidenced or
every side. The Dutch are the mos
modest people in the world, we believe
The men and women have separate
beaches for bathing, and a hundred
covered wagons on low wheels, divided
into two compartments, stand upon tn,
beach for the bathers. When a persor
is robed for the swim the Dutch driver
hooks his horse to the wagon and pull.
it out into the water, when the bathel