The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-07

 housewife scrubbing the streets with the industry so graphically described | by Lady Mary Montague. We had. du- | ring . wonderful trip on one of those fascinating and clumsy Dutch canal | boats. an ample opportunity to test | their cleanliness. There was aboard 1 besides the good man and his wife and 1 a. dozen or more children, the aged | grandsire and a couple of grandmoth- CTS. The boat was heavily laden with 1 grain and merchandise. sinking so | close to the waters edge that we were l in constant fear lest at any unexpected l movement the decks might be all | awash! But it is said that Dutch sail- 1 or folk handle their boats in a mar
 velous manner in even the toughest | weather. The ends of these crafts are | as blunt as if sawed off but helped out | by their gigantic <rudders and tough | little sails, they rarely ever founder, | We poked inquisitiyely in every nook | and corner of It's compartments. and | found that the cabins and living rooms | were exceedingly neat and convenient, as indeed. beftted the habitation of a Meth erland family
 Approaching Antwerp. 1t was quite amusing to see how all hands at the l dock rushed forward to take a reef in | the stovepipe and masts, which arc | JOlueu aI tHe DOtLOUl SU tudI tncy hidy f be laid fiat sails and all. As we slip ped under a bridge one of the small children showed off his gymnastic abil- ity by leaping up and catching hold of | one of the bridge stringers. dropping | back barely in time to miss falling in- to the water.
 But if the canal boats and water front were interesting, what shall I | say of the streets and public squares I grNl. a1r . very interesting feature of the com- munity, coming in from the outskirts of the city. dressed in picturesque cos- tunes, each driving from two to six dogs attached to a diminutive two- wheeled dog cart. Or sometimes you will find the woman and dog to- gether doing the pulling. and inside the cart are two enormous brass cans folding as much as twenty gallons of milk each--and such a polish! How they glitter and shine in the sunlight as they go along the road! The dogs are Sometimes seen hitehed under the cart, While the man or woman pushes 1t. These dogs vary In size from the common coach dog to the Great Dane kor wolf dog, and bark continually. What a noise they do make!
 Once we saw one cart stop in close proximity to another dealers and the dogs immediately got into most un- friendly scuffle, overturning both carts and sending the cans rolling. It was quite surprising to note throughout the city the use of these animals, though there Is no lack of enormous Belgian. Flemish and Percheron horses. The canines. however, are more economical and much used by baker boys, lobster men. milk and small grocery~,dealers. The loads they carry are simply stag- gering to a sightseer.
 The handsome residences are all to be found in one section of the town, and .the streets and avenues are the straightest one can possibly imagine The trees, too, are laid out In the most orderly straight lines. and all the houses apparently contain the same number of rooms. Outward from the town extend little towns. so clean and so formal that they resemble a series of little toy houses
 Strange to say but Antwerp is dis- tinctly French. and the lower classes use that language. many, indeed. know ing no other. They all make Sunday a gala day and dearly love music good music. The Belgians are said to be the greatest muslc-lovers on earth. The government supports a band of
 fifty or more musicians, and each of the guilds and trade unions. which are very huHlcTOub, .HdS US Ddnu pcSluc these city bands, every village in the neighhorhood maintains its musical or ganization and friendly contests often take place, the verdict as to the supe- riority being decided by popular vote of the people, and the enthusiasm is said to run almost as high as 1t does in AngloSaxon countries over a base ball game. Sometimes forty or fifty musicians in a line> will file into a cafe h4fa hn ho- ,I,a ti,,rr tIoir request for beer, then the thrifty housewife is sure to help out the fam fly income by selling wine and beer. The cafes. too. have their orchestras, and the number of these in any given street Is a constant surprise. About two men are engaged in the business of providing food and drink for the benefit of their fellow citizens and ev- cry cafe seems always well patronized.
 The weather plays most unusual pranks In the Netherlands, for every where on any day appears the sun bursts, the alternations of light and dark, of warm and cold, that have helped to make their artists the worl d s truest eolorists. Everywhere there are the, fantastic outlines of houses with serated gables making a skyline that is never dull. We climbed the tower of the Steen. the famous old Spanish
 
 filled with horrors of the Inquisition, and could~see to the westward the pink of the upper sky melting Into yell low and the yellow into blue, purple, blending with the farther shore of the river. Even In the heart of the city the great, glorious bursts of light shine in through tortuous old streets. and in the public places the many 1 flower women, huddling together with l their wares. make banks of rich color. | The whole town seems to offer a rare setting for Rubens, its greatest artist; indeed 1t is in fact its own art gallery.
 CREEDS OF OUR PRESIDENTS. | Interest in the inauguration of Hon. w H. Taft as President of the Uni ted States during the present week has led to compilation of the creeds of forth by The St. Louis Christian Ad- vocate:
 washington was an Episcopalian, and one of his biographers says he was a communicant. while another declares that although he was a regular attend ant on the services of that church, he was no more than an adherent and sympathizer. John Adams was a Uni tarian, having been brought up in that faith and adhering to 1t all his life. Thomas Jefferson was charged with being a free thinker, but after his death his friends and family assert | ed that he was believer in God and di- 1 vine revelation, the immortality of the soul and a future life. Madison and Monroe were both members of the Fps l copal Church, remaining in that con- uectioa all their lives. John Quincy | Intf