The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-09
STAMFORD
1he Mems Club Judge Beers Address Holland and its Wonders Submerged ties-Dogs That Work Windmills Various Dams = Death of Mir. Wheeler.

An unusually large number of gen
 tlemen met last evening at the resi-
 dence of Mir. John W. Thompson. both @nembers of the Mems Club and of the Grand Army, to listen to an address
 by Judge Beers of Bridgeport. Three rooms were crowded with the guests of
 the evening, including Commander
 Ruggles, Comrades Boudren. Walter P. Bryan, John Cogswell Samuel Thorpe, Charles E. Curtis, Thomas Cook, Henry P. Stagg. Charles Williams. MT. John-
 son, and many members of the Mems s
 Club, MT. William Booth. MT. McGrath.
 MT. Gum of Bridgeport, Rev. Dr.
 Packard, Rev. Arthur Shirley, MT. AL
 born, MT. Thomas Taylor the presi- dent of the club, MT. Charles Blakeman,
 MT. Cogswell, MT. Dickinson, MT. Rob-
 ert Sammis. MT. Robert w. Palmer,
 MT. Ambrose Shepard, Dea. P. P. Ha-
 ven, Dea Stagg. Mr. Radford B. Smith. MT. Wells. MT. Bennetto, Dea. Bald win. and others.
 business, Judge Beers gave long and very interesting talk about his various visits to Holland which he says is a charming country. and if a person can
 visit but one place in Europe he ad-
 viAs them to go to Holland. AS he stood in the doorway between the din- ing room and the library, he remarked that he was not accustomed to talk
 ing both ways. He said he would not read a paper or make an oration, but give a kind of talk such as we have in
 q Grand Army meeting. If one visits :a town as far off as StratfOrd, for in- stance, it is expected when he comes back he will tell of what he saw, what kind of people he met, how they live and what they do and how they do it.. He said that he had happened to visit Holland. and he found it strange and peculiar country. only saved from daily bath by the most unremltt1ng care and vigilance of it's people. Hol- land is really the New Netherlands
 which once contained Il provinces.
 When not fighting Spain in the old days the people were fighting each other but they united for common de- fense. North and South Holland are the largest provinces. The country is 195 miles long and no wide. and con- tainS nearly five million people. There are 325 to each square mile of territory. Originally it was a vast mOrass, the refuge for bad men from France ana Germany, who, after they mad com mitted crimes, fled thither for refuge. There were a few small points of high land which were occupied. but they have been building dykes for centuries to keep the ocean out and now there are large sections under cultivation. Once there was great storm which WdS1oQ LOWnS away, anu even I1OW o1lC can sail over the places where they stood and sec 10 or 15 feet below in the water grave yards engulfed 300 years ago, the tomb stones standing up- right and the foundations of houses and churches. They grow all the grass they can on the dykes to help preserve them. and work goes on both day and night to keep them in repair. This costs two and one half million of dol- lars year. One of the greatest ene- mics of the dykes is a small crab, about as large as fiddler" which bores holes through the dykes and lets the water in. When this happens all rush to stop the ieak. The whole coun fry is from 10 9 feet below the level of fhe ocean. People live inside and af the bottom of a bowl. The coun- try is very fertile. and produces the finest beef in the world, and sends vast quantities of eggs and poultry to Ger many and France. The crops are mag nificent. and the fields are all rich green. not a brown one to be seen. It is a great country for flowers. and one may travel on the railroad for miles with an unbroken flower bed on each side Three-fourths of all the tulip bulbs sold in this country come from Holland. All the tobacco raised Tn Cuba. save what comes to the United States, goes to Amsterdam. and from there is distributed to other parts of the world. One can buy in Amsteroa1n TOT cent and a half cigar for Whlch | fo cents is paid fin this country. Near " all the raw sugar of the world goes ] 10 Holland, and the same is true or | cocoa ana chocolate It goes there