Barton County democrat., 1911-08-18
THE DUTCH FOLKS.
Editorial Correspondence.
Hutchinson News.)
Rotterdam, Holland, July %.

4
Rotterdam, Holland, July %.
It seemed to me unnecessary but
had to explain to some friends why
was going especially to Holland. II
is the biggest little country in the |
world. In art it rivals Italy, in busi-
ness it competes with England, his
torically it has had more thrills to
the mile than France and in appear
ance it is the oldest, queerest, and
most different from our own country,
Of all the nations Of Central Europe.
Holland gives you more for your mon
ey and your time than any other and
that's why | am back here to renew
the hurried acquaintance with the
Dutch made few years ago.
Landing in Rotterdam was an ex-
tourist authorities pass Rotterdam
pertinent. The guide books and the
over with brief mention. Baedeker,
the tripper's friend, suggests that you
can see Rotterdam in half day.
That is because Rotterdam is short
on picture galleries and cathedrak. 1t
is a great busy city of a half million
people and one Of the most active,
commercially in the world. 1t is the
port where the boats from the Rhine
meet the ships Of the sea. 1t is the
greatest freight shipping and receiv-
| ing port of Northern Europe. 1t is
the coming city of the north because
of its natural advantages in cheap
freight rates. After looking it over
hurrfedly it seems to me to be one
of the most interesting of cities. /
am not going to run away from ca
thedrals and galleries. l am not in
tending to dodge when I see beauti-
full landscape coming. But l have done
my duty in the past and have heen
the great cathedrals and the exhibit
tions of art. No one can come to Eu-
rope and not see these things once,
for if he did he would not be able to
! lift up his head in the presence of
other travellers. But he does not have
to do them a second time. If | want
TO see pictures of Dutch ladies label
ed Madonna l will see them. If l
don't want to, do not have to. In
other words if go to the tourist de-
lights it will be my own fault.
would rather see the people them
selves than the pictures of them. l
want to observe how they work, what
they work for, what their prospects
are, and wherein they differ from the
great Americans.
Man made most of Holland. Nearly
all of the country is below the level
of the sea. much of it many feet be-
low. All that keeps the tide Of the
North Sea from flooding the coun-
: try with from ten to a hundred feet
of water every day are the dykes
which man has built. Behind these
huge embankments lies a country as
: flat as the flattest prairie of Kansas.
A few sand hills and an occasional
little rise of ground might stick out
of the water if the dykes broke, but ]
:, doubt it. This made land has been
fertilized and built up by the silt of
the rivers added to by the labor and
science of man, until it is a vast
market garden. The water of the ri
vers is diverted in every direction in
TO canals. There is no current to
the rivers, the surface is too flat, and
the fresh water is backed up. twice a
day by the ocean tides at the mouths
There are practically no locks and
the movement of the water is hardly
perceptible, except near the coast
where it responds to the advance and
retreat of the sea. These canals are
an absolute necessity for drainage
otherwise the country would be
: swamp. Then they are used as
: roads, and practically all the freight
is carried to market cheaply in cana
boats. The canals also serve as
: fences. The drainage water is pump
: ed by windmills, which are then us
ed to furnish power for every imagi
r nable manufacturing purpose, from
e saving lumber to grinding wheat. TIL
cheap wind power enabled the leoplt