Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1911-11-24
PRESIDENT BRYAN
WRITES FROM HOLLAND
Head of Washington State College
Pens Interesting Letter TO
His Private Secretary, Joe
Il. Ashlock.

Joe l.. Ashlock, private secretary
to President e. A. Bryan, this week
received an interesting letter from
that gentleman, who, with his fam
lily, is now sojourning in Holland.
The letter in part follows:
Our passage across the Atlantic
was very comfortable, the steamer
Ryndan OF the HollandAmerican line
being a staunch vessel, throughly
clean and we'll ordered. At this sea-
son of the year travel is at a low
ebb and in consequence passengers
find it pleasanter than when the
ships are crowded Our fellow pas
sengers were pleasant companions
and a remarkable proportion OF
them were from west of the Mississ-
ippi river. The city of Rotterdam
is a wonder in way. For its size
there are the greatest indications of
commerce | have ever seen. The river
(Maas) is in front of our hotel. 1t
and the many canals are crowded
with boats and ships of all sizes
from mighty liners to small boats.
They are in a mad rush pushing
everywhere. All through the city are
canals and quays.
1.-THE streets are crowded with We
hicles loaded down with freight |
have never anywhere seen such a
panorama of commerce.
To-day Gertrude and ! went to
The Hague-the seat of the Peace
Congresses and the seat also of the
royal residence of Queen Wilhelmina.
The railway by which we went and
the electric line by which we re-
turned passes through the wonder
full lowland country. The main can
ais are above the level of the land
and the land is one vast greensward
with long bitches every ten rods or
so. We saw little evidence of grow
ing grains-the titled land being de-
voted to garden stuff.
Everywhere the huge windmills
are the most characteri site feature
of the landscape The low brick
buildings covered with red tile, the
grain stacks with their apparently
permanent thatches, the black and
white cattle with their canvas-cov-
cred backs, the trim long-wooled
sheep scattered over the green pas
lures, We're all pleasing to the eye
and good to behold
I'VE did not see much of The
torrents and kept us indoors To-
morrow we will run out to Delft.
Here 1t was that the New England
Pilgrims lived for a while and from
that haven they returned to start
from Plymouth in the quest of a new
world home. Here, too, the great
Prince of Orange, William the ST.
lent, was assassinated and here a
mausoleum is erected to his memory.
4Ouayb nSlG III hOLleFudl, we saw
the statue in bronze of the great
scholar, Erasmus, who was born here.
/ remember, when a Freshman in col
lege, of reading the four large vol
umes on 'Motley's Rise of the Dutch
Republic" and his three volumes on
The United Netherlands. wish
those pages were fresher in my mem
ory today. Here is territory (HoI-
land) of little over 1900 square
miles-less than one-sixth of the
state of Washington, with a popula-
ton of between five and six millions
OF people, great in its history, great in
It's present activities, and great in
its future possibilities for the well
fare OF mankind, living on land re-
deemed from, in large part, the
ocean. Man after all, is the biggest
thing on this planet. and there is
hardly any limit to what he can do,
II he have the right mind and spirit.
i am anxious to hear, but have
not heard, any football news from
Pullman"