The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-03


 peop.e doubt if such a thing as the latter could possibly be and yet that is exactly what the country of Holland may be con- sidered-a hole in the water. The entire little kingdom lies at an average depth of Is feet below the level of the sea and naught save the unfaiing vigilance and untiring energy of the Dutchman keeps him from being submerged. With him life Is in reality struggle to keep his head above water
 Usually when one is in a spot that lies below sea level his situation is void of any physical impressions, the knowledge of the fact being the result of communi- cated information. Thus when I was 1900 feet below the surface of the ocean, while sailing on the Dead Sea the sensation was not different from that experienced when upon the Mediterranean or any other body of water but it does seem odd and the situation is rendered physi- eally apparent and tremendously impress sive when one stands at the foot of a dyke at high tide and hears the breakers dashing against the other side of the barrier 16 and 20 feet above his head
 In the construction of these monster dykes the Hollanders have displayed the ingenuity and indefatigability of the beaver. massive and solid foundation for the barriers is essential and it Is se- cured by the preliminary process of tamp- ing or compressing the ground to an in- tense degree of solidity. Upon this the dyke is built of earth, sand and mud, the surface of which is covered with twigs of fnf utifh the interstices are filled with clay. These willows are renewed every three or four years. for which purpose the tree is grown most extensively in Holland Add ed to this, often trees are planted upon the dykes and the roots contribute ma terially to the consolidation of the struc- ture, and frequently the surface is cov- cred with turf
 The annual cost of maintaining these works throughout the kingdom is over s,0oo,0o0 and a corps of engineers is oc- cupied exclusively in experimenting them. Appropriate is the Dutch proverb God made the sea; we made the shore"
 But nature has endeavored to assist the Dutchman in his fight against the sea, and the winds and waves have thrown up great dunes of sand from 30 to 16O feet in height. fabrication which the man of Holland deems of perfunctory workman ship and unsubstantial consistency. As the dunes are continually shifting their contour and changing their shape they offer little or no support to vegetable life, but their encroachments are arrested by the sowing of the borders with grass and other herbs, the roots of which spread, intertwine and eventually form a sub stratum of vegetable soil. Most of the dunes are honey-combed with rabbit war rens and furnish excellent sport for hum ters.
 Another interesting feature peculiar to the country is, the "polder," term desig- hating a morass or lake, the bed of which has been reclaimed by draining The draining process is quite intricate and de- cidedly ingenious as by such modus op- erandi water is often made to apparently flow up hill; that is, by a series of cu- i1ousy constructed canals the water is raised many feet and yet it is flowing all the time
 The real estate man is as active in Hol- land as he is in America and maps of the polder. displaying with mathematical pre-