The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1914-09-12

and road. The deep archWay or tne
massive central block gives access to
the city by water, and two OF the
guardian towers that flank 1t are con-
nected by an archway, through which
the road runs by the river.
Only Hollands own painters have
ever caught the. radiant clarity Of her
atmosphere and the warmth of color
ing in her old buildings; here the soft
ly flowing river, the pale green of the
trees, which form background for
the warm red of the old brickwork.
make up picture whose charm would
be unique elsewhere. but Is common
place in Holland. where nearly every
town can produce a picturesque COM
bination of old brickwork and trees
and water
There Are Others.
1t is, however, unnecessary 10 go
as far afield as Amersfoort in order
to see a characteristic Dutch water
gate. Harlem, the center or the
Dutch bulb fields, has one of the most
imposing gates in Holland, the Am
sterdamsche Poort. The way to 1t
lies along the river front of the broad
wind-swept Spaarne, where the many
colored barges ply their way, OF lie
drawn up along shore. Crossing the
Spaarne by bridge not far from
Lieven de Keys picturesque weigh
house, little poor street. with some
tiny facaded old houses Of much IN
dividual charm, leads to the Amster-
damsche Poort, which, like most OF
the old Dutch water-gates, stands lso'
lated and massive as self-contalned
fortress, its high towers commanding
many miles of that fat country.
But the gate that looks so formid-
able remnant of the Notifications to-
day was powerless to save Harlem
once, when the city defenses had been
neglected, and its walls had fallen into
decay. 1t was In the winter OF 1872
when Don Frederic. son Of the duke OF
Alva, had been ordered to invest the
city and put to death all who cefied
his authority. The people OF HARLEM
held out through the long winter,
erecting new wall within their weak
outer defenses. The Spanish troops
died by hundreds from exposure,
while the citizens starved within their
gates. gallant sortie, in which some
supplies were captured, enabled them
to hold out till June. Then they were
forced to surrender, and were reward.
ed for their seven months courageous
endurance by a wholesale massacre
at the hands OF the Spaniards.
The water-gates have Jared better
than those on land-they have avoid.
ed architectural suffocation by en-.
croaching houses. That at Sneek, a
little town on one of the Friesland
Meres, has a quite individual charac.
ter. certain slim grace and lightness
with its delicately tapering towers
and double open upper arches. II
dates from 1913. and was happily
preserved at the time OF the destruc,
ton OF the city walls.
One other gate deserves to be re-
corded, the famous Dromedaris OF
Enkhuizen. Massive and impregna.
BILE. 1T stands solitary witness ia
the fallen fortune Of the little North
Holland town. Enkhuizen, wealthy
and important, nurse Of gallant race
of sailors. mistress Of fine fleet of
ships-Enkhuizen that successfully
defled the power OF Spain. has shrunk
to fraction Of its former size, ita
harbor has silted up. its past glories
are only memory. but still the great
gate keeps watch over the empty har
Dor and the deserted streets that have
acquired compensating charm OF
picturesque decay.