El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-10-17
PULLING Of Bic
.LEVERGANFL0
HOLLAND IN HOUR
Device Used For Immediate
ly Preventing Invasion
of the Country.
WOULD PUT MOST OF
LAND UNDER WATER
BY John VAN RRrNr-
bI JUHN NAN BHJNI.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands Oct. II.
By the mere movement Of a

By the mere movement Of a
lever at Amsterdam every dixie
and dam in Holland can be opened
simultaneously and in a few hours the
whole country from Naarden. on the
Zuyder Zee. by Utrecht. to Geertrui-
denberg. at the mouth OF the Meuse,
can be put under water.
The northwest corner OF the king
dom, with The Hague. Amsterdam and
Rotterdam. would thus be converted
into wei nigh impregnabIe fortified
island. only TO be approached in shall
low barges and small boats
This would not be the first time Hol-
land has defended herself by bringing
in the sea, but modern engineering
has permitted an enormous increase
in the facility with which the country
can be flooded II is the probable
contemplation Of Hollands almost per
feet defence which goes farther than
anything else in restraining the Ger
man emperor from violating Dutch
The army Of Holland is not suffi-
GENTLY well organized or Of large
enough size to offer serious resistance,
although the infantry are good fight
worked Wei in 1874.
William Of Orange flooded the cOun-
try in 1874 and by SO doing drove the
Spanish invaders out me same Pc
Icy was adopted on the occasion Of
the French invasion Of 1917 II was
resOrted to in 1887. when the Prussians
marched into Holland, but not quickly
enough. and before the country could
be put under water. the enemy had
managed TO reach and take Amster-
dam
for cutting the dams and dikes' were
crude and slow But development OF
the science Of hydraulic engineering
and OF irrigation has enabled the gov
eminent Of queen Wlhelmina to in
auEurate devices which are a profound
secret
Has Germany managed to acquire
possession Of this state secret OF Hol-
land, which is the key to the latter's
entire system Of defence against any
violation Of her neutrality All that
our authority can say is that a few
years ago a Dutch army engineer Of
ficer. employed in very important
confidential capacity at the Water
staat department, was suddenly ar
rested. tried behind close doors, and
sentenced to Imprisonment for life
there being no death penalty in HOl-
land-the only explanation vouchsafed
by the Dutch authorities being that he
had sold some plans relating 20 the ma
tional defences to the Military attache
Of a foreign legation at The Hague
Kaiser Plans Invasion.
That the kaiser has contemplated a
violation Of the neutrality OF the Ne
therlands in the event Of his becOm-
ing involved in a war with France,
has long been surmiseds not only in the
Netherlands. but also in the various
capitals Of Europe. For as recently {
as 1910, the minister Of Foreign at !
fairs at The Hague, was compelled to /
admit in the legislature that queen
WiIhelmina had received a letter from |
q neighboring sovereign, in which he |
notified her that, greatly to his regret, /
he would be obliged in the event a war |
with France to occupy Holland unless ]
the latter placed herself in a state Of I
defence against Great Briatain by the Z
construction Of powerful forts at va
rious spots which he indicated not /
ably at Flushing
The Dutch government demurred. /
undoubtedly fearing that If it did /
build this fort at Flushing. IL would 1
be seized by a German army OF naval 1
force. and be used by the kaiser
against England and Belgium Every
possible delay was resorted to by the
HolIanders, who lived up to their ma
tional reputation for being Of a very l
phlegmatic character. in the affair. But
under constant proddings from Berlin
they were finally obliged to vote the
money for the purpose, and to com
mence building the forts They are |
not completed, nor have they received |
armament