The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1916-12-27
HOLLAND IS
SLOWLY SINKING

The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 26.-
1t may not materially affect the pres
ent generation or the next, but IL the
land level of Holland continues to
sink, there is danger of the subsistence
becoming so great that despite all the
progress Of engineering science, 1t will
be impossible to much longer continue
the present ceaseless struggle with the
waters. This is the view expressed be-
fore the Geological Mining society for
Holland and it's colonies by Professor
lMolengraaff of the Polytechnic uni
versity of Delft, who is the foremost
Dutch geological authority. -.a
A large part of the Netherlands,
particularly the western and north
low the level of the sea. which is only
kept from overfiowing hundreds Of
square miles Of land by the natural
barrier of the long line of sand dunes
that fringe the coast. reinforced at
two or three points by artificial means.
The level Of rivers and many of the
canals in such regions are likewise
higher than the surrounding country,
being held in check by the dikes and
embankments that are maintained at
great pains and correspondingly high
cost by the nation. Naturally. there
fore, the question Of the continued, II
very gradual fall of the land level
bears an important aspect in the eyes
of the Dutch people, and it has re-
Gently been the subject Of discussion
among expert geologists and hydro
graphical engineers.
IT, declares Professor Molengfaan,
"the subsistence is Of such a nature
that within measurable ,stime posi- =
tion OF equilibrium comes about. then
the cost of keeping the land drained
will become so high that there will no
longer be much advantage attached
to it's possession. albeit there are al
ways historical and sentimental argu-
ments for that. If, however. the to-
tai expenditure should exceed the to-
tai income, then the common sense Of
the Dutch people would lead them to
withdraw to higher regions"
Opinions differ on the question Of
whether the ground is still sinking,
and what influences are responsible
for such a penomenon. Some experts
like the civil engineer, d. III. S. Blau-
pot ten Cate, suppose that the fall is
a consequence of what happened in
the middle tertiary period. Mr.. ten
Gates theory is that Holland is built
up on alluvial mud flats, which still
participate in various movements of
the soil. Some authorities believe that
q material subsistence Is still takins
place. while others. again. are Of the
opHilou tHdI the phenoHend opbeTNeu
are consequence OF certain move
ments of the sea level whereby vari-
Gus influences of another nature play
a role; that the sea level alters. but
that the land itself does not sink.
Another civil engineer. j. c. Ramaer,
is convinced from the results OF wa
ter guage observations that there has
been a subsistence of the land of HolS
land, as well as Of that OF bordering
countries and the greater part Of the
British Isles. He says 1t may be de-
duced from the entire list of such OBJ
servations that there has been an av-
erage subsistence of 80 centimeters per
century, declining farther inland to
10 centimeters. That very consider
able subsistence is taking place at the
present time in the polders or draine
basins Of the Netherlands, in hi
opinion, is undeniable.