Bisbee daily review., 1916-02-17
L0WLANDS OF HOLLAND
 THREATENED BY WATER FROM THE NORTH SEA.
Great Dikes, that Have Protec- ted Lands for Years, Are
 Overwhelmed in Parts and
 Country Threatened.

week IL seemed as though all dWIul and immense catastrophe would inevi- tably overwhelm Holland. The waters of the Zuyder Zee whipped by nor wester of hurricane force, rose to un- precedented height, broke through the great dikes that have for decades pro tected the low-lying fertile fields from encroachment by the sea, and flooded the country for miles around, sweep ing away farmhouses and villages like as many cardboard boxes, and cover ing the rich pastures with a layer of noisome salt mire. Inch by inch, re- lays of soldiers and civilians disputed the ground won by years of labor. and only retired beaten when the soil crumbled and sank beneath their feet into the roaring torrents.
 A fortunate circumstance was that the great storm came week before spring tide. Had they coincided, prac- tiically the whole of Holland would have been inundated.
 It has been a narrow escape; but as it is, the death roll numbers twenty one; over 96,000 acres of land have been wholly or partially ruined by the sea water; thousands of cattle and sheep have perished. and the damage is more than s3,OOO,O0G.
 The history of the LOW Countries" abounds in flood records. One, on All Saints Day in 1527, took a toll of 20, GOO lives; but not since the last great food of 1925, when 800 people and 46,000 head of cattle perished, has a disaster of like magnitude overtaken this country.
 All along the curved coastline of the shallow but often turbulent Zuyder Zee. great destruction has been wrought; but the visitation was excep- tionally severe in that part of the pro- vince of North Holland which lies north of Amsterdam. This quaint cor ner of the Netherlands is perhaps bet ter known to Americans than any oth- CT part of the country Volendam, F. dam and especially the Waterland vil- lages have suffered severely. The is- land of Marken, beloved of artists, has been swept from end to end. Fishing smacks were seized by the furious waves and hurled with terrific force upon the fishermen's homes on the shore, and only four houses in the once prosperous village are damaged.
 When the Associated Press cores pendent visited part of the inundated land, the aspect of the country seemed to have gone back six centuries. Maps of that time indicate chain of large meres, long since drained and con verted into smiling fields; but now the sea has once more gained the mas tery. and only the gables of farm hous- ec and the tops of countless windmills were visible above the troubled waters on which hayricks, dead carcasses of farm animals and pieces of furniture of all descriptions were floating about. At one point, near the pretty little town of Purmenend, further progress was barred, owing to the sudden dis covery by the authorities of weak spot in a neighboring dike, which ne- csssitated the immediate filling up of lock so as to reduce the pressure of the water. Here, gangs of men were working as though their lives depend ed upon it; but the water was still gaining and folks were beginning to cvacuate their homes.
 Some of the little villages on the edge of the floods now lie level with the sea, and are defended from further encroachment by hastily erected ram parts, so-called box dams" These | consist of deal blanks securely clamp 1 ed together, forming breastwork a ! few feet high. A similar structure is erected a yard further back, and the space between filled up with sand and earth.
 At ordinary times, Zuyder Zee water contains per litre only about grams of salt, compared with an average of 3lk grams per liire of North Sea wat CT. By the violence of the gale, how ever. much North Sea water was block ed up into the Zuyder Zee, and thence | found its way into the polders. The saltness of the flood water aggravates the trouble, because it ruins the soil for long period. Grass land, which forms about two-thirds of the inundat- ed area, generally recovers in about a year, provided heavy rains help to cleanse the surface of salt; but titled fields may be rendered unproductive for two or three years, and even long CT The whole work of cweetening the soil has to be done over again. Re claimed land such as this is valued
 when in good condition, at $4O0 to
 $500 per acre The loss to the farme!
 in having his land thus spoiled IS
 great, an dthis factor also makes it ex-
 traordinarily difficult to arrive at any
 thing like an accurate estimate of the damage done. a
 V. The disaster has served as a power
 ful argument for the promoters of the