The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-02-26
WHEN D|KES BROKE
Dramatic Description Of the Dis
aster in Holland.
It VIII Take a Generation to Retrieve
the Loss Caused When the Sea
Broke Through-some of the
Pathetic Incidents.

Rotterdam.-"I am standing up to
my waist in water. The whole island
is flooded, and the houses are giving
way" At that moment the telephone
cable between the island of Marken
in the Zuyder Zee and the mainland
snapped and the outside world heard
no more of the plucky operators de-
scription of what was happening in
that quantity picturesque spot, which
has suffered more than any other
from the storm which shattered the
historic Dutch sea bikes and flooded
miles of country north of Amsterdam.
At least sixteen people lost their
lives in the floods, cattle were swept
away, the wrecks of the picturesque
old fishing craft were piled up on each
other in the harbor, and the remaining
inhabitants peel out from their attic
windows upon an Unreasonable waste
of angry gray water.
When the fierce northwest gale
drove the sea down into the Zuyder
Zee the water came like a tidal wave,
SN0NAh6 III IN oVo NhO noAlo "a liz
mainland, and mounted the bikes of
Marken on all sides. No boat could
have got people off in time and, leav-
ing cattle to their fate, men and wom-
en- climbed to the attics of their dwell
ings or perched on piles, fearing the
worst, but hoping that the skillful
work of their fo%refathers would hold
against its ancient enemy.
1t is a tribute to the Dutch engineers
that every soul on the island was not
lost. AS 1t was, only four houses es-
capped damage.
In the mad rush of the waves solid
fshing-boats were smashed like tin
der; two small vessels were lifted on
to the roofs of a group of houses,
wrecking the dwellings and drowning
the inmates.
In one of them a man, his wife and
two children were drowned. In an
other house which was crushed eight
people clambered from beam to beam
as the house settled down, and last of
all chung for dear life to the rafters,
screaming for help that could never
come. AS their strength failed and
they dropped into the swirling waters
one by n and were borne away the
beam still pointed upwards as a mock
ing monument to their struggles for
life.
In another house the three daugh-
tiers were surprised in their beds, and
Marken beds are like huge c~upboards,
the children sleeping on the floor, the
parents on an ample ledge above.
Their bodies have just beer discov-
cred, the bodies locked in each others
arms.
When the house of Chaos De Ward
was washed off its foundations a wom-
top window for help. Everyone in that
household is missing. The house was
carried over 100 yards, then struck an
other and wrecked.
All land in and around the dead
cities of the Zuyder Zee-Edam, Vol
endam and Monnikendam-is under
the sea. The sea bikes broke in sew
eral places near Naarden and between
Edam and Monnikendam, All night
watchers -rere on the bikes, but the
s%uddenness OF the burst was disas-
trous,
Church bells doomed their fateful
signal. Farmers, women, children, sol.
diers and police all dashed to the fields
to round up the lowing cattle and
frightened horses. but in hundreds OF
cases they were too late.
Millions of tons of water crashed
over and through the breaches. The
maze of bitches and canals, ordinarily
SO still, became as mountain streams
in flood. Sheep, pigs, goats aud COWS
that could not reach the high bikes
were washed away. Hundreds that
instinctively made an attempt to save
themselves were drowned, whilst the
roads were blocked with frightened
herds of cattle that needed no urging
from equally excited drivers.
Few could mark their cattle and
many will never regain their W ami
mails. Safety was their only thought
In little breaks in the stream women
could be seen pushing perambulators
with babes and driving cattle, all max
ing for the higher level of Amsterdam
Many farmers first saved their cattle
returning in boats to save their fam
lilies.
Soldiers made a dash for many Of
the breaches and worked heroically tc
stem the tide. but were as helpless as