El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-10-06

EFT US look back TO the 31st Of
August, 1850. The day is fair
- with a genial sun flashing il
through the windows Of the little
Dutch homes.
Through every city and village il
Holland an inordinate hustle and hur-
y is worrying among the scrupulous-
ly neat Dutch burgeoisie. Wives and
mothers are BUSY cleaning chubby lit
tie Dutch lads and lassies till face,
shine and wide blue eyes wonder VIVA
holiday is being put on the calendar
Merchants are casting the Dutch col
OTIS 10 the winds and the Dutch fleets
and forts are beginning to fire heavy
zalutes-
As the people anxiously count the
guns OF the salutes a child is born q
the queen It is her first, and the
people are going into ecstacies for the
child viii be heir 10 the Netherlands
throne
Is il a boyc The nation viii con-
valse itself with rejoicing over the
little prince.
Is it a girI2 a discordant note viii
manifest itself IN the merrymaking
and the guns will fire only 81 rounds
instead OF the los which VIII welcome
@ prince.
% the people count the guns.
FOrty-eight, ~, 50, 51-and they
wait for the next round All is sus-
penss. VIII the guns fire again2
As the seconds pass and the guns
remain silent, the Dutch realize that
girl has been born to the queen
Il was a girl who was heir TO the
Dutch throne then-"only a girl-'
A queen Beloved
queen Wilhelmina's subjects now
look back on their disappointment
IL
known" they say. We understand
now that our feelings were at all
JUST They would not exchange
their sovereign for a king on any
account, for the queen Wilhelmina has
proved monarch entirely TO the
Ditch taste
At the beginning Of hostilities in
the great war the Netherlands were
Immediately placed in q delicate pO-
sirion- The least favor, humanitarian
or otherwise, shown 10 one Of the
warning powers promptly brought de-
mancs Tor reciprocal concessions or
favors from the opposing nations.
The queen recommended TO her cab
met that all the defences Of the IA
tiou be modified. The cabinet, always
srch- called all the defensive forces to
the cOlOrs. The country was isolated
from the warning nations by a Dutch
ring Of steel The forts were manned
aA4 an eArELl4AlEu E4uE OF OAR DE0 VIE
stretched practically around the king
lom- The Netherlands troops were
completely modified and prepared for
all eVentualities before the armies Of
she powers were brought 10 a war
footing.
The queen has refrained from all
ceremonial functions since the month
~ August 1919. All her officers and
sdvisers are met under informal con-
-itious- CoEsonant with her posi-
ION she confines her mode OF living
90 the utmost plainness-
The queens cOnsOrt, prince Henry,
8 seldom heard from His personality
IS completely su5ordinated 10 the
overwhelming power Of the queen.
Visits Army Often.
Not only does she keep up the right
1irit in her armies by appearing
among the troops on every possible
occasion. now here, then there, at
Darades, at military sport meetings,
no mimic warfare in camps and bar
-acl1s and all along the frontiers. even
o the most distant outposts, but she
$50 finds time to encourage by in
-pectiou % factories and workshops
10 all the Industrial districts, by visit
irc the shops in The Hague, Amster-I
Jam and Rotterdam.
Al the outbreak Of the war she de-
-elOped a marvellous secret service to
rail English and German spies. She
s. honorary commander in chief Of the
Netherlands army, and IS in the sad