New Britain herald., 1917-03-16
ALL HOLLAND GLlDES
 ALONG ON SKATE
Whole Nation Worships at Shrine
 of Jack Frost

The Hague, Netherlands March 10. | I-ITolland is at the moment one big skating rink. From sovereign to humblest peasant. from aged grand mother and grandfather to the tinies. toddlers. the nation Is gliding serene l 1y naerrily along on skates.
 In striking contrast with the last three or four mild winters. . most intense and continuous cold spell has set in, and despite brilliant sunshine ! from q clear sky every lake and canal in the land of canals is now frozen as hard as the cobbled streets. Even the big North Sea canal leading from the sea to the port of Amsterdam is only being kept open by icebreakers. Many of the islands are islands no longer, and travellers passing to and fro. instead of booking their steam boat passages, buckle on their skates. The mail is even being conveyed to the famous island of Marlxen. on tho Zuyder Zee, by the same means. One can 70 from the Hague to Amster- dam, to Rotterdam, to practically any part of the country on skates. The countryside, ordinarily 90 deserted and quiet, on the sabbath in particu- lar is dotted everywhere with fleeting Hollanders of all ages; and in the ! towns themselves he who will need | go no farther than the canal just outside his door to indulge in the | pastime.
 The lakes outside the royal house 1 in the wood at the Hague resemble nothing so much as a fair. with their
 stalls and seats and barrows and endless kaleidoscopic crowd whirling up and down and in and out in ones, twos. threes and fours. sometimes joined hands, sometimes in chain fashion. On the big rink of the
 ice club nearby may be occasionally
 seen the queen herself, on skates
 among the throng, for skating is de-
 cidedly democratic sport. Private
 brushes shoulders with officer: indeed.
 a Frisians soldier was mortified a day
 the skater he had accidentally over-
 turned.
 Little Princess Enjoys Sport.
 Down in the cfildren's corner al the ice club rink is the little seven
 year old Princess Juliana- Mounted on Tristan. skates, she glides and
 shuffles and slips among the other
 small ''krabbelaars'' ("scratchers' or ' SCAaPClC AS IHc OeBlHnSIS dA Ac uuN'
 bed. Glowing with health and laugh ! ing heartily at her own and her com
 panions' comical efforts. the little
 heiress goes up and down the run Queen Wilhelmina occasionally com
 ing to watch her progress. A day ol
 two ago the royal family went up te
 see and join in the skating In the
 northern province of Friesland, SC famed for the sport, the little princes:
 helping to present the prices awardet
 at Leeuwarden and being the recipient
 of a bouquet when she went to joir | the Frisian children on the ice.
 It is In the Friesland that the ia
 nous eleven towns tour and race ha'
 just taken place-one of innumerabl'
 races and figure-skating and othe competitions of all kinds that ar' ' taking place in every part of th' country. The tour dates back to an ' tiouity That the Frisians used t : take 126-mile skating trips in tn dim past when ox-ribs served then :. as skates seems a little improbable ' but the eleven towns tour is cer tainly very, very old, and has becom !. Frisiai, institution that Is the sub feet of innumerable family traditions one countryman proudly related tha
 he had done the tour four times twice as young fellow with q coupl : of friends, then as Q young marie 't man with his wife, who was ikewis fleet on skates. and next in the com F pany of . grandson. This time forty Q six actually took part in the competi
 ton, which started from Leeuwar
 den before five o'clock in the mornin( C and 10S others participated in tn
 tour, including six women. The wir
 ner proved to be sturdy fello' g named c. c. J. de Koning hailin |, from a small place called Leur, nea Il Breda. The same man won the Ia;