The Coolidge examiner., 1932-04-15
prepared BY the National Geographic
Society. Washington. d c.
(WNT7 Service

panse of the Zuiderzee, which
now is having a complete change of
face. Drainage and filling the Zui-
derzee will add more than LOCO
square miles of farm land TO the
Netherlands area. The. work, when
completed, will cost the Dutch gov
ernment some S35000000O.
Long ago the ocean said to the
HOlander, You shall have no land
here" The Hollander said TO the
ocean, I'VE will have a country
here; and they have one. in spite
of water, winds and waves.
In Holland all is new-the CULTS,
lakes. and islands have come into
existence under mans observation.
He has seen within historic times
sand close TO a rivers mouth. land
converted into water, and lakes dry
up and disappear,
The ordinary agencies OF change
wind and wave, rain and flood, and
the rise and fall of land-have here
found favoring field for their ac-
tivities.
Long after the greater part of
the continent of Europe had become
sfxed and stable. Holland began its
geographic formation and is still
pursuing processes intended TO hold
or enlarge its boundaries.
By the aid of old maps and docu-
mentS we can learn what Holland
was at the time it first found a place
and designation on the worlds
charts, and following them in Sc
quence. one can note the changes
thar have been wrought by the ac-
ton of the waters of the rivers,
the waves of the sea and the hands
of man-in short, how Holland was
made
The power of the rivers one can
see in the inundations; the action of
the sea in the sand dunes along the
coast; and the transformation by
man everywhere.
Before the birth OF the Rhine
great part of the Netherlands, as
we now see il, was sea, limited on
the German side by a rocky coast
which now shows itself in the Tueto-
burger Wald hills. The uplifting of
the Ardennes inclosed sea in the
interior of Germany which. shield
ed by the Alps on its southern coast
and protected from the cold winds
of the north, became full to over
flowing from the melting ice. Finally
the pent-up waters broke through,
and in the bed thus formed the
Rhine has since been flowing.
How the Land Was Formed.
With the rush of the waters
masses of rocks were hurried along
until the moving force exhausted it.
self; smaller particles were carried
farther, and when the sea was
reached its resistance robbed the
river of it's final burden. and sand
dunes formed the northern bound
aries of Holland. The pebbles and
grains of sand on which rests the
soil of Gelderland and Overyssel
and the island of Texel show that
their primeva home was the basalt
regions of the Rhine.
The result of the conflict between
the waters of the rivers and the sea
into which they seek to find an out
let is seen in the deltas of our
largest streams
Before reaching the Dutch from
tier the Rhine has lost all the beau
~ of its banks. and flows in great,
lazy curves suggestive of approach
ing old age. The indecision of
senility is now seen in the separa-
tion of the Rhine into two parts.
The main branch shametuly dis
avOwS its name and throws itself
into the MeuSe, river of French
origin; the other branch. inSulted by
the name Of Dannebrog canal. aft
er going nearly 10 Arnheim. sepa
rates into two parts. one emptying
into the Zuiderzee: the other. re-
gaining its name. though qualified as
the Lower Rhine. goes as far as
Duurstede. where it divides for the
third time.
During the reign of Louis Bona
parte a canal was opened through
the dunes and the Rhine again con,
Quoted 70 the sea. The mouth of
this canal is protected by enormous
dikeS and breakwaters and the sea
itself is held in check by locks, or
sluice-gates.
Continual Battle With the Sea.
When the tide is high these locks
are closed, to prevent the waters OF
the sea from invading the land;
when the tide falls they are opened,
TO give passage TO the waters of the
Rhine which have accumulated be-
hind them. and then 5000 cubic feet
of water a minute pass out.