Year: 1872

shadow still continue TO expand


Dutch Enterprise-The Now Ship Canal
or HolIsnd.


The worthy and wealthy burghers of Am
sterdam are in futter of pleased excitement.
Everybody knows that "the Dutch have taken
Holland" but perhaps the world at large does
not give them deserved credit for taking it.
and. by sleepless vigilance, keeping II from
the constant aggressions OF the stormy North
Sea. Undaunted by frequent failure they have
diked out their fertile meadows from the do
mains of the Ocean, fencing out his waves with
walls of clay and sand, held in place by the
thick interlacing roots Of the sea grass which
they call ''helm. Aided by this most modest
vegetable coadjutor. by dint of unremitting
watchfulness. the beaver-like Hollanders main
tain their standing on the map. and keep fully
abreast of their neighbors in progress and
prosperity. They have taken Holland from
the sea by sagacity and hard work. No other
nation can truly boast the creation of their
land The same people have just achieved
another victory over the forces Of nature.
Their great city OF Amsterdam was
built in marsh near, the back,
waters of the Zuyder Zee, about twenty miles
east from the North Sea. To reach the ocean
it was necessary to thread the narrow chan
mel between the islands in the Zuyder Zee and
pass to the northward of the Helder. heavy
vessels finding it necessary to be hghtened
over the fats by floats, called camels, the pro-
cess being slow and risky. Fifty years ago
the enterprising and dauntless Dutchmen
built ship canal fifty miles long, costing five
million dollars, from Amsterdam to the Hell
der. Through this artificial sluice their COM
merce passed with less risk. But this canal,
of which in its day they were justly proud, had
its defects. It's course north and south is at
right angles with the usual heavy west winds
of the coast, which sweep in from the broad
Atlantic. Vessels while being towed dragged
against the lee bank, to their annoyance and
injury. Besides this the winds and waves
brought into the channel so much sand
that, in spite of dredging, its depth has been
reduced to nineteen feet, instead of its
original twenty-three. In the best of
weather it uses up long day to reach
the ocean from Amsterdam through the canal,
and storms may prolong the voyage indef-
nitely. This delay was of small consequence
in the slow old days, but now slime is
money" and the Amsterdamers foresaw the
doom Of their city if they could not provide
her quicker road to the Atlantic. So they
eight years ago. begun o new canal running
nearly east from the Zuyder Zee at Sohelling-
wonde across the narrowest part Of the penin-
sula to the North Sea at Velzen. This new
canal, which was to cost about fifteen million
dollars, has an immense lock at each end by
which to effectually bar out the sea, which the
Dutch dread above all dangers. These locks
are just completed, and are described as pro-
digies of engineering skill. The canal be-
tween the two points will not be finished
within two years. 1t will be large enough in
its narrowest parts for two ships of the first
class to pass. Its construction has been a
work which only nation born to fight the
water would have undertaken, and its prosecu-
ton has developed wonderful mechanical
adaptation. When open for traffic it is ex-
pected to bring Amsterdam within two hours
of the ocean and rescue her commerce from its
threatened decline.