io 3 8 HOLLAND 



Railways. Servia has 875 m. of railways open, for traffic, of which 155 m. were built 

 in 1911 and 170 m. in 1912. One of the principal objects in view in the construction of the 

 new lines was to provide the country with a through line from the Danube to the Adriatic. 

 The principal line under construction in 1912 was from Kniazhevats to Nish, expected to 

 be ready in 2 years, while the last part of the Danube-Adriatic railway from Nish through 

 Prokuplye to Merdare, on the Turkish frontier, was under survey. Another line was being 

 constructed in 1912 from Kralyevo to Rashka on the (then) Turkish frontier, intended to 

 open up a rich mineral district. (O. BRILLIANT.) 



HOLLAND; 1 



Physical Features. As Holland lies partly below sea-level, the dunes form 

 the country's natural wall of defence against the sea and particular care is taken 

 to keep them in good condition and even to strengthen them. Of late years the in- 

 creasing use of dune-water, to feed the supply of drinking water, which is obtained by 

 borings and not (as erroneously supposed) from springs at the foot of the dunes, has 

 given rise to the fear that in the end salt, or at least brackish water, would run from 

 the taps. Some experts are of opinion that this is to be found in the dunes below the 

 sweet water. This fear has, however, been proved idle, and according to most Dutch 

 geologists the water obtained from the depth is no other than artesian water. 2 The 

 violent controversy which has been waged about this question for years has added 

 to our knowledge of the deeper layers of the soil in the western part of the country. 

 But progress in this respect has been far greater still in the eastern provinces, espe- 

 cially owing to the deep borings performed since 1906 by the state officials for the 

 discovery of minerals (Rijksopsporing van Del/stolen). These borings were made 

 in the south and in the north of Limburg, the east of North Brabant and the east of 

 Gelderland, and in several places depths of 1,100 metres, at Baarlo (Northern Limburg) 

 in the year 1909 even of 1,400 metres, were reached. Among other things they showed 

 that the coalfields in the north and in the south of Limburg are the continuation of 

 that of Westphalia, with which they are connected without interruption; that in the 

 east of North Brabant (de Peel) there is a coalfield extending over a large surface, not 

 too deep to be worked with profit; that in the east of Gelderland large extents of Trias, 

 namely shell-limestone and grey sandstone, are lying close to the surface, whereas 

 rock-salt, potassium salt and coal are found deeper down, of which the potassium salt 

 layer, however, does not seem fit to be worked; that in Holland the temperature only 

 seems to rise slowly at great depth, so that at Winterswijk at a depth of 864 metres 

 it is not more than 38 C. and in the north of Limburg and the east of North Brabant, 

 at a depth of more than 1,000 metres, only 34 C. 



The improvement of rivers and canals continues. Work is unceasingly in progress 

 on the Waal, to give it a depth of 3 metres. Negotiations have been in progress 

 between the governments of the Netherlands and of Belgium about making the Maas 

 in South Limburg navigable. A bill has also been under consideration to make the 

 Maas from Venlo to Rotterdam navigable and to make a coal station at Venlo. If 

 this bill is accepted, it would be possible to take the Limburg coal by rail to Venlo 

 and thence by water to Rotterdam and further. 



An extraordinarily high temperature and great drought were experienced in Holland in 

 the summer of 1911, when at the Meteorological Institute at De Bill, near Utrecht, the ther- 

 mometer rose to 95-7 F.; and an extraordinarily low temperature in the following winter, 

 when on the 3rd of February the thermometer fell to -4 F. 



Population. At the census of December 31, 1910 the total population was 5,945,155 

 (male 2,944,079; female 3,001,076), as compared with 5,104,137 in 1900. The figures 

 for provinces were: North Brabant, 633,155; Gelderland, 647,567; South Holland, 

 1,418,097; North Holland, 1,122,996; Zeeland, 234,191; Utrecht, 292,131; Friesland, 

 362,293; Overyssel, 387,381; Groningen, 331,248; Drente, 176,043; Limburg, 340,053 

 The population of the principal towns was as follows: Alkmaar, 21,261; Amersfoort, 

 23>945; Amsterdam, 573,983; Apeldoorn, 36,507; Arnhem, 64,168; Breda., 27,445; Delft, 



1 See E. B. xiii, 587 et seq. 



2 R. D. M. Verbeek, Drinking-water Supply of Amsterdam (The Hague, 1911). 



