Vol. XXVII, No. 1 



WASHINGTON 



January, 1915 



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GLIMPSES OF HOLLAND 



By William Wisner Chapin 



PEOPLE living in other countries, 

 through intercourse or association 

 with the natives of Holland, have 

 often pictured in their minds the father- 

 land of this honest, industrious people ; 

 but only by seeing the country can one 

 appreciate its peculiar charm. 



Here is a section of the globe which 

 was almost entirely overlooked by nature 

 in the original distribution of iron and 

 other metals, of coal, stone, and wood. 

 In fact, to a great extent even the land 

 itself was wrong side up at the start. 

 With this discouraging beginning in 

 mind, a visit to Holland for the sole pur- 

 pose of observing the results accom- 

 plished by patient, persevering labor and 

 sacrifice would in itself amply repay a 

 great amount of effort. The existence of 

 Petrograd and Venice is regarded with 

 wonderment, although they are cities cov- 

 ering small areas. What, then, can be 

 said of Holland, where the land, made 

 and reclaimed from the sea, spreads out 

 in great fertile meadows and plains 

 thousands of square miles in extent ! 



As nature is charged with discrimina- 

 tion against Holland in the distribution 

 of her gifts, so nature is entitled to credit 

 for important assistance ; for she has 

 worked hand in hand with the builders 

 of the main. The wind, ever an ally, 

 has furnished the power in the battle 

 through which the land was wrested from 

 the sea ; while even the water, against 

 which Dutch ingenuity so long and suc- 

 cessfully plotted, has repeatedly obeyed 

 their summons and come to the rescue 



of besieged cities, overwhelming their 

 enemies and preserving the nation. 



One-quarter of the whole kingdom lies 

 below the normal level of the sea, while 

 30 per cent of all the territory of the 

 country would be submerged but for the 

 dikes. 



Holland's chief defenses against the 

 encroachment of the sea are its sand 

 dunes, in which there have been but two 

 real breaches in the course of centuries of 

 erosion. These dunes are covered with 

 bent grass and protected as carefully 

 from the ravages of the sea as a nation 

 can protect them. The two breaches are 

 filled now by the Westkapelle dike and 

 the Hondsbossche sea defense, the for- 

 mer over two miles long and the latter 

 nearly three miles long. In many places 

 the sand dunes are gradually being 

 eroded away, and what are known as 

 "sleeping dikes" or Holland's reserves in 

 her war with the waves. 



For a time Holland was one of the 

 three ruling powers of Europe, and its 

 political history is even more marvelous 

 than its physical. Warfare has marked 

 the existence of this sturdy people from 

 the first ; for Avhen not fighting with 

 swords as weapons, shovels and picks 

 were the implements. 



Once so successful in her ascendancy 

 as a world power, she has exchanged 

 ancient grandeur for modern prosperity. 

 She has beaten her swords into plow- 

 shares and settled down to the enjoy- 

 ment of the fruits of her labors, inviting 

 to her shores the nations of the world to 



