Dwight Elmendorf - The Mentor - Holland, v. 2, Num. 6, Serial No. 58

The little houses in the vicinity of Amsterdam are thoroughly characteristic of Holland. They have sharply pointed roofs of pretty red tiles, neatly painted walls and blinds, and a monstrous windmill on one side. Within they are scoured and polished so that they almost shine with cleanliness. Even among the wealthy citizens of Amsterdam there is not much display of luxury. The houses are quite plain, but always brightly clean.

To most people who are used to paved streets and plenty of dry land it would not be pleasant to dwell among the watery streets with their narrow sidewalks of Amsterdam; but to a Dutchman it is impossible to have too much water about his house. Even with a canal in front and another on each side he will add, if possible, an artificial pond in his small garden.

Rotterdam, the famous commercial center of Holland, lies fourteen miles from the North Sea at the union of two rivers, one of which is called the Rotte, and with the great dam erected on its banks gives to the town its name. To a visitor the most notable feature of this great Dutch city is its multitude of bridges, most of which are drawbridges, continually rising and falling like parts of a huge machine.

Rotterdam received its first municipal privileges in 1340. Its modern prosperity dates from the separation of Belgium from the kingdom of the Netherlands. The largest seagoing ships can now be admitted to the quays of the town. Great cargoes of oil, grain, coffee, tobacco, and coal pass through it, and its cattle market is the most important in Holland.

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