| Show the following letter from president george A smith will be read with in terest ANTWERP dec oth 1872 most of our party suffered discomfort from ses bes sickness in crossing the german ocean I 1 was bick blok about eight hours I 1 lay on a lounge about two thirds as aa broad as I 1 am I 1 turned over occasionally to leop my balance As soon boon as aa our party were fairly settled at the bath hotel at botter rotterdam daml I 1 started with elder paul A Bo So hettler bettler to visit his relatives at zeist zelet they belong to a settlement of Moravia ns a sect of christiana christians who came to holland from germany in 1745 in order to obtain religious liberty they purchased sufficient land from the lord of to build their houses and church and a place for burying their dead the fine brick meeting house erect ed in 1745 is still sufficiently large which indicates that their numbers are not increasing although they came from germany they have lived in holland until they are thoroughly dutch their houses bouses and grounds are very neat nest and clean blean they have canals leading from the main canal of the kingdom to all their business houses this is the case throughout holland canals answering the place of roads in other countries i brother lers lens relatives and friends were very glad to see him and treated him with marked kindness and res reb respect acl seamed seemed glad that I 1 accompanied him ono one of his uncles and one cousin spoke a little English which was very gratifying to them and especially so BO tome to me one of his bis aunts a very intelligent lady who has bix six children and one grandchild seemed very anxious to talk she took her carriage and carried canted us beveral several miles to aee iee bee see the cathedral at utrecht her husband showed ma me through his hia extensive establishment for manufacturing porcelain stoves and ornaments of burnt clay I 1 regarded my going with bro Bc hettler as a fortunate it gave me an opportunity of becoming acquainted with some of the people of holland at their own fi resides I 1 was surprised at the number of beautiful trees which are growing in rows by the sides bides of the canals and in small groves most of them are very beautiful I 1 recognized the basswood bass bais wood and the beech although the bark looks greener than in toe american woods most all of the land appears to be but a few inches above the sea and a good many thousand acres are lower than the sea and are only drained by pumps run b by y wind win windmills mills lis ils which raise raibe the water to h higher levels and iun lun run it off to th the e fie bea sea 8 it t Is then kept out by immense embankments this would beena beem rather precarious living lower than the ger gor german an ocean when we consider that only a rew few ihu adred years ago half a million people pie were drowned by the overflow much aih of the country then overflowed has not yet been reclaimed on the ath we visited the hague the capital of holland examined IU its museum and enjoyer enjoyed a drive to the queens palace known as the house in iiii the wood we then drove to the seashore ses bes shore bhore and on our return stopped at the bazaar in the evening sil nil called on the arner Atner amerlean american ican lean minister Hon Charles charies T gotham who invited us to spend the evening and take tea we accepted the invitation and were introduced to very pleasant and agree able lady we next went to the cathedral at haarlem an immense pile by raying baying paying thirteen florans florins we were privileged to hear bear the mammoth organ for an hour it is truly a wonderful in containing metal pipes and it is in baid taid 2000 more of wood we saw embedded in the walla wall walia a cannon shot khot fired by the spaniards in 1572 it is lodged near the pulpit and was in tended to kill the minister we passed through leyden rendered famous in history by the vigorous siege biege by the spaniards during the revolutionary war of 1573 4 a contest between catholicism and protestantism as well as be tween dutch independence and spanish tyranny at amsterdam we stopped at the bible hotel and we visited a inu museum beum seum famous for its old paintings we also aiho visited the kings palace and spent about two hours in the navy yard examining the immense machine shops and other places in which the building of iron veas vess vessels els elb of war is in carried on we baw saw one now new monitor afloat so BO arranged that thit they could sink the upper deck two feet underwater all but the turret we also saw slabs of iron plating eight inches through one adne of which had several hoies holes ahot shot through the ball noi aoi penetrating enet onet rating twelve inches of hardwood hard wood i showing chowing that they cannot make plates that cannon balls can not penetrate went through the marine arsenal which contains a great variety of arms of various per por periods lodi many of which are now used in the dutch navy we drove to the metry ce co the monuments are stone atone slabs polished until they are as smooth as glass they are laid flat on the ground elder van dyke of ogden city called to bee see us and eiders elders little dun dunford ford hettler Bc and myself went with him to the home of brother do de groot and met with a branch of the church all of us ua speaking to them in turn bro interpreting bro van dyke has baptized twenty seven since he be came camo to holland he accompanied us to rotterdam and stayed with us over night we regard him as a faithful missionary laboring under difficulties difficult ies les today to day we left the dominions of his dutch majesty Willi ani ank ir and entered those of leopold II if king of the Bel bei belgians glahs we had bad to stop and have our trunks and satchels examined to peo seo if we had anything on which we should pay duty but ou on the whole we regarded the officers of our new now king as rather courteous than otherwise in the discharge of a not very vary plea piea pleasant ant duty we are now at the hotel do de I 1 IlEa europe rope we have visited the great cathedral of antwerp r remarkable etnar kabie kable for containing several original paino by the immortal artist rubens we saw a man by the name of van den Wilden berch who has spent thirty eight y yearb years earb carb of his hla life in making copies of rok rik Rb bens ena two masterpieces master pieces one of the crucifixion of the savior the other taking him from the cross van den Wilden berch sells these at sog too f a piece rubens is almost the idol of antwerp his statues and pictures are everywhere to be seen we went to the church of st we wel saw his hib magnificent tomb above which hangs one of hib bib own paintings a portrait of himself his bis two wives one daughter one son and other members family our only annoyance la in regard re gard to health is id mide colds the climate 11 damp naturally and the whole country countr Is but a tevi inches out of water georae geobie A SMITH AMSTERDAM dec 5 0 1 editor deseret NW news we president smith and party bre sire now located at old bible hotel hotels in the city of amsterdam we vve reached rotterdam sunday idt lit cember december Da hav the previous evening tuesday we visited the hague wednesday resumed our journey for this place cal cai calling linga a few hours at haarlem and arrived herein here in the afternoon I 1 now make a few extracts from my journal beginning at rotterdam our oar hotel is pleasantly located fronting a beautiful quay extending one and a half miles bordering an extensive har bar bor bearing on its placid bosom ships of largest tonnage from the four quarters of the globe the city of rotterdam Is situated on the river maas it llis ibis Is the second commercial city in holland numbering one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants jews catholics and protestants it la intersected by numerous canals of sufficient depth to accommodate large hips which diac discharge harge hurge their valuable burdens into the very heart of the city producing stir and life truly moud mond wonderful erful which renders the same very picturesque A city filled with canals floating ships dinall directions to strangers presents a romantic appearance exciting surprise and admiration these canals are crossed by numerous drawbridges the city is Temar remarkably kably clean and orderly considering its immense commerce and business we visited the church of st lawrence containing several splendid marble monuments of dutch heroes bearing old dutch in inscriptions which I 1 regret to say baffled our best linguists it has a magnificent organ with three key boards sev enty two stops four thousand and six ty two pipes the largest being thirty two feet long and seventeen inches in diameter this organ is ia supposed b by y some to equal if not surpass the famous instrument at haarlem the tower of this church is two hundred and eighty eight feet in height its summit affords a fine view of dutch scenery canals bordered with trees country houses straight avenues broad arable fields green pa pastures and meadows forming a plane with no BO perceptible inclination also numerous windmills in motioning mot ionin every direction rotterdam has several public schools we saw kaw eleven hundred children belong ing log to onet on ethem heni henl of from four to eleven years of ake agg we ze remarked marked that their countenances failed to exhibit those characteristics of health and longevity observable in the children of our utah schools the hollanders possess indomitable energy and perseverance by untiring industry towns and cities have been beem build upon trembling morasses lakes and seas rolled from their beds giving place to cultivated fl elds fields green pastures and beautiful mea meadow meadows dows dowa portions of seas and lakes have been intersected and surrounded by dykes or embank ments the water pumped out by steam engines and windmills this reclaimed land is intersected by canals and beats beets at suitable distances taking advantage of every perceivable inclination dead levels being the characteristic of the country and yet the most formidable enemy a dutchman has to combat the main canals are continued through the country to some river inlet or the ocean in every instance the surface waters from ft a lower plane are conducted into canals running on ahiga ahagh er elevation by windmills and steam engines carrying an immense amount of surplus water which is constantly gathering especially in rainy seasons out from thebe these reclaimed districts this process imposes a heavy tax on the wisdom and patience of the irrepressible him imperatively into the practice of the mysteries of hydraulics in utah we labor to secure water for our lands here the removal of its it and the preservation ot of life aud and property from its overflow is a ana national work which involves an almost infinitely greater amount of toll and expense the least neglect in their operations exposes the country to devastation in the province of dort in the fifteenth century seventy villages were overflowed and one hundred thousand inhabitants destroyed erom prom rotterdam we proceeded to the hague containing one hundred thousand inhabitants it is the most elegant beautiful and fashionable town in holland it possesses no internal resources or advantages of commerce but to the presence of the court numerous nobles and diplomatists who make it their residence it chiefly owes it aristocratic ariato to and prosperous appearance I 1 many of its streets are broad and hand band some bordered with beautiful trees its buildings lofty and substantial A magnificent basin of water in the central part of the town with an ornamental island and flocks of white graceful swans ewans is the most fashionable locality the hague and its environs areso abeso are so flat that its waters in the canals are destitute of fall this d difficulty I 1 ty however Is overcome by arrangement A steam engine on the ddenny pumps fresh water into the canal by which an imperceptible current is formed carrying a flow towards rotterdam where it is pumped into the river maae the museum attracted our attention it contains a fine collection of curiosities in the lower part of the building and in the upper a picture gallery embracing specimens by the most celebrated dutch painters I 1 I 1 was so BO delighted with the beauty and display that I 1 invested in an opera klass glass our attention was attracted to a painting by rembrandt Bem rem brandt representing a school of anatomy possessing rare merit and beauty of design and execution this wonderful picture was waa purchased for about thirteen thousand dollars by nin Kin gWilliam king william wliilam the first it represents presents re prof surrounded by his anxious pupils in the act of dissecting a corpse the subject perhaps is not very agreeable but all of the figures the express ion af of their features the death appearance of the corpse the whole was brought out with such profound skill as to invest the painting with an irresistible sis tible charm paul potters Pott enya erys far famed bull regarded ab the gem of the whole collection also rivet ted our attention the french carried it as a trophy to paris and placed it among their pictures in the Louvre and considered it worthy to rank as fourth in point of value the datch datcu government offered napoleon twenty thousand dollars for foi its restoration we were conducted through various departments appropriated to objects of curiosity of various descriptions J will merely notice a model house constructed by order of peter the great with wilh the intention of taking it to rubbia russia to present to the empress a view of the interior of a house in amsterdam this model is reported to have cost about twelve thousand dollars and to have occupied twenty nive five years in its completion we visited the queens palace called the house in the wood ve very ry romantically manti mantl cally call y situated 4 in a an extensive park we were gon pon conducted ducted through the principal apartments the palace contains some excellent paintings and magnificent silk blik tapestry tape etry of exquisite needle work done by chinese and jap 11 anese representing birds of their country with their brilliant plumage ac this tapestry we were informed by our conductor was presented to the stadt holder william the fifth by the emperor of japan i after many expressions of admira I 1 tion and by request having inscribed our names dames in the queens register we ve proceeded to scheveningen a fashionable resort upon the sea coast and enjoyed a splendid drive passing through groves of majestic ork orak orb elm and linden inden while at the hague president smith and party called on mr gorham Gor harn hann the american minister who received us very cordially and insisted on the tho whole party joining him at tea and spending the evening which invitation was wab ac cepter by president smith in behalf of the party our interview in the even f ing with mr gorham and his wife a very intelligent affable and accod lady was agreeable and entertaining ta and will ever be associated with the pleasant recollections of our visit to the beautiful hague lorenzo SNOW SHOW |
