Show durpos I 1 om I 1 est si d joan 1 I 1 avink hi tV 1 ink rho t f dont kno anaw MY y carhee fak thet keeps keep A wild wid T how lecause he hie hed d rd got 91 aey ha ir ty tn to tb b be e A AT liate buds and nl ge ae s BOYS ON A STOCK EXCHANGE amsterdam youths youth privilege top for die DI covery of gunpowder plot enjoyed nearly years year of the many quaint and curious customs traditions and privileges pre tailing in 11 holland olland none la Is more extraordinary tra than a certain privilege that has been enjoyed by the boys ol of amsterdam for nearly years the th boston evening transcript remarks at a fixed time each summer Bura roer these boys gather by the hundreds in the great square called tho the dam situated in the center of the city each boy has a drum slung over his shoulder facing this square la Is the stock exchange and on the occasion in question just as soon as the days business bu shiest la Is over as many of 0 the boys as possible crowd clawd into the building they proceed to the floor of the exchange where pursuant to tills this old custom they are permitted to march about singing and beating theli their drums the origin of this custom it Is said la is as fol follow lowe e one afternoon of the year 1622 a crowd of boys playing in the dam lost abail a ball in the canal that in those days skirted one side of the square ont OIK of the lads while climbing in among amona the piles on which the building stood found instead of his ball a boat moored in a dark corner and loaded with boxes of gunpowder this showed clearly elou enough ah what was afterward ascertained with certainty ty the intention of the spanish conspirators to blow up the stock exchange while it was crowded as it was every day with the leading citizens ot of the CRY city the boy who stumbled upon the th gunpowder at once hurried to the town authorities with his news the boatload of explosives wad waa quietly sunk stink in the canal and the spanish plot thus frustrated when nhen the burgesses asked the boy what reward he desired for the service he had rendered the town he replied that so long as there was a stock exchange in Amaler amsterdam dam the boys boy of the town would like to be permitted to make the flier of at the exchange their playground during a certain part of the year the request was wa granted crant cd and so the custom survives |