Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 55, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1916 — WHEN HIKES BROKE [ARTICLE]

WHEN HIKES BROKE

Dramatic Description of the Dis* aster in Holland. It Will Take a Generation to Retrieve the Loss Caused When the Sea Broke Through—Some of the Pathetic Incidents. Rotterdam.—“l am standing up to my waist in water. The whole island is flooded, and the houses are giving way.” At that moment the telephone cable between the island of Marken in the Zuyder Zee and the mainland snapped and the outside world heard no more of the plucky operator's description of what was happening in that quaintly picturesque spot, which has suffered more than any other from the storm which shattered the historic Dutch sea dikes and flooded miles of country north of Amsterdam. At least sixteen people lost their lives in the floods, cattle were swept away, the wrecks of the picturesque old fishing craft were piled up on each other in the harbor, and the remaining inhabitants peer out from their attic windews upon an immeasurable waste of angry gray water. When the fierce northwest gale drove the i’ea down into the Zuyder Zee the water came like a tidal wave, casting into the sea the walls of the mainland, and mounted the dikes of Marken on all sides. No boat could have got people off in time and, leaving cattle to their fate, men and women climbed to the attics of their dwellings or perched on piles, fearing the worst, but hoping that the skillful work of their forefathers would hold against its ancient enemy.

It is a tribute to the Dutch engineers that every soul on the island was not lost. As it was, only four houses escaped damage. In the mad rush of the waves solid fishing-boats were smashed like tinder; two small vessels were lifted on to the roofs of a group of houses, wrecking the dwellings and drowning the Inmates. In one of them a man, his wife and two children were drowned. In another house which was crushed eight people clambered from beam to beam as the house settled down, and last of all clung for dear life to the rafters, screaming for help that could never come. As their strength failed and they dropped into the swirling waters one by one and were borne away the beam still pointed upwards as a mocking monument to their struggles for life. In another house the three daughters were surprised in their beds, and Marken beds are like huge cupboards, the children sleeping on the floor, the parents on an ample ledge above. Their bodies have just been discovered, the bodies locked in each other’s arms. L ”

When the house of Chaes De Waard was washed off its foundations a woman was last seen screaming from a top window for help. Everyone in that household Is missing. The house was carried over 100 yards, then struck another and wrecked. All land in and around the dead cities of the Zuyder Zee —Edam, Volendam and Monnikendam —is under the sea. The sea dikes broke in several places near Naarden and between Edam and Monnikendam. All night watchers ’■’ere on the dikes, but the suddenness of the burst was disastrous. Church bells boomed their fateful signal. Farmers, women, children, soldiers and police all dashed to the fields to round up the lowing cattle and frightened horses, but in hundreds of cases jthey were too late. # _

Millions of tons of water crashed over and through the breaches. The maze of ditches and canals, ordinarily so still, became as mountain streams in flood. Sheep, pigs, goats aud cows that could not reach the high dikes were washed away. Hundreds that instinctively made an attempt to save themselves were drowned} whilst -theroads were blocked with frightened herds of cattle that needed no urging from equally excited drivers. Few could mark their cattle and many will never regain their own animale. Safety was their only thought. In little breaks in the stream women could be seen pushing perambulators lug for the higher level of Amsterdam. Many farmers first saved their cattle, returning in boats to save their families. Soldiers made U dash for many of the breaches and worked heroically to stem the tide, but were as helpless as

Canute. The police retrieved cattle in boats. All the churches on the high land were thrown open to receive cattle. Mile after mile is under water; rich farmers are rendered practically penniless and the land will take years to recover Its old fertility. At places where breaches occurred land was washed out till it was lower than the bed of the sea, and until the breaches are repaired there is no hope of taking off the water. Edam, Monnikendam and Vollendam are completely under waler; The lower houses tn the latter place have water up to the attics, whilst in the low-lyi’Jg Buikslootmeer Polder the water is level with the china insulators of the telephone poles. It is the Worst disaster for many years and it will take a generation to retrieve the loss