Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1873 — Holland’s Elephant in the East. [ARTICLE]

Holland’s Elephant in the East.

The little kingdom of Holland is having its Hip Van Winkle sleep of peacefulness broken by the turbulence of a native chief in her far-away possession of the island of Sumatra.' He calls himself the Sultan of Atcheen, and he-is the ruler of a fierce, warlike people, who have thus far suc- , ceeded in maintaining their independence of the Dutch. The trouble is that the Malay pirates, who are subjects of the Sultan, have lately been committing extensive outrages on British shipping; and as, by a treaty with Great Britain, Holland is pledged to protect the British subjects within the jurisdiction of the island as Well as her own, sieps had to be taken to stop these piratical doings hod get reparation. But protests had no effect with the Sultan of Atcheen, and King William has ■finally lost his patience and declared war with the barbarian. Considering that the Sultan has quite a formidable army, and

the distance of Holland from the field of operations, the war promises to become a pretty costly matter to the Hutch, and may prove as much of an elephant as the Cuban insurrection is to Spain.