Clinton News-Record, 1984-05-09, Page 63Page 38
Crowded but content
The Netherlands, or Holland, is a
small but densely populated and highly
developed country.
It is located on the North Sea at the
delta plains of three large rivers (The
Rhine, the Meuse and the Schelde)
from which it has developed into a
shipping, trade and transit transport
nation, leading to the interior of
Europe. Rotterdam is the busiest
harbor in the world. It handles about
200 million tons of goods a year.
The Netherlands is a small country
with a total area of 15,892 square miles.
Ontario alone covers an area of 412,582.
More remarkable than the country's
small size is the fact that 13 million
people live in the Netherlands and the
density of the population is nearly 1,000
to the square mile, In the western part
of the country the population density is
nearly eight times as high.
While population problems would
seem almost unbearable, it is not so in
the Netherlands. English author Frank
Hug'gett in his book The Dutch Today
explained, "The butch accept
congestion with a reasonable degree of
tolerance, though sometimes hooting of
horns, the throbbing engines of neavy
lorries and the high pitched drone of
mopeds, or brommers (buzz bikes) as
the Dutch call them, can sound like an
experimental session for a modern
industrial symphony. The city centres,
however, do not seem so crowded, as
Oxford Street in London or Fifth
Avenue in New York. This is partly
because there is not just one main
entertainment and shopping centre to
serve all the residents in the
conurbation; each city has its own
centre and its own special attractions
and character, which are near enough
for residents of other cities to sample if
they wish.
Because of the shortage of land, the
Dutch were the first nation to build
upwards on any scale. Their houses
from the seventeenth century onwards
have tended to be tall and narrow, with
steep staircases.
Yet skyscrappers do not dominate the
landscape. More typically is the four or
five story block, with the large picture
windows, a traditional feature of Dutch
architecture. Those large- front
windows, can also be found in many
Dutch -Canadian homes.
When you demand
more than
the ordinary.
Congratulations
to the Town of Clinton
on your fourth annual Klompen Feest
Wishing you continued
success in the future
JAMES RICHARDSON & SONS, LIMITED.
ESTABLISHED 1557
GRAIN MERCHANTS - TORONTO ONTARIO
NOW IN OUR 127TH YEAR.