Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Sketch From Cologne, With A Peep Into Holland.
of Holland and those of Belgium and Germany . Here there were no estaminets ( drinking-houses ) , standing side by side along a whole thoroughfare , and cumbering the way with their croAvds of men lounging over the tables , Avith pipes ancl beer , and that CA'erlasting game of dominoes ! Here at Arnheim , through the white-draperied AvindoAA * sshaded by brilliant
, pyramids of plants , Ave could see family-parties of smiling men , and women , and children , sitting round the tea-tables ; where the doors Avere open , Ave got pretty peeps of miniature gardens , and if there was not space for these , a screen of geraniums , oleanders , rhododendrons , and roses , hid the dead Avails , and turned the narrow court into a boAver .
We sauntered doAvn to a grove of forest trees , that threw their shadoAvs across a clear stream ; these were the plantations of the military infirmary ; here Avere aged couples , husbands and Avives , or mayhap , brothers ancl sisters , or old friends , some sitting , some walking arm in arm in the evening shade ; and innumerable pretty children stood with their parents watching the regal swans as they SAvept proudly by , beneath the
Avillows which hung their long tresses over the water . While in Belgium and Holland we had some trouble to ascertain Avhy the figure of the swan , which generally adorns the public buildings , Avas introduced into armorial bearings , and Avas to be found intermingled Avith the architecture of many private houses ; moreover , we learned that these birds ,
which are a beautiful relief to the monotony of the canals in Bruges , are protected by the authorities , it being punishable by the law to be convicted of injuring one . To this day you may at times see a policeman bearing a dead swan , with the respect due to a human body , to the Hotel de Ville , with another official in attendance , ancl a witness or witnesses accompanying
them , to prove the facts connected with the bird ' s death . Even in England , the swan , Avith its golden coronet-shaped collar and chain attached , is a common inn-sign . Now this golden collar ancl its chain attached are , as we learned , emblematic of the death which a person wilfully injming a SAvan in olden time was to suffer . If the bird was killed , the destroyer Avas executed ; if merely injured , the delinquent was deprived of liberty .
The toAvn of Arnheim , backed by Avooded slopes , is surrounded by avenues of stately trees ; the drive Ave took into the open country was most congenial , after being " bricked up " in the old Flemish towns for two months . The first part of our way lay through bleaching-greens , Avhere laundresses in their pretty costumes were spreading their linen on the grass ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Sketch From Cologne, With A Peep Into Holland.
of Holland and those of Belgium and Germany . Here there were no estaminets ( drinking-houses ) , standing side by side along a whole thoroughfare , and cumbering the way with their croAvds of men lounging over the tables , Avith pipes ancl beer , and that CA'erlasting game of dominoes ! Here at Arnheim , through the white-draperied AvindoAA * sshaded by brilliant
, pyramids of plants , Ave could see family-parties of smiling men , and women , and children , sitting round the tea-tables ; where the doors Avere open , Ave got pretty peeps of miniature gardens , and if there was not space for these , a screen of geraniums , oleanders , rhododendrons , and roses , hid the dead Avails , and turned the narrow court into a boAver .
We sauntered doAvn to a grove of forest trees , that threw their shadoAvs across a clear stream ; these were the plantations of the military infirmary ; here Avere aged couples , husbands and Avives , or mayhap , brothers ancl sisters , or old friends , some sitting , some walking arm in arm in the evening shade ; and innumerable pretty children stood with their parents watching the regal swans as they SAvept proudly by , beneath the
Avillows which hung their long tresses over the water . While in Belgium and Holland we had some trouble to ascertain Avhy the figure of the swan , which generally adorns the public buildings , Avas introduced into armorial bearings , and Avas to be found intermingled Avith the architecture of many private houses ; moreover , we learned that these birds ,
which are a beautiful relief to the monotony of the canals in Bruges , are protected by the authorities , it being punishable by the law to be convicted of injuring one . To this day you may at times see a policeman bearing a dead swan , with the respect due to a human body , to the Hotel de Ville , with another official in attendance , ancl a witness or witnesses accompanying
them , to prove the facts connected with the bird ' s death . Even in England , the swan , Avith its golden coronet-shaped collar and chain attached , is a common inn-sign . Now this golden collar ancl its chain attached are , as we learned , emblematic of the death which a person wilfully injming a SAvan in olden time was to suffer . If the bird was killed , the destroyer Avas executed ; if merely injured , the delinquent was deprived of liberty .
The toAvn of Arnheim , backed by Avooded slopes , is surrounded by avenues of stately trees ; the drive Ave took into the open country was most congenial , after being " bricked up " in the old Flemish towns for two months . The first part of our way lay through bleaching-greens , Avhere laundresses in their pretty costumes were spreading their linen on the grass ,