Skating In Holland

In Holland a winter seldom passes without good skating, which, being not only pastime with the Dutch, bul a serious and ordinary mode of travel, the ice on the canals and "grachts" is kept in good condition, and it is common to see a small army oí sweeping peasants putting the ice in order for the day, says a writer in Harper's Weekly. There Is a skating club in every town in Holland, and all these clubs belong to the Dutch Skating association. The largest clubs are probably the Amsterdam and Rotterdam Ice clubs, and in the season many excursions are made by these associations to the neighboring towns- for example, from Amsterdam to Leyden via Vogelenzang and Haarlem; from Amsterdam to Monnikendam, Edam, Hoorn, Enkhuyzen, Alkmaar and even across the Zuyder Zee, when it will bear, to Marken, and even Urk. The way the whole country is moated with canals, with huge windmills overlooking the ice like leviathan implements of ordnance, is calculated to appeal to the lovers of the picturesque. Then there are the graceful light sleighs, propelled by skillful skaters, and containing red-cheeked, bright-eyed peasant girls in immense lace caps and dangling temple ornamente flying over the ice at great speed. On the Maas, a few miles east of Rotterdam, lies a famous skating resort known as Slikkerveer, and brought into notoriety in recent years by the international skating contests which are held there. Any one fond of that exhilarating form of exercise can hardly find a more interesting experience than is to be had duriag a winter trip to Holland. In the season the boat leaves the Rhine station pier for a sail up the Maas. The steamer plows her way through the floating ice, and at length leaves you at a high pier on a huge dike which separates the river from the low-lying country. A short walk brings you to a large inclosed expanse of ice, obtained by artiflcially flooding a large área. Here a huge horseshoe course is marked out for the racers, and on either side of this stretches the free portion, for the onlookers and those who wish to practice the exhllarating art. Fashion is beginning to drive out the picturesque costumes of the peasants, who are becoming ashamed of their distinctive dress. So year by year there is to be seen less and less of the lovely, quaint and sometimes bizarre head-dress and queer coats and breeches of the men and boys.