Dutch Town Hit Harder
Than Boston Suspecte
Ft.
Sea Hazard
Continues in
Pathetic Ruin
By ALICE BURKE
Traveler Staff Reporter
BROUWERSHAVEN, Holland
This little flood-ravaged Ned
erlands town, "adopted" by BW^|
ton, was harder hit by raging, dike-]
smashing waters than any one in
Boston had suspected.
THE PLIGHT of the town, for,
which funds are being raised in:
Boston, is desperate.
Influenza is raging here, ham
pering the daily mobilization of,
man-power needed to bolster the
dikes against the continuing
pounding of the seas.
DESPITE THE CRIPPLING
effects of the flu, as many as 200
men at a time are turning out to
continue the work of mending the!
I earthen barriers.
Some of the scenes in stricken].
Brouwershaven are almost beyond
description.
STREWN ABOUT, oeing dis
posed of at intci /als, are the car
casses of some 100 cows and 30C
pigs and goats which had beer
some of the townsfolks' most pre
cious assets.
A Brouwershaven physician
FUND
(Continued on Page Nineteen)
whose services are in almost con
stant demand is traveling about
the townwhere traveling is pos
sible—by bicycle.
His car was ruined by the flood
waters. Most of his medicines and
instruments were swept away.
The danger from further high
tides and new storms is so criti
cal that an emergency ship is
standing by to evacuate any who
may be trapped.
And this three weeks after the
crushing storm, worst in Dutch
history.
Eighty of Brouwershaven's 325
dwellings are still awash in three
feet of water.
Twenty are so badly battered
they have been written off as
total wrecks
Another 40 are so severely
damaged they may have to be
razed. There is little hope of sav
ing them.
Among these are historic, cen-
turies-oid houses and shops lining
three sides of the town's harbor.
PATHOS IN DEBRIS
Debris is everywherea pa
thetic confusion of broken furni
ture, overturned stoves, smashed
sewing machines, dishes, water-
soaked books and other household
articles which once stood in neat
array in well-ordered Dutch dwel
lings.
There is no electricity.
The only drinking water avail
able is from the emergency ship.
Some 100 farm machines, vir
tually priceless to the residents of
Brouwershaven, stand rusting in
fields, either under water or partly
so.
A few have been salvaged and
moved into the town square 'for
possible later overhaul.
HOMES IN MID-AIR
The surging flood completely
swept away some of the town's
most valuable shops.
The town hall's steps were lorn
away. Foundations of some build
ings are in precarious condition.
Two dwellings are hanging in
mid-air, shored up by improvised
props amid the surrounding
muck.
The town's three major indus
tries are stricken:
The refrigeration equipment of
the shrimp peeling plant is choked
with silt.
Machinery of the big mowing-
threshing firm that milled the lo
cal wheat and corn crops is rust
ing deep in water.
Sheds of the tram line company
which employed many residents
of Brouwershaven are in deep
water.
The crippled tram line is not
running.
SCHOOLS SWAMPED
At least one third of Brouwer
shaven's streets are washed out.
Two schools are swamped.
Desks and chairs are warped and
tumbled about. Some ceilings are
down.
Every child in the village and
all but 10 courageous women have
,been evacuated to the mainland,
ij' There seems to be no end to
the catalogue of damage and de
struction.
A new playground that was
under construction is wrecked.
A huge Gothic, 14th centur
edifice, St. Nicolas' Church, is
MVicLmSperna Weiland started
an attempt to clean out the
church, but it was impossible.
WATERS HIGH
Waters are still at high tide
!eOne thing is unmistakable:
Brouwershaven needs helpand
plenty of it.
If you can help, send whatever
you can afford to the Bost9"
Traveler Flood Relief Fund, 80
Mason street, Boston.
