Juliana Leads
Holland in Day
Of Mourning
In Broadcast, She Tells of
Help in Flood Disaster;
Work on Dikes Goes On
AMSTERDAM, Feb. 8
Queen Juliana led Holland in a
day of mourning today. Through
out the Netherlands men and
women of all denominations
flocked to churches to pray for
the dead and those bereaved by the|
great flood.
The Queen, in a nation-wide!
broadcast at noon, said the pree
World had responded with a
mighty tide of Christian charity
;to the disaster caused by the
i fierce tides the night of Jan. 31
that took 1,372 lives in this nation.
"The solidarity we knew during
the wgr was suddenly there again,"
she said.
The Queen's speech was heard
by a stilled nation. Hardly a ve
hicle was to be seen on Am
sterdam's snow-covered streets all
day.
I Work on Dikes Continues
The sole exception was in the
[devastated floodlands themselves,
where work went ahead without
(interruption on mending danger
ous dike breaks. In some places
troops took over the work so the
inhabitants could go to church for
services for the bereaved.
At Middleharnis. where repair of
the dikes is well advanced, soldiers
and workers interrupted their
labors for a short time for prayer.
Premier Willem Drees went to
flood-devastated Goeree-Over-
flakkee Island, where an Army
chaplain conducted the memorial
service.
Royal Family at Church
The Queen, with her husband,
Prince Bernhard, and their two
eldest daughters, the Princesses
Beatrix and Irene, attended the
Netherlands Reformed Church at
Baarn. near the Palace of
Soestdyk, this morning. Holland's
former sovereign, Princess Wil-
helmina, went to services at
Amsterdam's New Church.
"We are all awestruck by the
great suffering which befell our
people," the Queen said in her
broadcast. "The Netherlands has
not only paid the toll of the dam
age to the dikes but has also up
held the high commandment of
charity laid upon us by Christ.
"But at the critical moment,
when material aids proved of no
avail, man's strength of mind was
summoned. The bursting of the
dikes raised a springtide of mutual
sympathy running in the opposite
direction. We felt in our heart
that we were at the threshold of
the fraternity of mankind,
we became aware that the whole
Free World sympathized with us."
