This announcement brings back to recollection the proud old Dutch proverb: "God created the sea, the Hollander the coast."
The proposal is to construct a dam from Ewyk, on the northeastern point of North Holland, to the island of Wieringen, and then from the eastern point of this island another dam, 18½ miles long, to the coast of Friesland, by the shortest route.
The Hollanders, in their great reclamation works, the Sea of Harlem, for instance, prepare the entire foundation first and then gradually raise the dam on it. The watercourse is not narrowed during the progress of the work, as the dam is raised uniformly throughout the whole length; the current therefore passes slowly over it, and the dam is not subject to damage from flood waters. These deposit enormous quantities of sand and mud within the intercepted area, and after a few years the land shows above the surface of the water; the land while still in course of formation is locally known as "Heller," and the reclaimed land as "Polder."
As soon as the land has attained the required height, the dam is built sufficiently high, and also strong enough, to answer the purposes of a dike and to withstand the force of the largest tidal waves.
In constructing these dams, enormous rafts are made on the shore and then floated to the works, where they are weighted by stones and sunk in the required position. Within a few weeks large quantities of silt and mud accumulate, and the whole forms an exceedingly tough and strong elevation under the water; the currents grow weaker, and deposits are lodged also outside the dam, the base of which is of course of great width.
The Zuider Sea is one of the strongest evidences we have of the power of the sea over the land. Its formation commenced as far back as the twelfth century, prior to which it was only an inland lake. On December 14, 1287, during a terrific storm, the sea broke through the dividing shore line and widened the lake into a wide bay (Southern Sea, Dutch, Zuider Sea) of the North Sea; 80,000 persons lost their lives on that occasion. The same storm also did enormous damages in other localities.
This was, however, not the first occasion on which the sea had made inroads into the coast lands. Before the works of destruction commenced a narrow isthmus connected Great Britain with the Continent. The North Sea was then—comparatively speaking—calm; vast chains of sandy downs ran parallel to the coast, and stretched from this isthmus to the coast of Jutland; they were of considerable height, those on the west coast of Schleswig attaining an altitude of 200 feet. Behind these downs enormous swamps are formed, in which the rivers, with few exceptions, disappeared; but the deposits they brought down formed those rich agricultural lands now known locally as "Marschland."
The destruction of the shores commenced from the date that the narrow isthmus above referred to was carried away by the tidal waves which broke the English Channel during westerly gales. Traces, found far inland, show that this catastrophe occurred when the locality was inhabited, in fact a legend, in circulation to this day, relates that an English queen, to revenge herself on a Danish king, had the dam which connected England with France pierced, and so destroyed Denmark. When the Romans appeared on the scene the work of destruction was in progress, the chain of downs had been broken, and its place taken by many islands, far larger and more numerous than at present.
The first historical accounts of the storm tidal waves is referred to by Strabo as having occurred in 113 B.C., this, he relates, drove the Cimbers and Teutons from their homes and was the cause of their threatening Rome. Many other floods occurred which are known as "Manntranke" (man drowning). In the flood of 1216, for instance, 10,000 persons lost their lives, and three years later the "Marcellus" flood caused similar destruction. In 1300 the second "Marcellus" flood broke 12 feet over the highest dikes and Schleswig alone lost 7,600 persons in the waves.
Heligoland was at that time a large island, 46 miles long and 24 miles wide, it contained a monastery, many churches, large villages, extensive cultivations and forests; the island was all but destroyed by this inundation. Before that disastrous occurrence the island could be seen from the shores of Friesland, which in the days of Charles the Great was twice as large as now. The Friesland of to-day is only the southern and poorest remnant of the magnificent lands which were completely destroyed on October 11, 1684; 20 parishes and 150,000 persons disappeared beneath the waves, which broke through the dikes simultaneously in twenty-four places.