The Holland Society of New York - Yearbook (New York, NY)

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42 might bg able to discover some evidencesof vice in this city, and a citizen of N.eW'Y0fk mlght trace Something of what is left of his rights after bossism and machine politics have brought their work to a finish. , Donders's name is also mentioned here, Don- ders spent a large portion of his life in investigating errors of refraction 1n the eye, and he was able to correct those defects by glasses, and especially that particular defect known as astigmatism, which pre. vents a proper visual appreciation of a point. But neither Donders nor any of his successors have yet been able to invent a glass which would enable an Englishman to see the point of an American joke. As an illustration of this, a party of gentlemen- one of whom was an Englishman -were gathered one evening on the steps of a hotel, when the con- versation turned upon Chicago, and finally upon the large feet that distinguish the inhabitants of that city, and one gentleman declared that he knew of an instance in which a man was not able to put on his trousers in the usual way, on account of the size of his feet, but was obliged to pull them on over his head. Most of the company present appreciated the humor of this remark, but the Eng- lishman sat without moving a muscle, his counte- nance indicating the most profound perplexity. On the following morning he met the author of the story and immediately attacked him, saying : I thought last night that that statement you made was very extraordinary and scarcely credible, but I know now that it was impossible, for I spent half an hour in my room last night trying to pull on my trousers over my head, and I found that it was a phy- s1cal impossibility, sir,--a physical impossibility! I5 W land' A r , Iflfleronlis if ft ,tt Q03 itowerelol upkftl owglfand .Cd ywtmuahf, uyjlelbl bmnggu wa llmll was unmafiufl I we ' awfobringlowf . he , F35 W25 A me one that .vm gp IU sgmfllody gl gjpgigf olfl R h lalllmmg d 5 Ngllllllloll as w lfllllfhalgd' ad Q F ,Wiliam as P045 lcplll UH his we ien,il this nw! CUM dv M leinluenoe ol oil lb' 1 matalend hem bt lil .Tasman has ab ben 1 great explorer M hd i pincipally in the li Ag llfly l0I' dw' - mqwllch is km 5 Q 5 Bill, and I Ige numbu ol NR l I H - '50s qm '1hi. ll f'Hw,t 1 . mmm hklldl vllatusemeeshf i li. Inu, .gi- .1

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41 fell down into the area, thus reversing the direction of the steps. As this was not immediately oor. 1-ected, owing to the absence of the family, it was seized upon as offering a practical suggestion for a new departure in domestic architecture, and now it has come about that a New Yorker owning one of these high-stoop houses will not rest until he has Changed it so that, instead of mounting up, the steps to the parlor floor, with head erect and a proud sense of proprietorship, he now dives with bowed head into the basement like a woodchuck into its burrow. Such great results follow sometimes from slight causes. D A part of my toast refers to Dutch art. I am not sufficiently a critic in art to assign to Dutch painters their place in the world's school of art, but I may say something about the educational side of Dutch art. But for it we should not have known that about the year I, houses in Jerusalem had steep, red-tiled roofs and gables looking toward the street, nor that in the domestic economy of Hades pitchforks were freely used to toss lost souls into the flery furnaces in which xthey were forever to roast! - f The name of Leeuwenhoeck has been mentioned in the toast. I-le was practically the inventor of the microscope, which is now perfected until it has reached such a power that we are enabled to chase the malarial organism through the vitals of the mosquito and into its final resting-place in the human victim g and to demonstrate that we hold our lives, as it were, at the mercy of i miC1'0bCS S0 minute, that a dozen of them placed side by side scarcely measure the thousandth part of an inch. With such an instrument, perhaps Chief Devery

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I find also the name of Grotius, who was a noted writer on law and an eminent jurist, and if it were not Grotius, it was probably one of his fol- lowers and pupils, of whom is related an instance exhibiting a knowledge of human nature scarcely equalled by the celebrated judgment of Solomon. A man was brought before him, charged with having beaten unmercifully a helpless cripple. The evidence was conclusive, and all that could be done was to bring forward mitigating circumstances, and the one that was principally relied upon was that somebody had given to this man a bottle 'of very superior old, mellow Schiedam Schnapps, and that partaking of thislhe had been led into such a condition as to commit the crime with which -he was charged, and the judge was appealed to to be as lenient as possible. But, instead of that, he put on his sternest aspect andsaid, Gentle- men, if this man could do this dreadful deed under the influence of old, mellow Schiedam Schnapps, what a fiend he must be when he is sober l . Tasman has also been spoken of. I-le was a 'great explorer and discovered a number of islands, principally in the Indian Archipelago. Unfortu- nately for his credit, his name is attached to only one, which is known as the home of the Tasmanian Devil, and which afterwards became peopled by a large number of persons of whom T Be it understood They left their country for their country's good.' Gentlemen, if Ihave indulged in a little pleas- antry at the expense of Holland, I trust no one will accuse me of being blind to the claims of that