THE CLEANEST PLACES IN THE WORLD.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1438, 22 December 1886, Page 2

THE CLEANEST PLACES IN THE WORLD.

Least 1 ke ordinary mortals, and moat !;ke be ngi of rome h glter sphere, are the irihahir-itite ~f th- tit !"» 'o-n >f Hroek, in 'I"' 1 - H->e f say-‘here, . lean*n -s i-xairtr] ro a c:h c*, O' rather i) us * ■Te p*>r»<e-i'oijr f the d »y —a colt —and th j O i yis vr r-hipped by his v >tariei, mt s aer*-a*'i or u certain intervals, >ut f very tn nut • J the d ry. S»!--r the town ■■«:! you are immediately steppe by a ouxom Duchwiman who nin« r o i-i i-t ynr an I■ffr *yi u with the ’io-a - t -qta im !, v e- pa r f airsw overhoHs o pro- n y .ii fr-nno suing the wre pav.-m u with u.-i.l , r dn-tn from nn it w .rhi You -irf la 8 oak and mil'*, do as the !? roeifans do Bn - are youn Broek ? Yon look around and become conscious of the sirr.nee sensation of having *’seen a’l this befo-q.” which wa a’l hare < xoerienced at t'roes, and which always Iwv. s such a puzziog uusst’tSsd fe din in the mind In - bit case, however,

no abstruse metaphysical reasoning is needed to explain tbe feeling of familiarity with which wa regard the scene. liThete hare you seen garden palings painted blue, and tranks of trees a bright yellow I Where have you seen stables without a speck of dirt, with enter*ldgreea mangers and crime n-red walls i Why su’eiy la ths - dear old box of toys, which lasted, alas ! each a little time, but W’licu n> soch a .icurca of unmingled j -y, u. til ihb lilt.!* 4 s.Tuooy trees io ttbeir hra'ichi-s, he armors their armi and lege aid, in fine, n if *h 4 whole hex became * collect'*.>i of disjecta membra of no use wha ever, save, ..ko the mummy at the - nypt au feast, to remind us tbat time levels all. ’’ “ Eureka ! ” yon cry out in delight, “ It’s Uka my old box of bniidine'toys 1 ” aod certainly the funny little farmers, and tbe prim little houses and the quan t llttia streets, are not one whit more funny, more prim, and more quaict than the streets and houses with th-Jp plump and homely inhabitants of the most original of tne mauy original towns of Ht'Jlsnd. Harmony, as far as colours are cm-c-rned, is a science unknown in Broek. Simplicity seems to be tbe first and last law of their artistic nature, and accordIngly, a bright yellow shutter is edged with a thick band of b'ue, with a bar of r«d across it for p’easing variety, or yellow trees alternate with b'ue ones in novel not to say peculiar grouping But all this time we are in tbe street. It is true we can se> from the outside, t-m stables with their Dutch c>ws, whose tails are fastened to a ring in the ceiling, !en by sweeping the floor they may become aoiied, though from the look of the spotless pavement oven that seems an impose bility Like Oliver Twist, however, wa want more inside, and, accordingly, we pre eat our I t er of introduction, and proceed to visit tbe nterior of one of the houajj, wh’se exterior is like an architect,’* nightmare’

We enter a h"UH which is a miracle of pur ty. the first impression of a BmeW ip priori* far from pleasing, owing to the heterogeneous character tf the o j-olw which cover the walls, tables, and curb a more iei urelyview discloses such marvels of constant and lovir-g cares in keeping every corner free from soil, that a mranger is struck with admiration, an! though the coll- ction of objec s is of a character to drive one of our modern ‘ as ■'hates ” ravin' mad, still an ordinary mtnd would be too occupied ia praising, to h iv* rim- to blama th i bad tasto shown to a codection of maaniogless objects illassorted and bidiy contrasted. F'-r here are shells, mode’s of ships, china vis s and oops, little spinning wheals, mirrors—all tied no with little hows of ribbons, and mus in —aud, shads

(f Turner ! rii'tu es, the perspective of which reaemoles no'h'.jq n the world so mi’ch as tha* fora ms j .ke of Hogarth, in wh' h he has vi luted every law «f draa ing. Bat ev ry nail shines like silv-r or gold ; every little gimorack is ns bright aa when It left the maker's hands ; the fireplace lined with little d' If-tiea seems to know nothin? so dirty as smok“ ; In fact, even if yon enter the house in the spirit that the man wert into (he conservatory to look for weed", you will fail to find • speck of dirt or a trace of dust.

And how is this s’ate of things obtained ? Well, wh"n I saw the collection of brushes for thefl >of, brushes for the walla, tiny sponges for the corners, toyI*ke rakes and scrapers, slender little splints for the chance grain of dost that may have eluded the housewife’s watchful eye, or become lodged between the brioka or tiles ; when I snv. the powdered whiting for the paint, the leathers for th*> glass, the snowy white floor cloths, *h« gay. feather brushes, one surprise gave way to another, and I wandercdlncw, not how the things were kept clean bat how the time was found to do what every Inet'ior will show is a thing of universal custom.

Thare is a well-known story that this pasxon for the ultra <lean(inesi had developed to each an absorbing degree that the women neglected their religions duties, for the more congenial occupation of keeping their booses e’ean. Nor sre. the male inhabitants of .Break far behind' their wives They concentrate their, attention on ’heir gardens, and here we aba 1 ! find to what extremes a most sober - and phlegmatic nation can occasionally go. a phenomenon which has never been better exemplified than in the famous I'nllpomanla of the seventeenth century. We shall find within an area of a few. rqusre yards,'lit<le snmmerhouses, Indian tF-mp’as, Swiss chalets, si the banks of „ 1 t'le canals, a few inches wide spanned - by gaily painted lit le bridges, with here and th re a toy steamer, or a mimic flock of t’-n geese. Here Is a flower-bed surrounded by a border of colored pebbles, and there clumps of yew or box, trimmed to repreant all kinds of fantastic fieutoa. All these may be seen la Broek. Those who have not the time to mske tha journey may see all these and many more wonders in the Broek Boose at the end of

the Yondel Park, in Amsterdam, where there is an exact model of a bouse such as Is described here Adjoining 5 « a quaint Dutch garden, with its walks and mosaics of ft'inea and shells, all in the real old Inartistic fashion. The presiding genius of tb's garden Is a dear white-haired old man, who follows o’ose to your heals as joo recklessly entangle yourself In the labyrinth of the muza. end who chuckles to himself as he witnesses your discomfiture when you find ycuwelf confronted bv a ghastly-loosing wooden hr in it, who rods at you as you enter h‘B cell. Turning to beat a half-frightened half-atnnsed retreat, you find yi'ur egress stopped 1)y hundreds of streams that Interpose a watery barrier between you and the outer worl i. Your quiet <ld guide comes to you re-cue, or, in other words, stops the machinery that his set the different wonders in motion, and presents y<>u ta return for his well-earned honorarium with a few leaves of quitrefoil—the four-leved Shamrock—hoping you may find » fire- 1 oared spray the symbol of perfect hapri >ess May you be so fortunate. Tit Bits