"Wherever the foreshore is so loose that it tends to wash away," M, Stoffels went on, in reply to some further observations as to the conditions which rule on the Norfolk Coast, You must go in for artificial walls of some sort. I know of no simple, inexpensive substitute for them. Tdon't say that a big and costly structure like this would be necessary; but still you must have, walls and grayness of some sort. The strength and character of them, of course is only to be determined by local circumstances. "As for marrum grass, that of course should be freely used; but marrum in itself will not save. your coasts if they are subject to anything like the ten-doneies which we experience here. Marrum tends to hold the sand which the wind blows on to the dunes; but once let a heavy sea get upon them and: they. are gone, notwithstanding the marrum. It is undoubtedly a great benefit to accumulate sand. We in Scheveningen fully understand the value of reeds and grasses," and here M. Stoffels pointed to the foot of the William of Orange monument, where some marrum chad been recently. sown, and where a bastion of sand bags precisely similar to those lately in use on Gunton Denes had been erected as a temporary precaution. But we know from long experlence that Scheveningen could never depend fonts safety on defences of that kind. What you want is something that will stop the travel of the beach:. Dhave no doubt that for so large an area as you describe the cost of adequate defences would be considerable but if your dangers are as real as those of Scheveningen, you will find it the truest economy to spend what is necessary straight away. There are no cheap methods." And here M. Stoffels, a busy. professional man with a load of responsibility on his shoulders, folded his charts and hurried back to the Scheveningen Pumping Station. He is an excellent type of the hard-headed business-like Dutch oficial. With the utmost courtesy and patience he had been wandering up and down the beach for at least. two hours, pointing out the nature of the Scheveningen defences, and in a biting wind spreading out his maps and plans in order that all necessary details should be made perfectly clear.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.