Rotterdam

one of the chief commercial cities of the Netherlands. It is situated near the mouth of the Rhine, and is the center of an extensive system of canals. A large part of the city stands as it existed during the Middle Ages--an area of narrow, crooked streets and quaint old houses with red tiles and wooden gables. Rotterdam carries on an extensive foreign and domestic trade. It is said that, of European cities, it is second only to London in the amount of freight passing through. The most interesting part of the city is the busy quays, where an army of men and creaking cranes are busy unloading casks, boxes, and barrels--all sorts of merchandise imaginable. In front of the wharves there is a forest of masts. There are 500 acres of harbor and twenty miles of walled quays. A new harbor under construction doubles this capacity. There are large parks, a well kept zoological garden, several interesting churches, an academy of fine arts, numerous museums, and other public buildings. The population in 1907 was 403,000.