Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-11-03
BELGIUM.
A EashyilIian Abroad-BrusseIs-T
Expositfon Bchlaf.Eagen : Have
YOu Seen the whale?

Expositien- schIaGwagen : Hay'
YOu Seen the whale?
Correspondence of the Union and American
ANTWERP, BELGIUM, Oct. 19.-Aftel
many postponements Of my trip, have
been to Brussels. / went yesterday.
went with Grawaehl. Grawaehl is a funny
fellow, especially when he speaks English.
Upon cold and clustering day in October,
as novelist would begin, a rather over
dressed group of two young men might
have been seen pursuing their way toward
| Brussels, 'ensconsed in velvet-lined first
class railway carriage. The long tall lines
Of silver poplars bending gracefully to the
wind, formed the chief attraction to the
landscape, while here and there wind
mill spread its arms to the gale. On our
route we passed handful Of houses, which
rejoices in the grand name Of tie City Of
Malines- give it a mere glance, and then
resume my contemplation of Grawaehl's
lncipient mustache, and wonder how long
it viii be before he will be able to raise a
crop Of whiskers like mine Before had
solved the question, we glided past a ca
thedral. "Bruxelles," cried nv fellow
traveller. The first thing YOU notice on en-
tering Belgium (and by this sign We shall
know it) is the interminable lines of pop
lars standing on eternal dress-parade. The
second is more poplars.
Brussels is the finest and largest city in
Belgium, but if any one comes here expect
ing to find every other store carpet store
he will be disappointed. With a popula-
tion of about two hundred thousand inhabi-
tants, it is divided into riIle-hdute and rifle
bGSse. The upper town contains the quar-
tiers elegdRtS, the palace of the King,
Chamber of Deputies, the Park and Rue
Royale, the last being the longest and most
beautiful street in the city. The Leopold
QUARTER is inhabited by the aristOcracy,
and reminds one of Chicago. The whole
city, in one point, put me in mind of that
great Illinois city, and that was the amount
Of Improvements being pushed forward.
Central Boulevard Is but year old, and it
is already lined with magnificent shops,
cafes, etc. Scatfoldings, hewn stone, brick
piles are seen everywhere, and the emusic
by the band" mingles with the clink of the
hammer and the clang Of the trowel.
Brussels looks 10 me like Paris, aud its
inhabitants-are proud Of calling it Petit
Paris. Its Pare is a diminutive Tuilleries
Garden; the Alice Vert, a small Champs
Elysees; the Wood of Chambre a reduced
copy Of Bots de Bologne, and the Boule-
wards of Brussels can be matched nowhere,
so they say, but at Paris Twill not weary
you with a description of the Place des |
Martyrs, where are buried the heroes of |
1880, which is embellished with a magnifi- |
cent bronze statue of Leopold l. As we |
were hurried in our sightseeing, having
but one day to spare for it, we proceeded |
towards the Exposition, which was the
main object of our visit. 1t is held every |
year, and the Belgians are very proud of it.
Every one had urged US to be particular to
see the American palace sleeping car, and
The question, "Haben sic den schlaf-wagen
gessehn?" had been propounded as often
IS the "Have you seen the whale?" Of Harry
Hawkins. Harry was our felloW-passen-
ger on board the ocean steam r Bolivia,
and was always looking out for an oppOr-
unity of fooling his friends. We were
Eating breakfast one morning when in
ushed Harry, exclaiming, 'Haye you seen
he whale?" As none of US had seen the
whale, and as all were peculiarly anxious
o see one, the salon was quickly
deserted. OF course it was only one of
iarry's jokes, and on our return 10 our
meal, we found the joker
Iuietly breaking eggs, while he asked
olemnly of each one, as he entered, if he
lad seen the whale. That whale stood for
standing joke for some days. Now had
cen plenty ''sleep-wagons" in America.
mt my friend had not had that advantage,
o we hurried to the Exposition. Entering
over town where the Exposition building
) located, We had quite steep street to de-
oend, and, L must say, it was quite SEN
alton to me once more to get off the level.
Lntwerp is as fiat as a pancake, Paris as
evel as a billiard-table, London ditto, and
had not tackled a hill since l was on
Iigh street, Edinburg, FIVE months ago. l.
It the foot of the hill we entered Grand
lace, where stands the Hotel de Vile
18th its magnificent Gothic spire sur
lounted by a colossal bronze gilt statue of
t. Michael. This building was erected
4 l4Ol. Opposite stands a palace which
as built by the great Emperor Charles V. ,
t last We reached the Exposition, but,
las, it was closed, while an immense
lacard informed US that it would not be
pened until next day. We adjourned to
cafe, where we swallowed our wrath and
1r supper.
Here we met Jar, a lively Frenchman,
no, hearing that We are about to start to :
ntwerp, asked permission to join us.
laundering about the city, we saw but few
Irpets, but came across some Brussels lace
excited $50 francs yard; as our joint funds
ould have purchased but an inch or so of
, We let it be, and went to the station and
marked for Antwerp. 1t was on our
urney that Jar came out strong. With
IT internission, during the twenty four
lies journey, he RECALLED us with amusing ,
lecdOtes of his adventures in Paris. | ,
mt know where Grawaehl and should
i've passed so delightful time, if we could
lly have understood the points Of the
cries. Neither G. nor are quite as well
'quainted with the French language as we
)pe to be hereafter; we can ask and an
yer simple questions, but when it comes
the apprehension of Jest, the point of
hich lies sometimes in peculiar dialect,
1t more frequently in the double and OBJ
ure meaning of word, we are not
named to confess that we were at sea.
owever, when Jarr laguhed, G. laughed Z
N I laurbad aud xr-a xx-ora iollxy