Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-07

takers 20 carry the mOurners have white
cherubs Of bone or ivory on their tois and
sides, and the doors are ornamented with
white skulls and CruSSbOues
Belgium is noted for the excellence Of its
agriculture, and both it and Holland are one
vast park and garden. OF all Belgium only
one-eighth is not cultivated, and it Is said
there : no country in the world where faI IN
ing fs so protitably carried on. Riding
through the country you see on every side Of
YOU flat fields loaded with the harvest, and
only separated from one another by the diff
ferent colorS of the crops contained in them,
There are no fences and the roadwayS are aS
hard as asphalt and a. smooth rs boards.
They are usually lined with trees, great for
est trees, straight and tall, and as old as the
century. Here and there a stream cuts
through the vast patchwork plain of growing
crops and grass. and the banks of them are
also shaded by trees. You see few cattle in
the fields and those which are allowed TO
Craze are kept by herismen. The farm
houses and barns are low-structured build
ingS, punched together and roofe1 with red
tides or gray thatch. The people working in
the fields, men and women. are cheaply
dressed, and the men wear caps and blue
cotton. blouse-like shirts over their trousers.
1t was Sunday when l rode into Belgium
from Paris The ordinary week day occupa-
tions went on as usual Men and women
were digging potatoes in the fields and load
ing hay. Here was a gang repairing the
roadway, and at 8 p. IN. We passed n rolling
mill, and l saw an army of puddlers,
naked to the waist labelling out the red-hot
iron. Along the streams people were bath
- ,,,l I of hnN-S ri lal
in the attire of Adam before the fall, prepar-
ing 10 take a Sunday swim. The Sabbath
does not count for much either here or in
France, and Sunday is in Paris the great
holiday of the week 1t is then that the
crowd on the bOuleyards is the thickest and
gayest: it is on Sunday that the races are
held in the suburbs, and it is then that the
maddest and gayest of Partisan pleasures 60
their merry immoral round. Sunday in
England's cities is fully as slow as it is in
those of America On the continent it is the
pleasure day Of all the week
Belgium is one of the greatest manufactur
ing countries in Europe. 1t makes excellent
iron and steel. and it is crowding the Irish
linen factors very closely. 1t is growing, too,
in industrial enterprise, and, next 10 Holland,
it has the largest ratio of industry Ter in
habitant o, any nation OF Europe. Between
1870 and 1850 it increased S2i5, ,OOO, 900 in its
industrial and commercial interests, and its
increase during this time was fully 20 per
cent. 1t is competing with England at all
points in cotton and iron, and it has the
great advantage Of lower rates u labor ind
longer hours Wages in England are very
low, but those OF Belgium are only about af
as much, and the day is twelve hours loag.
These Belgians are much like the French in
their tastes They live after the same
fashion, and love to sit outside of the cafes
and drink their sociable glass with their
friends In Antwerp and Brussels, which
are the two largest cities of the country, you
see many sights which remind you of Paris.
Brussels the capital Of the country, prides
herself on being like Paris, and she has her
Palace du ROi, which corresponds TO the old
palace of the Tuileries, her Bois de Ia Cam
bre corresponding TO the Bois de BouloSne,
and she is cleaning up and widening her
streets in the same way Paris has been doing
since the days of Louis Napoleon. The old
Flemish nation is passing away and French
Belgian people is taking its place. The French
language is used everywhere in Belgium, the
French monetary system of francs and
centimes was long ago adopted, and the airy
manners and customs Of Paris are now the
beau ideal Of the descendants of the sturdy,
fierce old Flemish of the past.
Antwerp has about 100000 people and
| Brussels is about twice as large. Both cities
are growing. and Antwerp is one of the great
| commercial seaports of Europe. In the Six
teenth century Antwerp had l25,OOO popuIa-
] ton, and its harbors often contained l,OOO
/ vessels at one time during that period. 1t
was during the time of Charles V the most
prosperous and wealthy city of Europe, and
surpassed even Venice. 1t had great com
mercial fairs, and among its business men
/ were 200 foreign commercial firms. One
of its milIionaires died and left about 50, ,OOO :
| OOl which WAS an enormous fortune then.