The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-09-26
An English Student Apparently Locates the
Historic Spot.
T.Ia

London Telegraph.
At length the researches of Sir William
Fraser have been rewarded. During his
recent visit he ascertained that the site of
the duke OF Richmond's temporary domi-
cile at Brussels was now covered by a
large hospital in the Rue des Cendres, one
of the wings of which is the original fabric !;
but neither here nor in the garden beyond
was there any trace of ball room. The
indefatigable baronet, determined not to be
baffled, pursued his investigations until he
observed, beyond the hospital wall, the
roof of a high building, which he was
informed was the brewery of the Rue de
la Blanchisserie. He walked round to the
"brasserie" in question; but the proprie-
tor could tell him nothing about any terp-
sichorean doings there in the year 1915. His
father, he said, had purchased the prop
erty of a coachbuilder named Van Asch,
and his depot for carriages was now his
the brewer's-granary. This room he
cOurteously offered to show to his visitor,
who was conducted to an apartment l20
feet long, ffty-four feet broad, and about
thirteen feet high, the floor being quite
smooth enough, even after this long lapse
OF time, to be danced upon. On the night
of the 10Th of June, 1915, the "parquet"
was in all probability, chalked in SYM
metrical and particolored pattern.
In any case, Sir William Fraser seems to
have conclusivelymade out his contention
that the "Waterloo Ball" was held in the
carriage depot of the coach-builder Van
Asch, now the granary of the "brasserie"
Vanginderachter, Nos. 42 and 43 Rue de
la Blanchisserie, Brussels; and the public
are indebted to the baronet for a long
needed and vainly-sought-for piece of in
formation. The doubt which for so many
years has enveloped the question is not,
after all, so very incomprehensible. The
coach-builder's warehouse was evidently
used as an "annex" to the Duke of Rich
mond's house and, considering that there
were some four hundred guests at the
ball, most of whom may have been almost
strangers to their noble host and hostess,
it is quite feasible that the majority of the
company never troubled their heads for a
moment as to whether the capacious but
low-roofed ballroom was part and parcel
of their entertainers, or whether it be-
longed to some contiguous premises, of
which opportunity had been taken, just
as the promoters of the tea party to
Messrs. Smith 0'Brien and Meagher, in
1S4S, "by the Shannon Shore, took the
opportunity of Tom Doolan's store"
DuJ JueTe Is one Olu6T pOlut IOuCuluS
this memorable festival, which, could Sir
William Fraser clear it up, would entltle
him to still greater need of gratitude at
the hands of his contemporaries. Napo-
Icons carriage, captured by the Prussians
after Waterloo, and now at Madame Tus-
saud's, was built at Brussels. Was it
built by Van Asch, who seemingly was a
leading "carrossier" of the period? The
Ouestion is worth asking: for when Byron.
after his separation from his wife, started
on that which was virtually Childe Har-
orld's pilgrimage, he purchased at Brus-
sells travelling carriage, which was the
exact counterpart of the one made for
Napoleon the Great. If Mynheer Van
Asch was the maker, the poet, in all prob
ability. visited the depot in the Rue de la
Blanchisserie, which only recently has
been used as a ballroom; and in that
long, low apartment, converted by poetic
license into 'high hall, he might have
felt the first inspiration for one of the
most magnificent of his lyrical achieve
ments.