Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-30

MAN nj rounder lends an
| BNA additional piqaancy
I h'' to the city Of his
The King of Belgium has eaten I'M the
| fortune Of the ex-Empress Carlotta. The
| King Of Belgium protects the gambling es-
ADJUSTMENTS of Ostend, Spa and Brussels
| The King Of Belgium is used to advertise a
| little dancer Of the Paris opera. The world
| Is tolerably familiar with his life and ad.
ventures. And an understanding of the
| character of his easy-going. pleasure-lovfng
| SUBJECTS VIII go long way toward an un-
oerstanding Of the giddy life of their easy
gong, pleasure-lOving, windy-whiskered Do
| tentafe. The Fling is master in his capital.
| some time ago the citizens of Brussels
thought they had reason to complain of
| their king. They got up demonstration
| 10 the number of 5000 they went to the
park, without tur1ult. without cries, and
| drew themselves up before the palace.
There was moment of silence. Then with
/ single voice they cried-or rather, said.
| with Belgian accent:
"A bias lie Roir' Down with the kingo "a
pause) "A has lie Reine! down with the
queenD lAnother pause) "A bias lie Comte
de FIandresn' Down with the Count of
fIandersD (The brother and heir of the
kins0 Then they walked off But sud
denly, as if seized by remembrance. they
came back, and with the same calmness.
added: EFT la comtesse aussir' (And the
countess. tooD
To Oblige the Policeman.
They were understood. The king saw that
he had gone too far, and Immediately the
reform. or reforms, the people had their
hearts set on were granted. With the Bel
gians one may go very far-they are SO
! easy-goins of themseives-but when the
0lu3r y,1s-
who knows them knows that it is time And
all with such politeness!
| Foc example, one evening in front of the
BRUSSELS bourse two drunken men were
| lighting. Slowly, regularly. heavily, they
| let their fists fall ON each others heati:,
| without a scintilla of science. A garden
de la paix drew near and tried to separate
them. Understand that he exhorted them
| to separate themselves and did not INTRO
duce himself into the row. Go homer
The drunken men continued humping each
other. 60 home, 1 tell your The fists
kept falling with a tranquil regularity. Il
| The crowd stood listening looking at the
| fighters, and they did not interrupt their
| work
| Without any impatience the garden in
| which they were exposing themselves and
| once more said, go homer' At last, as if
| to make an end Of argument, he adced. be-
| seechingly, Pour me faire plaisir.'' C.Then
IL
men stopped looked at him, separated-and
each one went his way!
The King and the Ballet.
The Bruxellois is gay, yet ne has
something about him not exactly heavy
| but reflective. He moves little slowly but
he moves, and when he moves it is without
| unseemly haste and undue effort. The
Bruxellois, being gay himself, has reasoned
| it out that his king should not be interfered
with in his gayeties. And, being slow and
reflective, he does not often give way to
anger at public scandal
1t is thus that, although the politics of
Belgium at the present moment i'm a
state OF chaos they do not often touch the
king, who goes his way. His way is two
| fold. First, the king is a man of pleasure
IN the good old-fashioned sense; second the
king is a man of business in the fine new
sense. He owns personally half the Congo
Free State, which our late lamented Amer
lean citizen. H. NJ. Stanley, got for him.
Tne pleasure OF the queen is in the thea
ter 1t is known that she is a great musi-
clan and attends all the first nights of the
Theater Royal de la Monnaie The king Is
more moderate in his taste for music. He
remains in the palace, except for the bal
let The appreciation of the king for that
amateur.
The second pleasure of the king is horse
BACK RIDING. and he rides great deal with
no other guard than one horseman. who is
much more solemn than himself The Sec
ond pleasure of the queen is to drive a
four-in- hand. There are two horsemen in
front OF the carriage, man on the seat,
and two horSemen behind. Formerly n
seems, she drove six-in-hand. but after a
few accidents she gave it up.
Little Paris, Indeed
The court is simple and tranquil. The
outward show, except for official cere-
monies, Is reduced to the strict minimum
There Is post of carbineers in front of the
palace, sentries at the different gates. and
| nothing more. The Comte de Flandres goes
out walking with his wife, Imping a little
and saiutfng cordially those whom he
meets.
Brussels is sometimes called a little par;.
II the tourist has managed to choose a no.
tel patronized by the English and takes
the table d'hote, his first impression will
make MIN think 1t is a little Paris indeed
The street life has not much of Paris or of
anything at all, except a certain emptiness.
as II the people had gone out of town.
1t Is useless to insist upon the curiosities
the Church of St Gudule the little cher,Il,
OF the fountain. the statutes of the martyrs
and the musuem, with it's Rubens, Teniers
ana Van Eycks. They leave the traveller
unconvinced. All the famous gayety and
charm of Brussels center round the pleas
ures of the well-to-do. The theater and on
era, horses, social life-right-handed and
notwithstanding. drinking sleeping
these are the pleasures of the Belgian capi-
tai. >NP.-
There are two theaters which give Won
a first glimpse. The first nights at the
Faro are curious. All the cocottes appear
there In their splepdor, and form a special
feature of the Belgian capital No one of
them would miss first night at the Pare
It IL their drawing room and their assem-
bly,. They go alone or with companion or
servant.
On the other hand, you scarcely see them
at La Aonnafe. which is the royal opera
house.
Foster the Muses.
The auditorium of La Monnaie is pretty.
The height Of the balcony and the boxes
above the parquet give 1t peculiar ele-
sance. As to the orchestra, Its value il
known. Only opera is given: and 1t is no
torious that in its recognition CT new art
lists and new pieces the Theater Royal de
la Monnate of Brussels Is well ahead of the
Grand Opera Of Paris. 1t fostered Sibyl
6ancerson and many another before the
world Of Paris knew them.
The life OF q eilded youth of Brussels is
not so different from that Of Paris. From
10 o'clock in the morning to noon he Is on
horseback at the Bois de la Cambre The
bois is really charming not large, but skill
fully laid out 1t 10 gay toward IL O'Clock
as are the bouleyardS md ayenl,es rvf1i