Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-09-10
In QUAINT ANTWERP.
A CITY WHERE AMERICA Is NOT
KNOWN.
S0Mg PIRsTIHPRESSI0HS.
pub,ic Places, Ornaments, and Build
turs That Attract the Stranger
The Great Cathedrni--A Hish-CI"ss
Theatre.



wen in Antwerp; II you speak noth'hs
but Dutch you still have no trouDie' "
Won speak French that is perhaps pt"'
better than either. In most OF the DUST
mess houses and all the hotels thefe IT
some one who speaks English. In 'nt
post-ofilce is an interpreter. who smiling
y answers thousand questions a day'
When you try TO pay l0-centime street
ear fare and stumble over II, the con-
auctor says: "Three cents, SIR That IL
,nly in the high-priced. cars, however; OH
most lines the fare is cents. When
milk cart comes down the street In the
morning. drawn by three big dogs III
harness, one between the shafts and one
on each side, with an old woman in
wooden shoes walking beside, and you
forget yourself and ask her in Engilsh'
How do you sell your milk?' she quickly
answers. "Six cents a quart" and then
laughs TO think OF her proficiency in the
language of the foreign barbarians.
But you need not think TO pass yourself
Of for an American here. IL you speak
English. you are an Englishman. Ameri-
rams have red skins and wear feathers IN
have seen pictures of them. We have
read about America. 1t is far-off land,
mostly woods. They have the great wolf
there called the boof'alO. We have seen
the horns and skins. America Is far
country; but you are English. This Is
among the more ignorant people, OF
course. Businessmen know the difference
between an Englishman and an Ameri-
can. hut most of them have no idea OF
American distances. One man, who sells
me paper and pictures and guide-books
and such things. and who speaks English
30 well that / suspect he is a transplanted
Cockney is delighted to hear that / am
sn American and from New York, be-
Pause he has a cousin near New York.
He is In San Francisco. When / tell him
that II he went from Antwerp to New
York he would be just about half way 70
San Francisco, IL is plain that he does
not believe II. If l were to tell him that
we have single counties i'm America about
the size of Belgium 1t would not surprise
him, because he would not understand it..
IN THE PLACE VERTE.
One Of the best things about Antwerp
is that it Is all here together. You do
not have to ride two hours on TOP of q
bus 10 see church. and then find the
door locked. The Place Verte, a pretty.
little square. half the size of Union
Square, with a fine statue of Rubens in
the centre Is about two minutes walk
from the river; and when you are in the
Place Verte you are in the centre of
everything. Here is the post-office, on
the upper side; on the opposite side the
end Of wing Of the cathedral; all
around are the leading hotels. which are
clean and comfortable and moderate in
their prices. This Is the street-car CEN
tire; here are the best cafes ana
the best stores. Here on Wednesday and
Saturday mornings is the flower market.
when the broad sidewalks become
mounds of beautiful flowers. and when
you can buy bouquet Of exquisite roses
for a sou. Here on two evenings every
week the band plays; here you can meet
all your acqualntances, smoke your Bel
CLAN cigars under the trees. and imagine
yourself Dutch burgher of the seven
teenth century. ai.- a-
The Place Nerte is not IN the centre of
the city. but 1t is the centre of the city's
life. Even the people OF fashion are still
fond Of it, though they profess to have
given 10 over to the lower orders. You
can stand here by the Rubens statue
and almost throw a stone TO every point
OF interest that a stranger cares to see
barring the museum and the Geological
Garden. For my part, ! draw the line
ut geological gardens. One cannot be
expected to waste his energy and francs
and admiration on the same old washed
out lions and tigers In every city in
Europe. Nothing short OF "a live maSto-
don or q frisky ichthyosaurus shall en-
tice me into another zoo, After seeing
the big collections Of fatigued beasts in
Philadelphia and New York and London,
these country ZOOS are no temptation.
The European boy, like his father, Is
still fond of them, and every city of any
pretension has its collection of animals.
There can hardly be enough wild beasts
to 20 around.
From the Place Verte 1t is only step
through a narrow street 10 the open
square on which the cathedral fronts.
This square Is about the same size as
the place, but there is no grass in 1t;
It Is paved with uneven cobblestones,
which are hard to walk upon. Ii Is a
rare old place, however, surrounded by
buildings that one might sit down and
study 10y the hour. On Saturday morn
ings this square Is the vegetable mar
ket, and the countrywomen come In with
their dog-carts loaded with fresh and
fragrant eatables.
In the centre of the square which is
called the Grand Place, is an immense
iron fountain, representing Silvius Brabo
throwing the giant Antigon's hand into
the Scheldt. 1t Is one of the city's le-
gends that the giant Antigon used TO
levy heavy tax upon every boat that
passed, and to cut off and throw into
the river the hand of every boatman
who refused TO pay. Who Silvius Brabo
was. or how he overcame the giant,
am unable 10 say. If he looked any,
thing like his effigy. he was very large
and very black. There are great
many Of these legends connected with
Antwerp, and / read them under UNI
usually favorable circumstances. They
are all printed in French, language In
which my knowledge OF the moods and
lenses Is obscured by sort of London
fog. When the writer says that a thing
might have been so or should have been
so. am very likely to translate IL that IL
was so. That makes them more exciting,
and leaves quite as much probability
as there was In the original.
GREAT CATHEDRAL OF ANTWERP.
Standing by the side of the fountain,
here in front is the Notre Dame Cathedral
better known as the Great Cathedral of
Antwerp. The spire is so tall that It
tires ones neck TO look up to the top;
and IL has been repaired hundred times.
The lower part Of the front is under
going repairs now. and Is covered with
scaffolding. The spire itself is so patched
with masonry and so braced with iron
beams that a Londoner staying In my
hotel actually asked me yesterday whe-
Their l thought IL safe to live Immediate
ly beneath 1t. Ii certainly looks little
shaky; but as 1t has stood since 1852, /
think we can risk 1t for few days
longer 1t was in 1852 that the cathedral
was begun, and as the building occupied
about three centuries. the older parts had