Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-01-17
! THE KING OF BELGIUM =


! than one-thrd the size Of Indiana
which Is thus able to put its fingers into
the pockets of all the world and draw
the dollars out They say its king Is
| a snort. and my information incllnes me
TO believe they are right, but he must
be a business sport In order to accom-
plsh such business results
ot me give you a few commercial
facts In 1900 Belgium sold more than
slQO worth OF goods for every man, wo-
man and child In the country, or more
than $500 per family. Think of land
that can produce so much more than II
needs that every family can sell $500
worth a year TO foreign nations That
Is what Belgium did II buys as well
MS sells ana in this 1t IL interesting to
Us. Its imports amount 10 about $780,
GOO Geo annually and Of these more than
$50 900 900 Worth come from Yankee
dom. II buys even more than this from
France. Germany ana Great Britain,
but II sells to each Of them almost as
much as II buys, while our Belgian Inn
ports arc bagatolle IN comparison
A SPORTY KING.
put I started writing on the Belgian
king. He Is SO wrapped IN in the
country that Il is hard to separate him
from Il. And still In many respects, il
gossip tells the truth, he gets his fun
ont Of other things than business. Not
withstanding his G. years Of life and 81
years Of reign he is gay and giddy. HIS
eve Is as keen 10 recognize pretty girl
az IL was when al is he married Marie
Henrlstte. the daughter Of Archduke
Joseph Of Austria. All sorts of stories
are whispered about Brussels Of the
kings escapades, and OF his llberallty to
certain female persons who to say the
least. are no better than they should
be, He is said to be a patron Of art,
and especially of that kind of art con-
neoted with the opera bouffe stage the
prima donnas of which when in straits
appeal TO him and seldom IN vain.
The king Is fond Of the theater and OF
the ballet, He Is q great lover Of horse
back riding and frequently rides alone
You may sometimes see him In the
parks in the suburbs Of Brussels golng
along at a good trot through the woods,
with as little ostentaton as ] saw him
out walking this morning.
KING LEOPOLD's INCOME.
Indeed. Leopold has many things to
commend him. He lives simply, lie has
a nalace or so In the upper part OF
Brussels but his home Is not eNtlava-
CANT as far as its exterior is concerned,
and II costs as little perhaps, as thai OF
any great monarch OF Europe He has
n civil list IA times as big as the salary
of President Roosevelt. He has 100000
year 10 keep up his establishment,
and In addition he owns { large private
fortune He, owns lands In Belgium,
hotels AT Ostend and has been interest
ed I'm the gambling houses there For
long time he was the sole possessor
OF the Belgian Congo, the vast territory
which he acquired through Stanley, but
OF late this has been turned into an In
dependent state, with him as the ruler
and can't tell you just what he gets
out OF 1t. / only know that its govern
ment revenues now amount to not quite
$4,000 600 q year, and that the eSpendi-
| lures are greater than that Whether
Leopold has any private property there
or not do not know
! His majesty has been accused OF not
being a very good guardian oil the
| wealth OF his own family, and especially
| of that of his sister, who was the vile
! OF the unfortunate Macmillan of Mex
| leo. Her name was Carlotta, ana, as
! the story goes, when Macmillan was
executed he left her a vast estate, OF
which King Leopold was trustee. Then
| Carlotta became insane and her estate
| was almost absolutely In the power OF
her brother. II Is gossiped mat sQe
most OF this property has been squan-
| dered in various speculauons, ana that