Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-18

esss 49,, dasa by Prank q. carpenter.l
RRIsssELS. January u.-1 saw the ktns
81 Tsefeium walking alone IN the PARK
near his palace this morning. es. aione.. .
s s,,- s,ras spristing along with a sprtngy
ten hts shoulders well back, as though
{ ssaiirine Tor d wager. He had cane
In his hand and his trousers were romeo
ny. although the paths were periecty
Il i1rv5 and the sun WEE shining. Hes way
dressed IN business clothes. and wore
sack coat and derby hat. Altogether ne
g locked more like gentleman farmer Win
\ ! so,,ch OF the sport Ia him than the
{ ting &c one OF the busiest little nations
OF Europe.
THE RULER CT BELGIUM
Nevertheless Leopold II lie a king In
every sense of the word. and. as Rlnss
CO. he is not so bad after all. He is no"
81 wears old, and he has been ruling BEL
r,urn for more than thtrty-seven years
He assembled the throne just about me
close OF our civil war. and has held ms
own through the various changes OF GOV
eminent In France. Germany. end ihe
other countries about him. Ills utie'
you know. is Leopold II. King OF BEL
gum. He is the second kir.~ that BEL
gum has had. This country was part OF
the Netherlands until 1870. when 1t pc
came an independent kingdom. and its
this man. as its king. Holland went OIL
10 itself and since then Belgium has
walked alone. Australia. Russia, Great
Britain. and Prussia guaranteed Inc
neutrality of Belgium. and few years
later all the States of Europe recognized
1t as an independent government
Leopold /. was the ruler from 1881 untii
1856. and upon his death his eldest SON.
nc present king. took his place. During
af.-l,1 N H.
IL grown in pnpula ton and wealth. 1t IS
hardly lager than some Texas counties,
and its sea coast Is not longer than from
Il ASH, cfo,a to Baltimore. Still 1t sup
ports one twelfth as many people as the
u..1ole I.,,ited States. and it has popula-=
ton greater than any OF our States. Win
Tie cacaidion Of New York.
a WELL-MANAGED KINGDOM
1rceed. Belgium Is as well managed as
any land on the globe. The soil Is
naturally sandy, but every acre OF it is
well fa.ned. The country is divided into
small holdings and the greater part Of it
is worked with the spade, SO intensively.
that 1t produces astly in excess OF other
countries. Not only the farms but the
mines and factories are well handled
There are 1850 stone Guarries which are
worked. employing about $1,000 men and
yielding an annual product Of sn,uoo"''
j nave 3lTEdGy HIlllSli VI liz A~o'o'S ~S1N'
mines and what they produce, ana l
might fill a page OF stories Of the different
Industries.
Belgium iron goes ali over the world.
It's galvanized roofing is used all along
the coast OF South America, and the great
railroads projected from 3ankow to Pekin
is being built with Belgium steel rails.
There are three steel plants here. now
working on 50.000-ton order OF steel
a>sf> f~o fr.,sslc <aS
making tons of railroad iron for Mary
land. have travelled pretty We over
the world but ] have never been able to
get out of sight Of Belgium goods nor
TO find country where Belgium had not
more or less comm cree.
"A BIG COMMERCIAL KINGDOM.
Think OF land like this. not more than
one third the size of Indiana, which is
thus able TO put its fingers into the pock-
cts of all the world and draw the dollars
out. They say it's king Is sport. and
my information inclines me to believe
that they are right, but he must be
business sport in order % accomplish
such business results.
Let me give YOU a few commercial facts
In 1900 Belgium sold more than hundred
dollars worth of goods for every man.
woman, and child in the country. or more
than $500 per family. Think of land
that can produce SO much more than il
needs that every family can sell $500 worth,
q year to foreign countries. That is what
Belgium did. II buys as well AS sells.
and In this it is interesting to us. = i'm
ports about 500, 100000 annually. and OF
these more than $4,000 600 worth come
from Iankeedom. 1t buys even more
than this from France. Germany. and
Great Britain. and i; sells to each of them
almost as much as it buys. while our Bel
gan imports arc a bagatelle n COMPARE
son,
A SPORTY KING
But I started writing OH the Belgian
king, He is SO wrapped up In the country
that 1t is hard to separate him from 1t.
and still in many respects. II gossip tells
the truth. he gets his fun out Of other
things than business. Notwithstanding
his 67 years of life and tl1irty-seven years
OF reign. he is gay and giddy. His eye
is as keen to recognize a pretty girl as
IL was when at Is he married Marie Hen
riette, the daughter Of Archduke Joseph,
of Austria. All sorts of stories are whis-
pered about Brussels of the kings esca-
pades. and of his liberality to certain te-
male persons who. to say the least are
no better than they should be. He is said
TO be- patron OF art, sanG especially that
Kind of art connected with the opera
boune stage. the prima donnas OF which,
when in straits appeal to him, and seldom
Ia vain.
The king is fond of the theatre and of
the ballet. He is great lover of horse
back riding. and frequently rides alone.
You may sometimes see him in the parks
IN the suburbs of Brussels. going along at
good trot through the woods. with as
little ostentation as saw him out walk
ting this morning.
KING LEOPOLD'S INCOME.
Indeed, Leopold has many things to
commend him. He lives simply. He has
a palace or SO in the upper part of Brus-
sells. but his home is not extrayagant
as far as its interior is concerned. and 1t
costs as. little. perhaps. as that Of any
great monarch in Europe. He has civil
list fourteen times as big as the salary of
President Roosevelt He has 500 600 a
year to keep up his establishment. and in
addition he owns large private fortune.
lie owns lands In Belgium. hotels at Os-
tend. and has been interested In the gam
bling houses there. For long time he
was the sole possessor of the Belgian
Congn the vast territory which he ac-
CURED through Stanley. but of late this
| -