The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1903-02-27
The Low Countries.
NO. ".

turn have much to learn from US. wish some
OF the railroads over there would send some Of
their men over here and let us teach them ouI
syste m of baggage-checking. One short summer
is scarce time to "do' England and Scotland
That is, if one really wishes to know the country
There is vast difference between seeing country
and knotctng a country. Had l expected to &c
abroad again this coming summer should never
have left England during the summer of 1902. ]
still believe that England, above all countries
must always be of great interest to America
, Loath to leave it, but believing that glance at
the other side would do one good after all, fol-
lowed in the footsteps of my illustrious predeces.
sors, and crossed the boistrous Channel to the
gay and festive Continent.
And that reminds me that the Channel is altasty
little bit of water. They say you never get the
real benefit of a sea-voyage unless you become
sea-sck. If for no other then for this reason l
am convinced my trip to the Continent was
bowling success. After having been ten days on
the high seas in pretty much all sorts of weather,
without experiencing any annoyance from NAL de
aer, had begun to fatter myself that as a sailor
was in a class all alone. Ihad reckoned without
) the English Channel; and those three hours and
more 1 spent in that little storm-tossed boat
among the high rollers of that ditch taught me a
E few points in the gentle art of how to behave
gracefully under most trying circumstances.
have found out some things about that Chan.
, mel since then. 1 have found out that it has
played, on account of its incorrigible conduct a
most important part in the development of the
English nation; that its tempestuous waters have
been the cause either of the turning back of
several well-directed naval attacks by foreign
fleets or the sinking and almost total destruction
of the same. 1t was due to this stormy trough of
the sea that the great Spanish Armada which
was sent by Philip to wreck the fortunes OF Eng
land at the time of the great Elizabeth, was lost
and destroyed. And that if the Channel had been
more orderly expanse of water the projected
inyasions of Napoleon might have been more
. seriously undertaken and, considering the cir.
cumstances in the light of history. might have
been fairly successful A naturally stormy stretch
of sea makes Waterloo possible All these his
! torical facts are indelibly stamped upon my
memory
But you've reached the Continent. No more
thought of illness. For you are now in the land
of Ieat men, great events from the land of Wei.
lington you have come to the land of Napoleon
And how different it all is. You notice the diff.
much as you feel it. And yet you're not very far
from England after all. I tossed the porter an
English coin as he put my bag aboard the Brus.
seis train at Ostend with the femark that 1 had
no Belgian money. With his merci monsieur, he
t assured me that English money was always very
good" 1 judge you needn't feel homesick any
where with English money in your pocket
1t is ten to one you are going to like this new
country. There is much doing" and the PEG
f pie aren't bad lot after all.
The ride from Ostend to Brussels is very pretty
one. The first-class compartments are hand
somely fitted up; the second-class ones are very
little inferior; while, of course. the thirdclass
carriages are not so nice, being patronized by the
, lower strata You must remember now that you
are in a land of classes and the lines are quite
sharply drawn. Tine foad-bed is good and the
train makes good time And then as you spir
along towards the capital city of Belgium you car
reflect that you are riding, for the first time il
your life probably, over government controlled
: railway. But what is more pleasant to refec
upon is the fact that the government permits yor
to do this at rate which is something below
cent per mile Here is thought for the econo
mist. But perish the thought In my country
: they call people cranks who advocate government
: control of railways.
A beautiful town is Brussels. Some say it il
u Paris on small scale. 1t has wide streets boule
= wards of great beauty, and fine old and new public
S buildings. 1t has also a reputation for beautiful
!. women. They are good looking, too. Quite
relief after England / should say. But of thu
genus woman, have never yet seen anything
: abroad that could quite come up to the American
Y girl for genuine good looks. And want to go OF
r record as being especially strong in my opinions
along this particular line.
. The people of Brussels are French and German
S In one part of the town German is spoken; Will,
j. if you walk few blocks, you come to that quar-
v ter where French is the exclusive language. 1t il
not, however, the French of Paris or of Southern
- France. remember hearing in Brussels an Amer
lean ask in good Partisan French for his hote
: bill; and he was much amused to see the porte
i bring him bottle of beer. After all, however il
9 may not have been the fault of the medium o
speech so much as the Observation-Disclosures of the
waiter, who soon learns the habits and wants O.
the foreign patrons.
arrived in Brussels late on Sunday afternoon
and shall not soon forget my impressions of thai
r lively town on a Sunday night. Brussels, on
a Continental Sunday really is. Everything is
wide-open and everything goes There was
colored porter at the hotel in which stayed in
j Brussels. There were four five American fell
e lows at the same hotel The colored chap evil
I IDENTIFY knew the town and Immediately got to
business. He said he would offer the American
; crowd" his lowest terms; and that for certain
r amount he would show us the town upside down
] inside out, or any old way We wanted to see it
:" But it's Sunday" said. 1.-THE American gen
tleman has just arrived" he answered. "AfteI
he has lived in Brussels awhile he will come to
] appreciate Sunday on the Continent at its true
worth "
, Everything was, sure enough. wide open. The
streets were crowded, some theatres were open
the music halls were going the bars and cafes
were doing thriving business and up the street
-"up the stairs garcOn said who trying his
best to impress upon me his knowledge of the
English-a very questionable "iair" was being
held. But in all this l saw no drunkenness. II
was just gay and lively crowd. You know
Leopold the Second, the king of the Belgians, is
the gayest of the Continental rulers and the life
of the monarch seems to be reflected in the doings
!, of his subjects.
They have some very fine buildings in their
: capital The Hotel de Ville or Town Hail. the
) place where the various governing bodies of the
, city meet, is very old, and is richly embellished
with mural decorations by the old masters
mostly of the Flemish school. The Palais de
Justice, Court House, is new and is said to be
: the finest in the world You are not permitted