The Washington times., 1914-11-14
DR.. JAMES H. GORE
PRAISES BELG|ANS
Delivers Two Lectures Before
National Geographic Society,
Describing Little Kingdom.

Before two large audiences at the
New Masonic Temple Yesterday after
noon and ,venins DR.. James Howard
Gore. professor emeritus OF George
Washington University. inau2urated the
winter course of lectures of the Ma
tional Geographic Society. with a lee
ture on Belgium and Her People
At one point in his address DR. Gore
declared that upon one occasion. during
IN audience with the late King Leo
pold. he had congratulated the kine
upon the splendid work he had done in
the establishment Of his cities and the
Improvement Of conditions in his king
dom. To this sentiment King Leopold
, replied:
''It is very kind OF you to say such
things. But regret that they fall so
far short Of what ] would have them
be-"
Calling attention to the smallness Of
Selgium's geographic dimensions. which
he said were but slightly larger than
.hose Of the State of Maryland. Dr.
Gore said the little kingdom is so
thickly populated that IL Texas could
match II in density the Lone Star State
would have population equivalent to
that OF botn Germany and the United
States today; and that IL the United
States. exclusive of Alaska, had as
many people to the square mile we
would have a population larger than
the whole earth now has.
First Accepted Motor.
Belgium has figured prominently in
the affairs CT Europe" said the speaker.
The electric motor found no accept
snce until It first had been passed
upon by Belgium. The airbrake got its
first verdict from the railroads Of this
L.. - &C.
readiest European acceptance here.
While the headquarters Of the Mar
conf Wireless and the International
Sleeping Car Company, the Pullman
service Of Europe, in Brussels, tell the
same story of Belgium's leadership. In
deed, Belgium is the home OF more in
ternational organizations than all Of
the rest Of the world together. So it is
proved that q nations influence does
not depend on geographical dimen-
sions.''
Or. Gore paid a tribute to the frugal
ity and progressiveness OF the Belgian
people. showing that before the war
thirty-f1ve out of every hundred had
savings bank accounts: that forty-nine
out Of every hundred We're engaged in
some sainful occupation; that the Bel
gfum farmer grows thirty-seven bushels
of wheat to the acre, where the Ameri-
lean farmer grows fifteen, and 312 bush
els Of potatoes where we grow ninety
Speaking of the diversity of tongues
in Belgium, DIR. Gore said he did not
think any man would, with malice
aforethought, try to learn Flemish
which is spoken by nearly half Of the
Belgian population, and that the hun
drcds of thousands of little children who
have to learn it have his sympathy He
explained the remarkably sharp lin
guistic boundary between the French
~ no cnf,fl,
half of Belgium and the Flemish speak
ing F1emings of the northwestern half by
saying that when the Teutons settled
the former area and the descendants of
the Celts the latter. dense forests
stretching from Mons northeastward
separated them. and that, although the
forests long since have pasesd away,
the linguistic boundaries still remain
sharply defined. Nearly half of the
population speaks the one language and
the other half the other. while only ten
per cent can speak both tongues All
laws, court proceedings. railroad tickets
and signs are printed in both languages.
Everybody Has To Work.
Everybody in Belgium has to work,
according TO DR.. Gore. In times be-
fore the war more women were seen in
the field than men, but this did not in
dicate that the men were idle. They
were away in the factories in the
nlines in the brick-works or elsewhere
working hard to aid the family ex-
cheqrer.- Even the dogs have to work,
lord to Keep horses. If protest is made
against working the dogs, the Belgian
$3.50 Havre De Grace Races and Return
Weekdays Nov. l3 to 80. Through train
Baltimore and Ohio, IL noon.--Advt