The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-08-23
BELGIAN PEOPLE
THINK AMERICANS
WONOROUS RACE
Dependent on the United States, They
Regard II As An Almost Omni-
potent Nation.

commission Tor ReheI IN beIkihH -
broadway, New York. and assisted IN
the great work OF distributing food 10
: the Belgians in various provinces, has
recently returned 10 his American
home and has written a book, which
will probably be published soon, mar
rating his experiences while In Bel
{ GUM.
( Mr. Paradise tells, in an interesting
( way. many Of his experiences from
7 December 1. 1914, until June !, 1915.
/ When he started through the interior
I Of Belgium to begin his work he re-
re!Ved a jolt which was, To say thei
least. surprising II not amusing. He
/ had to present his "Passierschelp,
and the German officer who inspected
/ it read 1t through TO tne signature,
/ whereupon he remarked. "Hully gee!
what name" In perfectly good Eng
I Iish. II developed that the soldier
/ had lived In the United States for a.
number Of wears,
Much Of MIR. Parad.se's story is in
the form Of diary, and in April he
noted rle fact that many letters of
thanks were received from the Bel
gian officials and people at the Com
missions headquarters in Brussels.
An American cannot realize" he
! wrote. what IL means to be one day
happy and prosperous and surround
ed by the little luxuries of civilized
life. and the next day to be thrust
back one thousand years into a world
in which starvation and disease seem
inevitable. and then. just when the
dark spectre looms most threatening,
to have some great. scarcely-known
power step in and furnish food and
clothing to the suffering people, That
Is how the United States appears to
many Belgiaps and why they regard
1t as a nation almost omnipotent.'
Continuing his diary for April, the
writer says: For some unknown
reason the Belglsns had fixed upon
81 Valentines Day as a proper occa'
sion to help the Americans celebrate
heir independence, and on that day
everyone wore little American flag
These were strange and wonderful
homemade flags. Some three stripes
and four stars. and some only TO be
called red, white and blue by cour-
tcsy. February ! 4 has long been dedi-
{ Gated to the love OF boys and girls
but never before has IL been set aside
"a celebrate the heartfelt affection
and gratitude of one whole people for
4 another Just as America has given
a new meaning to the word Charity
so she has added a new and undream-
ed-of significance TO the words Friend
ship among Nations
: In May, MIR. Paradise wrote: There
, is one great source OF supply from
which earsi person can draw a fixed
quantity of goods, while no on% need
, go without because of poverty. Many,
. once well off. have no food or money,
SO they find a nearby soup kitchen.
where they ca obtain little soup and
a half Of a loaf of bread or perha ps
n few beans and some rice, upon which
1ney exist for the next twenty-four
hours. In fact. Horace Fletcher. the
' great advocate of mastica tion--a
q Dervy. rosy little old gentleman. com
y fortably ensconced in Brussels--a,-
tributes the unusually good health
which is prevailing In Belgium this
4 winter and spring to the necessity for
2 sleeping 80 much and eating so little
2 and - quite jubilant because of this
! conclusive vindication Of his theories
There one figure. the memory oil
which supports the Belgians through
. all of their misfortunes and inspires
them with courage and confidence In
. their blacklist hour, and t'nat Is tho
. figure Of him they proudly called Our
I King, To his people he is the EN-
q bodiment OF every kingiy and soldiery
I virtue, and the thought OF the day
=
s Brussels even now brings tears of 10y
to every BelEian's eyes"
: The diary describes an amusing api-
sode that took place in the village oi
l. | Jesse ndie rloo: LAS we walked dowr
The main street we heard a clatterins
}, of wooden shoes behind us, and saw
d two little children following. in min
4 gled curiosity ana wonder, at the sigh
s. Of a real American Every few fec
the group was augmented by others
y and the horizon was blue black witt
y | infants. all saying, "Leven Amerika'
n at the top of their lungs The sup
posed American priest when he APP
y peared to our vision. turned out to b.
a black, polite little Nicaraguan w,
= could not deny that he was an Amer
70 .Can. and the Belgians proba bly
h. Thought that he could run over Il
New York from Nicaragua in a few
=, hours.
4 When we were lunching one aa,
with "A young count and countess II
the beautiful castle Of the Prime
Bishop of Liege, a parade was giveI
that we regarded as decidedly novel
; First came infants about two fee
high waving American and Belgian
flags, and led by a schoolmaster whit
g was proud as a peacock; and sner
\ waving flags; then Il little fellow
. dressed az a cowboy, riding a pony
: with real Mexican saddle and bride
> and. lastly. all the grown-ups OF tht
, village. little girl. dressed like the
Goddess of Liberty. stepped out and
made a speech. Another little girl
n similarly dressed. sang a song ant
I presented MS with flour sack. EN-
broidered and made into a sofa pii
low The little boy on the horse san
a verse Of Yankee Doodle translat
~ ed into Flemish and all the girl
waved their arms and flags and sans
the chorus several times very we'll
=, The sChoolmaster read a speech q,
. gratitude to us, and ] asked him e
: thank the people In Flemish for the
reception. but. as near as / could
. make out, he insisted on thanking
J.. us once more instead
y Every American should feel that
: the question Of existence concerns
= him intimately. because il Is aues.
ton OF life and death with them. With
out exterior help, they must starve
= The United States has been the main
" fspring of the immense organization OF