"LITTLE MAN" OF BRUSSELS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 118, 14 November 1929, Page 28

"LITTLE MAN" OF BRUSSELS

litHp worW;fanious .baroque statue of a .r ? an as a fountain in Brussels and that still counts as one of the sights of the Belgian capital, wasfhon* oured by the Japanese Ambassador recently wth a brand new silk kimono! cftv tlAd, ol Pfle t ,Max' burgomaster of the city, thanked^ the Ambassador for -his token of goodwill, and decreed that the staoie was to wear the Japanese national costume for the period of three weeks except in-ramy weather. After that the kimono will be stored away in a local museum with the dozens of other cos-! tumes that the statue has. worn from time to- tune. The kimono replaced a dark blue uniform placed on the statue by a detachment of the Chasseurs Alpins, the famous Blue Devils; who in doing so made the little Brussels man a "poilu d'honeur.' Every nation that" entertains friendly relations with Belgium is bound to dress up the statue some time or other bpam, France, Japan, Scotland have already done so. Others will follow. The Highland kilt, they say, became the statue well. ,The hat with plumes and feathers sent by Italy - was - even more/picturesque. One of these days the Hollanders will dress him up again in flowing trousers and a fisherman's cap. And then will come the turn of the United- States, no doubt. Mr. Hoover knows the statue well, although it was hidden behind a boarding when he was in Belgium during the German occupation. The planks were put up by General yon Bissing, . as the naked statue gave offence to Teutonic military susceptibilities.