A COLONIAL'S IMPRESSIONS OF TRAVEL.

Evening Star, Issue 14787, 31 January 1912, Page 2

A COLONIAL'S IMPRESSIONS OF TRAVEL.

[Copyrtght.] XXIX. BRUSSELS' CAPITAL CITY. When I arrived at Brussels—Bruxelles, as it is also known—l felt that I might almost havo left Antwerp out of my tout except for the churches and the paintings. Brussels, as a city, is a much finer place. We reached hero at night, and found it moat brilliantly lighted. Tho cafes were not in such evidence as in the northern citv. Arriving at tho Gave du Xord, oat is "driven in a " taxi "—far leas pleasant looking vehicles than tho London ones—up tho Rue Neuve, between a double row of artistic shop windows, where, tho buildings for the most part are four stories high, to ona of the excellent hotels that Brussels possesses. The shops arc. mostly open till 7 or 8 o'clock, but it is now already dark at half-past 4 in the afternoon. There are numerous fiacres, or one-hor.-v carriages, and voitures, as well as large buses, which run from station to station, and also a service of electric trams, which run up one narrow street and down another, often perilously near the pavement. The laying of tram lines in any colonial city would never be permitted in —Such Narrow Streets.— But Brussels has some very fine thoroughfares, as well as a number of open spaces known as "Places." The Cathedral Town Flail, the Royal Palace, and other public buildings are. magnificent. Tho first named is dedicated to St. Michael and St. Gurule, and contains a series of large statues of the apostles in stone, and one of the notable pulpits that are such a feature of Continental cathedrals. The building was begun in the twelfth century, and, unlike tho cathedrals in the other cities of the Continent, contains no pictures. Cigars are very cheap and good in Belgium, being less than half the price charged for tho same article in England. The examination of luggage at the frontier is often very strict, and only 10 cigars are allowed to be taken into tho country free of duty. In addition to opening up the | baggage, the door underneath the seats of | the railway carriages is raked with an ! iron rod. The train by which we went j from Bru.tseis on to Paris travelled i through the northern part of France j through the wheat-growing districts at the j rate of 60 miles an hour. It is in this part of tho country also that their mining industries are. The distance from Brus- ' jels to tho French capital is 195 miles. j But to return to Belgium for the present. There are excellent panoramic views of j Brussels to be had from several of the I towers, to which admission may be gained | by visitors generally at a franc apiece—i about 9£d. There "are 408 steps up the ! winding stone staircase of the Hotel de i Ville, by which name the Town Hall is I known. It is a big pull up, but one is ! well rewarded on a clear day for the excrl tion. : —Military at the Celebration of j Marriages.— Before ascending I had the uncommon experience of being present at a number of civil marriages in tho Town Hall. There were several parties waiting in the i salon, and each ceremony occupied about ! five minutes, besides the signing of the j documents. A guard, consisting of a j number of ornately-attired functionaries i with weapons something like battlcaxes, ! were posted round the groat room. The i bride and bridegroom were seated on 1 velvet-cushioned scats—the bride on the i right and the bridegroom on the left be- • fore a table, behind which sat the chief I official in military uniform and wearing a ; number of medals. The parents, or wit- '. nes>es. were seated on cither side of the | contracting parties. Some questions were ! first put to the witnesses, and afterwards to tho bride and bridegroom, who were ! then called upon to stand and take an j oath, during which the guard were called ; upon to present arms. The registrar tiej dared the marriage completed, and when j he had shaken hands with the happy pair | and handed a packet to the bridegroom, ] tho parties retired to sign the register, I after which the wedding quests made their . way out in pairs, the bride and bridej groom.going last. _ All the officials except : the registrar were in evening dress. Ma'ri riages on the Continent are contracted in ! the morning.

—The Rival of Paris.— I was very much impressed by the city of Biupsek", which, though on a much ?mr.l!er scale, pleased me better than i Paris. The display in the shops scorned to be even superior to that in the French capital There is no doubt that, like Paris, Brussels looks best in thu «uti:nin, at any rate, when it is lighted up. In the early morning it rather looks as if it " had beei'. out ail night," and wanted for breakfast a whisky-and-soda, a do::, and a chop—tho doj to eat the chop. It was a curious sight on a Saturday morning to see th«t entire footpaths around the principal blocks in the citv strewn with vegetr.bles —potatoes, beans, onions, Brussels _>prcuts, and the like. 'JTicvc are, however, all cle-ared away by 9 o'clock. I tried ! some of their grape?", which were very cheap, some selling as low as 2d or 3d per lb ; but thev looked better than thev tasted. —A Mad Painter.— I wonder if any of the renders, of this coiuiT-n will Ternember the curious and almost grotesque paintings, many of them of colossal site, in the Musee \Viert7-.. They are all the work of a single, artist, who'stands by himself in art. Tho representations are often very weird—there is a fearful picture of "The Last Judgment,' another of 'Tho Forge of Vulcan," and yet a nether representing a man bursting open his coffin after premature burial. Thenare all very terrible to look upon, and arc only typcs'of a gruesome kind of painting. The great galkry of pictures in Brussels contains a number of splendid works of art, but one grows ?o tired of picture galleries, however magnificent. —The Curse of Tipping— It is easy enough to pet into a Continental city, and one can find one's way to an hotel after tipping various people—railway porters, outside porters, cabbies, etc.—btrt the exit is a truly awful ordeal. It. soon either gets on your nerves or becomes a grim "joke to you. One never knows, on one's arrival, how many servants are kept at the hotel, but when one leaves it is possible to give a full list. Possibly tho manager wili see you off. there intiy be a cleric or so, certainly the head waiter will be there, and ail the ether waiters who have taken .ho opportunity of sharing between them, during i your'stay of a day or two, the pleasing ', duty of "ministering to your wants. The | chambermaid will bo upon the st-iirs, the head porter will hold open the door for you, the boot* will carry out your luggage. If the hotel runs its own omnibus, you will be driven to the station, for which you will pay extra. The coachman will expect, a tip, likewise the man wiio sits beside him on the bo:: and hands your bag to tho railway porter, who will sarry ft 10 yard; and get ready to receive his share. It is all very terrible, but very imposing. Happy is the man who has provided himself "with much small change. It is no use trying to avoid it. IE you do, be prepared for a bad time at your next i hotel, whore the servants can read cabalistic signs on. your luggago, and be prepared for tho railway porter to take you to a wrong platform, and find out his mistake after your train has gone. .As the small boy said : "it isn't taking your girl to the theatre that costs so much, it's the confounded ices that follow." So it is tiro tipping on the Continent that makes travelliiK' so expensive. Even the tram conductor" keeps his weather eye open for a penny or a halfpenny for himself. 'That is why you hurry through Belgium at express-railway •speed. Tho gae-fumo whoopirtg-cough euro has been much resorted to in London lately. ' Inquiries made, at loading gasworks ehow that during one week a largo number of children so- suffering visited tho works to, . .inhalo tho furaos. Tho sufferers ar&.kopfc' -anions: tbevfumee foran b.our-or:60-