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The Kingdom of Belgium, Europe, is located on the North Sea, bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France. The capital is Brussels. The area of Belgium is 11,787 square miles (30,528 square km). The estimated population of Belgium in July, 2004 was 10,348,276. The official languages are Dutch, French, and, in parts of the country, German. Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. It has prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy. -- The CIA World Factbook: Belgium
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The New York Times, November 19, 1893:EFFECT OF CULTURE UPON DOGSBELGIUM'S EXPERIENCE WITH THEM AS DRAUGHT ANIMALS. The dog of Belgium never feasts upon the farmer's mutton, but has his rations provided regularly, and is an honest and useful member of society. For every horse seen in harness on the streets or roads there are at least two dogs, and in some of the streets dogs have the entire monopoly of the business of drawing carts and carriages. Nor are they like the unhappy donkey of the English costermonger, poor and wretched, but, on the contrary, they are well fed and cared for and handsomely harnessed, often being accompanied by the picturesquely pretty milkmaids, who take the place in the Belgian cities of the uncouth and ill-savored boor, the American milkman, bringing with him the odors of the stable, and making even the honest milk suspicious. No person can object to the milk brought to the door by the cleanly wholesome-looking maid, whose pleasant greeting is given free with the full measure of clean, sweet milk not long since drawn from the "sweet-breathed cows" by her own hands. Early in the morning the streets are alive with these little carts and neat maids, whose tinkling bell is heard instead of the hoarse yell of the American milkman... Soon after the milkmaid comes the equally-pleasant flower girl, as fresh as her bouquets. She is as gorgeous in her coloring as her flowers... [The dogs] move the vehicles with ease, and go about so noiselessly and inoffensively as to do the work with pleasure to all concerned and with profit to themselves and their owners. The disagreeable smell of the horses is conspicuous by its absence, and the clean streets fit well the neat little equipages and the girls who do so much of the work. ...these Belgian dogs do not fight or growl or bark or bite, but greet each other kindly, as one stands near the other and attends strictly to business... A draught dog in Belgium costs only 5 cents a day to feed. The staple food is horseflesh and black bread... The accompanying illustrations and much of the above interesting information are taken from a most valuable report by American Consulates on dairy cattle in Europe and other parts of the world. It is profusely illustrated by photographs, and may be procured of the Secretary of the Treasury. |
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