The Land Below the Sea

BELLS and Battle-fields don’t seem to go together, but north of France is a land of Bells and Battle-fields, calledBelgium.

The bells are in the towers of churches, of town halls, and of other buildings. The bells in Belgium strike the hour,but they do more than that—they play a tune every hour or oftener. And on Sundays and holidays a bell-ringer, seated at a keyboard as at an organ, plays all sorts of hymns and tunes on the bells, so that every one in thetown can enjoy the music without leaving his own home. The music is broadcast without a radio. Some of the bell sets have as many as fifty bells of different sizes and sounds—little bells that make high notes, and big bells,as big as a man, that make deep, low notes. The bells themselves don’t move; the bell clapper moves instead. The clappers are fastened by wire to keys like those of a piano or organ, and as the player touches the keys theclappers strike the side of the bell. When a bell concert is being given, all noises in the streets near-by are forbidden—no honking of horns nor loud shouting allowed—so that nothing will spoil the music for those whoare listening.

Bells and Battle-fields! Belgium has been the battle-field of Europe—not battles fought by the Belgians themselves,but by other countries of Europe. In the two World Wars Belgium was a chief battle-ground of the French and German soldiers, and thousands of buildings were wrecked and an immense amount of damage done. A little over a hundredyears ago a great French General named Napoleon, who I told you was buried in Paris, fought one of the greatest battles in history at a place in Belgium called Waterloo. Napoleon was beaten at Waterloo, and beaten so badlythat we now use the word “Waterloo”to describe almost any big defeat, whether it is a defeat of an army in battle or of a team in a game. We say “A tennis champion has his Waterloo” or “A football team has its Waterloo.”

B. B. B. The capital of Belgium also begins with a “B.” It is Brussels. Perhaps you have heard of Brussels lace,Brussels carpets, or Brussels sprouts. They all come from Brussels.