Salt Lake Telegram | 1923-08-05 | Page 28 | Old Waterloo No Longer Attracts

OLD -WATERLOO I LONGER ATTRACTS Ancient Battlefield Give Way Far More Recent I World War ' BRUSSELS. Aur . Waterloo, until 1114, wag tha most frequented spot In Belgium. Victor Hugo's "dreary plain," dotted with monuments monu-ments commemorating the armies taking part in ths battle, topped by Its colossal lion on the historic hill of Mont Saint-Jean, attracted countless foreign visitors, and on Saturdays citizens of Brussels journeyed jour-neyed there In caravans. Ancient mail coaches clattered up and down -the streets of the Belgian capital, and their conductors, to the discordant tunes of obsolete brass Instruments, Invited tourists to Waterloo, Wa-terloo, eleven miles distant. Guides fought and cursed at -the Waterloo station for the remunerating remuner-ating privilege of escorting over the battlefield the numerous visitors which every train dflzorged nto the town. Cafes, restaurants, hotels were doing: huge business. Today gaunt and sad trulde await visitors In vain. Waterloo ts desolate. Deserted De-serted Inns are closing up. A great souvenir Is being wiped out; an industry in-dustry going bankrupt. Dwvastated Flanders fields are monopolising the curiosity seekers. N leu port. Dlxmunde, Ypres and the Yser, the most thickly populated war cemeteries of Belgium, also provide it greatest attraction for the living. Th Great war ha killed Waterloo, Water-loo, and by half destroying Flanders Flan-ders has resuscitated It.