Show 01 Y a previous letter I 1 mentioned the blend found here of the teu IN tonic and gallic typed in no other respect ie Is it so plainly man tested aa as in tho tile matter of the popular amusements of theaters theat cra there aro are many doing all aorta sorts of things dramatic of cinemas or motion picture shows there are scores all crowded there Is a grand opera of farat class producing the best of classic works at remarkably low prices think of getting six seats in the orchestra at an Aine american rican high grade operatic performance squal equal according to many cil critics to the metropolitan ro in new york for and practically the best in the house yet that Is possible here writes 0 A lyon jr for the basht agton star with the exception 0 ot the opera bouse house which stands alone on a conveniently shaped and located square with ith a wide plaza in front of it the theaters are almost without exception insignificant in external appearance several of them aro are located with their entrances in the galleries or arcades in which the center of the business section of brussels abounds tho the cinemas are everywhere with surprising expanses of seating space when wien one has passed the doors I 1 attended one last evening with an entrance about fifteen feet in width within it proved to be a vast hall capable of seating fully people with two galleries an orchestra of 20 pieces rendered the finest of music in 11 artistic manner while a al AI kill F 33 0 U L EVAR D bzug brussel C I 1 bously elaborate movie etory story et ory of french medieval melodramatics w waa put on the screen must buy something these people ere seated most ingeniously gen bously ly in a manner t to 0 permit ex pert alters matters to move about and take orders and c ath ix when the str stronger auger pays hie his entrance ent ranco tee fee of say 30 cen times six cents or in some cases 50 centimes ten cents he he has gained the freeda c of the hause not so As soon as he is seated a bende anle L manly lanly waiter quietly asks him birn what he wishes ho he probably wis wi shea heis nothing and so declares whereupon thu the gentlemanly waiter assures him with an air of instructing a young child in the ways of righteousness that it Is 10 obligation pronounced tingly and thereupon it becomes the stranger to order something a cup of 0 coffee chich will be surprisingly good and reasonable or something stronger and so he pays twice bis his whole entrance fee bellg perhaps 15 cents or possibly 20 but be he gets good value for the money he fie sees P r first class movie and he bears hears an orchestra concert of high order Incident incidentals all he can observe around him the belgian public enjoying itself with here the gravity of the holland type and there the effervescence of the french type many of the people aro are drinking beer others ire drinking a aperitifs many coffee and some are en enjoying jering lemonade there is no disorder and vea the joyous gallic laughter that breaks out between the reels when the lights are turned on ts to decorous music appeals strongly to the belgian soul and jerothe hero the two types meet on common ground the other eve eye aing we attended a it concert armied lue in an establishment which Is cnown mown by that bame alone the room gas comparatively small holding at perhaps or a 1000 people 0 o admission wa was charged the place li bif A L A it being supported by tho the sales of drink ables of all kinds at a u reasonable ecale scale of prices too tho the cuzco was good I 1 tho the musical pro pr orain was man classic rendered by an orchestra ol 01 about twelve violins and cellos with two reeds a piano and a leader or dantal A few vocal number numbers were viere lu in with tho baloo eions not of a particularly ugh ligh ordet of merit however not many people were present that being friday bight when tho the majority of folks are saving saying their cash for their big saturday and sunday night divers diversions tons on sunday night I 1 was told this place Is to always packed to the doors with 1111 people waiting for chances to get places at iho the long narrow tables aunna running ang lengthwise of tho the hall in this place it is customary it entering early carly at the beginning of the this program to give at least two tuo order orders during the evening if one enters at or thereabout there about the waiter Is content with one order play game games in cafe cafes in practically all tho the cafes wi alth th the exception so far as I 1 havo have observed which I 1 havo just mentioned it is customary tor for tho the guests to play cards dominoes or chess the other evening in the tile which aich Is in one of the tile largest I 1 counted not mot less than 15 chess games 4 in progress from m where here I 1 sat in a corner T the he room was mas packed walters waiters were mere amov ing about swiftly filling ordera for fo food and drink and thero there were ably in all a couple of hundred games of oil all kinds in progress without stakes and the roost most delicate pas sages of tho the finest of orches orchestral iral music were audible at the farthest part ot of the great hall at the tle close of a so lection the eaters and drink pra applaud even the chess players rouse thema themselves elves from their weir intense abstraction str action to express choir subconscious 0 Rig ollete or faust or or madam but in passing it Is jutt to aay ay that the brussels Dm els orchestra orchestras play ragtime bul b ul it t Is always done dono in an artistic man ner they do rot mot to the grotesque device devices ot of their transatlantic musical brethren to distort ca dences and express the gasping lations of the liter later school of music and it is s also jupt juit to say that there Is more applause in the cafes tor for the c classic lassic music than for the novelties the other evening I 1 observed to a member of our that in a city of so aurb music with big orchestras in so many places scores of them in la eluding hundreds of performers the business of musician mst must be a food one it would be be replied but for the fact that there are an too many must clans so great Is the demand for music here that young musicians must clans come to brussels from long distances even from kansas and add wisconsin there Is in liere located one of the finest conser va in europe and the product of finished instrumentalists and vocalists Is larice aa the average pay tor for a good performer in a large cafe orchestra I 1 am told Is s about 2 a day with more for soloist soloists |