BRUSSELS

the population of the city and sub- urbs in 1923 was 787,060. the suburbs comprise 12 communes: anderlecht, etterbeek, forest, ixelles, jette, koekelberg, molen- beek st. jean, st. gilles, st. josse-ten-noode, schaerbeek, uccle and woluwe st. lambert. a law of april 2 1921 decreed the annexation to brussels proper of the communes of laeken, haeren, and neder overheembeek, as well as part of molenbeek and a small part of schaerbeek, in order to facilitate the con- struction of the new outer port which the authorities wished to bring entirely within the area of the city proper. as a result, the area of the city proper has more than tripled; it covers over 124 sq. m., instead of just about four, and includes an additional population of about 54,000. during 1910-21 brussels underwent considerable transforma- tion. in 1910 the old harbour basins were filled in; the isabelle quarter of the city, situated between the rue royale and place royale, as well as the putterie quarter near the university, were demolished. numerous banks were established in the upper - town—in the rue royale and place royale. in the schaerbeek area new arterial roads were made and the parc josaphat was endowed with a fine sports ground. the palace of the count of i'landers became the banque de bruxelles, and in nov. 1918 the city acquired the palace of the duke of aremberg and gave it again its old name of palais d’egmont. the royal palace has been considerably enlarged and a public park was opened at mollenbeek in 1922. various memorials have been erected since 1918. on the national rifle range at schaerbeek is one in memory of 35 civilians shot by the germans. the british monu- ment nearly opposite the palais de justice, erected to com- memorate the brotherhood of the two nations during the war, was unveiled in 1923; it is a replica of the belgian monument on the victoria embankment, london. in place st. jean is a monument toa belgian, shot at the same time as edith cavell, whose cell in st. gilles prison has been made into a museum of relics relating to her. a replica of the peter pan statue in ken- sington gardens was unveiled in the gardens of the palais d’egmont in 1924. | the foundation stone of new buildings for the university was 462 laid in nov. 1924 by prince leopold. a large sum was pro- vided towards these by the american relief commission from the balance of funds provided for the relief of the belgian popu- lation during the german occupation. in 1920a commercial fair, managed by the municipality and held in the cinquantenaire park and halls, was inaugurated; in 1925, 27 nations were represented, and the area of the fair was more than doubled. an international exhibition to celebrate the centenary of belgian independence was arranged for 1930. the terminus of the london-brussels air service, previously at evere, is now in the suburb of haeren. an aerial service, antwerp-brussels-basle, was started in march ro924. the harbour works, planned in 1896, were completed in 1908. they included the widening of the canal and the construction of three large basins, the largest of which, the vergote basin, has 20,000 metres of quayage. these basins bcing found inadequate, an outer port in the plain between laeken and vilrode was opened in 1922, with a canal 123 m. long, connecting brussels with the rupel and thence with the schelde. the canal can be used by vessels drawing 19 ft. and access to the rupel is gained by means of locks. the german occupation of the capital dune the world war extended from aug. 1914 to nov. 1918. general sixt von armin’s troops entered on aug. 20, and on sept. 2 field- marshal von der goltz was appointed governor-general of belgium. he was succeeded by gen. von bissing in rots. numerous social relief movements were instituted in spite of german intervention; among them the comite national de secours had its headquarters at brussels, and with the aid of mr. hoover’s american committee organised the feeding of the belgian population. on the suppression of allied newspapers, a journal, la libre belgique, was secretly printed in brussels and widely circulated. among the many infamous executions, that of philippe baucq and of edith cavell stand out. a revolt of german soldiers against their officers broke out on nov. 10 1918 and a violent conflict occurred in the place roger opposite the gare du nord. the belgian army reoccupied brussels on nov. 18 1918 and the king and queen re-entered the city in state on nov. 22. (0... rio