A CHEERFUL PRISONER.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 87, 24 September 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

A CHEERFUL PRISONER.

THE HEROIC BURGOMASTER OF BRUSSELS.

Many people will bo pleased to learn that Al. Max, Burgomaster of Brussels, finds his health, li:s cheerfulness, and his high spirits unimpaired at the close of a ong period of imprisonment in the fortress of Glatz. The correspondont of a London paper, who has received a lettei- i : rom M. Max. refers to him as

"the heroic Burgomaster of Brussels," and the epithet is not strained in this application. When his city was occup.ed by the enemy, he displayed a wholly admirable courage a.nd a tactfulness never in the least degree subservient. The irony of some of his acts and words may perhaps have been wasted upon the German Commandant; but the world applauded them.

NOT TO BE SAT ON

When he went out to- meet the "conquerors" of Brussels, and to surrender hi-; nitv, he rede into it again not along with but in front of the German staff. The Commandant of Brussels, commandeering the Burgomaster's private room in the Hotel de Vil'e, st.id to him, "1 shall require 200 beds to be ready here by to-night.'' "In that case," said M. Max agreeably. "I shall order 201. The Burgomaster will sleep here also." At this the Commandant somewhat ostentatiously took a large revolver out of its case, and laid it inipressivly in front of him on the table. Thereupon M. Max detached a. fountain pen from his w.ii-tcoat pocket and 'aid it, with an equally solemn gesture, on the other side of the table from the pistol. There was courage as well as humour in this quiet assertion of his status, for the German idea of an adequate retort to such a pleasantry might have implied the olosc- of M. Max's career, not only as a Burgomaster but as an individual.

Tn his official capacity tho end came not long :ftcr lie was alleged to have sent to the Commandant, as part payment. of an indemnity instalment, fievera! ra'ks full of German credit notes for requisitions made!

PRISON CONSOLATIONS

He was then removed to Gi.ttz as a Belgian official not amenable t:> German military authority: hut he had held his own, in a very difficult situation for nearly two months, and had not only prevented useless bloodshed, but obtained the best terms possible for his city and it* people. He writes now that it is 240 days since he was made a prisoner, "and captivity has become for nie a normal state. The sufferings I felt during the first weeks have grown less and less." He finds no merit in bearing his hate stoically. "I only see in my patience the application oi' the natural law by which all kings adapt themselves to the conditions imposed by circumstances." The Burgomaster even looks forward to the time when some boisterous session of the Communal Council of Brussels may force him "to look back with regret upon the '.'silent dungeon cell of Glatzl"