House £s? Garden 
THE BOULEVARD DE WATERLOO AND THE AVENUE DE LA TOISON D OR 
the central boulevards ot 
Brussels, and had “ Hauss- 
manized ” the heart of the 
city, Charles Buis contrib¬ 
uted much to the esthetic im¬ 
provement of a capital, which 
is to-day, as we have said, a 
serious competitor to Paris. 
The program of Id Art 
applique a la Rue was to open 
competitions and offer prizes 
in the shape of medals and 
diplomas for the finest and 
most artistic signs for shops 
and for the facades of new 
houses. The debut of the 
society was successful. The 
leading shopkeepers fully 
responded to the hopes and 
expectations of the artists, 
and beautiful signs were 
made, put in place and they 
still adorn the shops of 
silversmiths, jewelers, glove 
makers, druggists and cafes i n 
Montague de la Cour and the 
Rue de la Madeleine. Broer- 
man delivered numerous 
public lectures on the sub¬ 
The two comprise one broad thoroughfare 
STANDARD FOR TELEPHONE WIRES 
ject; and the Minister of 
Pine Arts, who by the way, 
was also the Minister of 
Agriculture, took an active 
interest in the new move¬ 
ment. The government 
granted subsidies, and King 
Leopold, who has been 
called “the king of builders,” 
visited all the shops, admir¬ 
ing and criticising the signs. 
The newspapers published 
long articles on the doings 
of LdArt applique a la Rue 
and the society was soon 
established as a national 
institution. 
The good work so zeal¬ 
ously commenced was, how¬ 
ever, doomed to languish in 
a withering public apathy. 
During the exhibition ot 
1897, the society tried to 
embellish the streets with 
statues in staff, classic porti¬ 
coes, ornamented poles and 
huge lions holding coats of 
arms. This attempt resulted 
in failure; and the press 
21 
