VOL. IV, No. 13 APRIL 1, 1944 NEWS FROM AND THE BELGIAN CONGO

BELGIAN INFORMATION CENTER 6 3 0 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y.

CIRCLE 6 2450

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Anniversary Notice

Three years ago the first issue of a foreign audience, the editor, as a for• News From Belgium was published. It eigner in these United States, is eager started off on a modest scale. Thanks to learn whether the small bridge he to the response of the American public, tries to build between his country, an it has grown to proportions the editor oppressed group of 8,500,000 people, never dreamed of. Over 100,000 copies and the mighty millions of Americans, of this booklet are printed each week. is constructed in such a way that it will They even appear to be read, at least permit both Americans and Belgians if we believe the diversified reactions to cross the natural differences and some artificially created misunder• of our correspondents. The majority standings that might exist between the of the readers seem to agree with two nations. Therefore, we will be the editorial comments; some consider grateful if on the occasion of this third them "mere drivel." Not even the Lord anniversary the readers of News From can please everybody and besides, who Belgium who feel themselves in a posi• would want to do so? tion to do so would express their con• A publication is as much the prop• structive criticisms. erty of the reader as of the editor. As at this time last year, the editor Reading a publication regularly is al• expresses the hope that this bulletin ready a form of consent, of complicity: may disappear as soon as possible, for to a certain extent it demands that the this would be the proof that news again reader should occasionally express his will be free in Belgium. agreement or his objections. Addressing —THE EDITOR. NEWS FROM BELC.ITM APEIL 1, 1944 "I Adorn the World, but I Despise It." Some time ago a young American, who left for amateurs. We have to make it up for some reason or other was unable to join ourselves. the army, was heard complaining about the The Golden Age of the dreamers, nature- fact that for the duration at least he couldn't lovers and globe-trotters was between 1500 see anything of the world. He said in dead and 1600. Christopher Columbus, as the earnest, "I am practically encaged in these locker-room song has it, "that navigatin, cal- United States." culatin, son-of-a gun, Colombo," unleashed Oh, wonderful cage, and how jealous something in millions of minds and hearts would be those millions of people in Europe from which we all still suffer. When Lind• and elsewhere who all their lives for religi• bergh crossed the Atlantic everyone was ous, political, linguistic, or simply economic elated: we, — all of us humans, — had done reasons are unable to move farther than 100 something the elements didn't want us to miles from their homes! But after all, Mr. do. It was glorious, but at the same time we Paul Morand wrote a book called Rien Que felt the earth was shrinking. In our subcon• La Terre, a title which throws the regrets of scious we understood that in our quest for the young American into the shade. "Noth• the truth we would soon no longer have the ing but the earth," says Mr. Morand, and excuse of going places to find out what other the globe's dimensions continue to become people had discovered. We saw that the so• smaller and narrower while our desires and lution for our problems was not any more ambitions are supposed to exceed its size to be found in the study of a diversified and shape. mankind but in ourselves. Now there is no place on earth which you can't reach in 60 The trouble with the world is that we identify ourselves with what we know. To hours. The fact that mappemondes do not keep our interest in life going we need mys• look global any more but have acquired the tery and excitement, — excitement arising shape of a trigonometrist's nightmare is but out of mystery. We have come to know this a diversion. The modern man is told that old world too well. There are scarcely even the world is a small, third-rate planet and a few corners left of which we do not have that we know all about it. good maps and surveys. Every school child All that started when Ptolemaeus, the is familiar with the shape of the earth. Greek, began making maps. Up to 1462 Everybody knows that except for a few re• they were still considered worthy of publi• treats in the woods along the Amazon, the cation, but real map-making and publishing world will soon look like a model village in developed only in the sixteenth century. It a nineteenth-century World's Fair. A few had nothing to do with any philosophical years ago when a daring writer and explorer preoccupation; it was just the answer to a wanted to partake of a genuine two-course need of the time. cannibal meal, the poor alleged cannibals, Antwerp, the "gathering-place of mer• although they did not want to offend him, chants of all nations," was at that time the were extremely embarrassed and were forc• economic center of Western Europe. Poets ed to serve him a piece of mutton instead. lauded it in exalted rhymes, foreign writers When the movie potentates want to show us and distinguished visitors praised it as the a 100% savage, they serve us the impressive greatest and richest of all European cities. anatomy of Johnny Weismuller, who is so As an illustration of the theory that art and highly civilized that he writes books about science need the background of a capitalis• the breast stroke. No, there is little "nature" tic society, one could not find any better

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example. The rich merchants and finan• wise man must keep silent these days . . ." ciers not only wanted to be entertained by He was honored by the bigot's suspicions the artists, they not only asked the painters and he probably belonged to a circle of in• to represent them and their ponderous fluential, highly cultured men who under• spouses on canvas, but they also expected stood that the conflicts of the sixteenth cen• the scientists to make life easier for them by tury were not to be reduced to dogmatic their discoveries or by cataloguing the rudi• quarrels but that the stake was the very dig• ments of scientific knowledge already exist• nity of the scientist, of the writer, of man. ing in certain realms of human endeavor. Somewhat disillusioned he chose as a motto Like the eighteenth century, the sixteenth for his crest, which represented a globe: "I is a period not so much of great creative ac• adorn it, but I despise it." tivity but of inventories and encyclopedic surveys. His claim to glory is that next to Merca• tor he was the greatest geographer of his One of the most urgent requirements of time. He was the first one to put together the international crowd that convened in the good maps already in circulation, to the Antwerp Exchange, the first one to be which he added several of his own inven• established in the world, was the need of tion, and to publish them in the "most ex• good maps of Europe, Africa and Asia. pensive volume of the sixteenth century," Travel was still a hazardous enterprise, dis• tances were poorly defined, errors were the Theatre of the World (1553), which manifold in the existing land and coast had three editions in Latin, one in Flemish, maps. A whole school of map-makers and several in French and German, — altogether engravers sprang up, the most famous of 38. The book contained 53 maps and cre• all being Mercator, whose projection of the ated a world-wide sensation. In 1570 he pub• globe has only recently been discarded for lished a number of additions to his great a more modern conception. They drew work. He was aided by Anna, his sister, who maps, they bought maps from the Italians, did the coloring of the maps, a job that was the Spaniards and the Portuguese. They re• generally entrusted to women by the pub• drew and reprinted them and sold them. lishers of those days. It had to be done by Among these sellers of maps was one hand in order not to obscure the lettering Abraham Ortelius, born in Antwerp in and the other details of the engraving. His 1527. He had latinized his inelegant name work is scientific and accurate and his com• of Wortel (root) or Ortel into a scholarly- mentaries on the regions represented are sounding version. By trade he was a mer• still of value. This atlas contains a map of chant. He saw a great deal of Europe and the Americas that reproduces the rather used to go twice a year from his home town fantastic ideas geographers had of that con• to the fairs of Frankfort, a voyage compar• tinent. Oddly enough. South America, which able to a transcontinental trip nowadays. was far better known, looks like a square, He was registered in the artists' union as while the outline of North America is sub• an "afzetter van kaarten," a vendor of maps. stantially correct. Except for part of Can• We know little about his character, but ada and a good view of Florida, the whole still enough to appreciate him as a great of the United States is listed as terrae inco- liberal mind; in the troubled times of the gnitae. The Chamber of Commerce of the second half of the sixteenth century he was orange-blossom state ought to reprint this brave enough to write: "I think that the map. writer is under the obligation of speaking the truth as he sees it." When the freedom Ortelius considered geography "the eye of the spirit was completely oppressed by of history." In his Renaissance eagerness to the tyranny of Philip II, he wrote: "The reconstruct the world of the ancients, he

[103} NEWS FROM BELGIUM APRIL 1, 1944 collected medals and coins, he copied in• his friends were obliged to publish a book scriptions and tried with all the scientific in his memory, entitled, Lacrymae Poeta- means at his disposal to give a correct image rum . . ., the tears of the poets on the death of the world as the Romans had seen it. His of Abraham Ortelius. You can always trust collection of coins and his publications on the poets; they never shed tears over any• that subject made him an authority, and body who isn't really worth while. So let his home became a "must" on the list of the all lovers of atlases, globes and mappemon• most distinguished sightseers of his time. des join in remembering gratefully the 14-th Not only did he popularize the study of of April (some say it is the 4:th ), on which geography, which was in need of it, but he date was born in that pearl of cities, Ant• instigated the drawing of numerous new werp, Abraham Ortelius, the father of all maps all over Europe. His Theatrum is a the atlases of this vale of tears. monument of science, and when he died so many poets took to the pen and the lyre that —THE EDITOR.

1. Belgium B. The Occupation Administration A. The Wat Charieroi Troops Forbidden Contact With D.F.C. for Flying Officer - The Belgian Civilians — Brawls between German soldiers Ministry of Information announces: and their officers are occurring frequently at Flying Officer D., a Belgian whose recent vic• C'harleroi, according to reports from occupied tories have been the subject of several announce• Belgium. The German gendarmerie often have ments, has just been awarded the Distinguished to intervene to restore order. Flying Cross for his brilliant work, with the fol• As certain German soldiers have got into the lowing citation: habit of airing their grievances to Belgians in "Flying Officer D. has served with his present the cafes, the German Command at Charleroi squadron since March, 1943, and has constantly has forbidden the troops to have any contact with displayed skill, courage, and keenness which has the civil population. greatly inspired his fellow pilots. "Flying Officer D. has destroyed at least five German Police Have to Discipline Ger• enemy aircraft and inflicted very severe damage man Soldiers — At Tongeren, in Belgian Lim- on the enemy." burg, discipline in a German barracks where there were 1,200 recruits deteriorated so seri• Nazis Commandeer Transport Barges — ously that the commanding officer had to appeal Barges of from 600 tons to 2,000 tons capacity to the Gestapo. have been commandeered by the Germans in The soldiers were paraded on the barrack Belgium, , the Netherlands, Poland and square before three plain-clothes police officials, Yugoslavia. These boats have been taken to who picked out a dozen victims and marched Germany, for transport service on the Rhine them off. and side canals, to supplement the insufficient means of conveyance. Anti-Fascist Italians Interned—The Ger• mans have taken over the chateau, at Boitsfort, Floating Prison in the Baltic — According , of M. , the former to information from Sweden, a German armed Belgian Prime Minister. It is to be used for merchantman is being used in the Baltic as a the internment of Italians who were living in floating prison. Belgian, French and Norwegian occupied Belgium when the Italian army capi• prisoners are confined on board, also workers tulated, and who have refused to join Musso• requisitioned from occupied countries. lini's republican Fascist party.

[104] Belgian Men of Science

Opus inm- £mi ai j^^^_jiM^ mymrum. muiris^w MB r^jMum.li MJZ^!^"

Frontispiece of the "Theatre of the World" by Ortelius. A sixteenth century atlas incorporating the geographical knowledge of the world then exist• ing with original inventions and discoveries of the author. (See editorial).

Vesalius (1514-1564), the greatest anatomist of the sixteenth century. His works revolution- ized anatomical science. In 1543 he published his book on the construction of the human body, "De Humani Corporis Fahrica," with which it has been said "modern medicine begins." This month, April 30, is the anni- versary of his birth.

NEWS FROM BELGIUM APRIL 1. 1944

Political Life the population growing in strength, the Ger• German Chivalry! — In Belgian Limburg mans in occupied Belgium are preaching recon• ciliation between collaborators and patriots, but Province lives an old gentleman, Armand de this does not prevent them from ordering new ilenten de Home. One of his sons was execnted terrorist measures, against the patriots. by the Germans for patriotic activities during this war. Another son was a pilot in the Belgian The German newspaper Briisseler Zeitung publishes a proclamation by General von Fal- Air Force in Great Britain. He was shot down kenhausen, German military governor for Bel• during a raid over Germany. The father had gium and Northern France, in which he states: masses said in his home town, St. Truiden, and "All political prisoners will be regarded as hos• in Brussels, for the repose of his soul. The Ger• tages after attacks against members of the Ger• mans heard of it. The German Military Court man army or against the loyal part of the pop• has just sentenced Armand de ^lenten to six ulation." years of hard labor for having arranged for In German proclamations the phrase "loyal these ceremonies to which he gave "the charac• part of the population" means the traitors, Flem• ter of anti-German manifestations." ish Nazis and Walloon Fascists—the small mi• Six years of hard labor for honoring the nority of Belgians who have placed themselves memory of his sons! The judges who pronounced at the service of the German army and the Ges• this sentence surely wanted to prove that Ger• tapo. many is a chivalrous country which respects brave men. What Paper D'Ya Read?-The German army in occupied Belgium is being flooded with Nazis Refer to News of Allied Successes propaganda leaflets. Some come from Nazi as "Evil Opinion" — The Nazi Briisseler Zei- sources and are designed to improve the morale lung, referring reluctantly and in a most un• of the troops; others are drawn up by secret complimentary manner to the temper of the gen• pacifist and anti-Hitlerite organizations. At eral public, says: "It is not by mere caprice that present six different leaflets are being passed the number of miles by which the Bolsheviks around among the German soldiers: have advanced is reflected in every face or that The first, drawn up by the German Army news from 'over there' is hawked around towns Command, is intended for officers. It warns and provinces through sewers of evil opinion iij them against defeatist propaganda. the form of the wickedest of rumors." The second is addressed to Germans, military or civilian, in charge of the requisitioned facto• Germans Seize Hostages for "Banditry"— ries. It calls their attention to sabotage and (ierman propagandists in occupied Belgium try other violent incidents. to discredit Belgian patriots by putting them on The third is the work of Reeder, chief of the the same plane as highway robbers. - (ierman civil administration in Belgium. It Under the heading "1943, Year of Banditry," orders the staff of this administration to inform a German-controlled newspaper gives the fol• the German police and S. S. immediately if lowing summary of incidents in occupied Bel• they hear of any group or individual trying to gium last year: 366 political acts of violence. undermine the authority of the occupying 7,131 other oifenses, including thefts at pistol power. point of money, foodstuffs and ration coupons, The fourth, from a secret organization, ad• and the destruction of crops. 815 acts of sabo• vises the German soldiers to desert and, if they tage and similar offenses. can, to get themselves interned in Switzerland. The fact that the Germans seize hostages af• This leaflet bears a red circle by way of sig• ter most of the attacks and acts of sabotage is nature. sufficient proof that they do not really look on The fifth, similarly marked, contains a list, them as the work of bandits. for the benefit of the German soldiers, of all the streets in German cities kno\vn to have been New Terrorist Measures Against Patriots pulverized by the RAF bombardments. —^With the threat of an Allied landing in the The sixth, also secret, is directed against Hit• West hanging over them, and the resistance of ler and his regime.

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Rexists Announce They Murdered Bovesse An order i,ssued by General von Falkcidian- in Reprisal — Victor ilattliys, the closest as• sen, German military commander for Belgium sociate of Leon Degrelle, leader of the Rexists and Northern France, lays down that this pro• (Walloon Fascists), has openly stated that the hibition applies to all breeds of pigeons, and recent murder of M. Frangois Bovesso, formerly tliat the owners of homing pigeons must deliver a Belgian Cabinet llinister, whom the Ger• to their local mayors or burgomasters the iden• mans dismissed from office as Governor of the tification rings of pigeons killed. province of Namur, was committed by the The zone in which pigeons may not bo kept Rexists. includes the Belgian districts of Veurne, Dix- In a funeral oration at the burial of the trai• muide, Ostend, and Brugge, as w(>ll as the re• tor Edgard Gignot, chief Rexist of the Namur gion situated north of the line of the Ghent district, who was shot by patriots, Matthys said: canal, the Moen'aart, and the Scheldt, as far "May Heaven grant to our heroic martyrs as the Dutch border. The left bank of the mari• the peace that they desen'e and give to us the time Scheldt and its hinterland are thus includ• strength and courage to avenge them! Today ed in the coastal zone. we need not say that prayer, for our comrade is already avenged. Our stern and faithful com• Resistance to Nazi Occupation rades have dispensed full and swift justice." Russian Prisoners Grateful; Belgian Aid M. Bovesse had been nmrdered three days Continues — A secret newspaper appearing in earlier. occupied Belgium, under the title Void I'U.S. News From Belgium of March 4 carried an S.R. (Russia Calling), has published a letter editorial article on the death of M. Bovesse. from a Russian prisoner of war. The following is a translation of the letter: Economic and Social Life "The Russian prisoners of war appreciate • German Police Appropriate Cash — Ger• your help and thank you with all their heart. man police agents in Brussels, working probably We beg you to express our deep gratitude to on their own account, are making searches in the Belgian people who, in spite of all the dif• houses where they expect to find money, and ficulties and all the restrictions under which carrying off, on one pretext or another, any they themselves are suffering, have been helping banknotes they come across. us so generously since our arrival in Belgium. "It is difficult for us to convey how precious In the Rue Gray, some of these German po• your gifts are to us, both materially and moral• licemen or pseudo-policemen, after ransacking ly, for they are evidence that, even in captivity a house from top to bottom, took possession of and so far from our own country, we have many a box containing 160,000 francs in Belgian mo• friends on whom we can count. ney (equivalent to $5,120 at the pre-war rate). "We shall always remember your friendshij). At another place thev seized 475,000 francs and if it is our good fortune to return one day ($15,200) in 1,000-franc notes, two 10,000- to our own country, we shall make known there franc notes, and 20,000 francs in other notes, the brave and kindly attitude of the Belgian together with 75,000 francs in French currency. population towards us." The paper adds: Belgian "Debt" to Germany Mounts — "Dear Readers, we must continue to support Volk en Stoat, Nazi-controlled paper published the unfortunate Russian prisoners ; we must pa.v in Antwerp, reports February 7: "At present the debt that we have contracted towards the our clearing claim on Germany is more than 50 splendid Russian people, who are fighting for billion Belgian francs as compared with 26 bil• our deliverance. lion on the same date last year." "Give us money, give us food, for the Rus• sian I*risoners-of-War Maintenance Fund." Von Falkenhausen on Pigeons — As re• ported editorially in a previous issue, from 1200 Church Bells Stolen in Belgium — March 1, pigeon keeping is forbidden by tlic The New York Sun of iiarch 20. 1944, car• Germans in the coastal area between the Somme ried the following piece of news: "Nearly 1200 estuary, France, and the Dutch-Belgian frontier. churcli bells have been collected by the Ger-

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mails so far in Belgium alone, and taken to faut-Delbrouck" mutual aid fund collected 100,- the Reich, the British radio declared in a broad• 000 francs ($3200 at the pre-war rate of ex• cast picked up at New York today by CBS. change) during January, 1944. •' 'Tin and copper collected from bells all over Europe represent a large proportion of Merlot in Exile — Joseph Merlot, Deputy (rermany's total consumption last year," Ix)n- and former mayor of Seraing, near Liege, don continued, '^[embers of the Belgian under• whose arrest was reported in News From Bel• ground, at Ilavelange in eastern Belgium, re• gium- of November 6, 1943, has been deported cently opened fire on a party of Germans who to Germany. He had been held at the prison of were taking away the church bells there, and Saint Gilles since the first of July. four Germans were killed.' " Condemned to Death — The German mili• tary command of Liege has announced that in Soldiers of "White Army Defend Farm• reprisal for 22 assassinations committed recent• ers in Hainaut — At Froidchapelle, Hainaut, ly in Liege and Luxemburg, including the kill• in occupied Belgium, men belonging to a patri• ing of two German soldiers, the following per• otic organization known as the White Army sons have been condemned to death. Although killed 40 German soldiers and wounded ten or the murders have not been cleared up, these per• a dozen more. sons were rounded up by the German police and This clash was provoked by the arrival in the found in possession of arms. Oflermans, Pas• village of about 15 Germans who had come to cal, of 419 rue Vivegnis, Liege; De Ruytter, requisition cattle from a farmer. Thirty mem• ilarcel, of 52 quai Orban, Liege; Kremer, bers of the White Army intervened, and after Charles, of 8 rue d'Amay, Liege Herstal; a lively exchange of shots the Germans retreat- Gielen, Camille, of 22 rue Sapiniere, Liege Se• <'d. Some time later they returned with a strong• raing; Delcominette, Felicien, of 38 rue Verte, er force, but the patriots were waiting in am• Liege Seraing; Graindorge, Jean, of 695 rue bush. The Germans, met with a shower of ma• Malvaux, Rainet; Fontaine, Clovis, of 116 rue chine gun bullets, were routed. They left their Roi Albert, Ivez-Ramet; Detaille, Paul Ernest, dead and wounded behind them. The losses for of 7 rue du Vieux Sacrc, Tilff; Watelet, Al- the White Army were light,—one dead and two phonse, of 105 rue Faubourg Ste. Catherine, wounded. Huy; Magnee, Roger Antoinette, of 33 rue Since this incident the White Army has been Cretalle, Comblain Fairon. very popular in the district, where the farmers thoroughly approve of being defended against the Germans. 2. Belgium Abroad The soldiers of the White Army who were in In the United States action at Froidchapelle wore a uniform consist• ing of khaki pants and blouse, black tie, and a "Belgian Tenacity" — On Tuesday, March cartridge belt slung over the shoulder. A doctor 28, the ship Belgian Tenacity of the Belgian accompanied them on this expedition. Line was christened at Portland, Maine, by Countess Van dor Straten-Ponthoz, the wife of Deportations — At Charleroi, out of 150 the Belgian ambassador to the L^nited States. young men drafted for forced labor in Germany, Present at the ceremony were Count Van der only 9 presented themselves at the station Octo• Straten-Ponthoz, Charles Hallaert, Consul Gen• ber 5, 1943. The week before, there were 15 eral of Belgium in the United States, Admiral who left out of 173 drafted. C. Jones, Mrs. Sewell, the wife of the Gover• nor of Ifaine, Dr. Jan-Albert Goris, Commis• "The Labor World" Gets By the Gestapo sioner of Information for Belgium, and Pierre —The secret newspaper Le Monde du Travail Cattier, President of the Belgian Line. (Tlie Labor World) of the Belgian Socialists, On this occasion Countess Van der Straten- lias a regular circulation amounting to 20,000 Ponthoz spoke over radio station WCSH. co))ies. A special edition of 25,000 copies was It will be recalled that when the war broke boldly distributed, in spite of the efforts of the out 75% of the Belgian tonnage got to England Gestapo. and has been taking part in the convoys and Le Monde du Travail states that the "Truf- merchant shipping for three years. Up to 65%

[107} NKWS FROM BEI.GICM APRIL 1, 1944 of the tonnage was lost in action hut replaced 4th. The workroom will continue to be open on either in England or in America. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

TO ALL BELGIAN STUDENTS In Canada Belgian Ambassador Presents "Wings" to A decree of February 26, 1942, made Cadets — Georges Theunis, Belgian ambassa- effective by a ministerial order of May 6, dor-at-large to the United States, presided March 1943, makes it possible for Belgian sub• 23 at the ceremony of the presentation of jects residing in the or "wings" to the students of an important mili• in any other free country to obtain credits tary aviation school in Eastern Canada. Among for diplomas and certificates received af• these students were several young Belgians. He ter May 10, 1940, equal to diplomas and was accompanied by Baron Silvercruys, Bel• certificates of the same kind delivered in gian ambassador to Canada, Captain Jean Ducq, Belgium. The corresponding value of the air attache in Canada, and Major Andre Big- foreign and Belgian diplomas will be de• wood, military attache in Washington. Mr. termined by the Advisory Commission of Theunis tlien went by military plane to Ottawa Belgian Instruction in Great Britain, and for a short visit at the Embassy where he con• will be ratified by the Ministry of Public ferred with members of the government, of Par• Instruction. liament, and of the Canadian army and air When these formalities are complied corps. with, these diplomas and certificates will have the same value in Belgium as the le• gal Belgian diplomas of the same kind. 3. Belgian Congo These provisions apply especially to certi• Labor Front Beats Own Records in Rub• ficates for the completion of intermediate ber Production — The Belgian Congo, which courses and to all diplomas presented by has achiev(}d many records in the production universities. and export of copper, tin, tantalite and other To avail themselves of this opportun• essential war products, is now attaining unpre• ity, those interested should apply to the cedented figures in its export of rubber. University Section of the Belgian Minis• The quantities exported in 1943 amounted to try of Public Instruction, 78 Eaton Square. nearly 8,000 tons, of which 0,210 tons were London, S. W. 1, specifying the diploma wild rubber and 1,765 tons plantation rubber. which they desire to submit to the legal The maximum aiuiual tonnages previously ex• formalities. If they reside abroad, they ported were 6,020 tons of wild rubber, in 1901, should ask for instructions from the Bel• and 1,337 tons of plantation rubber, in 1942. gian diplomatic representatives in the The figures for 1943 exceed those of the seven country of their residence concerning these l)receding years put together, and are five times formalities. In this country, requests for as high as the 1942 figures. Eighty per cent of ratification may be presented to the govern• the wild inibber supplied to the Allies is equal ment through the General Consulate of in quality to the average plantation product, Belgium, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, and is delivered in sheets. 20, N. Y. If sales, which now exceed 1,000 tons a month, are maintained at their present level, the rubber exports of the Congo will show a fur• Friends of Belgium — In response to sev• ther increase in 1944. These results have been eral requests, it has been decided that the work• made possible thanks to the strenuous efforts of room at 730 Fifth Avenue, New York, will re• the stout-hearted producers of the labor front main open on Tuesdays until 9 p.m., as of April to beat their own records.

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