themselves with convenient devices of this character without calling upon the furniture-dealer.

CLOSED

Fig. 1.-A HOME-MADE FOLDING-BED.

One of the simplest possible is shown in Fig. 1. It is a shallow oblong box with the bottom preferably of slats and the sides and ends deep enough to receive the mattress and coverings that are to be used. This depth should exceed the thickness of the mattress by three or four inches. Diagonal braces may be placed at the corners to prevent the racking unavoidable in raising and lowering. One side of the box is attached to the wall by means of strong iron hinges (A A) which should be screwed to the studs if the wall is of lath and plaster, or otherwise secured so as to bear the strain. the other side of the box, legs (B B) are attached, also by hinges, so that they lie flat against the slats when the bed is raised to its day-time place and secured by hooks against the wall. To keep coverings and mattress from falling against the wall when the bed is lowered, bands of some suitable material are used.

To

The same general principle may be employed with any of the light cots kept by dealers, but in this case the wall-hinges must be attached to projections bearing them out from the wall so that there will be room for mattress, covering, etc., between wall and slats. It will naturally occur to any one with an eye to decorative effects, that a curtain hung over this somewhat unsightly object when it is hooked up, will effectually conceal it, and it may, with the exercise of a little taste, be made really ornamental.

The occupant of a narrow hall bedroom in New York requiring more space and a table, had recourse to the device shown in Fig. 2. The bedstead was one of the light cots referred to above. Fixing two stout screw-eyes (OC) in the studding at the head of the bed,

he lashed the head-piece loosely to them, so that the lashings should serve as hinges. To the foot of the bed he attached a line and passed the free end through a pulley (D) fixed near the ceiling. It was an easy matter, the bedding being properly lashed, to hoist the whole affair until it rested flat against the wall as shown in the figure. For additional security, the long slack of the hoisting-line was passed around outside the bed and made fast to two hooks about seven feet from the floor. The upper pair of legs was either folded down as shown or opened and used as a shelf. A drawing-board placed upon the lower pair of legs, as shown in the engraving at E, converted them into a very passable substitute for a table. Recently some inventor has hit upon the same idea, and has patented it with some improvements and elaborations.

On yachts and other small vessels folding bunks are sometimes provided for the crew by stretching stout canvas across a rectangular iron frame and hinging the frame to the lining of the vessel. In this case the outer side of the frame is supported by hooks attached to lines depending from the deck-beams. When not in use, the frames are folded up flat against the side of the vessel, and occupy scarcely any room at all.

The next step in elaboration is the "mantel

a shelf or mantel. Ingenious self-acting attachments adjust the legs of the bedstead, so that they open or shut as the bed is lowered or raised. A slightly more complicated form of the mantel-bed is similar in structure, save that it folds end wise, involving a joint midway of the mattress and side-pieces.

The bedsteads thus far described are quite moderate in price, and are coming into use very extensively. They are better in many respects than the more costly kinds, since the open structure admits free circulation of air through and about the mattress and coverings while they are not in use. The more elaborate and ornamental folding beds, "cabinet-beds," as they are sometimes called, are manufactured in a great variety of styles, and are very complete and ingenious in all their appointments.

Figs. 3 and 4 show one of the direct-acting kind, where the bed is wheeled outward before being lowered from its upright position. The raising and lowering are usually facilitated by counter-weights, springs, or pulleys concealed in the casing. For low-ceiled rooms cabinet-beds are made which fold in the middle, instead of being raised bodily. These, however, project farther into the room when folded, and in them it is impracticable to use the "wire mattresses" as generally furnished to the trade.

Cabinet or furniture bedsteads are often only onnamental coverings for the bedding, but many of them include also a wardrobe, with drawers, or, if desired, a washstand, mirror, and the like, all very compact and convenient. These beds stand with the side to the wall when in use, or with the foot to the wall if preferred. That is to say, the wardrobe part is swung or pulled out toward the middle of the room, and the bed is then lowered. This is hardly an objection, since the whole structure is mounted on easily rolling castors, and can be removed with very little exertion. Figs. 3 and 4 show one of these combination

FIG. 3.-CABINET-BED-SIDE.

beds in front and side elevation. When not in use, it is a handsome piece of furniture, and to a casual observer suggests nothing more than an ordinary wardrobe and bureau. Another class of folding-beds includes those in

coverings is so well known that it does not require illustration. In effect it is precisely like the one shown in Fig. 5, except that the legs can not be folded parallel to the side-pieces, and it lacks the long braces marked A A.

Fig. 5 shows one of the best camp-beds in the market. The legs turn on a bolt in the usual manner at B, but are so attached to the side-rails, by means of an iron fixture, that they can be folded parallel to the side-rails, and rolled up in the canvas as shown at C. When open for use, the bed is six feet three inches long and twenty-nine inches wide; folded it forms a roll about six inches in diam

eter one way and four inches the other way. The weight is fifteen pounds.

A camp-bed somewhat more elaborate in construction than that shown in the illustration has semi-cylindrical siderails of wood. They are made of threeply veneering similar to the chair-seats commonly in use, except that they are not perforated. To these the canvas stretcher is firmly tacked, and within them are simple iron fixtures to serve as braces for the legs. All the attachments are laid within the hollow semi-cylinders when the bed is to be folded, and then the canvas is rolled and packed between the two, which, when strapped together, form a handsome varnished cylindrical box less than

four inches in diameter, and weighing altogether eleven pounds.

Many varieties of camp-beds are manufactured which fold much more compactly than those here described, some of them within the dimensions of a moderate sized valise. These may all be classed as were modifications of the cots described. Taking Fig. 5, for instance, cutting the side-rails into four pieces, and fur

B

FIG. 5.-CAMP-BED.

nishing each section with independent sets of legs, it is evident that the whole could be rolled up in a more compact form than that shown. The weight, however, is naturally increased, and the trouble of taking apart and putting together is considerably greater. Where space for transportation is to be considered, some of these more compact devices are very convenient.

BELGIUM, a monarchy in western Europe. It was formerly a part of the Netherlands, but seceded and formed itself into an independent state in 1830. Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was elected king by a National Congress in the following year. His son, Leopold II, the present King of the Belgians, succeeded to the throne on Dec. 10, 1865, at the age of thirty. The law-making power is vested in two chambers, called the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, both of which are elective. The members of the Cabinet, who assumed office on Oct. 26, 1884, are as follow: President of the Council and Minister of Finance, A. Beernaert; Minister of Justice, J. Lejeune; Minister of the Interior and of Public Instruction, J. Devolder; Minister of War, Gen. C. Pontus; Minister of Railways, Posts, and Telegraphs, J. H. P. Vandenpeereboom; Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prince de Chimay; Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Public Works, the Chevalier A. de Moreau.

Area and Population. The area of the kingdom is 29,455 square kilometres, or 11,373 square miles. The estimated population on Dec. 31, 1886, was 5,909,975, comprising 2,951,300 males and 2,958,675 females. Between 1880 and 1886 the rate of increase was 1.14 per cent. per annum. According to the census of 1880 there were 2,237,867 Belgians speaking French only, and 2,479,747 speaking Flemish only, while 41,046 could speak only

German, and 471,872 spoke at least two of these languages.

All the people of the kingdom are professing Catholics except some 15,000 who are Protestants and 3,000 Jews. Education is backward, but is gradually becoming diffused under a law making elementary education more general than it formerly was. Universal education is one of the demands of the Liberals, but the party in power opposes it, and is sustained by a decided majority of the electors, composed of the wealthy class and constituting only one tenth of the adult male population. The budget of 1888 allots 1,613,620 francs for superior education, 3,747,490 francs for intermediate education, and 10,167,774 francs for primary education. Of the total population over fifteen years of age in 1880 the proportion who could not read nor write was 42 per cent., whereas between the ages of seven and fifteen it was only 29-4 per cent.

The number of births in 1886 was 166,451; of deaths, 116,264; of marriages, 39,642; excess of births over deaths, 50,187. The number of emigrants in 1886 was 17,029, which was less by 2,775 than the number of immigrants. The population of the principal cities on Jan. 1, 1887, was as follows: Brussels, with suburbs, 425,204; Antwerp, 204,498; Ghent, 145,424; Liège, 137,559.

Revenue and Expenditure. The ordinary budget for many years has almost invariably shown a deficit. In 1885, when an extraordinary expenditure of 44,974,750 francs was contemplated in the estimates, with an estimated extraordinary revenue of only 6,159,884 francs, the ordinary budget was revised so that there remained a small surplus. In the following year, instead of the expected surplus of 3,000,000 francs, there was an actual deficit of more than that amount. In 1887 the revenue fell below the expenditure nearly 2,500,000 francs. The estimates for 1888 make the total ordinary revenue 313,641,559 francs, and the ordinary expenditure 307,743,123 francs. The income from property taxes is estimated at 23,883,100 francs; from personal taxes, 19,232,000 francs; from trade licenses, 6,580,000 francs; from customs, 24,682,600 francs; from excise, 39,775,500 francs; from registration duties, 23,860,000 francs; from succession duties, 19,420,000 francs; from stamp duties, 6,820,000 francs; from railways, 114,500,000 francs; from telegraphs, 3,103,700 francs; from the post-office, 9,421,300 francs; from navigation dues, 4,280,000 francs; from the national bank and amortization funds, 11,493,100 francs; from domains and forests, 1,300,000 francs; from other sources, 5.290,259 francs.

The expenditure for interest on the public debt amounts to 96.102,231 francs; civil list and dotations, 4,568,675 franes; for expenses of the Ministry of Justice, 15,426,361 francs: of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2,377,020 francs; of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Instruction, 21,829,764 francs; of the

Ministry of Public Works, 16,712,281 francs; of the Ministry of Railways, Posts, and Telegraphs, 83,850,116 francs; of the Ministry of War, 46,003,270 francs; of the Ministry of Finance, 15,290,905 francs; of the gendarmerie, 3,946,000 francs; repayments and other expenditures, 1,636,500 francs.

The national debt, including the capitalized value of annuities amounting to 30,106,000 francs, exceeds 2,500,000,000 francs. The funded debt consists of 219,959,633 francs of 21-per-cent. bonds, 519,859,000 francs of 3-percents., and 1,185,509,458 of 31-per-cents. The credit of the Government, notwithstanding its large and gradually increasing debt, is so good that the 34-per-cent. bonds stand at 2 per cent. above par in the market.

The Post-Office.-The number of letters that passed through the Belgian post-office in 1886 was 90,744,556, not reckoning 14,123,401 official letters; the number of postal cards, 26,568,401; printed inclosures, 55,268,000; newspapers, 94,394,000. The receipts during 1886 amounted to 14,806,595 francs, and the expenditure to 8,893,171 francs.

The Army. The army budget for 1888 fixes the peace effective at the following figures:

The staff, numbering 125 officers, and 772 officers of the medical corps, are not included in this statement. The number of horses is 8,900; of guns, 200. The war-strength of the army is 120,000 men, 13,800 horses, and 240 guns. There is besides a civic guard, which in 1887 numbered 41,222 men.

An extensive plan for fortifying the line of the Meuse was adopted in 1887, but the Government has resolved for the present to direct its efforts chiefly to extending and arming the fortifications at Liége and Namur. These two fortresses will absorb all the army at its present strength, except the troops that are required to garrison Brussels and the central citadel at Antwerp. The Ministry of War has obtained a credit of 60,000,000 francs for the purchase of modern ordnance of large caliber. The works at Liége, when extended to the adjacent heights, are considered sufficient to arrest the passage of a German army up the Meuse valley. Namur on the French side is not so strong a position, and only guards one of the routes from France, while that by way of Mons and Charleroi is left open. Contracts have been awarded for the construction of twenty-one metallic forts along the Meuse, which will strengthen the defenses against a German invasion. They will consist of cupolas and will be completed by the end of 1890.

Commerce and Industry.-The returns for the general commerce of 1886 give the value of the imports as 2,662,715,581 francs, and of the exports as 2,512,122,555 francs. The imports for home consumption amounted to 1,335,049,000 francs, and the exports of Belgian produce to 1,181,974,000 francs. The imports of breadstuffs were valued at 205,069,000 francs; the exports at 54,514,000 francs; imports of textile materials, 177,211,000 francs; exports, 98,154,000 francs; imports of yarns, 27,121,000 francs; exports, 136,261,000 francs; imports of tissues, 31,546,000 francs; exports, 67,238,000 francs; imports of live animals, 72,047,000 francs; exports, 34,641,000 francs; imports of hides and skins, 79,926,000 francs; exports, 69,929,000 francs; imports of chemicals, 52,669,000 francs; exports, 18,551,000 francs; imports of timber, 50,972,000 francs; of metals, 29,866,000 francs; of oils, 21,022,000 francs; exports of iron, wrought and unwrought, 54,118,000 francs; of machinery, 50,813,000 francs; of coal, 50,127,000 francs; of glass, 48,940,000 francs; of sugar, 32,567,000 francs; of paper, 23,614,000 francs; of steel, 17,672,000 francs; of arms, 13,127,000 francs. The export of sugar in 1885 exceeded the import by 53,000 metric tons. The product of pig and wrought iron in 1885 was 1,182,125 tons, and in 1886 it was 1,167,132 tons.

The share of France in the import trade of 1886 was 251,031,092 francs, and in the export trade, 329,580,022 francs. Great Britain furnished 172,324,410 francs of the imports, and took 236,416,435 francs of the exports. The imports from the Netherlands were larger, amounting to 199,841,114 francs, while the United States came next after England with 160,394,949 francs of imports, Germany following with 151,941,981 francs, and then Russia with 74,224,681 francs, the Argentine Republic with 59,981,433 francs, Sweden and Norway with 37,941,106 francs, Roumania with 31,307,880 francs, Peru with 29,840,208 francs, Brazil with 21,346,203 francs, and Uruguay with 17,574,454 francs. The third largest consumer of Belgian products was Germany, the exports to that country amounting to 195,790,476 francs. The Netherlands took 175,417,466 francs. The exports to other countries were small in comparison, 40,647,175 francs going to the United States, 34,064,322 francs to Italy, and 29,457,862 francs to Switzerland, after which come Spain, the Argentine Republic, Brazil, Turkey, and Russia.

Navigation. In 1886 the number of vessels entered at Belgian ports was 6,216, of 4,094,026 tons, of which 3,367, with a total tonnage of 2,351,344, were British. The number cleared was 6,206, of 4,060,901 tons. The commercial marine in 1887 numbered 67 vessels, of 86,837 tons, of which 55 vessels, of 81,285 tons, were steamers. There were 342 fishing vessels, of 12,009 tons.

Railroads. The lines worked by the state

had a length of 3,175 kilometres, and the lines worked by companies were 1,246 kilometres in length on Jan. 1, 1887, making a total of 4,421 kilometres, or 2,763 miles. The receipts of the state railroads in 1886 were 117,918,879 francs, and the expenses 66,241,271 francs. On the lines of the companies the receipts were 35,144,278 francs, and the expenses 19,213,485 francs. The capital expended by the Government in building railroads was 929,697,462 francs up to the end of 1885, while railroads that had been purchased were paid for in annuities representing 319,798,631 francs of additional capital.

Telegraphs. The number of dispatches, private and official, in 1886 was 6,798,108. The length of lines on Jan. 1, 1887, was 3.800 miles, with 17,900 miles of wire. The receipts for 1886 were 2,868,650 francs, and the expenses, 3,679,250 francs.

Elections. The biennial elections for one half of the seats in the Chamber, and the quadrennial elections for the renewal of one half of the Senate were held on June 12, 1888. The Conservatives, who in the last Chamber numbered 96 against 42 Liberals, and in the Senate 42 against 27, were successful, owing to the defection of the Radicals who had previously supported Liberal candidates. In the new Chamber there are 98 Conservatives and 40 Liberals, and in the Senate 51 Conservatives and 18 Liberals.

The Language Question.-The Flemings have recently raised the language question by organizing a party to secure for their mother-tongue the equality that the Constitution guarantees. Until Hendrik Conscience demonstrated the literary capabilities of Flemish, and appealed to race pride in his historical and satirical passages, the Flemings were content to see the French employed almost exclusively in official intercourse, in the courts, and in the army, and even cultivated it themselves in their commercial and social relations. When their national spirit was finally aroused, the adoption of French as the language of instruction in the Royal Athenæum, which was opened at Antwerp in 1886, gave occasion for its manifestation in a storm of indignation that compelled the Government to alter its decision. In the summer of 1887 the King was almost mobbed for delivering a French oration at the dedication of statues to Flemish heroes in Bruges. The inequalities of which the Flemings complain are that no official is appointed to a post in southern Belgium without being conversant with French, whereas there are thousands in Flanders who know no Flemish; that French is the language of public boards and assemblies and of the army; and, notably, that it is used in military and criminal courts in Flanders, even when the accused person speaks only Flemish. The knowledge of French has long been a prerequisite for an appointment in the army. Deputy Coremans, of Antwerp, introduced a bill requiring candidates for com

missions to be examined in both languages, and the Government adopted the measure, which simply carries out a provision of the Constitution. Its practical effect would be to exclude Walloons from officers' posts, and after it had been passed by a large majority, the Government was induced by popular clamor to recede from the constitutional position and support a substitute measure, which merely recommended the study of Flemish. By this action the ministry offended not only the Flemish Liberals, but the Clericals, who had been its firm supporters.

Foreign Relations.-The Belgium scheme of fortification aroused the jealousy of the German Government, which endeavored in 1888, with partial success, to force Belgium into a military alliance and secure an understanding by which the fortress of Liége and the railroads will be handed over to the Germans in the event of another French war. King Leopold's sympathies are supposed to be with Germany by reason of family ties and dynastic traditions, while the present Clerical-Conservative ministry is suspected of the same partiality or, at any rate, of antagonism to the ruling powers in France. The prevailing sentiment among the people, however, leans toward France. The Liberal party and the entire Walloon population of the south are warm friends of the republic, while the Flemings are indifferent. By manifesting a desire to exert diplomatic pressure on Belgium, the German Government aroused the anti-German feeling of the country; but since England has refused to renew her pledges in regard to defending the neutrality of Belgium, and is even partly committed to the anti-French alliance, the Belgian Government may be constrained to meet the wishes of Germany. Early in 1888 the German minister made complaints respecting attacks on the German Government by a portion of the Belgian press. This was hardly done with a view to the immediate abatement of the offense, because the Belgian press is the freest in Europe. The Liberal organs assail the King and his Cabinet with the full liberty that the Constitution accords, and if they use the same license in speaking of German policy the Ultramontane journals denounce the French authorities in terms as immoderate. These representations regarding the press led up to others relative to the French control of the Nord Belge Railroad, which the German Government complained gave an unfair strategical advantage to France, although the railroad from Verviers to the German frontier was in German hands and the entire network of the Duchy of Luxembourg was worked by the imperial railroad administration of Alsace-Loraine. Finally came the overtures with regard to the occupation of Belgian fortresses by Prussian troops in case France should begin a war against Germany. The French sympathies of the people, especially of the Walloons, who are not only allied to the French in blood and lan