has applied his great business talents to
the subject. Large sums of money have been voted by the Belgian
Parliament for the construction of public works and the extension
of the means of communication from place to place. There is a light
railway, the 'Vicinal,' which runs along the whole coast, at a
short distance from the shore, from Knocke, on the east, to La
Panne in the extreme west, and which is connected with the system of
State railways at various points. From Ostend, through Middelkerke,
to Plage de Westende, an electric railway has been constructed,
close to the beach and parallel to the Vicinal (which is about
a mile inland), on which trains run every ten minutes during the
summer season. As an instance of the speed and energy with which
these works for the convenience of the public are carried out,
when once they have been decided upon, it may be mentioned that the
contract for the portion of the electric line between Middelkerke
and Plage de Westende, a distance of about a mile and a half, was
signed on May 9, that five days later 200 workmen began to cut
through the dunes, embank and lay the permanent way, and that on
June 25, in spite of several interruptions owing to drifting sand
and heavy rains, the first train of the regular service arrived
at Plage de Westende.
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