as agent of the
Compagnie d'Orient, which coveted the coal mines of Kaiping that were
supposed to be among the richest in the world. The British and Germans
also desired this valuable property which had been operated for some
years by a Chinese company. As usual, Francqui got what he went after
and took possession of the property. The crude Chinese method of mining
had greatly impaired the workings and they had to be entirely
reconstructed. Among the engineers employed was an alert, smooth-faced,
keen-minded young American named Herbert Hoover.

Upon his return to Brussels Francqui allied himself with Colonel Thys,
who was head of the Banque d'Outremer, the rival of the Societe
Generale. After he had mastered the intricacies of banking he became a
director of the Societe and with Jadot forged to the front in finance.
If Jadot stood as the Morgan, then Francqui became the Stillman of the
Belgian money world.

Then came the Great War and the German avalanche which overwhelmed
Belgium. Her banks were converted into hospitals; her industry lay
prostrate; her people faced starvation. Some vital agency was necessary
to centralize relief at home in the same way that the Commission for
Relief in Belgium,--the famous "C. R. B."--crystallized it abroad.

The Comite Rationale was formed by Belgians to feed and clothe the
native population and it became the disbursing agent for the "C. R. B."
Francqui was chosen head of this body and directed it until the
armistice. It took toll of all his energy, diplomacy and instinct for
organization. Needless to say it was one of the most difficult of all
relief missions in the war. Francqui was a loyal Belgian and he was
surrounded by the suspicious and domineering German conquerors. Yet
they trusted him, and his word in Belgium for more than four years was
absolute law. He was, in truth, a benevolent dictator.

[Illustration: EMILE FRANCQUI]

His war life illustrates one of the quaint pranks that fate often plays.
As soon as the "C. R. B." was organized in London Francqui hastened over
to England to confer with the American organizers. To his surprise and
delight he encountered in its master spirit and chairman, the
smooth-faced young engineer whom he had met out in the Kaiping coal
mines before. It was the first time that he and Hoover had seen each
other since their encounter in China. They now worked shoulder to
shoulder in the monster mercy of all history.

Francqui is blunt, silen