Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-01-28
QUEER CUSTOMS OF BRAZIL.
reculiari,i-. of Funeral. and wedding,

Peculiariti.., Of Funerals and Weddings
III, Ever Present Porter.
There ara many curious customs observed
by the Brazilians. Funerals are notable in
that for a young unmarried lady coffin,
hearse and the livery of the driver must be
bright scarlet, the four white horses drawing
the hearse must be covered with scarlet nets
and scarlet plumes must deck the horses
heads. No women go to the cemeteries. The
mother, the widow must not exhibit her grief
in public
For the swell funeral of young girl the
coffin, hearse, livery of the driver and nets
and plumes for the horses must be royal
purple For elderly persons black and gold
are the adornments of mortuary trappings
AT weddings the bride does not wear orange
blossoms, but orange flowers are presented
by the groom and his bride to their unmar-
ried friends, and they are supposed to pass
them on to their unmarried acquaintance.
This custom has hidden meaning dating
back to the twilight of mans history. The
flower is an emblem of fecundity, and the
passing on of the gift signifies $50 thou
| and do likewise"
The calling of porters-tbe business of
porterage-is a regular one, and is divided
into classes. There are porters whose spe-
SiAty II hahuiiis piduuS-utilNtFiiiR. IrdnS-
ferrinS them. You never see o piano on
truck or in a furniture van. Four men bear
| upright pianos on their heads, and square
and grand pianos are carried in slings sus-
pended froin two poles resting ON the shoul-
ders of four men.
Iron safes are transported by porters, de-
livered from the warehouses, moved from
| one place to another and put in position-all
by sheer strength
II you buy nything-furniture a piano. a
| safe-the purchaser must bargain with the
poTters for the delivery. And if you do not
nake your bargain to carry and put in posi-
ticn, the porters will leave the article or ar
ticles at your door, unless you agree to paw
additional for placing them in your hease or
rooms.
In the business streets of the city-in the
wholesale and warehouse districts-the car
| ros urbanos-a street car line with narrow
gauge track-runs up one and down another
OF the narrow ways, on almost every street
ln the coffee districts there are regular
freight cars run on these tracks for the
transport of coffee in bags to the coffee
docks
The porters who have made their habitat
in these streets Use hand trucks made to
track" un the street car rails. As YOU walk
along the shady sides of these streets the
porters unoccupied are lounging in the door
ways or sleeping on their trucks, which
partly obstruct the sidewalks You have to
keep lookout all the time or you will soil
| the bottoms of your trousers against the
grease dripping wheels of these trucks
The streets in the residence portion of the
city are infested day and night with peripa-
| tetic verders, peddlers and retailers of fruits
vegetables and, in the summer, of ices Their
discordant cries, clapping of sticks, rata tat
on tin or iron pans, make both day and night
hideous.
The Brazlians are fond of looking out
upon the passers by in the streets In the
mornings and evenings the windows of the
houses on the shady sides of the streets are
filled with women and children leaning half
out. They recognize their acquaintance
walking or riding by in the street cars with
| waves of their hands Fine places, with
grounds in front of the houses, have raised
platforms, where the members of the family
sit in the evening for the double purpose of
| enjoying the breeze and watching the pass
ers by.
In the height of the summer season the
Thermometer in the shade stands for several
hours Of the daytime at from IS to 95 deg
In the business part of the city, with its mar
row streets, this heat is at times very oppres-
sive, but, except in extraordinary seasons,
there is scarcely day without a breeze.
either from the hay and sea or from the
mountains, which ameliorates the heat per-
ceptibly. The mornings and evenings are
almost invariably fresh and delightful The
temperature of the houses at night depends
greatly upon their location. If they are sit
uated so as TO catch the breezes from the
water or from the mountains there is no
| trouble in sleeping.
If the sanitary condition of the city was as
1t should be, Rio would always be perfectly
healthy. But the drainage is bad, and there is
insufficient water to keep the sewers thorough
ly flushed and the streets clean. If Rio had
the abundance of water which Paris has and
Its drainage system was as perfect, it would
be more healthy city than the French cap
| ital. The curse of Rio is a City Improvement
| company, which has the privilege of sewerage
and drainage and all the appliances thereof.
The expenditure of SO, 600, 900 would give
Rio a perfect natural drainage, supply an
abundance of water and make the tide circu-
late in all the little coves and bays of the
great bay about and on which it is built
Rio de Janeiro Cor. New York Herald.