Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-03-14
CUSTOMS OF BRAZIL
PECULIARITxEs OF FUNERALS AND
WEDDINGS,
Strange Diseases Which Puzzlo
Medical Mon-Portcrs and Ped
dlcrs-Strcots and Houses.

scr'eu Dy tnc DraZllnnS, says tio
| dc Janeiro letter to the Now York Times.
Funerals arc notable in that for young
unmarried lady, coffin, hcarse, and the
livery Of tho driver must be bright scar
let, the four white horses drawing the
heasc must be covered with scarlet nets,
nnd scarlet plumcs must deck the horses
heads. No women 20 to the cemeteries.
The mother, the widow, must not exhibit
her grief in public.
For the swell funeral of young girl
the coffin, hcarsc, livery of the driver,
| and nets and plumcs for the horses must
be royal purple. For elderly persons
black and gold arc the a,lornments of
mortuary trappings.
At weddings the bride does not wear
orange blossoms, but organc flowers nrc
presented by the groom and his bride to
their unmarried friends, nad they nrc
supposed TO pass them on to their un-
married acquaintnnccs. This custom
has hidden meaning dating bnck to tho
twilight of mans history. The flower
is an emblem of fecundity, and the
''passing on" of the gift signifies: "Go
thou and do likewise"
The calling of portcrs-thc business of
portcragc-is regular one, md is
divided into clnsscs. There are por.ers
whose specially is handling pianos-dc-
livering, transferring them. You never
see pinno on n truck or in IL furniture
van. -Four men bear upright pinnos OH
their heads, and square and grand pinnos
are carried in slings suspended from two
poles resting on the shoulders of four
men.
Iron safes aro transported by portcrs,
delivered from the warehouse, moved
from one place to another and put in
Position-all by sheer strength,
II you buy nything-furnitIrc, u
pinno, II safc-thc purchaser must bnr-
gain with the porters for the delivery.
And if you do not make your bargain to
carry and put in position, the portcrs
will leave the article OF articles nt your
door, unless you agree 10 pay additional
for placing them in your house or rooms.
In tho business streets of the city--in
the wholesale and warehouse Districts
the cnrros urbanOs-a street car line with
narrow gauge track-runs up one and
down another of the narrow ways, on nj.
most every street. In 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 hnvc their hnbitnt in
these streets use hand trucks made to
"trnck" on the street car rnils. AS you
walk along the shady sides of these
streets tho portcrs unoccupicd are loung
ing IN the doorways or sleeping on their
trucks, which partly obstruct the side
walks. You have to keep lookout all
the timo OF you will soil the bottoms of
your trousers against the grease drip
ping wheels of these trucks.
The streets in the residence portion OF
the city nro infested day and night with
peripatetic vcndcrs, rcdlIers, and re.
tailcrs of fruits, vegetables, and, in the
summer, Offices. Their discordant cries,
capping of sticks, rnt-a-tat on tin or iron
pans, mako both day and night hideous.
The Brazilians nrc fond of looking out
upon the passers-by in the streets. In the
mornings and eveaings the windows of
the houses on the shady sides of the
streets are filled with women and children
leaning half out. They recognize their
acqunlntances 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 tho
members of tho family sit in Tie evening
for the double purpose of enjoying the
breeze and watching the pnssers-by.
Tho middle of December is the height
oil the summer season, and the thermom-
cter IN the shade stands for several hours
of the daytime at from eighty five degrees
to nincty-tive degrees. In the business
part Of the city, with its narrow streets,
this heat is at times very oppressive, but,
except in extraordinary seasons, there is
scarcely day without breeze, either
from the bay and sen or from the mount
ANS, which nmcliorates the heat pcrccpti-
bly,. The mornings and evenings arc al
most invariably fresh and delightful. The
temperature of the houses at night de-
Pends greatly upon their location. If
they are situated 80 rs to catch the breeze
from the water or from the mountains
there IS no trouble in sleeping
There are some strange diseases here
which puzzle the medical profession to
account for. Bcri-beri is a swelling of
the feet and lower part of the legs
dropsical in its nature. 1t is the result
of vitiated blood, but what causes this
vitiation OF the blood is not 50 satisfac-
torily accounted for. Acccsso pcrniciosa
Is another remarkable disease It is a
violent fever, which comes on with
scarcely any premonitions-a terrific
heat in the head--thc brain on firc-and
dea.h ensues in a few hours. The mcdi-
cal profession attribute it to this effect of
the heat-a sort of sunstrokc-but per-
sons die of il wao ere not exposed to the
sun.
There are always endemic cases of yell
low fever here, but it is OILY epidemic
when there is long-continued season of
Cry hot weather. So long as there is
rain every day or several times week
yellow fever does not become epidemic.
Keep the city perfectly clean, flush the
drains twice day, wash the streets
vi ~. Il r