Telegram-herald., 1891-10-17
PORTUGUESE eEooARs.
s.ss..v. Ready a. thssss Year Moan
.na Keep Brire for fasms~sses-

fstu.~. Ready 40 tsases Year Mea<y
.na Keep . gries foF Themselves.
A, ilsaga. a few miles fretu oporto. II
q temple, dedicated. | believe. 20 the
sun. and Leading up % is principal ess-
traaee there are thrSe haadrea and
.ixty- slse steps. says letter from ror-
tngal. AZ each efsa Of = step there Is
generally beerar. Every b~ggar
,rs,,es him or herseIf CIR come horrible
eefsrmlsy. which Is exposed 40 a. "a
nresent IS mcst hileous ASPECT 10 ths
view II the unfortunate pilgrims 10 the
tempse.
Having heard beforehand Of this
ehastly spectacle, says q writer In the
Chicago times. determined not On 60
bcyona the human maiformatlons which
creep abou, the city Of oporto. they
arc absolutely recognized Institution.
and nigh, almost be said 20 occupy the
position ~ money changers n tho gen.
eral public. Their method Of begging
Is peculiar. When they espy your APP
rroach they begin LONG prayer Ia
vigorous. s'ag-song voice They start
IA something like thls style: ut Is In
your oxcelsent honor's power 70 be
thankful for your own riches and mind
ful OF the wants Of others. Dogs shall
lick your hand. The rain shall bcdew
your doorstep every morning. Assist
the manned, tho dcformed, the stricken
In every limb. I can change two hum
dred, three hundred or Eve hundred reis
at your excellent honor's pleasure. :"
Then follows curse or blessing. ae-
cording to the manner In which you
have responded to their supplications.
You may give one of these creatures
almost any piece OF money, and he viii
return you that sum in small change
minus about half farthing with COM
pletc satisfaction. Indeed, he will
think he has done good mornings
work Whenever l went out made il
rule TO place few cor@ers in a GER
tain pocket to present TO these objects
of distrust and ward of as many male
dictions IS possible. One day plunged
nv hand into the wrong pocket, and,
without examining the piece. gave it to
a trunk possessing only a left arm and
an incomplete Uranium. The fragment
set up an uproar and "a crowd collected
] was summoned back, and, with wild
gcsticulations, was presented with o
two-hundrcd reis piece. ] thought il
was too late then, SO bowed and shook
my head. The trunk showered bless
ings assisted therein by the crowd),
and heard that no moro Was seen Of
him for ten days.
There was ono gentleman whose
body, head and arms were all right, but
he was minus his legs, and he had in
geniously supplied this deficiency with
pair of cab wheels. On his hands
were fixed some sort of claws, and thus
he used to canter around. ladies being
b especial prey. He would hide in an
obscure alley-and as Oporto is nearly
all dark alleys, he had many lairs-un.
then of he would go, and If the lady
took refuge in a shop he would wal!
outside. hear that this bogy man has
since died. leaving a lot of money.
! In Braga children are bandaged in al
sorts Of posturcs and subjected to great
torture to enable them to live at ease
when they grow up. Such, among many.
is man with a fourteen stone body,
who daily bicsses his parents for pro-
viding him with legs which would hive
caused Barnum's skeleton dude" to
cry with envy. But were to describe
the horrors so prepared the paper on
which l write would curl up and revolt.