Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-23

tween owner and peasant A grade below
these caseiros is a class corresponding TO tht
English, Scotch and Irish cottiers. Thest
choupanas live in the cabins OF the NOR
| gados and caseiros at the will of the latter
Aside from these are the sheep and cattle
! herders and the goatherds that are found II
more picturesque mountain localities; the
fax-bleachers along the edge OF some
| bawling mountain stream or against tht
sheltering rocks by the sea shore; the In,
terror muleteers, who, for the most trivial
wages or portions of grain, convey products
and merchandise to and from the towns o.
the coast; the wood-choppers of the mount
aims; and the carboneiros who are found In
the highest mountain forests Iazlly en-
ployed in burning the charcoal used II
cooking by the aristocracy of the cities.
Divisions of the Peasautry.
With these divisions of the Portuguese
| peasantry may be counted the rush gather
ers of the mountain tarns; the osler-cutters
who supply the basket makers OF the towns;
the furZe gathefers who dot the drearlest
mountain heights; the fern and rush cutters
who supply the churches and homes with
| fragrant branches for strewing on holy and
! feast davs: and the wood cleaners who gath
er dead limbs at will in forests of the estates
and among the mountain wilds both for the
use of the peasantry and the humber classes
of the towns.
Among all these people there is not a
single implement or utensil invented within
the past 1 900 years; an ordinary American
farm hand would accomplish under our
methods in one day more than a score of
any Of these: and the wizard brush OF the
painter of BarbaZon never fastened upon
canvas more startlingly ancient ways, wares,
rostures and ploddings among the clods OF
Brittany, than remain universal and change
less among the hright-eyed, but changeless,
folk of these enhancing mountain wales
There is q careless halfjoyous abandon
upon the surface of all pleasant toll which
adds greatly to its picturesqueness. Join
with this, quaintness in dress, primitlveness
of ofimplements that grace which unvarvIngly
accompanies innocent ignorance, and the
universal ioveliness of scenery, and your
pastoral pictures are most idyllic and COM
plete.
The Ground Titled With Oxen.
Ground is titled with oxen, tandem, in
rush traces drawing plough of the sort first
known to man-the tTee-crook or sharpensd
root. Now and then you will find one
rudely pointed with iron. One short furrow
is scratched amid tremendous shoutings.
handles, rode upon the beam, or goaded the
oxen, rest bv the fower-laden hedge or
division wall to enjoy siesta or the delights
of countryside gossip with passing goat
herds or muleteers. Where the hillside is
too steep for this gentle process, long
handled hoes with cumbrous blades DO lazy
duty; for the spade is rejected as a con-
trivance OF the evil one.
All American cereals grow here in luxur-
lance for mere pricking of the soil. The
small grains are gathered a handful at a
time, cut by the olden sickle, and cleaners
follow as in the Bible days. Corn is cut,
or pulled, the leaves preserved for fodder,
the stalks munched by goats or donkeys or
used for fires, the ears strung togethes and
hung upon pyramidal lattice-work for cur
ing, and, finally. after husking-when the
genuine old-fashioned American ''husking
bee" here of weeks duration, the peasant
securing every hundredth ear for his labor,
and kiss from his inamorita for every red
ear found, is everywhere progressing-the
kernels are removed from the cobs by the
choupanas and children who receive the
cob, for burning, in payment A score of
merry stragglers are required to house the
product of one acre OF ground, and every
one of these work, or make pretense of
work. in that care-free, need-nothing way
that marks all toll and effort here. Wheat,
barley and rye are threshea. precisely as
they were 1000 years ago.
Portuguese Threshins Floors.
At every roadside and beside the granary
of every villeggiatura, round, high piles of
pumiced stone, beaten and rainsoaked until
hard as granite, may be seen. These, called
e1ras, are the Portuguese threshing floors.
The grain is piled upon them and cows and
oxen, blindfolded, are driven in opposite
directions, until the treading has released
the kernels. There is no other method of
threshing grain in this country; and the
tanning mill is unknown. The straw is
lifted off the eiras with wooden forks and
preserved for the food of donkeys and goats.
Then flag is hoisted to find the direction
OF the wind. This done, men and women,
bat more often women and girls, standing
at the side from whence comes the wind,
throw the grain and chaff into the air, and
the chat is borne away.
The home-E5e of the Portuguese peasant
is not always a radiant one, never lacks
cheeriness, affection and simple content
He knows no other life better than his own,
and is satisfied with what he has and gets to
the end of his days. The cottage or cabin
or hut is simply a square structure built of
rock thatched with furze or tiles. The win
dows and doors are never closed, for there
are neither cold blasts nor robbers to enter
The bare earth is the floor. lie requires no
stove. His fireplace for cooking is simply
a slab, waist high in the wall, and the
smoke kindly takes care of itself His
staple food is meal bread fast dav, feast dav
and five times a day. Eggs, chickens and
goats milk are almost without value, and
salt fish, usually ''bacalho" or dried Goldfish,
and wine are his luxuries.
From One Heaven to Another.
His wife is dutiful, his children are beau
tiful. As the iowly go they are all cleanlv,
if the chickens do perch in the loft, the
pig insists upon domestic companionship
and his goats choose the inside of the house
at night. lie lives gloriouslv in his wav
without severe effort. His wife and children
are loyal and never gadabonts He is true
TO his religion, his home, his friends; and he
is never to old to love the guitar or mando-
lin, or to join with his wife in the innocent
dances to the numbers of his be-
loved countryside music. If be is ailing
unto death the church comes to him, scarlet
robed and all-sufficient, with its, to him,
saving santissimo, and he passes calmly to
his simple heaven from a heaven of eyerv--
day content. EDGAR L. WAKEMAN.
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