The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-07

rest of the load is carefully watched
Notice haw the men carry the great
bags on their heads. Each bag weighs
1S2 pounds, but they stand straight up
under them and walk off as brislzly as
though they were carrying feathers.
BAGGING THE COFFEE.
But let US follow them into the ware
house. The car load which is now being
handled is in all sorts Of bags and it has
to be repacked for shipping. We walk
through long aisles with bags of coffee
piled on each side from the floor to the
ceiling and come into a hall where the
floor is covered with great piles of green
coffee beans.
AT each pile are a dozen half naked
negroes in their bare feet They are
scooping up the coffee in bowls much like
bread bowl and pouring it into the bags
We hear the scratch, scratch, scratch Of
the bowls as they touch the floor, varied
by tho sound Of the laughter of the men
at work. Now they burst out in a song
keeping time with their scoops as they
sing. AS soon as a bag is filled 1t is
dragged off to pair of scales to be
weighed. 1t is next handed over to the
sewers. who sew up its mouth, leaving
enough vacant space at the top that II
may pack Well in the steamer.
In other factories the bagging Is done
by machinery, and in all the work goes
on in busfness-like way.
Each of the big American establish
ments Of Rio handles vast amounts of
coffee in a year. Its manager must have
good business ability and be a sharp trad
er. He must know how to take advantage
Of the rise and fall Of the market. Bach
establishment has its coffee expert, who
can tell by the eyes and nose Just what
coffee Is worth. His judgment Is usually
passed without grinding or burning the
berries. Samples of about q pint each
are spread out on blue paper, and the
coffee expert will put his price on each
grade by looking at. handling and SMELL
ing the samples. During my stay here
! have gone through number Of the
American houses, and, among others,
have been much indebted to John r. Ke-
OCH. the manager Of an American ware
house at Rio.
AT THE COFFEE WHARVES.
The most of the coffee is shipped from
what are known as the coffee wharves,
The scenes about these are among the
most interesting Of Rio Come with me
and look at them. We jump upon a car
containing shout three tons Of coffee. II
Is hauled by three mules. who drag 1t
over the street railroad through one mar
row street after another down to the bay.
We stop at the wharves, where a gang
OF negroes stand ready to take IN thu
bags. They back themselves up against
the cars and balance the great sacks on
their heads. They carry them in on the
trot, and we hear the thudi thudi thudi
Of their bare feet as they 60 over the
floor. They run, for they are paid bv the
piece and not by the day. bach man re-
ceives one cent and a half for every bag
he brings in, and the best of the work
men make from thirty-hve to forty dol
lars month, which are very high wages
here.
COFFEE sTEALERs OF RIO.
What a lot of policemen there are
everywhere. At the end sof the wharves
there are soldiers in uniforms to keep
order. A custom house officer is al
ways on hand to see that nothing goes on
or off the ship without paying duty, and
there are many private detectives. A
close watch has to be kept to guard
against stealing, for the wharves ere
great places Tor thieves. zee 7saseesss
The detectives have to look out for
stealing below the wharves as well as
above them for sometimes thieves come
in boats under the wooden floors. and
stop just below one of the big piles of
bags. With an augur they make a hole
through the floor, then a piercer or pipe
is stuck up through the hole and into a.
bag SO that the coffee pours down
through the pipe in stream to the boat.
In short time a half dozen bags can be
emptied, and If this is taken from
large pile, no one will be the wiser with
out the detectives spy the men under the
wharves.
Frank G. Carpenter.