The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-11-18
IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
R4fMBLINGS AROUND OPORTO ON
 THE HEELS OF THE PL4GuE.
Four Thousand Reis for Carriage ry Off Ten Dollars In Portngese Coin.

ry Off Ten Dollars In Portnsese Coin
 Especial Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier,
 Oporto, Portugal Nov. 29.-The tray
 e!er who has visited Rio de Janeiro
 finds many things in Oporto to remind
 him of that Portugese city on the other
 side of the world. Brazil, the former
 colony of Portugal and peopled by the
 same race-though just now playing at
 being a republic-remans as like the
 mother country in language, architec-
 ture and habits of life, as in the days of
 King Joao and the latest Dom Pedro.
 And then the money-the same mill
 reis, so infnitessimal in value that if
 going shopping, you need a servant
 with wheel-barrow rather than a
 pocket-book.
 On landing at Oporto, about the first
 thing you do is to seek some money changers establishment Ghere are sev- eral along the quay), and get your American greenbacks converted into Portugese coin, with which to pay DOT ter's fees, carriage-hre, and other in cidentalS. You hand out ten dollars, as starter and are amazed a the amount of metal-copper, iron, brass and nickel (Which is piled upon the counter in re- turn. It looks like old iunk-stove lids, pewter plates and the brass tage which landlords attach to their door-keys to prevent them from being carried off in the pockets of their patrons. If ten dollars is such an embarrassment of riches" it would surely require a cart to get away with a hundred! Book Keepers and bank-cashiers must have a hard time of it in this country, with the long rows of figures that represent the ordinary transactions of banking and mercantile firms. Tn the financial enumeration of Portugal one thousand reis represent what we call "a quarter" The word ''reis' is the plural of real; and the latter unit of the monetary sys- tenn equals one-twentieth of the Amer jean penny, and is written 0$001. For tunately, there is no such coin, the smallest being ten res. The prices in greatest circulati are nickel of two hundred reis, which answers for our five cent piece; another nickel of one hum dred reis and a copper coin of forty reis. Whenever you buy anything in Portu- gal, a certain ungainly copper coin is sure to be returned in change, and not knowing what to do with it, you say, "keep the change" with the air of John Jacob Astor. The truth is, it is worth less than half cent, and being too large to put into the pocket, is only fit for paper-weight, or to drive nails with.
 The paper-money is lighter. of course, but equally absurd in values and there is more danger in handling it. in this plague -smitten city. The dirty scrip, which nothing should induce you to touch, runs from two milreis to maximum of five hundred. Fancy Aforementioned bank-note worth five cents! It takes twenty bills each worth one hundred milreis, to pay for the carriage in which you ride from the landing, or railway station, to a ho- tel. It is long, uphill drive, and the Jehu may turn a few more honest reis by picking up other customers en route. You observe that the breast of his checkered linen blouse, which serves the triple purpose of coat, vest and shirt bulges more and more as the journey progresses, until at it's end he looks like a "bloated bond-holder,' or a careessly stuffed scarecrow, having perhaps as much as two dollars and half in his clothes! One of these deceptive Portu- gese bills closely resembles the dear old greenback of home, and has the sats flying figures, 50, engraved upon it's back and sides and four corners, to- gether with the high-sounding words, "Quinhentos Reis" The feeling of wealth which the possession of a few of these produces in the mind of stran- ger is speedily dispelled, however, when he finds how little they will buy On inquiring the price of living at hotel, you are at first astounded to learn that it is several hundred thousand res per diem; and you are positively fright ened when the laundry bill is presented in six figures-until you come to reckon it over in Uncle Samuels money and realize that the charge is very mode rate after all.
 You are delighted to note in Oporto, as in Brazil, the entire absence of the female hat, and anything that remotely resembles a flower -decked or feather trimmed bonnet. Neither are there any tailor-made women, or bachelor girls, or old-maid men, or bicycles, or or other fin de siecle inven- lions in this happy kingdom While the peasants array themselves in the dull blues and reds and purples and yellows of nearby Africa, displayed in fantas- tic com mbination, black appears to be the favorite color of the upper classes, at least for street wear. According to the universal Latin fashion, whether met in Europe, America or the isles of the sea. the gowns of the ladies tip up in front to the shoe-tops and sweep the lirtv streets in the rear, while their | wearers saunter gracefully along the promenade: but the black lace mantilla Hast remnant of the Moorish veil of heir ancestors--enhances dark-eyed | beauty as no modern headgear could do. am told that not always was there | such a dearth of bonnets in Oporto: it | anne about with King Amadeus reign l n Spain. whose extreme unpopularity | ,anished everything even remotely | Branch from the whole Iberian penin- ;ula.
 Oporto is said to be the cleanest city II Portugal--and is that is true. heaven tho dirtIAs The ntnHle AS Y, |