Evening journal., 1902-08-25
WAYS IN RIO
VERY QUAINT
To Dispute a Bill in Brazil
ian Capital is "a
Degradation

"Rio is the easiest city IN the world
to get credit in," said a New Orleans
man who lived for awhile at the Bra
lillian capital but it's the worst place
in the world in which TO dodge q debt
All business there is done on the seml-
annual account system, and you can
get anything you want and have it
charged without difficulty. but the end
of every six months is settlement day
and if you are not on hand with the
cash--well, I'll give you little expert
ence Of my own to show you what hap
pens.
Il went to the city as the represents
tive of n well known American house
and at the outset | was surprised to
find that 1t was practically impossible
for me to pay for anything. Don't
bother about that, SENIOR the store
keeper would say. 1 will make ali ac-
count of it. OF course my American
friends soon explained the system to
me, and, while didn't like it, l thought
best to conform to the custom Of the
country without rendering myself dis
AgfeeaDle Dy Kicking.
about two months after my arrival
/ went TO native shoemaker's one
day, ordered a pair of English riding
boots, and, as had been used to wear
Ing ready made fOotgear, mentioned
incidentally, that my number was Sl5.
The shoemaker gravely made note Of
the fact and promised to send around
the boots as soon as they were DONE
Several weeks elapsed, when, one morn
ing. porter came staggering into the
Office almost buried under an enor-
nous load OF English top boots. To be
exact he had II. was thunderstruck,
but as he could give me no explanation
except that they were mine l rushed
Immediately to the shop, where the
proprietor received me blandly and in
sisted that he had merely sent what l
had ordered. You said that you de-
sired them to the number of eight and
half he added. and 1 accordingly
made you eight pairs and one boot, a
right, which, If you desire, l will ex-
change for a left But, good heavens
protested, you ought to have known
there was some mistakel Why on
earth should l order half a pair Of
bootsY He shrugged his shoulders.
That was not for me to inqalre.' he
said.
Il realized that the fatal reputation
for eccentricity which Americans en-
Joy the world over was partly respon-
sible for the muddle. Still it was an
inexcusably stupid blunder, and. after
vainly arguing for an hour, l put him
on notice that l would only accept one
pair. When returned. sent back the
other Is and considered the incident
closed. l heard no more about It, in
fact, until exactly six months later,
when 1 received a bill for Sik pairs Of
riding boots at SIS each--total, $127.5O
gold-and a polite notification that ~
pairs awaited my pleasure at the shop.
"That made me furious. l sent the
man my check for SIS and told his
messenger to sue me and be hanged.
But he didn't sue me. They have
much more effective method down
there.
'Within a week every tradesman
with whom 1 did business advised me
courteously that he had closed my ac-
count-meaning that my future GUS
tom was not desired. Moreover, the
foreign colony all gave me the cold
shoulder. and when dropped in at the
club the frost was something awful.
"At last sent for a particular friend.
Look here l said, I want you to tell
me frankly why l am getting this Ia
boo Because you haven't paid for
your boots,' he replied. But this is
monstrousP said /. You know very
well that never ordered Sih pairs of
boots. OF course not said he, but
you'd best pay for 'em all the same. 1t
ruins a man here he went on to ex-
plain, II he allows any bill to pass set
Element day. No explanation Is per-
mitted. and everybody joins in cutting
him. It seems hard. but we have to do
It to sustain this credit system. II we
didn't, we'd all be ruined by bad ac-
counts
Il groaned in spirit, but sent the
shoemaker S112.5O and told him to let
me have the rest of my boots. was
so mad could have worn out the
whole II on his anatomy, but pre-
served my outward calm and was
promptly reinstated socially and finan-
cially throughout the town. Later on
l used seven pairs Of boots as Christ
mas presents to friends and gave the
one odd one to a one legged beggar
on the plaza. New Orleans Times
Democrat
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