The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-05-21

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VILLAGE STREET. NoRIH PORTUGAL
Lisbon you see 1t standing upon . hila
in the distance. Moorish. picturesque
and inviting. When you reach the sta.
ton. however. you find the town itself
of Estremos is two miles away. and.
like the journey Of life. che road leads
uphill all the way. 1T IS a wretchedly
bad road too. There is only one hotea
in the town and a very poor one. Some
of the bedrooms open of the dining
room. They are mere dark dens With
out windows.
The streets Of Estremoz are socfabie
and barnyard-like. On Friday droves
Of pigs and goats are ''shoOed' through
the streets to the market place and
confined until Saturday morning, mar
ket day. Not all The pigs and goats
are kept over. however. Some of them
are sold at once on Friday, and the sale
is clinched Immediately by the slaugh-
ter on the spot in the open street OF the
hapless kid or squeaiing hog. This pub
lie killing is enough to make q sensitive
soul forswear flesh eating, but the ma
tives mind it not at all, aeither the
health authorities. if there are any.
And yet this same dirty, miserable
town would delight the soul Of the art
list. As in most Latin race towns, dirt
and high art flourish together. There
are probably more marble and marble
carving in Estremoz than in any other
small city. In the old houses are mar
bic halls and carved marble staircases
that would give beauty to the palaces
Of kings. From marble public foun-
tains the water gushes. Marble seats
along the roads give rest to tramp and
beggar. If Estremoz had paved streets,
the paving would be marble, too, but it
has few of these. Like all old Latin
towns, Estremoz has its public square.
around which important buildings aret
grouped.
One cannot find out why it is, but
rather oddly almost the cleanest and
best of the common people of Portugal
are the peasant population around Els
tremoz. 1t has been said of them that
they are Every honest and hard work
ing and very clean" Their rude stone
cottages are whitewashed continually
inside and out, and there seems to be
something of the neatness and thrift of
the old time Holland Dutch about mid
die south Portugal land folk.
Different it is in northern Portugal
There the houses are dirty and the
people are dirty. Perhaps this sadly
unpleasant condition of things may be
accounted for by the fact that the wo-
men apparently do ali the hard outdoor
work. The coarse, constant drudgery
seems to crush out of them the woman
~ instinct of cleanliness and tidiness
even if they had any time to tidy up
their houses. These poor northern wo-
men are real beasts of burden, carrying
their loads upon their heads instead Of
drawing them, as horses and oxen do.
d With good roads and decent hotels
Portugal would soon become a favor
lite touring region. It's climate is agree
able; it's fruits are delicious. Upon the
slopes of Alemtejo great olive orchards
abound. The wines of Portugal were
famous before America was discover
ed. 1t is so little known to the tourist
that it can furnish all the novelty
which the wealthy tourist seems to be
forever seeking
AS it is, however. the traveller in the
primitive little kingdom must put up
with discomforts and the absence of
conveniences that civilized globe trot-
tiers demand. Lisbon. Oporto and other
leading cities swarm with those beg
gars and human defor1nities which are
revolving feature of all Latin race
countries except France. Occasional
~ you see in your cable news the an
nouncement that smallpox is ravaging
Oporto. Well. in Oporto itself no I'M
common sight is patients in the early
stages of smallpox walking freely
about the streets and riding in street
cars. And. like the Latin races again,
the Portuguese are awfully cruel to
dumb bfutes You will see here the
brutes that can speak forcing draft
oxen up the steep streets with a sharp
iron spike stuck into the end Of club
h. WILHELMINA SCHIFF. .