The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-04

AMANDA and passientia, Portuguese for
tomorrow" and patience" The
American traveller in the great cOun-
try to the south of US has need of all
the patience he can muster. for in Bra
Ill, as in other Latin-American coun-
tries, tOmorrow's arrival is eternally
delayed
I spent a year at and near Sac
Paulo, the chief city of the Brazilian
state of the same name, a year that
was crowned with interesting as we'll
as exasperating incidents. As the rec
elections come back 1 find it hard to
select from among them those that are
most interesting by reason of being
least familiar to the average reader.
Let me begin by telling of an early ex-
perience.
- night or two after my arrival in
Sac Paulo I was awakened by an
alarm of fire. The blaze was in a
building not far from my hotel and,
as I reached the window of my room
I saw the fire department coming leis-
urely down the street. The men were
dragging their apparatus along and
they didn't seem to hurry themselves
at all Up they came at a gentle
trot. BY the time the ladders had
been placed in front of the burning
building a great crowd had assem-
bled.
Bravo" bravo" cried the crowd as
the first half dozen f1remen started up
the ladders. Then do you know what
happened2 Why, those firemen turned
around on the ladders, lifted their he'll
NETS and bowed three times in ac-
acknowledgement of the approval of the
multitude. Imagine that sort of thing
happening in New York or Chicago,
or any American city! How long do
s~ IL.
authorities to fire the firemen?
Shark Fishing Extraordinary.
On my way to Brazil our ship
touched at the port of Pernambuco,
and it was there that 1 had my first
glimpse of native ingenuity. The har-
Dor of PernambucO is infested with
man-eating sharks, great fellows with
rows of cleaning teeth and jaws that
open so wide the opening looks as if
a coach and four might be driven into
1t. The natives have their own way
of killing the monsters.
They take a pumpkin and load it
with Fed-hot stones. The sharks seem
TO have an appetite for everything that
floats. This includes loaded pumpkins.
/ saw shark grab one. Nothing hap
pened for just a moment. Then the
monster suddenly came TO the concIu-
Gibii liAdl sSOiilElliiAlS was lile IIldllGT
with him inside. He gave a wild leap
that threw him clear of the water and
then he fell back, thrashing around
with his tail and scattering spray in
every direction.
For a little while this lasted. Then.
quite suddenly, the shark gave up the
struggle. The stones had literally
cooked him to death. The natives
towed the dead monster to shore and
- L
drOn. Shark oil is very highly es-
teemed in Brazil, not only as a lubri-
cant, but ASA. liniment and for other
purposes.
Banking While You Wait.
The Brazilian banking system is
more exasperating than interesting
There are some strong banks in Sac
PaulO. They ought to be strong be-
cause it takes so long to get your
money out of them. They just hate to
give. it up. You may be the heaviest
depositor in the bank. you may be the
highest, but your treatment is the
same. When you go to get a check
cashed, be sure that you have plenty
of time, for you'll need it. Here's the
system:
You present your check, not to a
paying teller, but to a receiving teller
lie taxes II and looks 1t over care
fully, back and front, top and bot
tom. He examines each figure and
each letter. He holds the check up to
the light to see if there's a mater
mark in the paper. Not that the water
mark makes any difference. The look
ing for il merely helps to kill time
After you have begun to fear that the
next step viii be your arrest, the re-
ceiVing teller writes a number on your
check and passes you out a brass tag
containing the corresponding num-
Der.
This tag is about the size of the
top of a tomato can / presume they
are made that size in order to keep dis
gusted patrons from showing them into
their pockets and going away with
them. Strangers to the banking BUSH
ness in Brazil think their troubles are
practically over when they get the
brass tag. They're not; they're only
beginning. With the tag in your hand
you are requested to sit down and wait
with passientia until the check passes
through u dozen different hands.
The cashier looks it over. SO does