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

tTcnty-four inches and the rails are
so light that the system has the ap-
pearance of thu miniature railways one
sees at pleasure resorts. 1t was diff
ficult for me to get into one of the
cars. On this trip l came into per-
sonal contact with the Brazilian as
sistant system.
The Land of Assistants.
Everybody down there has an as
sistant, you know. And then there
are assistants to assistants world with
out end. Once we stopped at a switch
to wait for another train to pass us.
There wars gate tender, and a mighty
busy man was he. for he had to raise
and lower the gates four times a dag
for passing trains. It was only nat
ural that such an overwOrked official
should have an assistant. He did have
one.
l saw the assistant perform his
duties while we waited. At the gates
stood the tender. Suddenly, but with
out haste, there emerged from the
gate tenders shanty 4 man with long
pire in his hand. He leisurely stroEed
over TO his chief ard handed him the
pine, which had previously been filled
with tobacco. Then he walked lazily
back 10 the shanty. In Il few mo-
he carried A fiTebrand, the hot end of
which he placed over his chiefs pipe.
The latter puffed cOntentcdiy, and the
assistant. cheeTe1 by the consciousness
OF a hard days work well done, re-
tHrued TO the Shanty to enjoy his we'll
earned rest The gateman. I was in
formed. draws two and one-half mil
refs as cents) a day. His assistant
gets probably half as much
FL
PaUlO and its capital city the coffee
road is not the only line of railway
into and through it. The Sac PaulO
Railway company mas as fine a line
of railroad running from the city OF
Sac Paulo TO the port of Santos, as
there is in all the world, and the equip
ment is thoroughly up to date. The
line is protected throughout its length
by a modern interiockinG system and
accidents are extremely rare. The road
is owned by English capitalists and has
been operated by~them for fifty years.
Night Trains Prohibited by Law.
curious thing about the operation
of Brazilian railways is the fact that
by government statute night pas
senger and freight trains are prohibit
ed. If evening catches you on the
road you tie up until the next morn
ing, and it doesn't do the slightest bit
of good TO protest. The BraziIians saw
they are in no hurry, that if you travel
By night you get to places toe sudden
ly. Besides, senior, there is always
plenty of time. A few years ago, as
a great concession TO the foreign col
DRY, the government instituted night
mail trains. ore each way one its line
between Sac Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
And SO we come back to the ever
lasting AMANDA and passientia. There
are no transfer wagons for the car
riage of baggage in Brazilian cities.
You send your baggage to the station
several days before you intend to
start, if you are wise. A carrigadOre
takes it there on his head. 1 honestly
believe, from what L have seen, that
if enough men could be found TO lift
the capitol at Washington and place
it on the head of a Brazilian carriga-
dore he would blithely walk away with
it.
1t was no trick at all for them to
stroll along under a 250-pound trunk.
They will carry ii as easily as the or
binary man would carry a box of
matches. L saw a carrigadore walking
along the principal street of Sac Paulo
carrying on his head a great sample
trunk, a hat box and two dress suit
cases. And as he walked he smoked
a cigarette 3s unccncernedly as if he
were out for a pleasure stroll. He was
paid perhaps 6 cents for the service.
They carry everything on their
heads, from a grand piano to cof-
fin. / have ,snapshotted with my
camera Brazilian longshoremen with
five bags of coffee, weighing $50
pounds in the aggregate. on their
heads. Nor are they men of large
stature, the average height being un-
der four ard q half feet.
Topsy Turvy Land.
Everything is. topsy turvy in Bra
I'll. ] have already mentioned the fact
that when you go to the bank you
present your check to the receiving
teller If you want it cashed. The pay
ing teller gets it If you desire to make
deposit. The seasons are exactly
the opposite of ours. The hot months
are from December to February, in
elusive. The cool weather comes along
about the middle of June and extends
to the middle of September,
The Brazilian flora Is delicately
beautiful, but the flowers have no per-
fume. The birds have the most gor-