The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-12-08

were C0nSfcfs and worse Iha1
Convicts-Ginger Caused . Hot
Tsme-GoId and Diamonds Sold By
The Pound-A Man Had To De
Crooked To Get Into Good Society
in That Country-sIavesy In It's
Worst Form.
Correspondence OF The Caucasian
Enterprise.l
Bilkinsyille. y. c.. Dec. 5.-Brazil
IL one ov the important little coun-
tries ov the earth. Hit wuz called
Santa Cruz for quite a while. King
Emanuel. ov Portugal, changed the
name 10 suit himself. on account ov
the great quantity ov q kind ov red
wood. somethin' like cedar. probably,
which IL so common there.
For some time after the discovery
ov Brazil. the Portuguese thought
very little oy hit. At first they only
sent convicts and women ov abandon
cd character there. and naturally, the
ships were sent each year, loaded
with the refuse oy humanity. These
ships went back carryin' parrots an
dye-woods. Later. ginger wuz pro-
duced. But the people who had a
monopoly in that article objected, an
the cultivation or preparation ov that
article wuz prohibited for time. At
one time the native population
brought on war. The Jesuits who
had become active In the country
finally brought about lastin' peace
by treating the Indians kindly.
Later the French, Spaniards and
Dutch got 80 deeply interested that
they were on the verge ov war about
awl the time. Afterward the Dutch
began TO Cypress the Portuguese.
This resulted In war and the Dutch
later turned over the whole outfit to
Portugal for a money consideration.
Gold wuZ discovered in 1898, and
business began to pick up. In 1882
diamond mines were opened an then
q boom wuz started. Up to the year
1910 more than fourteen hundred
pounds ov gold and two thousand
pounds ov diamonds had been mined,
awl ov which wuz purchased by Great
Britain. The attention ov the people
and the government wuz conferred
awlmost entirely upon the mimi in
dustry. The local government made
a speciality ov collectin' taxes an
other duties an gave very little at
tention to buildin' up the country. |
Foreigners got very little show and
were not encouraged to become citi-
Zens. Unless a man wuZ crooked,
very crooked, he stood but little show
in Brazil
Durin' the 10th Century the bus
mess ov slave-holding an the traffic
in slaves began to assume large pro-
portions in Brazil. An hit liz a no
torious fact that hit wuz not long till
some ov the dealers were not very |
particular about how or where they |
got the slaves. Cattle thieves an
other thieves, too, for that matter,
blushed every time they heard ov the
acts ov some ov the dealers in slaves
in and around Brazil. for the worst
element from several countries COM
peted for the highest honors in mean
ness and general rascality, includin'
the nations in part, at least.
Early in the 18th Century Brazil
cut loose from Portugal and set up
her own government. Don Pedro be-
came the constitutional Emperor. He
awlways had a side issue in the form
ov perpetual defender Of Brazil"
But I don't know what he meant by
that; probably hit wuz bluff.
About this time secret societies
were introduced in Brazil and this
gave the party in power a chance to |
get even with and keep little ahead
ov the other fellers. An they did. |
The authorities finally prohibited
secret societies an gained an ex-
cuse to imprison anyone who didn't |
stand in with the administration.
One ov the most exsitin' periods in
the history ov Brazil wuz when the |
Emperor fell from hiz horse while |
huntin' an got badly hurt. Hit wuz
the custom to keep such news out ov
the papers an az the Emperor did
MT appear on hiz regular beat for a |
month there wuz great excitement. /
Some ov the opposition even went so
far az to send threatenin' letters to
the emperor because they had not /
noticed him waltzin' around for quite
while. Just think what hit means
to be an Emperor! If you air just
plain citizen you kin git sick, or Grip
pied, an stay in bed for days and
days an nobody will notice your abb
sence. But you are in danger if you
happen to be high-muck-a-muck.
The Brazilian constitution il a
queer one. Hit says that the Emper-
or ov that country must not at any
time leave the country. Just think
what trouble we would hev in the
United States If such rule existed
here in regard to the President. That
official could not go lion-huntin' in