El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-07-17


fish IN the streets of Lisbon. and the
girls who sell vioIets, are often pic
turesque in their gypsylike costumes
, and with their wealth OF gilt or brass
jewelry. The ingratiating manner of
the violet girls, a sort of aggressive
catolery. gives them a certain charm
TO the newcomer. 1t also sells many
! violets. These girls follow a prospect
i've customer IS long as he will submit
with good grace. often putting a bunch
of violets in his buttonhole and laugh
ingly awaiting payment. The game
is pretty one until one has been In
Lisbon long enough to grow weary Of
the annoyance and TO realize that the
| payment of few reis for violets mere
" encourages further activity on the
part of the vendors.
Wear Cheap Jewejry.
The poorest flower girl or fish wife
will invest her savings IN jewelry. and
often real gold CLEANS against a back.
ground of rather dirty and altogether
tawdry finery in the costume Of a wo-
man Of the lower class. This oriental
insistence upon a display of gold and
silver ornaments reminds the traveller
| of the sight of Hindu women who wear
TO shoes and stockings but rattle
many silver and gold anklets and wear
numerous rings on their toes.
! ally well educated in one way. They
] nearly always speak French in addi-
| ton TO their own tongue, and occa-
| sionally add German or English to their
| linguistic equipment. They are great
| readers OF novels, but usually prefer
I the French authors whose works are
regarded in America as unfit for the
young to read and not worth the time
and attention OF the more mature.
The Blue Floods Proud-
! Portuguese society is composed of sew
/ eral contrasting but not inharmonious
elements. The "fidalgos'' are the aris-
| tocrats who compare in the matter OF
/ position and pride with the factor in
the social equation of Paris known as
! the residents OF the Faubourg st. Ger
| main They exist, often in poverty
| that would break the pride of persons
! in any other country with the exception
of Spain. consoled by the blueness of
| their blood. There are. next in i'm
/ portance, the "Brasileros" The term
Is employed as the term Brewery
peer" is in England This mushroom
! NOBILITY is composed of persons whose
worldly wealth has won them titles.
| They are fer the most part Portuguese
| who have returned from Brazil and
from this arises the classification. Rich
/ merchants are also well placed socially.
Professional men. lawyers and physi-
| clans. especially the latter. may aspire
| to climb the ladder and the we'll to do
! foreigner is welcomed in the Portuguese
| drawing room quite regardless Of his
| race or color. A touch of the pictur-
| esque is lent 10 select Portuguese en-
| tertainment by the presence of small
/ sprinkling of Afro-Portugese or Afri-
| cans or other dark skinned persons So
| journing in Portugal The common as
! sertion that the blood Of the race Is
SO mixed with that OF Africans that no
Portuguese can be said TO be a white
/ man. is. however. denied by Portuguese
of all classes.
Under the monarchy. titles In the
several orders of knighthood were
often acquired easily and by means
somewhat amusing TO the foreigner.
Political services are not infrequently
rewarded with peerages in England
nowadays. but in Portugal. according
to common report. a tailor who would
receipt a large bill against the king
might not unreasonably hope to wear
one of Portuga1s proudest decorations
Devoted to Children.
The intense devotion TO children that
is found among Portuguese Of all classes
may be counted distinctive national
Characteristic The general attitude OF
kindness. as contraSted with the Span
iard's inherent delight in cruelty. is re-
Elected in the manner in which the
Portuguese conduct bullfights. In Spain
the spectacle is one OF hideous cruelty
At every bullfiGht numerous bulls are
killed and numerous horses are ripped
open by the horns of the infuriated
bulls for the amusement Of the throng
in the amphitheater. In Portugal Meth
er bulls nor horses are killed. The
flight" has some of the pictorial bril-
liancy Of a Spanish exhibition. but No
harm is done. The horns Of the bull
are padded at the tip. The encounter
between the bull and the men, mounted
and on foot. is one in which there is
ample opportunity for the display OF
agility upon the part Of men, bulls and
horses. All three classes OF partici-
pants are knocked about no little and
the game is sufficiently rough TO afford
excitement for red-blooded people But
at the end of the fight the bull is
killed" with a wooden sword and re-
tired to a comfortable stall to be fed
Some Aniusements.
The theater. opera. concerts and
''festas" the equivalent of the picnic
in America. afford amusement to the
Portuguese of all classes The young
men serenade the girls beneath their
latticed or barred windows with the
guitar as an accompaniment to senti-
mentsl songs. The Portuguese in his
too aggressive ga1lantries is a little
worse than the Frenchman and per
haps the equal of the Italian. Young
women find IL less agreeable to go un-
attended in the streets of Lisbon al
| high noon than they would In Paris
Portuguese young women do not go un-
| attended.
To call a Portuguese a lesser Span
| lard" is manifestly unjust He is &
man of different mold and Of different
traditions and temperament He wants
nothing so little as to be considered g
| Spaniard. and has always stood ready
! TO shed the last drop of his blood tC
i prevent his country from falling under
] Spanish rule. 1t was Lisbon. Spain.'
during the Sixty Years Captivity.
but it will never be so again If the Por-
| tugeee can prevent it.
Tomorrow-The Story of the Nation
of Portugal