The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1917-01-12

stone who has learned every
thing but to mind his own business.
HE will inform the traveller of the
dreadful climates to be endured, the
shameful treatment extended to all,
foreigners, most especially Americans,
that will have to be suffered in passing
through custom houses; and other SIM
liar tales, writes F. e. Duerr in the
Bulletin of the Pan-American Union.
After a voyage of IA days the city
Of Para, better known as Belem, is
reached, and among the many pleas
ant surprises that greet the traveller is
the excellent and prompt manner in
which his baggage is cleared through
the customs by intelligent officials, who
act with degree of promptness that
one would hardly expect in such close
proximity to the equator.
From the pier or DOCK which COM
pares favorably with the best of our
country, there are electric cars or auto
mobiles that will take one to first
class hotel, of which there are several
In Para, where the inland traveller can
put up until he makes his connection
with river steamer.
There are several ways of making
the trip up the Amazon, the quickest
being by means of an ocean steamer
Of either the Brazilian or British
lines, which operate as far as Manaos.
There are occasional British boats
that go as far as Iquitos, Peru. In
this way the trip to Manaos can be
made in from three to four days. To
properly see the Amazon, however, 1t
is better to go by one Of the river
boats, which ply lazily up against the
fast current. On account of the high
cost of taking coal to the Amazon, the
river boats are run by wood fuel, and
the larger steamers consume about
1900 sticks Of wood, feet long by
by 4 inches per day. On an average
Of every other day this fuel is loaded
from the river banks, stick by stick, all
the work being done by hand and,
needless to say, this operation, after
being witnessed more than once, may
become somewhat tiresome.
Boats Are Comfortable.
The cabins on the boat are large
and roomy, and have electric lights and
fans; the dining room is aft on the
open deck, and in the mornings, as
during the greater part of the day, 1t
is quite comfortable on board. After
sundown, however, the number Of in
sects of all types sizes, etc., makes it
unpleasant and the traveller finds 1t
necessary to escape into his screened
stateroom, or into his hammock or cot
carefully inclosed by mosquito netting
of very fine mesh. There are four
first-class shower baths on board, also
running water In the cabins, and every
thing considered, one can make ones
self fairly comfortable. The captain,
or "comandante," as he Is called
rules supreme, and, on the average, is
a highly educated navigator, and he
and his cabinet" of officers are very
agreeable to the passengers. When
one becomes accustomed to the food, it
is very nourishing, and the service on
the whole is satisfactory.
Besides the frequent stops for fuel,
the steamer calls at half-dozen points
between Para and Manaos, the prin-
cipal ones being Santarem, noted for
its fine batelaos Qarge rowboats and
lighters); Obldos, the narrowest part
Of the river, and Itacoatiara, near the
mouth of the Madeira river.
A further surprise to the traveller,
who has just spent ten days in the
mud-yellow river, is the sudden change
in the color Of the water to a deep
black, which is the first sign of APP
preaching the city of Manaos, thou
sand miles from the mouth of q trop-
ical river.
This city has an excellent electric
car service, numerous public and pri-