Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1920-02-12

But the fine part about it is that they
| are every bit natural picked most
beautiful roses and other flowers on
the End of December Another after
noon we took ride through the
worst and poverty stricken part OF
the city. One sees a great deal OF
misery in the streets there. The blind
and lame are begging. Poor women
, and girls stand here and there with
heavy baskets on their heads, sell
ling fruits, vegetables, wood or bak
cry.
We left Barbados on the evening
of December 8. Four days and half
at sea we found ourselves in Para.
We crossed the equator at $3.50 p. IN.
December 7. For very considerable
distance one sees only the muddy,
muddy waters of the Amazon river.
To get to Para the steamers pass
through these waters into still mud
der bay on the southern shore Of
which is located the city. They al
ways have pilot to take them in and
out of the bay. To give you some idea
Of the distance of Para up the bay,
I might say that it took us about ten
hours to make the trip each way. AS
you near Para you look out upon an
immense harbor. The only thing that
detracts from its beauty is the muddy
dirty water. The docks are finer than
any in New York harbor We 6ocked
at noon when the tide was high. Up.
on, entering the city we found the
streets almost deserted. We learned
that is was one of the many Brazil
ian. Holy Days. This meant that
banks were closed and we could get
no money exchanged that day. Our
EAmericans money was of course no
good to- us and SO we did little else
except to. call on the American con-
sui a jolly old. gent. Oh yes, we visit
ed an old Jesuit cathedral. 1t is so
very old that there is vegetation grow
ing on the. roof and towers. 1t opens
directly onto. the streets and people
continually enter to bow the knee be
fore various affairs and pray. There
are signs MAO conversacao" all about
the immense interior.
The next day we saw plenty of folks
on the streets were able to get our
money exchanged and so were a
little less handicapped The streets
in the business section are narrow and
old. The broad beautiful avenues run
out to the parks, etc. One of the in
teresting sights Of the city, perhaps
the most interesting, is its geological
garden. There they have all the ma
tive animals and birds, well kept, and
beautiful because they are in their ma
tive country.
The boat crew got the cargo TAX
en- care of on the second day. We had
to wait for the tide and that neeess-
itated our staying until midnight [
think everyone stayed up, for who
could miss the excitement? The 3rd
pilot of our ship was married that af-
ternoon and he was bringing his bride
on board. All the wedding guests, in
gorgeous dress, arrived first and were
there to greet the newly-weds when
they should arrive. There was music
and great hilarity. One poor fellow,
who had somewhat overdone himself
during the evening, fell asleep un-
noticed on board and was carried
away with us down the bay. Luckily
for him it was possible for him to
get off the next forenoon when We
stopped to discharge our pilot.
Perhaps you are wondering what
we think of the climate. In Para,
which is very near the equator, we
found it warm but not uncomfort-
ably SO for people coming from a
winter climate. December is the hot
test time, too. The sun of course is
hot but as you have heard before,
when you get into the shade you can
be comfortable. The nights are al
ways refreshing.