Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1924-04-09
Wo177an's Club
Hears Talk on
South America

The Woman's club and a number of
other guests were delightfully."- enter
tanned at the home of Mrs. Frank
Schreiner on Friday evening, April A.
AS Mrs. Schreiner's part of the club
program this year, she had arranged
to have her friend, Mrs. Margaret Hut
ton Ables, give her highly interesting
lecture on her recent trip to Brazil.
Mrs Ables has charming personal
ity; her natural, pleasing way of
speaking made the unusual scenes de-
picted seem real to us.
In the parlors and dining room
many choice trophies and souvenirs of
the trip were exhibited and photo
craps of the wonderful country about
Rio de Janiero and of the Andes; also
of the Amazon valley.
The Mountains via Mule.
Mrs. Ables told us of her trip by
boat to Havana, by airplane to eastern
Ecuador, thence for seven days on
mule-back through juns es and up
among the Andes mountains.
BY slow, but, to an adventurous
spirit, delightful stages, she and her
cousin journeyed to Rio de Janiero, a
beautiful city in beautiful surroun-
dings. Among the other cities visited
were Bahia, where the buildings are
of concrete painted in many colors but
softened by time to perfect harmony;
Para, among the rubber plantations,
Quito, Ecuador and Lima, Peru.
We were told of the immense re-
sources of the country awaiting only
capital and brains for development
In the diamond mines the methods are
most primitive; an ordinary hose is
directed against hill containing
many varieties of smooth pebbles in
loose, easily broken soil. Some of the
pebbles are diamonds.
The rubber district has been con-
Quoted much as it has been on the
Congo; with great waste of trees and
oppression of the natives, but the Para
district produces the purest gum in
the world and will some day be organ
lied under better conditions.
Through Tropical Jungles.
LAUNDERING presents many Difficult
ties, although hundreds of the very
finest woods grow in southern Brazil;
the trees stand so thickly, and the var
ieties are so mixed that "to take out
one rosewood tree and then cut path
through the jungle to another would
take almost long enough for a second
tree to grow where the first has been
cut" said Mrs. Abeles.
Some of the hardwood logs are too
heavy to be f1oated as RATS, so that
more expensive methods of transpor-
tation must be used.
The Worlds Deepest Mine.
Mrs. Ables went down into the deep
est gold mine in the world-6,000
feet. The lowest gallery was unbear-
ably hot, but the vein of gold was
still heavy and seemed to reach down
to the middle of the earth. This mine
! was under English management and
was very well equipped.
AS an adventure of the opposite
kind she climbed some very high
mountain peaks, and demonstrated
that the American woman can go any
| where in the world if she has pluck,
patience and sense of humOr.
She told of meeting many Ameri-
cans and English in all the cities; of
seeing American made movies in the
theatres, some films very old, broken
and incomplete, others newer and
showing our own favorite stars. The
sub-titles, being printed in English,
and also in Portuguese, the language
spoken there, are an excellent aid to
learning the latter tongue.
The climate is wonderful; a very
little difference between winter and
summer is noted, and the nights are
always cool. Improved sanitation has
reduced yellow fever to a minimum. :
eve should be better acquainted
with the Brazilians," Mrs. Ables tells
us. "They are our neighbors, and a
,N1O
Many Interesting CuriOS.
Among the curios exhibited were
the following: Pottery and painted
gourds, framed collection of butter
flies, brightly colored birds, stuffed,
beaded neck ornaments, woven scarf
and blankets of vicuna wool, bright
colored cotton scarfs worn by the ma
tive women, gold ore from the deepest
mine in the world, tray of mahogany
inlaid with % kinds of wood. robes
made of or trimmed with BIRDS
feathers, costumes bought of native
of the upper Amazon country (fringed
skirt resembling hemp fibre, head
dress of plumage of red birds) pho
tographs of Brazilian sculpture and
representative paintings, musical in
struments of many small reeds bound
together.
Club Members Enjoyed 1t.
The occasion was an especially
pleasant one in year of many pleas
ant Woman's club meetings. Mrs.
Ables has been recently appointed by
Gov. Blaine as a member Of the State
Board of Control, and the state is hon
ored by her acceptance.
"A MEMBER.