Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1924-11-27
INTERESTING LETTER
FROM MRS. ROCKWELL
SAC PAULO, BRAZIL
October 10Th, 1924
Mr.. Wiley Whitley.

Mr.. Wiley Whitley,
Fitzgerald, Ga.
Dear Mr.. Whitley
You must think | have forgotten
nv promise to write you my impress
sions of Brazil-but l have not
| stopped six weeks in Rio de ia
nerio, then Lucia and l came to Sal
Paulo for Lucia to take up her worl
in our Baptist College here. That wa
July 1st, but on July 5th the Revolu
ton broke out and things were SO un
settled for a time that l could form nc
opinions
Things are getting normal again
now. altho several states are still under
martial law.
| Brazil is a marvellous country. The
and generally as fertile as the valley
of the Mississippi. They use no fertili-
ger and very little cultivation Just
clear the ground of the tangle of I'M
dergrowth and plant it.
| passed thru vast banana groves
last week and saw them gathering
them and later loading them on the
steamer. In many places the bananas
grow wild and the natives have only
to go out and gather them. They are
one of the staple foods of the country
and are very cheap, but three cents a
dozen. The Brazilans live on rice and
beans. with some bananas thrown IN.
Even here in. the College we have rice
and beans twice a day. The children
do not know how to eat without 1t, but
of course. Lucia is insisting that they
learn to eat vegetables and we always
have other vegetables from our splen-
did garden.
AS YOU know, coffee is the money
crop of Brazil-and this state OF Sac
Pau1o is the greatest coffeeproducing
state in the world. Sac Paulo, the city
we live in, is the capital of the state
and is the most progressive in Brazil.
1t is very like an American city and |
have not seen, so much building going
on anywhere in my life as goes on here.
Sac Paulo broke the world record for
building last year and it looks like
she will double the size this year, VI
course, that means real estate IS ad-
vancing in price the same way.
Our College is right in the center
of a new residential section and prop
erty around us is doubling IN value
every year. Most of our missionaries
have nice homes near the College and
| wish ] were able to buy q lot and
hold it. for later ] will not be able TO,
| know.
The coffee is raised further IN the
interior. One of our missionaries told
me you could buy coffee land at the
rate of about $500 an acre, then you
lease it for six years, free of rent, but
10
the lease expires, set out in producing
coffee trees. He said you frequently
paid for your land the first crop you
got-and it never fails to produce a
crop. | think the trees bear IN two
years Everything down here does, and
most of them in one year. Flowers
bloom right on one time alter anoth-
er, without regard to season. Even
people pay little attention to season.
wear same clothes winter and summer
1t is cold here in Sac Paulo and Lucia
and | are just getting out OF winter
clothes Crou know the seasons are re-
versed from ours) and we have been
seeing people in organdy dresses all
the winter The houses are not heated
either. but the first thing we bought
was an electric heater four our room
and we simply couldn't have stood
the climate without it.
Most Americans-or all OF them are
building their houses with fire places,
and many Brazilians are doing it now
here in Sac Paulo.
Now l have told you what have
learned about things in general, L
must tell you the handicaps an Amer
lean must encounter, are first, langu-
age 1t is harder for US to learn Ian
guages than it is for people of other
countries, for our ears are not accus-