New Britain herald., 1925-03-13

estates, so we were graciously received by his wife, Dona Cardide Martens, who set meal before us that even king would envy. The most surpris- ing thing was to find such hospitality so far from civilization. Dona Cardde did everything that was humanly possible 10 make us comfortable, and, as we unfolded our plan, her wrinkled mouth smiled happily and her eyes glowed like two black dia. monds. She at once set out to pick wild cotton blossoms, and soon had wreath made of them to place next to ours.
 SOUND TAPS
 "The following day she and all her help ac. companied Us to the mouth of the river; where the stake bearing tablet reading Rio Roosevelt had been placed 10 years before by General Rondon. Our little ceremony was very impressive to us, and ended with our boy blowing taps on very old and battered buge. ..aL
 'We listened to Dona Cardide's stories of the Roosevelt expedition, full of praise of Roosevelt for making such trip at his age, and her con ment on what a wonderful shot he was and his telling her he was getting old and probably would never be up that way again."
 Those Americans of the United States who think
 
 New York, who believe that llfes outside of our little world would be an unhappy futile one would do well to hear Alec Besso compare life in the two Americas-North and South.
 Down there one lives, he says. Up here one merely exists. Down there life is free and normal with no restrictions beyond those demanded of ordinary conventions. Up here there are laws against actually governing personal conduct. even when such conduct doesn't interfere with the happiness of others.
 "In Rio, where live," he says, "I feel at home Up here in New York I'm i'll at ease. Even with all this"-and he motioned as if to include the immense Hotel Pennsylvania, where he stopped T can't seem to get my bearings. You folk lead artificial lives. It is not natural"
 IS NOT MARRIED
 Give Besso rife and let him roam the southern iungles with poisonous snakes, man.killing ant eaters and sther vicious animals against which to pit his wits and he is happy.
 Besso isn't married. He muses that probably no woman would want to share such a life. So he has asked none to-
 Besso brought back with him many bows and arrows of the kind used by the natives of the wild tribes of South America. They are long af fairs, many of The bows extending over seven feet in length. The arrows are also long with sharp points, grooved to enter the skin of their victims more easily. They have jagged tips, so that once they go in they do not come out without an effort He brought back some metal.tipped arrows. But these are not the actually manufactured product of the natives. They do not go in for much work down there. Life is one long hunting expedition They have no rents to pay; no landlords; no first CT second mortgages to werry about.
 They build their houses where they happen to be and if a heavy wind comes along and carries the house into the Land of Nod, they do not sit around and mourn over their loss. They simply build another
 Of course, Besso doesn't live that sort of a life He dwells in the modern city of Rio, as thoroughly modern any city of which the United States can boast. People are more friendly down in Rio he says. They don't glare at you as you pass on the street, seemingly afraid you are going to do them violence.
 Besso has a unique philosophy of life,
 Death holds no terrors for him. But he laughs at any attempt to place such viewpoint on the basis of personal or physical bravery. He has been close to death many times that it merely doesn't exist in his mind.
 What is death?" he asks. Isn't it just another adventure? And if 1t is, why worry about it? Too many people fear the unknown"
 And for such people he recommends a trip into the iungles If they ever come out--he ropcludos they'll be cured.