Excerpts from Mandinga, Manha, & Malícia by Adriana Albert Dias

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Since the beginning of December, Saldanha Street was in an uproar because of a shootout provoked by sailors who were "promiscuous" with "easy women" and other "troublemakers." Various prostitutes were arrested, accused of being the "motive" of the incident and the annoyed sailors went to the police captain's house to attack him and demand the release of the women. This produced a very tense climate, which only worsened with the passage of time.

On December 26th, another shootout exploded between capoeiristas and a group of sailors from the warship Piauí, which had arrived from Rio de Janeiro three months ago. The stage for the fight was the "botequim do Galinho," where the sailors were eating dinner when they were attacked by the capoeiristas Pedro Mineiro and Sebastião de Souza, and another man named Antônio José Freire, also known as "Branco."

The shootout lasted about 15 minutes, provoking great chaos. All the bars, stores, and houses in the area shut their doors and windows, leaving only the contenders, armed with knives and pistols, in the street. During the fight, two sailors were killed: José Domingos dos Santos, who was carrying a knife, and Fransisco Hollanda Wanderley, who was carrying nothing of value.

The other sailors, injured, managed to escape and return to their ship. Pedro Mineiro, Sebastião, and Branco tried to flee, but they were captured by guards and civilians, brought to the nearest police station, and from there transferred to the Office of Public Security.

The reasons for this conflict, soon nicknamed "the Saldanha conflict," are rather vague. The most common version is that it was the result of a fight between Pedro Mineiro and one of the sailors over a prostitute the night before. Mestre Noronha tells, for example, that the incident occured because Pedro Mineiro's lover, the waitress Maria José, had accepted an invitation from one of the sailors who "took a liking to her... that's when Pedro Mineiro killed one sailor and threw the other out the window." However, the statements of the police sergeant, Marinho Vaz Sampaio, bring new elements to the story.

According to him, a few days beforehand, he had been attacked with gunshots from one of the sailors who had been threatening him for having arrested a prostitute. Pedro Mineiro and Sebastião had helped defend Sampaio and were attacked by various sailors, so there was already an antagonism between the two groups. Perhaps the capoeiristas were hoping to take revenge when they invaded the restaurant on the 26th, either on their own or under the orders of Sampaio, who also ended up being arrested and accused of being responsible for the sailors' deaths.

The trial occurred in the Office of Public Security. On the day of the testimonies, a large crowd gathered in front of the building. Pedro Mineiro was one of the first to be interrogated. He claimed to be acting as a secret agent of the police, saying that he was attacked by sailors in the street and tried to defend himself with a knife, but knew nothing about the sailors' deaths. Sebastião and Branco also declared themselves "secret agents of the police" and claimed to be victims.

Just then, the unexpected happened: one of the sailors from the Piauí, feeling insulted, shot at Pedro Mineiro right there in the office, in front of the police. Pedro Mineiro went from being the accused to being the victim, with serious injuries in his shoulder, leg, and back. This attack sparked a huge confusion, with over 20 police officers, sailors, justice officials, and deputies trampling each other in the chaos, which allowed Branco and Sebastião to escape. To avoid further damage, the cavalry was called to stand guard in front of the office, but the two fugitives were already far away.

The capoeirista Sebastião was pursued by a sailor until Faísca Street, where he was stabbed in the back so deeply that it reached his kidneys. He was taken along with Pedro Mineiro to the Santa Isabel Hospital.

The sailors would not consent to being imprisoned on land, so they were brought back to the warship Piauí where, according to the captain of the fleet, Carlos Alves de Souza, they were finally incarcerated. As for Branco, he really managed to escape, and was never heard from again.

For days, the "Saldanha crime" and the shooting of Pedro Mineiro was front-page news, especially in the newspaper A Tarde. Since the media was very interested in the story, the letters between the Police Chief and the Commander of the Piauí ended up being published. In the first letter, Police Chief Álvaro Cova expressed his surprise at the fact that the sailors called to testify in a process of justice had "arrived armed with the intent to carry out such shameful savagery." He declared that the shooting of Pedro Mineiro inside "the headquarters of the highest police authority of the State" was an affront, an attack by  the sailors on the police itself. In response, Captain Carlos explained that no sailor was authorized to carry weapons on land, and affirmed that he too condemned the shooting. However, he also made it clear that his greatest desire was for his sailors not to have "behavior similar to the agents of your secret police" - which was a direct insult to the Police Chief.

Cova retaliated with another letter mocking Carlos' inefficient command abilities, because despite his "recommendations," the fact remained that "the sailors were armed and committed a serious crime," which proved that "even the greatest commanders can have bad people under them." And he closed the letter with a sarcastic tone, repeating the Captain's words and stating that he was happy that his own men didn't "support criminals, like what happens in other places." These back-and-forth insults are but a small example of the rivalry that existed between branches of the armed forces and the police.

Anyway, Pedro Mineiro's health deteriorated every day since the shooting. According to an article on January 14th, 1915, Pedro was certain that he would die and asked his friend Graciliana Maria da Conceição to bring him black clothing and a weapon, so that he could spare himself suffering by killing himself.

However, at the moment he raised the razor to his neck, one of the police officers stopped him. Pedro died the following day in the Santa Isabel Hospital, because of one of the bullets that could not be removed from his body. According to the newspapers, Pedro had been tried four times and arrested a hundred times for various crimes. He was 27 years old, and was buried in the Quinta dos Lázaros cemetery.