Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-07-25
Home Lille In Brazil.

| ANn dit well bstNCu Will llllltSlout.
ported at an enormous expense from
Portugal. The other streets of the
town are macadamized with the one
sort of stone that is common in Brazil.
This common stone is composed of very
small quartz crystals and ochre cement.
1t is exceedingly soft, and under the
heavy wheels of the clumsy vehicles
rapidly crumbleS to fine, red dust.
which would be intolerable but for fire.
quent wetting. Street sprinkling is
wholly performed by the clouds, and
as this section lies in the zone of calms
a daily shower is expected. 1t usually
falls about 4 p. NJ. and with so great re-
gularity that daily appointments are
made with reference to the rain. No
outlandish invention could So
thoroughly wash through the best paw
ed parts of the city, and it is to be hop
ed that no other sprinkler would leave
such wretched pools of water in the
| fine red sand of the macadamiZed streets.
Winding among the elegant dwellings
of the more wealthy classes of people
the streets are wide and beautifully
planted with trees of various sorts.
Sometimes the palm is chosen and
sometimes the far-famed :" silk-cotton -
tees are planted, but by far the COM
moneSt are the mangoeS. Brought
from the East Indies. the mango flour
ishes in luXuriant beauty and its thick,
clustering foliage forms one of the most
striking features of Para, making this
city stand out in bold relief among the
other individualities and peculiarltieS of
various Brazilian cities.
In studying the habits of birds there
is nothing more interesting than to
mark each tribes special manner of
constructing its nests. So, too, i'll max
ing the acquaintance of new people,
nothing seems more important than a
consideration of their houses and hcme
life, and they are first to attract the at
tentiOn of a foreigner. One might
naturally expect wood to he the most
common building material in a country
of such vast forests of huge trees. This
however, is far from being the case,
There are only about half-dozen saw
mills on the whole Amazon river; con-
sequently hOme-manufactured lumber
is not abundant and all of the stone
used in building is imported. But the
clayey soil bordering the small streams
and many parts of the larger rivers
makes brick far cheaper building
material and it is also a much better
means of protection from the fierce
heat of tropic suns. The outer walls
and even the partitions are built three
feet thick, in order to support the
crushing weight of the heavy earthen
| tiles of the roof. The outsideS of the
brick houses are sometimes colored
pink, blue, green, yellow or white, bnt
they are for the most part covered with
porcelain tiling, in which blue and
white predominate, but IN which al
most every color or combination of col
ors may sometimes be seen. This til
ing is always of the same form, five
inches square and nearly half an inch
in thickness. Sometimes one piece
forms design, but commonly 1t takes
four of the pieces set together to form
figure. The figure is fastened either
with cement or with mortar on the
brick walls. When not of glass the
outer doors are almost invariably paint
ed bright green, and without exception
both windows and doors open in the
centre and swing on hinges into the
room. In many cases blinds or " lat
ticed windows +" are used in place OF
glass windows, and these are frequent
ly suspended at the top, so that they
NAV be turned outward and prOpped
into kind ofawning for the windows.
The outer doors and windows are all
provided with wooden shutters, which
are made to exclude the hot sun and
are faithfully closed to shut out the
night air, of which the people are SO
much afraid that every house looks like
dungeon when its inmates are sleep
ing.
Perhaps one reason for these we'll
nigh Theoretically sealed windows and
doors is found the fact that vampire
bats abound, and they are sometimes
so bloodthirsty that a strong horse that
has been exposed to their rayenOus ap-
petites for single night will be stag
gering and weak in the morning. They
seem to be possessed of very fastidiouS
tastes, and the bats that freely bleed
one person Will never be known to bite
another, even if the two individuals
are sleeping always i'll the same room.
But to return TO the houses All the
doors of common dwelling-house are
wide and high enough to admit two
mounted horsemen riding abreast. As
for the interior, paper-hangingS are not
very common, the walls being covered
from the floor to height of three feet
with glazed tiling, like that used for
| exterior walls, and the remainder
| simply whitewasbed to the ceiling,
which is made of wood and painted
white. Sometimes for better ventila-
ton the ceiling is constructed OF Stats
that are arranged i'll diamond form and
the diamonds expand IN size from the
chandelier to the edge of the room.
| Insect life is so vigorous and so en-
| croaching that even oilcloth is not COM
mon and other carpets are out of the
question-even the most elegantly fur
nished houses only boast of a rug or
two. The floors are, however, quite
ornamental, being composed OF alter
nate strips of light and dark wood.
The roofs, as l have said, are tiled, and
the red tiling is made in oblOng, cury
ed pieces which are so laid on the
wooden frame that the roof is of con-
ltinuous and parallel rows of earthen
fSulttlS, lut stdllolSu cuSO VI ehS eoN -
being hidden in nicer houses by build
ing the front wall a foot or two higher
than the roof, and placing upon the top
of this parapet row of porcelain or
marble vases, urns or monster acorns
and beautiful statues.
Among the flowers and shrubbery of
the gardens there is often a fountain
and around their marble basins statuary
is arranged. No high winds or winter
frosts ever blight the verdure in this
land of perpetual summer, and every
yard with its sanded pavements or its
gravel walks is provided with high
|, IRON fence, over which no thief could
possibly climb. Above the head of
him who passes the guarded entrance a
pair of crouching lions or porcelain dogs
seem to threaten violence to HIM who
enters unbidden. Some of these gates
are provided with bells, others have
only the cord of the house bell dangling
in the street, at the mercy of many a
anI ,,tc.hiaxn,rs how xxbn aatch-