The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-04-17
LIFE IN BRAZIL'S CAPITAL
Peculiarities of a Queer Old City Which
Is Full of Contradictions.
The Homes Of the Wealthy Portuguess-Side-
walks Three Feet Wide-Royalty and Ev-
cry body Else Rides in the Street Cars.


was a city of contradictions-at once re-
pulsive and charming, Disappointing and
delightful-it is this vile. smelling old
furnace. which the early Portuguese
dubbed SAINT Sebastian of the River of
January" Even it's atmosphere is contra
dictory. On days wheE everything visibly
steams and you feel yourself dissolving in
perspI-atiOD, you are amazed to find that
the thermometer registers less than it
often does In New York-here seldom ris-
ing above $50 Fair. But there Is q
humidity in the air that kills all oxygen
and gives to every object, animate and in
animate. a clamrny, sticky moisture, SO that
you expect to wake up some morning and
find yourself covered all over with green
mold and fungi, like the walls and tree
trunks. An Algerian sirocco is not SO
oppressive as any day here between the
months of October and May. for the
African wind is only an OCCASION
al misery, seldom lasting more than
three days at q time. while here it is con-
tinuous, worse if possible by night than by
day. until you envy Shadracb. Meshach
and Abednego. tor it was dry heat they
suffered. and biblical history tells us that
they came out of it unharmed-whIch is a
good deal more than can be said of you
after q week in Rio. 1t is not easy to de-
scribe this queer old town. because there is
nothing elsewhere to which one can CON-
pare it. It's Hispano-Portuguese origin is
everywhere apparent. suggesting o mixture
of Barcelona. Seville. Cadiz-seasoned with
q dash of Raudiness borrowed from it's
numerous wealthy citizens OF Africa de-
scent. and a tropical warmth of color en-
sireiy It's OWN; And then the mountains Has
and eccentric vagaries of form
none of them being straight, but all
leaning in ore direction or the other as If
o mighty wind had blown them awry-
try, which is enhanced by the billowing
clouds that roll about the peaks and
through the vast valleys and gorges be-
tween them. exhibiting the strange and
culiar to tropical landscapes and never met
In colder climates. The streets, i'll their
narrow and twisted courses, repeat the
plan of city building which the Moors
brought into the IberIan peninsula, with
Saracenic inspirations IN the way OF tiled
roofs. projecting balconies. narrow win
dows. arched doorways and elaborate stuc-
cO-all clothed in q very Joseph's coat of
many colors. 1t even eXcels CadiZ In the
Kaleidoscope hues of it's roofs and walls,
" IL boto tASA StAo oao oAoSo Va
the Andaluslan seaport intensity In Brazil
TO glazing reds. green's, puppies aud
orange. Amid the brown or snowy months
that make up so large q proportion of the
northern year, nothing could be more
absurd than this system of architecture
and decoration; but under tropical skies
they seem TO be the natural products of the
sun and soil, as appropriate TO their sur
rOundlngs as the palm trees that tower
above and the b~lossoming vines that riot
over them.
THE sTREETs AND HOUSES.
No regular census has ever been taken of
RIO, but it is believed that about $50, 900
people are crowded within the narrow
crescent-shaped space between the mount
aims and the sea. Hemmed in by a
granite wall on one side and deep water
on the other. the city can never grow any
wider. and SO it has stretched out at both
around the prOdIgious harbor-which, by
the way, is exactly the shape OF q pear,
the narrow entrance representing the
stem of the fruit. Most of the streets are
ten feet wide. paved with Belgian blocks.
with an open central drain to which they
slope. and with three-foot-wide sidewalks
on q level with the street. Canton, and
others of the great Chinese cities, have
streets as wide as those of Rio Janeiro.
The houses, many of them quite hidden by
the towering palms that line some of these
cow-path streets. are no two alike, and
range from two to four stories In height.
One OF their curious features Ia the absence
of the veranda. which. in the minds of
globe-trotters, have become intimately as
ISOLATED with ideas of hot weather. In
lieu of the veranda the better
houses show In their upper stories
broad, deep nOtches, each q sort of OPEN
air psrlor. tinted as delicately as o lady's
bOudoir. often deliberately frescoed. furn-
ished with rattan and cane sofas. chairs
and tables. embellished with statuary n
cool posts of observation have narrow WIN
dows of colored glass set In their sides, sur
rounded by a wealth of gliding. carving
and color. anG the effect is particularly
are faced with blue and yellow tiles, as is
frequently the case. The best houses lie
along the waters edge, notably on that
part of the bay known as Botafogo. and on
the slopes of the surrounding mountains
some OF the most charming homes in the
world are to be seen, for when the yellow
fever season approaches everybody who
can afford 1t seeks refuge on the heights.
THE MERCANTILE DISTRICT.
The business houses are crowded into the
lower portion of the town. into damp and
gloomy alley ways. SO narrow that carts
and carriages are forbidden to enter them
during the busy hours of the day, and at
any time twO.wheeled vehicles could not
pass one another without running up on
the narrow sidewalks to the peril of pedes-
TRANS. Most of the public buildings and
commercial houses are ugiy and unpreten-
tiOus. built IN the old Portuguese style, of
broken stone me mortar. plastered on the
outside OF faced with illuminated tiles.
There is no government building in Rio.
either monarchical or repu blican, which
begins to compare in elegance with hum
dreds of the private residences. The Sem
ate and Chamber of Deputies occupy sep
arate buildin gs. both old and uninterest-
ing. The Senate c0nvenes in a small house
on the eastern side of the Prada d'Acela-
for the ceremonial opening of each legis-
lative session. The Chamber of Deputies
faces the Rua de Miscricordia. occupying
an angle between the old palace and the
Department of Agriculture. In colonial
times IL was used for a city hall and jail.
Perhaps the finest public bulldingsIn Rio are
the postofic e and the government printing
estab lIshment. The first is Is q sub-depart-
ment under the general control of the Min
lister of Agriculture. and is situated in tho
Rua Primoiro de Marco street of the first
of March, near the custOm-hOuse. 1t &C.
cupies only half a building, the other half
being the Csixa de Amortizacao. or sink
ing fund and redemption bureau of the
treasury. The new and handsome Typo
grapbea NacioDal national printing
Office was begun in the sum,
three years Mt q cost of loco, 592.
including its new machinery. The main
building is a radical departure from
the styles of architecture most
employed in Brazil. it's facade
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