Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-09-24
PICTURE Of RIO JANEIRo.
Some Interesting Peculiarities Of Queer
Old Portuguese Town.

Old Portuguese Town.
No regular census has ever been
taken Of kio but 1t is believed that
about $50, 900 people are crowded
within the narrow cresent-shaped |
space between the mountains and the |
sea, writes Fannie T.. Ward in the |
Chicago Tribune. Hemmed in by a
granite wall on one side and deep wa
ter on the other the city can never |
grow any wider. and so il has stretched |
out at both ends. Struggling ten or
twelve miles around the prodigious
hnrbor-- which by the way. Is exactly
the shape of pear. the narrow en-
trance representing the stem OF the
fruit
Most Of the streets are extremely
narrow. generally not more than ten
feet wide. paved with Belgian blocks,
with an open central drain. 70 which
they slope. and with three. foot wide
sidewalks on level with the street
Canton and others Of the great Chin.
csc cities have streets as wide as
those OF Rio Jane.ro. 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 Ia height One of their Curl
Gus features Is the absence Of the
/ veranda which in the minds of globe
I trotters has become intimately as.
sociated with ideas OF hot weather.
/ In lieu 81 the veranda the better
! houses show IN their upper stories
| broad deep uotches-each a sort OF
open-air parlor tinted as delicaiely
as ladies boudoir often deliberately
/ irescoed furnished with rattan and
| cane sofas. chairs and tables embel-
llshed with statuary and foored with
/ Talayera tiles. Some Of these cool
posts Of observation have narrow
Windows OF cUlore1 glass set ia their
sides surrounded by a wealth Of
gliding carving aud color. and the
effect is particularly unique especial
ly when the outer walls OF the house
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 rs 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 every
b0dy who can afford II seeks refuge
on the heights
About o'clock every afternoon and
again In the evening everybody as Is
anybody" hies 70 the Rua do ouyojdor
narrow alley way IN which two
meeting carriages could rot possibly
pass were carriages allowed Ia that
street which they are not Like the
porlalcs D! Lima the Alemada Of san
tiaen the Plaza Victoria OF Bneno,
Ayres and La lndependeucia OF Monte
vijeo, Is the fashionable promenade
, and beauty show OF Rio where iiir.a,
iions are carried on and matche,
made between the 'gilded youth" ans
dark-eyed damsels Of ortuguese- Span
lsh-ncgro blood During fashionabl,
hours the Ouyioior Is literally packed
with people not only from end to end
but from wall to wall-for the middl,
OF the street is as frequently patron
lied as the three foot wide sidewalk
: Here new dresses direct from Paris
! creations in bonnets are displuyet
for the first time to the admirin.
= populace while officers OF the arm,
and navy. Ia all the glory OF gold lac,
: and gaudy uniforms and officers from
the ships OF every nation anchored Il
a the harbor add brilliancy TO the seem
tho whole watched over by tn,
; mulatto gendarmes that constitute III,
police OF Rio, In their ludicrousl,
: elaborate costumes The diamonJ
' dealers and other principal merchant
: have their establishments in the Ru
Uuviodor and SO have the curio col
lectors and the vendors of those eS
quisite feather flowers made by tn
! Brazilian nuns