Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1893-05-13
pEN.PIcruRE OF RIO JANElRo.
Some Interesting Poculiaritics OF Queer
Old Portuguese Town.

pEN-picTURE OF RIO JANElRo.
Some Interesting Pocuiiaritics OF n Queer
Old Portuguese Town.
No regular census has ever been
taken of Rio, but it is believed that
about three hundred and fifty thousand
people are crowded within the narrow,
cresccnt-shaped space between tho
mountains and the sea, writes Fannie b.
Ward. Hemmed in by granite wall on
one side and deep water on the other,
the city can never grow any wider, and
SO it has stretched out ut both ends,
struggling ten or twelve miles around
the prodigious harbor-which, by the
way, is exactly the shape of pear, the
narrow entrance representing the stem
of the fruit. Most of the streets are ex-
tremely narrow, generally not more
than ten feet wide, paved with Belgian
blocks, with an open central drain to
which they slope, and with three-foot-
wide sidewalks on a level with the
street. Canton and others of the great
Chinese cities have streets as wide as
those of Rio Janciro. The houses, many
of them quite hidden by the towering
palms that line some of these oOw-path
streets are no two alike, and range
from two to four stories in height. One
of their curious features is the absence
of the vcranda, which, in the minds OF
globe-trotters, has become intimately
associated with ideas of hot weather.
In lieu of the veranda the better houses
show in their upper stories broad, deep
notches-each sort of open-air parlor,
tinted rs dclicatcly rs ladies' boudoir,
often deliberately frescoed, furnished
with rattan and cane sofas, chairs and
tables, embellished with statuary and
floored with Talavera tiles. Some OF
these cool posts of observation have
narrow windows of colored glass set in
their sides surrounded by u wealth OF
gliding, carving and color, and the ef-
feet is particularly unique, especially
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 ycllow-fevcr season ap-
proaches everybody who can afford it
seeks refuge ON the heights.
About o'clock every afternoon and
again in the evening. Everybody as is
anybody" HES to the Rua do 0uvoidor.
narrow alleyway in which two meet
ing carriages could not possibly pass,
were carriages allowed in that street,
which they are not. Like the portalcs
of Lima, the Alcmada of Santiago, the
Plaza Victoria of Buenos Ayres, and Ls
Independence of Montevideo, it is tho
fashionable promenade and beauty
show OF Rio, where flirtations arc car
ricd on and matches made between tho
"gildcd youth and Gark-eyed damsels
of Observation-Disclosures blood.
During fashionable hours the Ouviodor
ia literally packed with people, not only
from end To end, but from wall to wall
for the middle of the street is as fire.
qucntly patronized as the three-foot-
wide sidewalks Here new dresses di-
rect from Paris and creation in bon
nets are displayed for the first time to
the admiring populace, while officers of
the army and navy, in all the glory OF
gold lace and gaudy uniforms, and old
GERS from the ships of every nation an
chorcd in the harbor add brilliancy to
the sccnc-thc whole watched over ty
the mulatto gcndarIncs that constitute
the police of Rio in their ludicrousiy
elaborate costumes. The diamond
dealers and other principal merchants
have their establishments in the Rua
Ouvoidor, and SO have the curio collec-
tors and the vendors of those exquisite
feather flowers made by the Brazilian
nuEs.
-Retter Unsaid. Au:horcss
(reading MS. nloud)-"But perhaps l