The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-04-30
UNCLE SAM In BRAZIL
ALL ABOUT OUR AMERICAN MIN
ISTER AND HIS LEGATION
AT PETROPOLTS
rs A BACHELOR DIPLOMAT

How He Entertains and His Success
With the BraziIinns "A Chat
With Our Consul General to Rio
Germans of Brazil and How They
Are GObbling the Fat Things.
copyrighted 1899 Frank G. Carpenter)
PETROPOIIS, Brazil, March 26-Have
you ever heard of Petropolis? 1t Is where
the president of Brazil and the leading
officials go In the summer, and where the
foreign ministers live all the year round.
IT is in the mountains just back of Rio
at an altitude of more than half mile
above the sea, and you can reach ii In
less than three hours. The scenery about
it is more like that of Switzerland than
the tropics, and its climate is such that
into it the yellow fever never comes.
Suppose you could put range of hills
S,0CO feet high just back of New York or
Philadelphia, and away up In their tops
build beautiful city of say 10000 popula-
ton. Suppose you could reach this by
short ride across the most beautiful bay
of the world and then climb the hills bv a
cog road like that which goes up Mount
Washington. If you can imagine this
You have Petropolis.
To get to it you first ride twelve miles
on a steamer. Next there are cars which
whisk you over the swamps at the foot
of the mountains where you get little
Baldwin locomotive which pushes YOU up
an inclined plane so steep that you have
10 Keep your feet on your valise to pre-
vent 1t rolling down to the end of the
car.
SWITZERLAND OF BRAZIL
The ride is wonderfully beautiful Great
trees loaded with orchids stand high
above the jungle of matted green bushes
There are fern trees waving their myriad
arms at the train and tall feathery BAN
boos rustic in the breeze as the little en-
CINE puffs by Now you are on the side of
green mountain hanging over q ravine
$40 feet deep, and under a great green
spotted wall 1900 feet high. Now you
round curve and the rocks rise above
you like gerat fort. They are brown
and grim. Massive blocks of stone
thousand feet thick and weighing thou
sands Of tons hang over you and a
mighty wall 1000 feet high appears to be
about to drop down upon you I have
seen some of the rock wonders of the
world. The formation of the Andes, the
Himalayas and the Alps have their own
features of picturesque grandeur The
Garden of the Gods and the Yellowstone
are of their own kind, and so 1t is of this
coast range of Brazil 1t is different
from any other, picturesque in the ex-
IRENE, and gorgeous in its clothing of
luXuriant verdure
The views of Rio and its great bay are
magnificent and the cloud effects are diff
ferent every hour. I have been living at
Petropolis during my stay here and l go
to and, come from the city daily. The
other day. when we left the tops OF the
mountains, Rio and the harbor were COW
cred with a sheet of billowy clouds. Not
tree nor blade of grass could be seen
save on the mountains. and we appeared
to be locking down upon a snow scene
of the Arctic ocean. At other times the
clouds seemed to flow In and out among
these massive hills in rivers Of silver
which empty out upon the plain into
great cloud lake. Now you ride through
these clouds your way to the bay
and again when the clouds lift and the
sun comes out you sail over that won
derful sapphire sheet of water to the red
rooted, wnite-walled city of Rio.
IN PETROPOLIS
I wish you could be with me one day
In Petropohs. 1t is a combination Of
Switzerland and Japan, of the tropics and
the temperate zones. The hills surround
ing it are covered with verdure, for the
pure air is moist, and al things grow lux
uriantly. Dom Pedro had his palaces
here and he laid out the town most beau
tifully An aqueduct filled with running
water flows through it. This Is crossed by
red bridges, which fit In with the pictur-
esque surroundings.
The houses are beautiful; they are Of
all varieties of architecture, although the
Brazilian predominates. The population
Is mostly made up of the rich. The swells
of Rio have their summer homes here.
The leading foreigners doing business in
Rio live here to escape the yellow fever
dangers of Rio, and go back and forth
daily. At Petropolis are the homes of
ell the diplomats, and it is here that our
American minister has his legation.
AMERICAN MINISTER TO BRAZIL
/ came to Petropolis to find out how
Uncle Sans chief representatives live
and what they are doing for us In Brazil
Before l describe the legation I want to
say word about the minister himself
You have all heard of him. His name is
Charles Page Bryan and he has for years
been well known in Illinois and the Rock
les He was at one time a miner in the