The Indianapolis journal., 1899-04-23

reception. Here the candidate comes to feel
the pulse of the people. and here revolutions
and uprSings are plotted. l was walking
down the Rua do Ouvidor the other day with
Col. Charles Page Bryan, our minister to
Brazil. We were on our way 10 visit the
houses of Congress. and 1 urged the minister
to hurry, fearing we might be too late. The
minister replied:
There Is no danger. We are in plenty Of
time and am sure Congress is still sitting"
How can you telI,' asked I. Where is
the building? Does the Brazilian flag float
from it as IL does from our capitol when the
houses are sitting?"
'Oh. no." replied Minister Bryan 'You
can't see the houses Of Congress from here.
They are more than mile away in another
part of the city, but know that Congress
has not yet adjourned because there are 80
few silk hats on the Ouvidor. Every sena-
tor and deputy wears a tall hat and they all
rush for the Ouvidor soon as the session is
over"
There are other things on the Ouvidor
which are far more interesting than the
politicians. The streets are filled with all
sorts of strange characters. At times You
imagine yourself in Naples, at times in
Paris and again in the Moski at Cairo. The
deed so narrow that by law no animal or
wheeled vehicle is allowed to enter it. 1t IS
lined with one, two and three-story houses,
the walls of which are painted white, blue,
brown, pink, yellow and all other imagina-
BILE colors. The roofs are so irregular that
they cut the sky lne looking like the
ragged side of an old saw. The houses on
the opposite side of the street lean toward
each other as in some of the old cities of
Germany.
BRAZTLIANS ARE PATRIOTIC.
Each house has a flag po:c extending out
from its walls, and those on the two sides
of the street almost touch in the center,
forming a very thicket of flag poles and
making a canopy over the street below. Be-
tween the poles from building to building
are arches of iron gas pipes running from
one side of the street to the other. These
are used to illuminate the Ouvidor on feast
days, for the Brazlians are great for flags
and iliuminations, and they celebrate con-
tinualy.
1t is under a canopy like this that we
move through the Ouvidor, jostled by
crowd OF all nations. There are Italians,
Portuguese, Spaniards, French, Brazilians
and English There are swells, wearing
silk hats and long coats, and there are half
naked negroes, with loads on their heads.
There are lottery peddlers on every street
| corner They poster you with tickets on
every block, and if you enter restaurant
| they will follow you there and thrust their
| tickets into your face. The Brazilians are
| a nation of gamblers The country is honey
| conlbed with lotteries, and every one bets
| on something or other.
Among the queer sights on the Ouvidor
are the hucksters. There come two men,
| each with a baby crib on his head. The
| crib is lined with blanket, and as we look
| we listen for the squawl of the-infant with
| in. AS the men come closer we see that the
| cribs are for bread, not for babies. Each Is
| filled with small loaves. and the man car
| ries his wares from block to block taking
a trestle with him, upon which he places
| the box while he waits for his customers.
| Chickens are peddled about in much the
! same way. A score of fowls are put in a
| wicker eerate and the huckster walks with
this crate on his lfead from house to house,
the chickens squawking, fighting and crow
| ing as he moves through the streets.
BRAZILIAN STORES.
| But let us look at the stores. The Ouvi-
| dor has good show windows, and walking
| through it is like passing through the aisles
|
mcnt. What a lot of diamonds and precious
stones are displayed in the windows. Brazil
! is one of the best diamond markets of the
world, and the people, it is said, care more
| for their dress than their stomachs.
You can see this better by looking at the
| tailor shops and millinery stores. The styles
come from Paris and the goods are marked
with such prices that a cold chill runs down
| your spine as you look. Think of paying
10,000 and 10000 a yard for silks. and over
| there among the dry goods you may see
common dresses marked 2,O0O 1900 and 4,0O0
| per yard. What can those figures mean?
| If they mean cents they will bankrupt US.
| Don't be alarmed They are not cents nor
dollars. They are Brazilian reis, and ii
| takes 1000 reis to be worth 10 cents of our
money so that you get 1900 reis for a dol
| lar.
l changed 200 gold dollars at the bank to-
day and received in change more than n
million and quarter reis. This seems to
| be an enormous amount but at my present
rate of expenses it will not last me three
| weeks.
| 1 have spoken of marked prices. The fact
that the goods are marked is no index OF
| how they are sold. Everything goes by
| dicker. and the wise buyer always offers tC
| pay less than is asked. Trade is a matter
OF bargain, and large part Of the business
is done in the auction shops. 1 found this
also true in the Argentine. There is scarce
ly a street in Buenos Ayres or Rio Janeirc
| which has not several auction establish
ments. Everything is sold in such shops
and they sell drugs at auction. You can, ir
fact, bid on anything, from pill to pal
ace. from a plant to a plantation.
The markets of Rio are not far from the
Ouvidor. They right on the bay, so that
the fish are brought in boats and laid out
on the stone wharves and there sold in lots
Here the hucksters come with their basket:
and peddle them about from house to house
and from here they are also taken TO the
fish stalls in the markets.
The most of the peddling is done by Ital
ians, who carry fish and vegetables il
baskets hung at the ends Of poles which
rest on their shoulders.
Let us go into the market houses. They
are in long buildings back from the water
and we shall find that they are filed Will
all kinds of fruits, vegetables and meats
There are tons of onions, carloads of to
matoes and peppers of all kinds, from th'
big green sort we use for pickles TO chillis
little red pills of liquid hell which will TAX,
| the skin from your stomach or tongue.
How n,,oor .t,a,, coll thfuocf npiope oro ~,