Evening star., 1899-04-08

summer, the thermometer goes up as biSA
as 100, and in the winter month of July
| the ground is often covered with snow.
| North of Rio Grande do Sui are the states
! OF Santa Catharina and I'arana. both of
which will some day be populated by Euro
peans. They are very similar TO Rio Cirande
| and have vast undeveloped areas.
In Sac PauIO.
Above these states lies Sac Paulo, one of
the best parts of Brazil, a state which fur
nishes nearly all the coffee that is con-
sumed in the United States, and one of the
richest states of the world. 1t is at Sac
Paulo, the capital of this state, that this
letter is dated. Sac Paulo is almost all
high. There is low strip of malarious
range of mountains about 5000 feet high,
and then plateau, which slopes gently to-
ward the west. The soil is a rich red loaln.
1t produces all kinds of vegetables and
fruits and will grow coffee corn and grain.
The lands along the coast are good for
sugar, and, indeed, the first sugar in Rrazil
was raised near Santos. OF late the sugar
planting has been largely given up and the
people are devoting themselves almost alto
gether to raising coffee Many of them
have made fortunes, and as result sac
Paulo is town of rich men.
The PeulistaS, as the people OF Sac Paulo
are called, have always been among the
best of the Brazilans They were among
the first settlers. The Portuguese who first
dians and made them work. 1t is estimated
that they captured two million Indians in
three centuries. Later on they Distinguish
ed themselves for their enterprise in otner
ways. They have now the best -aiiroadS or
Brazil, the most modern improvements and
the best government. The state gets its
revenue from export tax. and, as the
coffee exports run into many mlncns
year, it has a large revenue.
The City of Sac PauIo.
t. ;c n 1i1-a VIII AXE
city, with good buildings and fine stores.
The people evidently spend great deal of
money The hotels are fairly good, and
there are signs everywhere that the Paul
istes are alive and not kicking.
Come with me out on the streets and
take a look at the town. 1t is early morn
ing: the children are just going to school.
There are bright-faced little girls without
hats and little boys with hats and bare
legs They are trudging along, with their
books in bags on their backs, over the
cobbleStone streets.
Here come the street cars. They are
painted red and are drawn by mules. What
a of them there are. They go in groups,
one car following another, until long
train has passed. Some of the cars are
loaded with freight. They are second-class
cars and have two seats only, at each end.
man with basket cannot get into a
firSt-claSS car, and people going to mar
ket-no one but servants go to market
here-have to use the freight cars. There
comes a car loaded with newspapers. We
meet newSboyS on every corner, and we
learn that Sac Paulo has a half dozen
dailies.
What a lot of negroes there are. They
make me feel as though l We're in Wash
ington or at my home in Virginia. The
faces of many of the business men show
African blood. This is often the case, for
the color line, as far as marriage is con-
cerned, has not been drawn tight in Brazil.
Here three cOlora1 They
are laborers on their way to work.
listen to them they pass. That yah,
YAH yah! is just like the laugh of our
dark-skinned Americans but the language
they are using is Portuguese and though
the laughing goes on as we listen we can't
see the jokes.
Let go out to the suburbs The houses
are as fine as our own. Some look like
American houses, and / learn that one of
the best belongs to an American, who is
a high official on one of the railroads.
The public buildings especially fine
They are equal to those of any state capi-
tai of our country. 1 doubt if we have a
college building which will compare with
the Normal School of Sac Paulo and the
palaces of the government are quite nm TO
some of the great buildings of Washington
city.
Into the HarbOr of Death
But let me describe my visit to the har-
Dor of death. 1t was through it that /
came to Sac Paulo. Santos is said to be
1t is seldom free from yellow fever, and |
at times the very sailors in the harbor are |
decimated by this dread disease One line |
of steamers has bought an island some |
distance out to which its men go while the |
ships are loaded. Some other ships do not |
allow their men to go on shore, and during |
the hot season 1t is really dangerous to an |
extreme.
The town of Santos is right under the |
mountains. Our ship wound this way and |
that as it sailed out of the Atlantic into the |
wide deep harbor. The water was of a /
bilious green, low hills and islands covered |
with thick woods lined the shores and |
smoky forbidding clouds hung low over the |
city resting there as it were like a pail. |
ALI nature was gloomy. and the surround |
ings made me feel as though Were in a !
valley of death. The air was SOFT moist |
and warm. Our steamer moved slowly in, |
rising and falling with the waves the very /
engine making muffied sound on the soft /
still cir.
Az We came nearer we could see colored |
buildings lining the shore. Some were /
shaded by palm trees, their long fan-like /
leaves hanging nstlessly and despairingly /
down. Closer stu and we were In a forest /