Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-09
IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL
Account Of a Wagon Trip Made by
Our Consul General,
CHANCES FOR AMERICAN CAPITAL
Money to Be Made in Steamships
and in Electricity.
COLONIES OF. GERMANS
Copyrighted. 1899. by Frank G. Garpenter,.

Copyrighted. 1899. by Frank G. Garpenter).
Written for The Evening Star
L have had a dong chat with our
consul general to Brazil. Mr.. Eugene See
ger. concerning a remarkable journey
which he has just made through the south
ern part of that country. Consul General
Seeger has been representing the business
interests of the United States for several
years in Rio de Janeiro. He was appointed
by President Mckinley, and during his
term has done much TO advance American
trade on the east coast of South America.
He is now in the United States a short
leave of absence and is spending some time
in Washington.
The trip through the southern provinces
of Brazil which Mr. Seeger made w"s
largely by means of wagons, carriages and
on horseback. His wife went with him,
and they Travelled by slow stages from one
town to another, visiting the leading cities
and looking up the chances for American
investments and American trade. In many
OF the large places at which they stopped
the people had never seen an American;
they did not know the colors of the Ameri-
can flag until one was displayed by our
consul general, but they nevertheless gave
cordial greetings to the representative of
the United States
Consul General Seeger describes southern
Brazil as by far the best part of the coun-
try. He says that its soil is exceedingly
ricn, and that its climate is like that Of
possibilities for fortuue-making and in
vestments. The best things are now owned
by the Germans, but there are many OPP
portnnlties for Americans and American
capital
Colony of BIumcnau.
Southern Brazil" said Consul General
seeger. is largely populated by Germans.
The first of them came to the country
about two generations ago. and their
houses and customs are Ike those of Ger
many nifty years ago. l can't describe the
simplicity and quaintness of the civilization.
| went through many colonies, visiting vii
Iages and cities, in which the houses were
IKE the old-time houses you see in Ger
many. There are no locks on the doors
me cities have no such things as tele-
phones. gas or horse cars. Electricity is
almost unknown, and there are none Of the
modern improvements Of today. I remem-
Der one hotel at which / stopped in the
town of Blunenau. This is in the state of
Santa Catharira. 1t is the chief city of the
colony of Blumen2u which has. perhaps,
night l asked my sIanafetd for KEY. He
told me that none of the rooms mad any
locks, and that they never thought of fas-
bar n the the d h@te bare a found that the
the bartender often being away for hours
at time. If a man wanted a drink he
took down the bottle and poured it out. and
ieft the money on3 the counter. The Gus
toms Of eating WeTH refreshing.
We sat down at the table at the same
tlfne mine host wishing US 'guten appetit,'
and a "a, at the close of DIE meal asking US how
we liked the food SMy 4oon1 In the hotel
was right near the public school, and at
the noon recess | saw the master. a tall
saunt German, in old-fashoned clothes.
come OFT and walk up the street between
Two rows OF beautiful palm trees. He had
n f.ha
must have been a foot long and abont
eight inches wide. He bit gargantuan
mouthfuis out of the Sandwich as he walk
ed along. Behind him came the scholars
who numbered more than a hundred eaci,
holding smaller sandwich They walked
up the avenue and back again. thus eating
their lunch, and then returned to school.
Blumenau is a very rich town. There is
practically no poverty. / visited the iail
and was told It had only had one prisoner
within the last five years.
The Germans of Brazil.
There are colonies of this kind scat
tered throughout Brazil said the consul
general. The state Of Parana which l
first entered, has about 10000 population
OF these $1,000 are Germans and about
100000 native Brazilians and the remainder
Italians, Poles, etc. The Germans own the
property and control the trade. It is the
same in Santa Catharina province and also
in the state of RIO Grande do Sui The
chief city Of the latter state is Porte
A.egre. II has about $4,000 people, and OF
these at least 10000 are Germans The
city is a great trade center. 1t has exten-
sive factories and is the chief commercial
point for southern Brazil. The Germans
own all the stores. They are so prominent
that in the principal street the signs are
German only. The banks are German and
| understand that the German Brazilian
Bank of Rio de Janeiro wiz soon estab ish
a branch bank in Porte Allegro To give
you some idea of the money which can be
made in banking in Brazil | would saw that
this bank had a capital of about So, 900 coo
and that 1t pad last year dividends of II
per cent. II could have paid ~ per cent
but did not do SO, for in that case its
taxes would have been materially in
creased
The California of Brazil