Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-08-17
LETTERS FROM FAR COUNTRIES.
A. f. Park Writes From the Yukon Cap
tain Q. P Brown From Brazil, and Clyde
Hoober From San Fernando, Philippines

l 3.
here it is the royal palm. At st. Lucia
1T was the cocoanut palm. The royal
is rightly named; it grows to the
| height of 100 feet, straight as an arrow,
round, symmetrical-not leaf or
branch until you get to the lofty top,
and then the long fern-iike shoots put
ont fifteen to twenty feet, The body
is gray color up to ten or twenty feet
of the top and there it is a deep green.
1t is impossible to form any adequate
idea of these stately, handsome trees
without seeing them. The tallest are
!! from sixteen inches to two feet in
diameter, near the ground, and taper
to about a foot at the top, where the
branches come out.
No milkman with wagon and bells
in Rio: here he comes around with a
COW. stops al the door and milks into
your dish. 1 have heard of this. but
thought it too absurd to be true, until
saw it yesterday and today. L tried
| to buy some of the milk, but couldn't
get it.
Another odd custom here is the
manner in which they decorate the cof-
fins and hearses. There is enough gilt
| on the baskets and hearses, especially
1
] the ranks with the band wagon of an
American circus. @
| Oranges in this country are very
/ plentiful, the average price being one
half cent each.
I didn't meet anyone in the two DAYS
| who could speak or understand Eng
lish. My expenses today were as fol
lows: Street car fare, 5000 reis; ferry
| across the bay, 500 refs; two cups Of
BRAZILIAN coffee, 400 refs; one-half doz-
en- oranges, 200 refs; lunch, 1900 refs;
| total, $500 reis-equal TO nearly dol
lar of our money. One thousand refs
make one milreis, worth on gold ba-
sis "a cents. Brazilian unredeemable
paper money is worth about one-third
OF the gold value. We get six milreis
orfsiN thousand refs for dollar of our
money, making milreis about 16 2-3
cents.
The best residences, and there are a
great many fine ones, are almost in
variably two stories high. They are
either brick OF stone, covered with a
stucco finish, that resembles varigated
marble. The tints or colors are fine.
in good taste and very handsome. The
lawns are always enclosed with stone,
brick or cement wall, from two to four
feet high, on the top OF. which is. a
strong, heavy iron fence, from six to
| ten feet high. Inside this enclosure
the grounds are beautifully laid off
and filled with tropical plants, flowers
and trees The fronts of the fine resi-
dences are always Square. The roofs
are Hat and do not show from the
street. On each front corner is us
ually an urn and in the middle an es-
cutcheon. with date of erection and
often the owners monogram or initials.
These houses, with their bright. hand
some tints and coors, light, graceful,
airy verandas, balconies and fine
/ grounds, are like fairyland. The We
randas and balconies are usually light
iron or wire work. .
The city is paved with stone blocks.
The streets are clean, but the pave
ment is generally rough and uneven.
There are street car tracks everywhere.
There are few electric systems, but
the mule cars predominant. The SER
vice is poor throughout. The cars,
however, are provided with easy
springs. the fare is cheap and every
body rides.
This is in every way the most inter-
esting place / ever saw. The weather
| is delightful and the mornings are
damp and chilly, until about o O'clock
| After that the days are simply perfect
up to midnight. and the moonlight
nights on the bay, from the deck of
our ship. are beyond description.
The mountain scenery in and about
the town is beautiful. The mountains
are not as rugged as the Rockies, but
still lofty and imposing and very much
more pleasing to the eye. The city of
Rio has about 100000 population, the
province having about a million. I
never saw'such displays of diamonds
anywhere. Chicago and New York are
not to be mentioned in comparison.
There must be great many very
wealthy people here. There are d
great many fine diamonds worn. There
are numerous fine business and public
buildings that would ornament any
business locality in New York or
Chicago.
The military forms quite feature.
The cavalry troops are well mounted,
handsomely equipped and tastefully
| uniformed and well armed men. Our
1 iS@ eiaAS WIN AishC d very
showing alongside the Brazilian troops
on duty in Rio. .,54e
July ia German mail boat Just
came in and will leave for New York
tomorrow, taking our letters. ! went
on shore this mornino to take long
ride. up a mountain, trolley line, 80
cents being the fare for the round
trip, which waskas fine ride as that
IN Pixies Peak for SIS. My next letter
will be mailed at Monteyideo.. 4 -ex-.
pect to start home in about two weeks,
goino by the way Of England.
July 21---We didn't get away yester-
day. but will leave tomorrow after
noon. i made tour of the bay yes
terdav with the American ministers.
diplomatic. not clericaD and party Of
ladies. Mr.. Buchanan. of Sioux City,
Iowa, minister to Argentine, and Chas.
P. Bryan, of Chicago, our Brazilian
minister. We're both on board, and af-
ter the bay trip I went with some of
the ship's officers to Petropolis, about
| forty miles out. was invited by Mr.,
Bryan to take supper and spend the
night with him. Mr.. Buchanan accom-
panied us. A good many years ago
| 41,a nny, Da1rn n,nnt,,.1 =. -