Evening star., 1901-02-09
AN APPRENTICE BOYS VIEW
IMPRESSIONS FORMED OF HARBOR
OF RIO DE JANEIRO.
Cleanliness of the Brazilian Naval
Vessels-DescriptfOn of Scenery
The Defenses.

In a letter to Mr.. A. NJ. Proctor of Forest
Glen, his son, j. Ashford Proctor, sixteen
year old Maryland boy, who is an appren-
, tice on the U. S. S. Chicago, gives his inn
pressions of the harbor of Rio de Janeiro
Brazil he having gone aboard his vessel
on recent visit to Admiral Schley's squad
ron at that port. Following are extracts
from his letter:
Since coming to this harbor last I have
been observing and studying the place to
the best of my ability. 1t is the most pic
turesque harbor 1 have ever seen, and is
the best in South America. If 1 am not
mistaken, for defense it is rated with Clio
raltar.
with the exception Of about two miles
at it's entrance it is entirely surrounded by
lofty mountains. The entrance is guarded
by fort on the north bank. and as the
Sugar Loaf supplies the other bank. a
| man-of-war could not possibly avoid the
range Of these forts. Besides, there is
strong fortress directly inside of the en-
trance. If their batteries We're modern and
| were manned with bluejackets I would con-
slider this harbor well-nigh impregnable.
"Then Brazil has excellent navy,
which is generally stationed here To my
! knowledge she has three battle ships, five
armored cruisers and three torpedo gun
boats. She claims over hundred men-of-
war, but many of them would be hard to
find Three of her best ships are low at
Buenos Ayres with the president OF this
country, who is on visit to the president
of Argentine. The Brazilian battle ship
Egindoban, as large as the U. S. S. New
York sank outside this harbor recently. The
ships which conveyed the president to
Buenos Ayres were the battle ship Asch-
mel, which had on board the president and
staff and senior admiral Of the navy; the
armored cruiser Amoblyer next in line. a
sister ship to the U. s. S. Albany and New
Orleans, carrying the admiral next in COM
| nd nd 1oe nr,1 rny,f1v
| torpedo guuboat, which is very beautiful
and speedy. She left two sister ships be-
| hind as beautiful as herself.
Cleanliness Noticeable.
''There is one thing very remarkable
about the Brazilian navy, and that is its
| cleanliness. It is something surprising how
clean they are. Our men-of-war are con-
sidered clean, but they are not to be COM
pared with the Brazilian ships. I have
/ rowed around all the ships in this harbor,
the Portuguese, English, Italian and our
| own, and I was proud of our ships. But
| when 1 struck the Brazilians I had nothing
more to say.
''There are three very prominent noun
| tains about the harbor 'Yuavador,' 'Devirs
| Needle and the Hand of Cod the last
| being over 1000 feet in height. I know
| little about the city itself. 1t is very un-
| healthy at all times, but Is particularly
| dreaded in the spring of the year, for then
| the surrounding mountains begin to sweat
| and all Of that odorous vapor gradually
| sinks down into the city, bringing that
| most dreaded and disgusting sickness and
death, 'bubonic plague. The city has an
| excellent water front, and is so finely Hum
mated at night that it looks like New
York when coming down the East river.
"Just off from the landing is delightful
| little Isle, which is really a small-sized
| mountain. 1t is now entirely devoted to
naval apprentices"
Writing further from Monte video. Uru
quay. November 13, 1900, the young man
! says:
1--WE were not allowed to land in Rio.
| therefore I can only write of the harbor
and its immediate surroundings. The har-
| Dor Is nearly oval and is about one hun
| dred miles in circumference. Its depth is
| about fifteen fathoms, or eighty feet. II
| lies north and south, and has an entrance
about mile wide. on the left of which is
| the conical mount Sugar Loaf whose
| summit has been reached by only few
! venturesome people. 1t is fertile at Its
| base but is not cultivated. 1t is barren
| from one thousand feet above sea level
| Forts In View.
"On it's slope is fort. and to the right of
!! the harbor Is another very powerful fort
| or, 1 might say, two forts, for one is at
| the foot of small mount on prominent
| point, while the other is nearly at its sum-
j NIT and overlooks the lower one entirely
They communicate over an extremely well
paved macadamized road. The harbor has
altogether seven forts, and Is the Gibraltar
Of South America.
s'Rio de Janeiro is on the left of the har-
| Dor. and opposite to 1t is a small city named
! Nictheroy. A splendid arsenal Is on the
| right Of the city, from which leads broad
| level road along the water front for five
miles. Its even and regular illumination