Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1908-01-09
BRAZIL PLANS WEI.
 COME For; FLEET

dare and me SunDoaiS ldlilo4o' III |" dentes. the battleship fleet Of Admiral Evans is expected to arrive in the har7 bor of Rio Janeiro tomorrow and will be given q royal welcome by the gov ernment officials and the citizens of the Brazilian capital. Interest in the festivities to be given in honor of the American officers is widespread in the highest social and official circles of Rio, and the people are anxious to return the welcome extended to the Brazilian naval officers at Washington and Norfolk last summer
 President Palma will give notable reception in honor of Admiral Evans the other admirals and the battleshlp commanders. Ambassador Dudley will also be guest of honor at the affair, which will be held in thePresldentlal palacs at Metropolis. The finance minister will give ball in honor or the Americans on Fiscal island. The minister of marine has arranged for two excursions, one to the summit Of Concovado, mountain peak about two miles from Rio, where prominade luncheon will be served while the guests view the magnificent vista pre- sented by the city and harbor sur rounding country. The other trip will be to Tijuca park, where the Naval Club will entertain.
 \ magnificent banquet, at which 500 covers will be laid, will be served in the Monroe pavilion, with Foreign Minister Brancho as host and Presi- dent Ruy Barbosa, of the Brazilian senate, as the principal speaker. An- other banquet will also be given by the government in the grand salon of the marine arsenal at Yaura. Other dinners in honor of Admiral Evans and the other officials of the fleet will be given by the mayor of Rio JanerO, by Dr. Carlos Rodriguez, proprietor Of the Journal of Commerce and by Am bassador Dudley. Admiral Alencar, the minister of marine, has an espe- cially cordial feeling toward America and the American naval officers and for weeks has given almost his entire time to plans and preparations for the arrival of the fleet.
 Half hundred rooms in the most NS been reserved for the use of the Amer ican officers during their stay in Rio, and the best of everything will be theirs for the asking.
 The sailors and men will have a good time as we'll as the officers. They will be granted shore leave about 5000 at time, and several picnics and feeds will be given in their honor. There is admittedly some prejudice against Yankee bluejackets among a certain portion Of the population of Rio, and fears have been entertained that the presence of so many of them on the streets will lead to disorders. These forebodings are secuted by the mayor and police chief, who declare their confidence in the law-abiding spirit of American sailors.
 The arrival of the fleet in Rio will make the completion of the second and longest lap of the voyage around South America. Rio is 3,100 miles from Port of Spain, where the fleet made it's first stop. The American battleships will reman here ten days, during which time they will be coaled for the trip to Puntas Arenas, a dist ance of 2,200 miles, arriving there on January 30. There will be little joy or pollity there, as the port is a desolate settlement beyond the bounds of civilization, harboring little more than thousand souls, situated we'll inside the straits of Magellan, with Patagonia on one side and Terra del Fuego on the other. Puntas Arenas was formerly a Chilean convict sta ton, and the surrounding country is inhabited mainly by Patagonian Indi- ans.
 Beautiful Rio will be the last oppor- tunity the tars will have to step on civilized shores until the fleet reaches Callao, Peru, the middle of next month. Advices received here from Lima state that the Peruvians are bent upon outdoing even Brazil's hos pitable welcome. President Pardo will give a banquet to 300 of the American officers, and the minister of marine will give ball in their honor, to which 1900 of the leaders of Peru vian society have already been invited Each officer of the fleet will also be given 6 souvenir in the shape of a magnificent album containing photo graphs Of Peruvian scenery.
 Rio Janeiro, where the officers and men will spend the next ten days, now boasts of being the most beautiful city of the new world, and there are many American and foreign residents here 1,-1,n nJr ho+ ;.,