The farmer and mechanic., 1915-09-14

The fare to the top is sc cents, and
the return costs the same. You buy
tickets at both ends of the route.
The car starts on the level and,
rising, yOu feel as though you were
in an aerOplane. y on are soon high
above the harbor a little later the
car tits You are beginning to climb
and you go on the slant 90 the top.
AS you rise the houses dWindle. BY
and by you reach the first station |
which is a mountain twO-thirds as
high as the Sugarloaf. The great ca
bic carries you from there on to the |
top of the Sugarloaf The space be
tween is covered with green and you |
have magnificent views. At the right
is the ocean going on and on to Eu-
rope and Africa, and on the left is Rio,
with its wonderful harbOr and it's wall
Of green mountains behind.
The city has no skySCraperS. It's
| streets are more even than ours. They
are lined with three, four and five
story buildings, and the whole effect
is most pleasing.
Toward the latter part Of the trip
YOU seem to be climbing Sugarloaf
mountain. 1t is absolutely bare rock.
The water has slid down it for ages
and it's sides are worn smooth. You
can see the mica shining like silver
, out Of the granite.
/ find Rio new city. l visited it
sixteen years ago 1t was then
| Whited sepulchre, beautiful but deadly.
and noted as one of the pest holes of
the world. Yellow fever was COM
mon, and some of the foreign resi-
dents carried bottles of castor Oil as
our fashsionable ladies carry smelling
salts. At the slightest headache or
fit of indigestion. down went the oil,
with a view to preparing the system
, to resist yellow jack if perchance he
might be coming. The town was the
: terror of tourists, and during my stay
7 [ fled to Petropolis, high up in the
mountains behind, and came to the
city in the daytime only.
Then Rio was dirty. It's public
7 buildings were sha bby. 1t looked as
2 though it had been born in the middle
= ages, and gone to seed. Today Rio
/ is one of the healthest cities of the
e tropics, and it's death rate compares
= favorably with those of most Of the
i great cities of the world. 1t is kept
as clean as a pin, and it's sanitary
e regulations are unsurpassed
L The whole city has been practically
Z remodeled and a great part of it tori
e down and rebuilt. When I was here
before, it had about 100000 pOpula
d ton. 1t has now more than a millior
n and it stands next to Buenos Aire
r among the capitals of the South Amer
|
a city It has electric lines that will
it compare favorably with any on tn
S hemisphere, and thousa nds of moto
a cars fly through Its principal streets
'che electric lighting Of the Avenida
Q Rio BrancO and Beira Mar is equal t
e that Of any city of Europe, and
n know Of no place that has streets an
G, drives which are equally beautiful.
rs The Avenida Beira Mar is a wild
le boulevard following the shore of tn
IS, farbor for nearly four miles. 1t ha
d, only one interruption, and this
ly caused by the Widows mount, benin
G. which it turns inland for some 80
ne wards. The avenue joins other ave
IS nues following the harbor, and tn
Of whole affords a double motor trac
Is. which carries one for many mile
ul along the edge of the bay, from whic
1t is separated by the sea wall.
ay Rio is a big city. There are on
es four municipalities in North ar
'n South America that surpass it in POI
re ulation. These are New York, Chic
re so, Buenos Aires and Philadelphi
Iul The city covers twice as much grOuI
eft as Paris 1t is nine miles wide and t,
no miles long, and it is a mass of bea
DIS, tiful vegetation except where Il
ne houses and streets have been cho
da ped out of the jungle. The mou
ne talns at the back have magnifice
ny trees loaded with orchids and
Se: their lower slopes are gardens wi
OF all the flowers of tho tron;cc No.
of the streets are lined with roy
palm trees and every park COntai
ere plants that we see only in botanic
top gardens.
up Rio is the home of the royal pal
ave It's fern-like ton is To he soon ali ox
eW the CITY. The trunk Of this troo ;S
and round and as straight and smooth
mo the most beautiful column ever chi
DRY ped out by a sculptor. 1t rises in
on symmetrical shaft of silver gray tC
on height of from 100 to $50 feet, q
les, there ends in a CanOpv of fern1i
the leaves Some of the villas of Rio h.
OIL rows of these palms on the sides
lies the walk that lead into them; a
po- many of the avenues are lined W
II palm trees. The palm avenue of
the botanical gardens Is famous oil y.