The farmer and mechanic., 1915-09-14

noted as the center OF BUSINESS and |
fashion Of the Brazilian capital |
About 500 buildings We're demolished |
to make it and the whole was com |
pleted within the space of six months |
That was in 1904, and today the Aven- |
ida Central is one of the most ma g
nifiCent streets of the world. 1t has |
cost Millions but the money has been |
well spent and it Will be long before |
its artistic beauty Will be surpassed. |
It is an extension Of the Avenida Bel |
IA Mar. which runs for four miles |
along the shore, being lined with
statues. fountains and fast-growing
palm trees. The two streets are bril-
lantly Illuminated all night long, the
electric lights being powerful that
their glow can be seen forty-tive
miles out at sea.
The Avenida Central, or as it is
now called the Avenida Rio Branco
compares favorably with the Champs
| Elysees and the boulevards. It IS
| lined with ma gnificent palaces from
| one end to the other, beginning with
the great Palace of Peace. named
after President Monroe. The palaces
| have an even sky line. They are of
| only four or five stories. but their
decoration is splendid and the archi
lecture is of the most modern type.
Beyond the Peace Palace is the Ma
tional Library, a magnificent struc-
stone School Of Fine Arts, and across
the way the Municipal Theatre, made
Of gray marble. We have no amuse
ment building in the United States
to compare with that theatre.
Farther down the street are the
newspaper buildings, including those
of the Journal do Commercio. 0
Paiz and the Journal do Brasil. There
are also the Academy Of Fine Arts,
the Military, Man III and Central C'rb,
the Greater Central Hotel, and many
banks and other buildings devoted to
business.
Some of the details Of this street
are worthy of mention. The central
roadway consists Of blocks Of hard
wood laid in asphalt or cement, and
, , the sidewalks are pavements twenty
= five feet wide and foOred with mo-
J. sale. They are made Of things laid i1
u patterns and smoothly fitted together
= = At home we think we do we'll if We
= have a mosaic vestibu1e. Down here
J in Rio they have three miles of sucl
y mosaic running up and down tn
sides Of this avenue. Each block ha
it's own pattern running from eros
: street to cross treet Here is on
- where the black and white lines Civ
. the impression of being grooved
y looking like a great waving flag from
~ one end Of the block to the other
- From above this flag of white an
~ black stripes seems to be moving u
y, and down like the waves Of the sea
, and the illusion is SO perfect that tn
X, people walking upon it appear to b
=, going over hills and hollows, tn
20 seeming difference in height bein
created by the way the cOlors ar
N laid. I have often sat and watche
&c this effect from my room, on tn
- third story Of the great Hotel Centra
to which stands in the heart Of the ave
~ nue.. Other blocks have different pa1
"a terms of the same colors
ar Another detail Of the Avenida
=. the great street lights which, wit
as their big globes, make night as brigl
to as day, and another is the postoffic
7 boxes. The latter are Of bronze VI
IA held by bronze posts which have arm
reaching out and holding the bo
de The lampposts are of bronze, and G.
no erything seems to have been create
.s without regard to expense
nd The Rua do Ouvidor has also bee
90 made over. This, which in the pa
'e- was the Broadway, the Rialto al
he the Boulevard Of the capital, is no
elk dividing its honors with the Avenit
les Central. 1t still has the best stor
ch and many of the clubs. 1t is one
the chief gOssiping places, the chi
shopping Street( the walk where t
NV beauX and bellies come to see and
nd seen, the spot where the candida
3D. feels the pulse of the people and t
ca Polltlti NOUS MS ually reception
ia. II IS the same as IN the past, but
nd has been remade. The old street h
ten been torn up and a new one with
au- smooth pavement and sidewalks
the tiles, fine enough for the floor of
op- bathroom, have taken its place T
an crown Is tnlckeF IMAM II was VII
ent was mere hfteen years ago; but
on IS OF tne same character, represent
18th Brazil Today the Ouvidor is too n;
any row to contain it all, and it has ov
yal flowed into the Avenitl; Centr
Iins which is thronged with people fr,
ical noon until midnight
I'm. The crowd of these two streets
Yer typical of fashionable Brazil. Il