The Coolidge examiner., 1932-11-18

~ 10 DE JANElRO, which re
X Gently has been disturbed by
political strife involving sew
eral Brazilian states, basks on the
golden sands almost astride the
Tropic of Capricorn.
To enter this great world port
you walk down the gangplank and
straight out into a formal garden
with a big bronze fountain. This
leads off into a Fifth avenuelike
boulevard, which In turn flows into
a wide, world-famous beach drive,
past embassies, clubs, and palms
and geometric gardens. Dingy docks,
pawn shops, pool halls, quick-and-
dirty cafes, cheap rooming houses.
runners, dirt, smells-all the trash
and claptrap Of many other water
fronts are missing here.
Out in the bay, the startling pro-
files of singular peaks rise in their
bulk like elephants sitting in gro
tesque pose. They include the much
photographed Sugar Loaf, the oddly
shaped Corcovado, or Hunchback.
Rising fully 1900 feet and almost
straight out of the sea, Sugar Loaf
is easily Rios outstanding land
mark. Incoming air pilots, If half
lost in fog or rain, hail its familiar
outlines with grunts of relief. In
queer aerial trolley-a dizzy trip
which is a supreme triumph for the
neryOus-you can reach its top in
two laps. The first stage carries
you to the top OF Urea; there, If
still conscious, you ride on up to the
crest of Sugar Loaf for a balloon
like view Of the bay and city.
Look at this spectacular city from
Sugar Loaf. Hunchback. or any high
angle, and you see how smoothly in
mass, form, and color it harmonizes
with the shape and shades of its ter
restrial environment.
You observe that II is cohesive,
one work Of art; yet 1t is not a
solid city, with a checkerDoard pat
tern of blocks and squares squeezed
into rigid "city limits" like Leipzig
or indianapolis.
Something easy, loose, and fluent
I'm it's multicolored distribution
makes you feel that Rio is simply
flowing down the mountains about
IT in graceful architectural streams,
then coming to rest in quiet valleys
and on sandy beaches.
Seen From the Air.
Fly over it and its marvels only
multiply; 1t has so many parts, sec
tions, and suburbs; and In its pat
tern, from the sky, 1t looks like a
great paint-spotted easel of blue wa
ter, yellow sand, green trees, red
roofs, pink and blue walls. Think
of all these colored parts turning
round and round like the odd
formed bits of colored glass in an
old-fashioned kaleidoscope. Then
you can imagine exactly how Rio
looks from an airplane that banks
and turns, a mile above it, on a
bright. clear day.
Back TO earth, on the famous
Avenida Rio Branco, the Inter den
Linden or Fifth avenue of Rio de
Janeiro, you meet the city at its
best; also, familiar big-town signs.
sounds, and smells make you feel
normal here and much at home.
New York papers. any popular
North American magazine, chewing
gum from Chicago, your own IA
vorite brand of safety razor, Gig
arettes, fountain pen, writing or
talking machine. sport roadster. ice
box. or outboard motor baat-all are
here, with their familiar show-win-
dow placards that greet you on Main
street anywhere from Syracuse TO
Seattle. Likewise, radio sets. Groom
ing TO crowds the latest Broadway
'hits"; displays of North American
cameras; enlarged snaps of local
bathing beauties having Brazilian
'it"; groups of soccer players; the
dark horse that paid 20 to | at last
Sundays races and his popular
jockey. pictured peeping through
big horseshoe of flowers.
And Rio, window-shopping here.
looks in on Paris perfumes, soaps,
chapeaux. gowns and lingerie: Ger
man etchings, water colors, oils. and
shelves of drugs and surgical in
struments and hardware; English
rackets. balls. cricket sets. saddles,
socks. hats, and pipes; and, most
significant of all, the steady march of
BraziPs own manufacturing, re-
vealed in huge stocks of textiles.
leather, shirts. clothing. dishes. dry
goods, toys. shoes. and packaged
food-all made in BRAZIL ="
This wide. resplendent avenue,
one and an eighth miles long, lined