SANTOS AND SÃO PAULO
The State of São Paulo, called the most progressive, if not the most
important in Brazil, has for its chief seaport the city of Santos,
to which the majority of tourists will have come by express steamer
from Montevideo. Every ship calls at Santos, even coming up to the
docks, so that all must see this city. The only question is whether
or not to go up to São Paulo, distant two hours by rail. This
_should_ be no question. Every one must go if only for the ride and
a glimpse of this prosperous and busy capital, returning the same
afternoon. Fare one way 12$900. Should the steamer’s schedule not
permit of this excursion, one should still go, and either wait over
until the next steamer, a ticket on the Lamport and Holt serving
also on the Royal Mail, or proceed from São Paulo by rail to Rio,
fare 54$500. Or if preferred, one may continue in the same steamer
to Rio, thence return later by rail to São Paulo, and embark at
Santos on his homeward journey, an arrangement which affords certain
advantages. In this way one has the great pleasure of twice entering
the magnificent harbor of Rio, which it were a pity to miss
altogether. On the other hand, journeying by rail from São Paulo one
may, if on the right train, enjoy a wonderful view of the city and
harbor while descending from the plateau above down to sea level.
But as somewhat similar views may be had from Corcovado, Tijuca, and
the road to Petropolis, this is less important and desirable than
the view of Rio from the sea, peculiarly entrancing at early dawn.
To stay over from one weekly steamer to the next is not too much if
one cares to visit a coffee plantation and see a little of the
country; a day or two is better than nothing.
The name of São Paulo, the greatest coffee-producing region of the
world, is less familiar to people generally than that of its
seaport, Santos, as the name Santos is attached to a very small
portion of the coffee thence dispatched to all quarters of the
globe. As almost every one occasionally or regularly drinks coffee,
under the name of Java, Mocha, or another, _which has been grown in
São Paulo_, there is an especial interest in learning something of
the country. São Paulo is an active flourishing State, not at all in
accordance with the general idea of Brazil, chiefly associated with
the hot Amazon basin; it is an upland temperate region of 75,000
square miles, a trifle larger than the whole of New England with New
Jersey added.
Brazil, like most other tropical lands, is fortunate in having a
fair portion of her surface considerably elevated above the sea, and
thus with an agreeable climate of quite temperate character. The
Coast Range, which includes the Serra do Mar extending from Espirito
Santo to Santa Catharina is indeed a godsend to the country,
endowing it, through regions of great extent, with wonderful scenic
beauty, besides modifying the climate; while in São Paulo and Minas
Geraes, a parallel range with two peaks, Itapeva and Marins, 7000
and 8000 feet, confers additional advantage. Between these two
ranges, as also west of the second, the land is high, the lowland
being confined to a narrow strip along the coast. Unlimited water
power, one estimate is 2,000,000 horsepower, now unexploited, is a
valuable asset of the State; for the various tributaries of the
Paraná have a number of large cataracts both useful and beautiful,
the Itapura Fall 1500 feet wide and 40 high, the Avanhandava 50 feet
high, and others. In spite of this the rivers in considerable
stretches are navigable. Besides the cultivation of coffee for which
the State is pre-eminent, sugar, cotton, rice, and tobacco, fruit
and cereals are, or soon will be, important productions.
[Illustration:
PORT OF SANTOS
]
=Santos.= The port of Santos (Hotels, Grande, Washington,
Internacional), called one of the best and most important of the
world, receives annually more than 1500 steamers besides sailing
vessels. The largest ocean liners anchor alongside the quay, which
extends from the São Paulo Railway Station two miles down along the
front of the town. The fine docks were built by a local company,
which in 1892 began the construction, on a base from 10 to 20 feet
thick, of a huge sea wall of granite rising 5 feet above high water
mark. Hydraulic and other machinery is provided to receive and
discharge freight, and commerce has grown rapidly until, in 1911, it
amounted to $160,000,000 exports and $65,000,000 imports.
Santos is an ancient town founded in 1544 or earlier by Braz Cubas.
A hospital established by this gentleman, the first charitable
institution in Brazil, was called Todos os Santos, from which the
name Santos was gradually used to designate the town. After his
death at an advanced age, Braz Cubas was buried in the chapel of the
hospital. Its early origin might seem to indicate that the place was
particularly unhealthy, and it has in fact had a bad reputation as a
seat of yellow fever; but for some years now it has been as
healthful as need be. The State and City authorities, awaking to the
importance of such matters, accomplished the sanitation of the port
by means of a perfect system of drainage and a good water supply.
Though the fact is not apparent, Santos, a city of 70,000 people, is
situated, 3 miles from the ocean, on an island, the northeast shore
of São Vicente; but so close is the island to the mainland that in
the dry season when the river has no water it becomes a peninsula.
On the opposite side of the river-like channel by which ships enter
the harbor, is a larger island, Santo Amaro. It is all very pretty,
as luxuriantly clad hills slope almost to the water’s edge. At the
southwest end of the island, São Vicente, is the old town of that
name, an hour by rail from Santos. Toward the south end are two
popular summer resorts where some of the Santos people, especially
the foreigners, live all the year around, while from the interior
many come down for the summer. At the entrance of the channel called
Guarujá, the fortress of Barra Grande on the east guards the harbor,
while opposite is the suburb of Barra with charming country homes.
Half way up the channel the docks give evidence of commercial
activity. Opposite the city of Santos on the island Santo Amaro,
beyond the hills is the seashore resort _Guarujá_, called the most
picturesque in South America, on a rounded knoll overlooking the
ocean, among higher hills clothed with virgin forest. This
fashionable resort which is reached by means, first, of a short sail
across the channel, then of a half hour’s railway ride, not so grand
or expensive as Mar del Plata, has natural advantages far greater.
Near the white sandy shore are pretty streets lined with chalets and
Queen Anne cottages, a casino, a large hotel with gardens, and
luxuriant natural vegetation; accommodations may be procured here at
reasonable prices, except during the season, when people from all
over Brazil make the place full to overflowing.
At Santos every one goes ashore if only for the few hours that all
ships tarry. The business streets are close by and the pretty
central plaza but a short distance. This old part of the city
between the docks and the 15th of November street preserves the
narrow old-fashioned _alleys_, we should call them, of the colonial
period, by no means unpleasant on a hot day. Although warm, it is
usual to see persons hurrying about, for business is done between
ten and four, a shorter day than in most Brazilian cities; here
imperative, as many business men daily come in the morning from São
Paulo, returning by the afternoon train. A Brazilian writer whose
translator’s English is frequently amusing says, “People do not run,
they fly. The sweat dampens the collars, the converses are resumed
to the exchange of monosyllables, as it is necessary that everything
be finished before the last train starts.” Away from the business
section are broader streets and fine houses, with a hotel called
excellent. Two long wide avenues, Nebia and Anna Costa, crossed by
streets which are gradually being built up, extend towards the sea.
Street cars run in this and other directions, and if time permits it
is a pleasant ride to a pretty seashore suburb with rolling surf and
attractive dwellings at the end of the route.
But now we must climb the Cubatão Hill, we might even say mountain,
to the capital city, by the _São Paulo Railway_. An elevation of
3000 feet is gained in a very short distance, as the Serra do Mar is
indeed close to the shore. The height seems too steep to climb with
any ordinary means, and in fact it is. Extraordinary means are
employed, inclined planes on a much larger scale than we have seen
before, of novel construction and carrying regular railway coaches.
It is a strange and wonderful ride through tropical forests, along
the side of steep inclines of great picturesque beauty. Often when
the region is shrouded in mist a rift therein, disclosing a
tremendous chasm below, has a rather startling effect.
This railway is ranked by experienced British engineers among the
great mechanical achievements of the world, such as the Brooklyn and
Forth bridges. Due to the initiative of Visconde de Mauá, it makes
an ascent of 2600 feet in the short distance of seven miles.
Beginning only 15 feet above the sea five inclined planes with a
grade of eight per cent, each about a mile and a quarter long, serve
for the rapid climb. Four intermediate levels of about 600 feet each
separate the planes; a bankhead at the top is a little longer. Above
each plane is a stationary engine to run the cables, and to grip
these a small special engine is attached to each car. The winding
engines for the cables are built under the track, partly
underground, receiving light from the side. One is surprised to see
two double roads, but the first proving insufficient for the freight
traffic, soon after 1895 a new incline was begun, just above on the
same slope, with improved technical arrangements. The tracks are
very curious. On the inclines each double-track has but three rails
for both up and down, these being 1.6 meters distant one from
another, the middle rail serving for both the ascending and the
descending cars, which obviously do not meet on the inclines, but
may on the intermediate levels. On each side, in the center of the
space between the middle and the outside rails, the pulleys are
fixed which carry the cable. This is an endless steel wire of
enormous strength, run by a 1000 horsepower engine, and capable of
carrying 6 freight or 3 passenger cars at a time. The entire
capacity of the cables is 17,500 tons daily, or under pressure
22,000 tons. These remarkable engineering works as greatly deserve
the attention of the tourist as the scenery. In this short section
there are 16 viaducts, 15 tunnels, and two miles of retaining wall,
with a volume of masonry exceeding 80,000 cubic meters. For one
cutting over 150 feet deep, 300,000 cubic meters of earth was
removed. The Grota Funda viaduct is 334 feet long and nearly 150
feet high in the center. Two viaducts have masonry arches, the rest
steel. A difficult problem was the drainage, and many surface drains
of the extensive system may be observed in passing. The road, though
but 100 miles long, extending from Santos to Judiahy and passing São
Paulo half way is one of the richest in the world. In spite of the
enormous expense involved in its unusual construction, from the fact
that it carries the most freight and charges the highest prices, it
yields the largest dividends of any road in Brazil, sometimes fifty
per cent. Its heaviest earnings come from the transport of coffee,
as in the section served by this line there are perhaps 15,000
plantations with 500 million coffee trees. From these the road
carries 7 of the 10 million bags annually exported, besides ordinary
freight transportation. The passenger traffic hardly pays, or
greatly increases in volume, as the two hours’ ride from São Paulo
to Santos is more than most men care to take daily.
SÃO PAULO
HOTELS. The Sportsman, the Grand, the Majestic, the Albion.
After climbing the mountain side, an hour more over a rolling
country brings one to the station called Luz, in the city of _São
Paulo_, said to be the largest and most costly railway station in
South America, and one of the finest in the world. The tracks are
arranged below the street level, hence there are no grade crossings.
This city, the second in Brazil, and with its about 400,000
inhabitants taking third position among the cities of South America,
will be a surprise to most travelers. Located on the Tropic of
Capricorn, its elevation gives it a healthful climate which in
combination with other advantages has produced men awake to the
spirit of progress and eager to develop the astonishing resources of
this richly endowed State. The city is not only the capital and the
seat of State Government, but a notable center of education and
industry, and the home of many men of great wealth. It is an ancient
city, going back to the middle of the sixteenth century, 1554, its
name São Paulo, which had been previously applied to a Jesuit
college here, being transferred to the new settlement by the
Governor-General of Brazil, Mem de Sá. Though of greater age than
any city in our own country, for three centuries it made small
progress. In 1872 it was a town of 26,557 people. But within the
last forty years it has shown amazing growth, which few of our
cities can parallel, an increase of nearly fifteen fold. Although on
the edge of the tropics, from its elevation of 3000 feet, it has a
climate like that of Southern Europe. From the neighboring mountains
it receives an excellent water supply, while its site on rolling
ground affords excellent drainage facilities and in places a
splendid outlook.
[Illustration:
LUZ STATION, SÃO PAULO
]
[Illustration:
MUNICIPAL THEATRE
]
The hotel accommodations are unfortunately inadequate for the rapid
development and business of the city. They are fairly comfortable,
though apt to be over-crowded. It is well if possible to engage a
room in advance. The _Sportsman’s Hotel_ on the rua São Bento is by
some called the best; the _Grand_, the _Albion_, and the _Majestic_
are not far distant. The prices are all about the same, from $3.50
to $5.00 a day, American plan. A new hotel is now being constructed,
large and modern. The main streets of the business center, naturally
the old part of the town, are rather narrow and not all checkerboard
fashion as in most of the cities visited. This, no doubt, is due to
the fact that the surface is irregular, with hills and valleys such
that in one place a viaduct 800 feet long and 50 wide, called the
_Viaducto Chá_, forms a curious street leading from the rua Direita
over an old part of the town, once a tea garden, to a hill in the
newer section, where the handsome _Municipal Theater_ is situated.
This imposing edifice, with streets on all sides, recently erected
at a cost of a million dollars, compares with the best in Europe and
surpasses any in the United States. The seating capacity is a trifle
less than that of the Paris Opera House. The seats for the orchestra
are, according to the Wagner system, placed below the general floor
level.
The commercial center of the city, not far from the hotels
mentioned, is a triangular plaza called Tiradentes. The rua São
Bento, the Quinze de Novembro, and the Direita are the principal
shopping and business streets. The _Largo de Palacio_ is a square
near by, on which is the fine _Palace of Congress_; the handsome
_Agricultural Building_ of the German style; the _Treasury_,
covering 700 square meters, the work of a Brazilian architect, Ramos
Azavedo; and the _Judiciary Building_ of the Roman Doric order.
Other noteworthy buildings are the _Post Office_, the _Exchange_,
the _Chamber of Commerce_, and the _Public Library_. Some of the
finest streets are the Avenidas Tiradentes, and the Rangel Bestana
passing the Largo de Concordia with the always interesting Market
Place, the ruas da Liberdade, Santo Amaro, da Consolação. The last
three lead to the splendid Avenue Paulista, with shaded parkway
along the center, the finest boulevard of the capital, on which are
many of the handsomest residences. Of course the city has electric
lights and cars, and many miles of fine asphalt pavements, though in
the outskirts, on account of the city’s rapid growth, there may be a
few streets yet unpaved, which should be avoided. Automobiles and
fine carriages are numerous, and delightful drives may be taken to
see the fine public buildings and the multitude of charming and
splendid private residences. From a residential point of view few
more attractive places will be found anywhere. The many churches one
writer calls magnificent, another says only the modern ones are of
artistic merit. The _Cathedral_, the churches of _São Pedro_, _S.
Gonçalo_, and _Remedios_ are among the most important.
[Illustration:
YPIRANGA MUSEUM
]
[Illustration:
HOTEL OF IMMIGRANTS, SÃO PAULO
]
Many of the fine buildings of the city are devoted to educational
purposes. The city takes especial pride in its _Polytechnic School_,
said to be the best in Brazil, in view of its fine laboratories, the
practical character of the studies, and its imposing edifice opened
in 1894. Instruction is given in architecture and in civil,
industrial, agricultural, mechanical, and electric engineering. Also
it has a School of Chemistry, with courses in dentistry and
obstetrics. The Government maintains a _Law School_ having a five
years’ course. Its library of 50,000 volumes is free to the public.
About the same size is the general _Public Library_. The fine large
_Normal School_, overlooking the Praça da Republica, occupies a
whole square near the center of the city. With a library of 12,000
volumes, with laboratories, museums, rooms for manual labor,
gymnastics, and military exercises, it is said to be equal in
equipment and installation to any in America. A kindergarten, equal
to the best in any part of the world, occupies an annex. A
_Commercial School_ for training bookkeepers and tradesmen, is
included in the educational system. A spacious building east of the
Jardim Publico is occupied by the _Lyceum of Arts and Trades_, where
various trades are taught, such as tailoring, carpentry, printing,
and many others. This institution, with towards 1000 pupils, is
supported by a private association. Especially noteworthy by
Americans is the famous _Mackenzie College_, opened in 1892 on the
corner of rua de São João and Ypiranga. Schools of lower grades were
established in 1870 by Presbyterians, gradually becoming a complete
graded system from kindergarten to high school. On this model the
government schools were largely planned and on the floor of the
Brazilian Congress the school system was said to have been the
greatest factor in their educational development of the last twenty
years. The college was the first of American fashion in Brazil.
Coeducation is followed, though the girls live elsewhere. The
Chamberlain Dormitory was erected in 1901 for the boys. The
President of the College is Dr. H. M. Lane, and the institution is
affiliated with the University of the State of New York.
One of the most important points of interest in São Paulo, though on
the outskirts of the city, at the same time a monument and an
institution of learning, is the _Ypiranga_, a splendid edifice
erected in 1885 on the spot where, in 1822, the Independence of
Brazil was proclaimed. As it is regarded as one of the finest
structures in Brazil, the name of the artist, Caviliere Tomaso G.
Bezzi, is given. The building, which fronts on a broad open space,
houses a museum with treasures of historical and scientific
interest, many curious and valuable relics, and fine paintings by
Brazilian artists. The beautiful Park, the _Jardim Publico_ or
Jardim da Luz, will naturally be visited by every one. Directly
opposite the Luz Station, created by Royal Charter in 1790, it was
first opened in 1825. Adorned with a profusion of flowers, trees, a
pretty lake, and other decorations, it is a delightful resort for
resident and stranger.
Well worthy of a visit is the _Hotel of Immigrants_, a large
establishment fitted up in the most sanitary and appropriate manner.
Thousands of families from Europe are here welcomed annually, and
entertained free of charge for a short period. A Government agent
speaking their language meets the strangers on their arrival in
Santos, and escorts them to this Hotel. Later they receive free
transportation to wherever in the State they desire to go, and their
interests are looked after by a board. This State is the only one
with its own especial department of immigration and active
propaganda.
High-grade institutions of a sanitary character are numerous in the
city, as a Bacteriological, a Sero-therapic, a Pasteur, and various
other Institutes. Fine large hospitals for general and special
diseases, and for colonists of various nationalities, will be
observed in an extended drive.
=Coffee.= If time permits, the tourist will surely enjoy a visit to
a great coffee plantation. There are none in the immediate vicinity
of São Paulo, but it is a pleasant journey of 80 miles to the city
of Campinas, in the vicinity of which are _fazendas_ galore. This is
one of the oldest and most flourishing towns of the State, with a
population of about 50,000, modern and prosperous, well paved and
lighted, with good schools and a fine large Cathedral.
The State of São Paulo now furnishes one-fourth of the world’s
coffee supply and this section is one of the largest producing
districts in Brazil. Near Campinas, the great _fazenda_ of Baron
Geraldo de Rezende will charm the favored visitor. A magnificent
house and gardens, with a splendid collection of rare orchids and
800 varieties of roses, are a not unnatural possession of the owner
of half a million coffee trees. A much vaster estate but too remote
for many travelers to inspect is that of the coffee king of the
world, Col. Francisco Schmidt. Coming as a colonist to this state he
has achieved a success of which one might well be proud. Of the
700,000,000 trees in the State, Col. Schmidt owns more than one per
cent, 7½ million. On the various plantations live 8000 people,
contented and prosperous; a school is provided for each village. The
soil and climate of São Paulo are so well adapted to this industry
that the crop is several times as heavy to the acre as in most other
coffee growing countries. A family of three or four persons can take
care of 10,000 trees and by cultivating other agricultural products
at the same time could live on the proceeds.
[Illustration:
COFFEE FAZENDA
]
[Illustration:
COFFEE TREE
]
In 1817 the first shipment of coffee was made from Brazil, about
6000 bags; in 1906, 13 million bags were exported, 10 million being
the average. The consumption of coffee in recent years has
wonderfully increased. Though generally considered less injurious
than tea, both should be utterly tabooed to children and young
people. To persons of mature years who have not taken it earlier to
their injury, its moderate use may not be harmful, in some cases may
even be beneficial. In humid climates it seems to be used freely
with less ill effects than in a dry and bracing air, where habitual
stimulant of any sort may be undesirable.
Although famed for its coffee, São Paulo can produce almost anything
else: rice, sugar, cotton, tobacco, tea, cocoa, wheat, corn, sweet
potatoes, other vegetables, and fodder plants are among its
products. Of these, the _marmallade de cavallo_, is called the most
nutritious of fodder plants known.
From São Paulo to Rio the journey may be made by land or sea. If
going by rail, one may be advised to take the night train, on the
ground that there is nothing to see, that it will be dusty, and that
the ride of 12 hours is a long and fatiguing day’s journey; the
distance is about 310 miles. Also a day is thus gained to spend
either at São Paulo or Rio. On the other hand, some persons who have
made the trip by daylight speak of it with enthusiasm. In the early
morning one passes on gentle slopes fields of glossy green coffee
trees, groves of oranges, jungles of palms and bananas, with
enormous clumps of feathery bamboo, and little towns on the
hillsides. At the stations are women selling fruit, and negro boys
with trays of tiny cups of black coffee, hot and sweetened. After a
while an alluring stream is passed, with pleasant towns. Midday is
hot and dusty. Farther on are reddish grassy slopes and in climbing
the wooded ridge many cattle may be visible. Higher ascends the
train, the valleys are blue below: delightful scenes are on every
hand, mountains abrupt and fantastic appear. Yet ever there is soft
rich verdure; at last comes swift descent towards a panorama of
wonderful loveliness. At dusk the train rolls into Rio, where, says
the _Involuntary Chaperone_, “All the dreams come true.”
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