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.
COFFEE FAZENDA