A New South American City
$40,000,000 For Rio
Missionary W. E. Entzminger
The Baptist Argus, 1903

      The city of Rio de Janeiro, considered from a material stand-point, is not the same city it was five years ago; it is pass through such a transformation that it is not an exaggeration to say that old things are passing away and it is destined to become a new South American city. Street-widening, street-renovation, new pavements, new parks, new avenues, etc., is now the order of the day. The Rua do Ouvider is the most famous street in South America, where the acme of all that is best and most beautiful in Brazilian life, is seen everyday. It has just undergone a thorough overhauling, making it clean and lovely. A vehicle is never seen on this street; it is a thoroughfare for human feet, and from 12 noon until 6 p.m. it becomes a solid mass of humanity.

      Three great avenues, boulevards, are to be opened up through the most populous portions of the city, to ventilate and beautify it. Forty millions of dollars have just been borrowed from the Rothchilds, of London, for work on the port, and the job has been let to an English contractor. When finished, the port of Rio will be as good as that of any first class city anywhere. Not less than one hundred millions of dollars will be spent on the transformation that is projected, and when completed, Rio will be one of the healthiest cities in the world, as well as one of the most beautiful. Its exceedingly strategic position gives it the advantage over Buenos Ayres, its present rival. Without doubt, Rio is destined to be the metropolis, and the most populous city of the South American continent.

      Baptists should strengthen themselves in this city. We are making some progress here. We have now three churches in city and suburbs, and within the past six months there have been about 125 baptisms. But we need to make this our vantage-ground, and in my next, I will tell you how.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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[From The Baptist Argus, November 12, 1903, p. 3; via Baylor U. digital documents. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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