STOPS IN SALVADOR 1903 |
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Transcribed by José Menezes, 3-8-05 "At six in the morning on September 25, 1903, several boats carrying local officials left the port of the city of Salvador-Bahia to meet the packet boat "Atlantique " at the entrance of Todos os Santos bay. Arriving at the ship, some of them went on board and welcomed Alberto Santos Dumont, who was met attired in black cashmere coat and pants, a red necktie with black stripes and yellow shoes Dumont boarded one of the boats which then headed for the wharf of the Bahia Trade Association where the Police Brigade Corp band played while confetti and flowers were showered on the head of the illustrious visitor. Inside the Trade association, a solemn session was held with many speeches and diverse homages paid. Santos Dumont and the governor of the State, General Silvestre Travassos, rode in a covered cart in a procession which proceeded toward the Municipal Court, in the "High City." Many other cars carrying notables and their families joined the procession. The covered cart went up the "Slope of the Mountain" where the house at No. 74 displayed an image of "Balloon No. 9". Upon arrival at the Municipal Court, S. Dumont was given a bouquet of red roses. The city also gave the visitor a silk flag "to wave" from the "Santos Dumont 10" balloon. Santos Dumont signed the visitor's book of the Intendência. From there the retinue continued on to the Palace of the Government of the State. After receiving still more honors, S. Dumont rested for awhile before returning to the Salão Nobre, (Noble Hall), where he was served champagne and canapés in a cocktail reception which preceeded the lunch which was served at 10:30. The Buffet was hosted by the highly regarded "Casa de Madame Olivieri", (House of Madame Olivieri). On a table in the form of an "S", services of silver and Sévres were used, there being a centerpiece of flowers in the form of a balloon. On the menu: cream aux paulardes to la brasiliene, poison, sauce to la française, crevettes to la aérienne, fillet to la great devouverte. Wines: Sauterne, Rheno, Bordeaux. During the occasion, a photograph was taken showing S. Dumont at the table. After lunch, in the official covered cart, the procession passed through the streets toward the central offices of the city. Returning to the wharf, he boarded the ship, at which time some officials accompanied him to his luxurious stateroom which was decorated with a bust of the inventor and a model of the Eiffel Tower, and where a final toast was raised with champagne in homage to the State of the Bahia and to the illustrious visitor." Se você poderia ler na lengua portuguêsa, você pode apreciar o artigo original estalando sobre: |
Father of Alberto Santos Dumont via email from José Menezes, 3-9-05 |
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Dear Mr. Menezes, Your inquiry to Cel Alfredo Dapena has been forwarded to me for a response. I am happy to be able to provide the following information to you. Enrique Dumont lived with his family in the region of Rio das Flores, (River of the Flowers), Rio de Janeiro, between the years of 1873 and 1879, having found it shortly after the birth of Santos Dumont. The property is named the Fazenda do Casal, (the Farm of the Couple), still in existence, in the current Distrito do Abarracamento, (District of the Completion), of Rio das Flores, (River of the Flowers), (RIO DE JANEIRO). It is located some 23 km from the center of the city, on the main road, which is in good condition, with a worsening of the last 10 kilometers. The farm belonged to the father-in-law of Enrique Dumont, who was there to manage it. He didn't become rich there, but acquired all the experience that later enabled him to become "O Rei do Café", ("the King of Coffee"), in Ribeirão Preto and to finance all the dreams of Alberto in Paris. He combined the money he had been able to save with the inheritance from his father-in-law and bought the farm of Ribeirão Preto. On the Fazenda do Casal, the house no longer exists. It was demolished and another constructed in its place. However, the waterwheel built by Enrique Dumont, and the beautiful waterfall where Santos Dumont bathed as a boy, still are to be seen. The current proprietor is not very willing to allow visits, but I am sending to you, as an attachment, a photo of the waterfall and the waterwheel. I am the secretary of ARTHUR - Associação Rioflorense de Turismo, (Rioflorense Tourist Association), and, if you desire, I can send information to you on the farms of the existing Cycle of the Coffee, several of which accomodate tourists. I will also send some information regarding lodging in the Fazenda União, (Farm Union), that is right on the Estrada do Abarracamento, (Road of the Completion). Abraços - Júlio Cezar Mello Favour Se você poderia ler na lengua portuguêsa, você pode apreciar o artigo original estalando sobre: |
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via email from José Menezes, 3-9-05 However, the controversy on this point tends to heat up toward the end of the year, when the controversial Bahian anthropologist Luiz Mott, of the Grupo Gay de Bahia, (Gay Group of the Bahia), will be releasing his book whose title is already defined: "Was Santos Dumont a Homosexual?" The controversy on the Wright Brothers can be resolved if we accept the fact that Wilbur and Orville failed to qualify due to the fact that their aeroplane lacked sufficient power to be launched on its own and had to rely on a catapult to leave the ground. It is a matter of record that Santos Dumont, in 1903, was able to take off in his 14 Bis under its own power. However, the question regarding the sexual preferences of Santos Dumont is more complicated and, in fact, defies the imagination. "Due to the severe repression of homosexuals at the time, Santos Dumont was not a practitioner of the homosexuality. But he was a latent homosexual or homosexual egodistônico, that is one who recognizes that he is homosexual, but believes it is wrong." says Luiz Mott. Another conclusion of the Bahian is that Dumont was androgynous, his purpose to avoid the ladies of French society. "He did not like to associate with women, by which he exhibits a certain misogyny", he says. "Mott does not have any bibliographical reference or other evidence which authenticates this conclusion", challenges Enrique Lins de Barros, a researcher at the Museum of Astronomy. In his opinion, Mott simply repeated the same litany again without presentation of new data, and worse, for it has become a trend by some to associate sensitivity for state of the world and the universe with femininity and as evidence of homosexuality. During his 59 years of life, Dumont was at various times associated with women who, according to some biographies, saw him as the ideal masculine - at the same time being tender, courageous and cordial. Of note was the case of the Cuban Aída D'Acosta, who viewed the Brazilian inventor with his balloons as magical. In a dialoque with him, regarding a flight to Paris, she explained: "Sir, you did not understand, I want to fly alone ", explained Aída, "I want to be the first woman to pilot an aeroplane." There are two anecdotes which illuminate the thinking of Santos Dumont. One of them is that in response to the trick of a woman friend of Tissandier, also an aeronaut, the Brazilian, irritated and in a unusually rough tone for him said:"I wish that they thought that I was a widower and that they would stop inventing stories and making nonsensical requests of me." Another anecdote comes from a postcard on which appear photos of the balloon No. 6, of the 14 Bis and the Demoiselle, his last aeroplane, along with the message written by Santos Dumont: "My Family and I." Se você poderia ler na lengua portuguêsa, você pode apreciar o artigo original estalando sobre: |
via email from José Menezes, 3-9-05 |
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If you want to see an English version of the website, you can copy the address, paste it into the BabelFish program on the AltaVista site, and make the translation. I think you will find that the resulting text in English is very helpful. |
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If you want to see an English version, you can click on the link below: |
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If you want to read it in English, click on: |
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Reportagens, (Reports) Bibliografia / Livros, (Bibliography/Books) Museus, (Museums) If you need the articles in English, you can go to the website by clicking on the link, copy the address, paste it into BabelFish, and access a machine-translated version. |
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