But Nice

As 1,300 U.S. Rotarians and their families descended on Rio de Janeiro last week for the 39th International Convention, Rio's cariocas braced themselves for the worst. They had seen U.S. conventioneers in the movies--Shriners in outlandish costumes and rowdy, boisterous Legionnaires. Shopkeepers hopefully put "Welcome, Rotary" signs in their windows, fearfully wondered if they should board them up.

But the Rotarians let them down. Staid, stout and respectable, they ignored the hotspots, loosed not a wolf whistle. Festooned with cameras and shopping bags, they took the funicular to Sugar Loaf mountain, gazed at the Christ of Corcovado, swarmed into the curio shops to buy butterfly trays and carved knickknacks.

In the unseasonably humid Brazilian fall, the men sweated damply in woolen suits or sported open-necked shirts and cruise clothes. Their wives, dressed in everything from purple voile to tweeds, seemed positively dowdy to Rio, where the "New Look" has swept skirts down almost to the ankle. In the big Municipal Theater, delegates and wives gathered with some 6,000 other Rotarians from 37 countries, listened to Senior Statesman Oswaldo Aranha address them in Portuguese. "I can just feel what he's saying," gushed a Rotary wife.

After five days, the Rotarians departed, leaving Rio pleased, relieved, and vaguely disappointed. The cariocas had expected antics and amusement, maybe a few Lana Turners and Betty Grables. Instead they had seen middleaged, middle-class North America. Said a Rio hairdresser wistfully: "They were very nice--but so plain."

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