n^'\*.'r '■'■'■ ^^AavHaniw- !l ^WE^I ^ — - JjOV A\^EUI -< 2 •^^AavaaiH^ ^, liJAiriHJlAV > =: < — n t_^ o LL- S' c 's- -7/ Or ^> O <^ JiAiNll JIA> •^c/Aavaaiiiv* WFIINIVFP.V/A \Hmmyo^^ ^im\ ,-n s-o" ^i'iijDNVsov^'^^ vy^aaMNn ]Wv jONvsm^^ l( 1 \yy/. i;alifo% .\\\ IFOr-, «!« i riVD-JO^"" ^i]33NVSOr^'^ -n <—) i-]y\v^ -^AhVlib! % .^^ J'% f 'BRARY6>/r ^^^UIP" I illVOJO't^ '%^OJI1V3JO'^ .rVU.|l>!!\,'r.Df /^ I nc Ai:rci v r ■'IIBBARYOf^ 'J i.T jur i\) \ ■ UV.;j I 1 T J 3V1 :aiifo% ^^opcalifo% Jrr /I'on.ixXv ^&Aav}iaii# NIVERS/A v^lOSANCElfX/ AV^EUNIVERJ/A rn >■ .vvlOSANCElfx> ^^ILIBRARYQr ^^t LIBRARYQ/r . \\\E UNIVERSy^ ^ a > < q3 g Journeys and Experiences in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile Including a side trip to the source of the Paraguay River in the State of Matto Grosso, Brazil, and a journey across the Andes to the Rio Tambo in Peru By Henry Stephen: Harvard, A. B., Vienna, Fh.D FIRST EDITION Ube Iknicl^erbockcr ipress New York 1920 Copyright BY HENRY STEPHENS 1920 tr i TO MR. H. L. MENCKEN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND WHO IS CONSIDERED TO BE AMERICA'S FOREMOST CRITIC OF LITERATURE I GLADLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK OF TRAVELS 4 ^0*1>*^*-N< CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE Montevideo . . . . . . . . i Experience in landing. Population of the city. Conservative- ness of the inhabitants. Gambling establishment at Playa Ramirez. Train ride to Colonia. CHAPTER H Buenos Aires . . . . . . .21 Population of the city. Streets and architecture. High cost of living. Hotels. Beverages. Street beggars and vagabonds. Mariano Moreno College. Habit of not bathing. Jews. La Plata. chapter hi San Luis ....... .62 Appearance of the city. Capitol. Plazas. Hotels. Neigh- boring country. Character of the natives. Train ride to Mendoza. CHAPTER IV Mendoza ..... . . .78 Viticulture. Fruitgrowing. Wheat. Population and appear- ance of the city. Earthquake of i86r. Cerrito de la Gloria. Hotels. Aconcagua. Cacheuta. Across the Andes. Ar- rival in town of Los Andes. CHAPTER V Salta and Tucuman ...... lOI Train ride to Salta. Lerma Valley. Province of Salta. Chu- chu fever. Population of the city of Salta. 20th of February Clul). Churches and San Francisco Monastery. vi Contents Population ol the city of Tucuman. Caj)ilol. Governor Padilla. Heat of the city. Hotel Savoy. Kirwin the photographer. \'illa Nougues. CHAPTER VI Cordoba . . ..... 130 Province ot Cordoba. Description of the city oi Cordoba. Great number of consumptives. Breweries. Streets, reli- gious edifices, and hotels. Sierra de Cordoba. Cosquin. Locust pest. Rosario; its hotels. Pergamino. Mercedes. CHAPTER VH Asuncion " . . . . . . . 155 Train ride from Buenos Aires. Population of Paraguayan dis- tricts and towns. Don Eduardo Schaerer. Currency. Colon- nades. Pavement of Asuncion's streets. Oratory of Lo- pez. Climate, rains, and reptiles. Madame Lynch. Hotels. Alangrullo Cemetery. Market-place. Cigars. Low cost of living. Asuncene womanhood. Unmorality. Ypacara-i. CHAPTER VIII To 1 HI-: Source of the Par.u;uay Rivi:r it)5 River scenery. \'illa Concepcion. vSan Salvador. State of Matto Grosso. Corumba. Lawlessness. By water to Cuyaba. City of Cuyaba. Hubcr. Detour to source of river. Bog and pool. Huber becomes ill; his death. Dia- mantino. Return to Buenos Aires bv river. Yerba mate. CHAPTER IX Santl\(;o ........ 226 Republic of Chile. Central \'alle\'. Longitudinal railways. Paucity of factories. Breweries. The Chileno. Illegiti- macy. Fiesta of the Angelito. Reception in Santiago. Compactness of the city; its streets. Installation of the ])resident. Military parade. American aml^assador. Ho- tels. High death rate. General Cemetery. Apoquindo. Contents vii CHAPTER X Baths of Cauquexes. Chiloe Island. Lake Xahuel HuAPi ........ 263 Rancagua. Baths of Cauquenes. Hostelry. Horseback ride to Los Lirios. Linares. Panimavida. Araucania and its native inhabitants. Temuco. Valdivia. Osorno. Fire at Osorno. Ancud. Castro. Lake Llanquihue. El Tronador Puella. Puerto Blest. Lake Xahuel Huapi. San Carlos de Bariloche. CHAPTER XI Chillax. Ascent of the Volcano Chilean . . 312 Description of the city. Hotel de France. Earthcjuake. Chilian Viejo. Birthplace of O 'Hig.s:ins. Journey to Las Termas de Chilian. Establishment of Las Termas. Gam- bling. Episode of the administrator's brother. Snowfields and glaciers. Eruption of volcano. Don Vicente Mendez U. Curicrj. CHAPTER XH Northward to Antofagasta by Rail. Copiapo. Antofagasta, and Iquique .... 347 Creenberg's adventure. San Felipe. Jahuel. Palm groves. Choapa Valley. lUapel. La Serena. Vallenar. Oasis of Copiapo. Retrogressant provincial capital. Professor Platner. Desert. Prosperit}^ of Antofagasta. Strict pro- hibition laws. Bubonic plague. Pestilential Tocopilla. Description of Iquique. CHAPTER Xni Arica to Ilo Overland, via Tacna, Tarata, and Mo- quegua. Mollendo ..... 387 Dr. Petit. Morro of Arica. Dispute between Chile and Peru over Tacna and Arica. Architect Pitaud. Description of Tacna. Peculiar architecture. Hotel Raiteri. Don San- tiago Carmona. Caplina Valley. Ascending the Andes, Tarata. Parish priest. Tales of buried treasure. Hacienda Carmona. Ticalco and Sama Valleys. Stupidity of Peruvian viii Contents jefe politico. llabaya. Dishonest cholo and Prat's spree. Don Jose Vergara. Moqucgua. Ilo. Stinking Mollendo. Arrival at Callao. CHAPTER XIV Lima • • 434 Architecture of Callao. Mixed population of Lima and its seaport. Origin of Lima. Rimac River. Interesting city. Its population. Confusion of street names. Concepcion Market. Religious edifices and procession of El Milagro. Hotels and cafes. Difficulty in getting money changed. Crookedness of postoffice officials. General Cemetery. Viceroys of Peru. CHAPTER XV Across the Cordillera to the Rio Tambo . . 470 Departure from Oroya. Across the Cumbre. Tarma. Valley of the Rio Palca. Huacapistana. Tropical vegetation. Swinging bridges. San Ramon. La Merced and the Chan- chamayo River. Chuncho, Campas, and Cashibo Indians. Perene Colony. Down the Ucayali. Iquitos. Head hunt- ing Indians. CHAPTER XVI Business Prospects in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile ........ 496 Knowledge of Spanish and of the Latin character a necessity. Companies should be fully capitalized. Wheat belt of Ar- gentina. Argentina poor in fuel and in minerals. Zona del Riego. Flour mills and beef canning factories. Stock raising and great ranches. Tannic acid factories. Grafting politicians. Breweries and sugar mills. Yerba mate industry in Para- guay. Bright outlook for Chile. Topography of the coun- try. Nitrate, minerals, and viticulture. Breweries. Enamel works. Railroads of Chile. Great need of good hotels. ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Henry Stephens, Ph.D. Locust Pest in Argentina Snow in the Tropics Reflection of Aconcagua in the Clouds above Val- paraiso ..... Frontispieces Colonia, Uruguay ...... 19 Congress Building, Buenos Aires ... 23 Buenos Aires Types ...... 25 AvENiDA DE Mayo, Buenos Aires .... 27 Mr. Oliver H. Lane ...... 29 Calle Bartolome Mitre. Buenos Aires . . 31 Fireman and Policeman, Buenos Aires . . 33 Zoological Garden, Buenos Aires . 35 Scene on the River at Tigre . . -53 Station of the Southern Railway, La Plata . 55 Old Railway Station, La Plata .... 56 Bank of the Argentine Nation, La Plata . . 57 Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires, La Plata 58 Allegorical Statue of La Plata • • • 59 X Illustrations PAGE Unfinished Catuidrai.. La Plata . . . . 6o Plaza San Martin. Ml:rc1':dI':s . . .63 Stri;i;i in San Luis ...... 65 B.\NK OF ihl: Ar(;|';ntin1'; Nation, San Luis . . 66 Capitol, San Luis ....... 68 ]\L\iRi/ Cm Rcii, San Luis ..... 70 Estancia near San Luis ..... 73 Statue of San ]\L\rtin, Mendoz.v ... 84 Avi'NiDA San ^Lkrtin, AIendoza .... 85 Monument to the Army of the Andes, Mendoza 89 Waiting for thiv Train at Cacheuta ... 94 On the Terr.ue at Cacheuta .... 95 Thermal Establisham^nt at Cac hicuta ... 97 One of the Dinersions at Cachi':uta that is neither Bathin<; nor Gamblinc. ..... 98 Stl:i's at Cachelita Leadin(. ikom rni-: Rau.roai) Station to the Hotel 99 Guemes . . . . . . .107 Cathicdral .\M) hisiioi-'s Pal.\(T-:, S.vlia . loc) ToMK in CiiMLyncRv, S.vlt.\ . .113 CallI'; Mitre, Salta . . , 1 if) Capitol, Tuuuman . . . . .121 Calli-; L.m'rida, Tr( u\l\n ..... 12^ RicsiDiCNCE oi- Dr. Juan C. Noiuiues, San Pahh) . 127 counirn iiousic at villa nouc.ues i28 N()riiii:rn AL\rkii. C(')ri)()I!.\ .... 133 Illustrations xi PAGE Cathedral of Cordoba . . . 137 Residence of Martin Ferreyra. Cordoba . 138 Church of Santa Teresa, Cordoba . . 139 Zoological Garden, Cordoba .... 141 Corner of Plaza San Martin, Cordoba . 142 BRiDiiE ON Road to Dique San Roque . . 144 Courthouse, Rosario . . . . .' . 147 Street vScene, Rosario ...... 148 Plaza 25 de Mayo, Rosario . . . .149 Street Scene, Rosario . . . . 150 Calle San Nicolas, Pergamino . . . 151 Plaza 2^ de May'o, Pergamino . . . 152 Street in Mercedes . . . . 153 Scene from Railroad Station at Villa Rica 162 Casa de Gobierno, or Capitol, Asuncion . 167 DRA\viN(i Showing Construction of Colonnades on A Par.\guayan Building . . . . .170 Cabildo, or City Hall, Asuncion . 171 Plazoleta del Puerto, Asuncion . . . .172 Calle Palm as, Asuncion . . . . 173 Calle 15 de Agosto, Asuncion . . . 174 Street Scene, Outskirts of Asuncion . . 175 Mangrullo Cemetery, Asuncion . . . .184 Street Scene, Cuyaba ...... 205 Street Scene, Outskirts of Cuyaba . . . 206 xii Illustrations PAGE Source oi' riii': P.\KA(;rAv Ri\ek .... 213 HorsE IX Di.\M.\N riNo wiiicke Huhi^r Died . 220 DiAc.RAM Showing Idea of Central Valley of Chile IN Rel.\tionship to the Andes Mountains and THE Coast Range, \\TTH Course OF Stri:ams . 227 Sceni-:rv, Central Valli>:v of Chili: . . 229 Village Scene. Centr.vl Chile .... 230 Thi-; V.\li)I\'i.\ BrI';\\ i<:rii:s C()Ml•\\^, \'\i,i)i\ia . 233 Santa Lucia Hill, SAxriAcio ..... 239 CiENERAL View of Santiago fro.m S.\ni.\ I>i ( l\ Hill 241 Alameda, Santiago ...... 242 CaLLE HuERFANOS, SANTLUiO ..... 243 Modern Residence on the Ala.\ii:i)A, Santiago . 244 Calle Ejercito Liberador. Santiago . . . 245 Fountain in Santi.vgo ...... 247 President Don Juan Luis S.vnmi-;nti:s oi" Chili-: w ith Cabinet ........ 248 Monument of Don Pedro Montt, Ce.\ii:nti:kio |i:n- eral, Santia(;o .... -'49 View Lookin(. West on Comrania Street irom EsTADo Ai Tin: Pla/a I)i: Armas. Santiago . 251 Catiii:dral Street, Santiacio .... 252 ALxpocHo River near Sanitacjo .... 256 Strei:t in Nunoa, CiiilI' ..... 261 Plaza ( )'IIi(i(;iNs, Ranca(;ua ..... 264 Calli-: Hresil, Ranca(;ua ..... 265 Illustrations xiii I'AGE Stki<:i:i' in Raxcacjua ...... 266 GoRGi': OF THE Cachafoal xv Banos di<: Cauquenks 268 Maix Street of Linares ..... 277 Panimavida ....... 278 BrID(;E over the ]\lALLIi( O KlVliR Al' C^-OLLII'ULLI 283 Street ix Temuco ....... 287 Plaza de la Repuhlic.x, \'.vi.i)i\ i.v 289 Calle-Calle River at A\\li)i\ia, Showixo P^lour Mills ........ 291 Street ix Valdivia .... 292 RiNiHUE Landscape, Southerx C^hili'; 293 OsoRXO ......... 295 Scenery ox the RAii.RtJAD Hi'rrwiiEN OsoRxt) ,vxd Puerto Montt ...... 297 Indiax Belles, Chiloe Island, Chili': 301 LakI': Todos Santos from P|':troiiui': 304 Puella ...... 306 El Troxador, Chile ...... 308 Sax Carlos de Bariloche . 311 Plaza O'Hkioixs, Chillax ..... 314 Calle Roble, Chillax, Lookixc, East from Calle Arauco . 315 Street ix Chillax ....... 316 Market Place, Chillax ..... 317 Scene at the Station at Pinto ... 322 Post Station at La Dehesa ..... 323 XIV Illustrations H.\F^vi:sTiN(} Scene at La Dehesa . Mountain in the Renec.ado Canyon, Chile Corral of Las Trancas Forest in thi-: Provinci-: of Nuble, Chile Scicnf: on the Road to Termas de Chilean Termas de Chilean .... Casuchas at Termas de Chilean . Mr. Henry Stephens .... Mr. Hugo Gumprecht .... View towards the Argentine Frontier from the Slopes of Volcano Chilean .... Glacier Covered with Fresh Snow on thI': Volcano Rim of the Crater of Volcano Chill.vn During Eruption ....... Snow Fields of Volcano Chill.Vn From thi-: Slopes of Volcano Chilean . Sa\i:dra, Gumprecht, and Prat on Lava Fields of Volcano Chilean ...... Mountain Scenery and Waterfall at I>as Trancas Church in San Felipe .... City Hall, San Felipe .... Street in San Felipe .... Stri-:i>:t in AlmI';ndra/. .... Jauuel ....... OcoA ....... 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 333 333 334 335 337 337 339 339 343 348 349 352 333 356 359 Illustrations xv PAGE Street in Vallenak ...... 362 Alameda in Copiapo ...... 363 Monument Erected in Honor of Atacama's Illus- trious Dead, Copiapo ..... 364 Main Street of Copiapo ..... 365 Main Street of Copiapo ..... 366 Outskirts of Copiapo ...... 367 Hovels on the Outskirts of Copiapo . . . 368 Cemetery, Copiapo ...... 369 Plaza Colon, Antofagasta ..... 374 Provincial Capitol Building, Antofagasta . . 375 Street in Antofagasta ...... 377 Street in Tocopilla ...... 380 Cemeteries at Tocopilla ..... 382 Street in Iquique ...... 384 Street in Iquique ...... 385 Cemetery, Iquique ...... 386 Custom House, Arica . . . . . . ■ 388 Street in Arica . . ' . . . . . 389 Capitol Building at Tacna ..... 392 Street in Tacna Showing; Earthquake Proof Houses 393 Calle Bolivar, Tacna ...... 394 Fountain in Tacna ...... 395 Unfinished Cathedral in T.\cna .... 396 Style of Tacna Architecture .... 397 XVI Illustrations Old Ri:sidknck, Tacna Strkict in Tacna . Callk MiLLiiR. Tacna Alameda, Tacna Street in Tarata . Street in Ilabaya. Peru Alameda, Moquegua Street in Moquegua Street in Moquegua Callao ?Iarbor Puente Vieja, Lima, as Seen from RiMAC .... THE Bed of the Calle Huallaga, Lima . Plaza Lfalia, Lima. Vendors of Bri:ad Plazuela de la Inquiskton, Linen Boulevard in Lima ...... FAgADi-: OF San Augustin Church. Iam.\ Procession of the Milagro. Lima .... Cercado Church, Lima ...... Tomb of the GoyenechI': P'^amilv, in thic Gi'Nerai. Cemetery, Lima ...... Mr. Kuri \V.\LDi';M.\K Linn oh .Xi'.w ^'oRK Mr. Linn oi' Ni':\v York Risin(. our oh hie Tomb Erecti:d in Honor ok vwi: Peruvlvn Heroes of nil': Pacific War, iSjq-iSSj .... Corpse Bearer, General Cicmeti.rv, Linl\ 398 399 400 401 406 423 426 428 429 435 43^"^ 440 441 44^ 444 447 449 460 461 462 463 464 Illustrations XVll PAGE Putting a Coffin into a Niche, General Cemetery, Lima ........ 465 Llamas at Casapalca .... Tarma, Peru ...... Cemetery, Tarma ..... Argentine Plazas. Plate No. I Argentine Plazas. Plate No. II . Chilean Plazas. Plate No. Ill . Map Showing Route Taken by Author. 474 477 479 521 523 525 At End Journeys and Experiences in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile CHAPTER I MONTEVIDEO In my former book, South American Travels, I made a statement relative to the pronunciation of the word "Montevideo" as follows: "Many foreigners make the mistake of pronouncing the name of the city with the accent on its penultima 'e'. Each syllable should be pro- nounced alike, with no distinction made as onto which syllable the accent falls." I have since found out that I was wrong, and am convinced so by my losing a ten-dollar bet with a gentleman relative to the pronunciation of the Uruguayan metropolis. Montevideo has its accent on the penultima. The word is derived from the Latin " Alon- tem video'' the final m in montem having been dropped to facilitate pronunciation. Its site was first discovered by Magellan in 1520, and as the 493 feet high dun -colored cerro, which dominates the western side of the harbor on whose shores the city is now built, appeared on the occidental horizon, somebody at the bow of the ship yelled out, "Montem video" ("I see a mountain"), which words gave the city its present name. It can be safely assumed that the man at the bow who uttered the Latin exclama- 2 Journeys and Experiences tion was a priest or a friar because who amongst a crew of sailors and adventurers would have a knowledge of Latin unless it was a man who had taken Holy Orders"" The Spaniards and Portuguese in those days never embarked on any expedition without taking some of these gentry along. Montevideo is sometimes called "Queen of La Plata" on account of its cleanliness, haughty reserve, and aristo- cratic appearance; more often has it been styled "Modern Troy" due to decades of internecine strife, anarchy, revolutions, and a Ten Years' War. Now that there has been quietude for several years, with prospects of con- tinued peace, it is unfair to its inhabitants to liken it to the prehistoric city at the southeastern end of the Hellespont. Several times during the years 1915 and 1916, I visited Montevideo, having made occasional trips from Buenos Aires, but an episode connected with my last advent on Uruguayan shores will take an indefinitely long time to erase it from my memory. It was like this: On February 17, 19 16, I had embarked on the Lamport & Holt steamship Vestris at La Plata for Montevideo to bid farewell to friends returning to the United States. The steamer was scheduled to sail from Montevideo at 2 p.m. the next day. When that time came I was in the dining room, and was so engrossed in a conversation that appealed to me that I never heard the ringing of bells and the blowing of whistles that denote that an ocean leviathan is about to get under way. Suddenly an acquaintance, Mr. Lynn B. Packer of Norwich, N. Y., ran into the dining room calling out: "The ship is in motion, Stephens, we are in for it!" We both ran up the stairs and onto the deck. True enough, the Vestris was sailing but at a snail's pace, and In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 3 the anchor was being pulled up. The lighter containing the visitors had left and was now but a black speck behind the breakwater. Not even a fishing boat was in sight. We ran to the port side, and saw a few hundred feet away a rowboat in which were two men pulling away. We yelled to them and waved our handkerchiefs ; they stopped. We took off our coats and waved them also; they swung their rowboat around and rowed back towards us. A steward and a couple of sailors got a rope-ladder which they hung over the railing of the deck, and down this Packer and myself clambered, and jumped into the row- boat which had now reached the sides of the Vestris. The two men of the rowboat now pulled out to let the ocean liner pass by, so as not to get caught in the vortex of water caused by the propellers. The sea was rough ; a leaden sky cast a gloomy canopy over the leaden w^ater; to the left rose the dun-colored cerro crowned by its prison and lighthouse. In the back- ground nearly two miles away, seemed to rise in tiers, the somber buildings of drab Montevideo, the twin towers of the cathedral, the Gothic steeple of a church, and a large rectangular pile at the water's edge, which was formerly the university, being silhouetted against the sky line. Black hulls of ships, merchantmen, and freighters flying the flags of most civilized nations, besides the interned German ships of the Kosmos Line, dotted the harbor and the open sea outside of the breakwater, but we were at least half a mile from the nearest one of them. We now began to size up the two boatmen. They were a villainous looking pair. The one who acted as the boss was an undersized man about thirty-five years old. He wore a black moustache, and about two weeks stubble of beard. His hair was unkempt, and white mucus had collected at the comers of his mouth and eyes. He stunk 4 Journeys and Experiences of garlic, and his clothes were dirty and greasy. His companion was a tall and slender man, a few years his junior. His appearance was likewise unkempt, although his long face, covered with pimples, was clean shaven, except for an occasional straggling whisker on his chin which his razor had overlooked. The boss boatman, knowing me to be a North American, attempted to converse with me in English, but his knowl- edge of that tongue was so execrable that he soon had to desist; he knew but a few words of Spanish. By mix- ing lingoes we made ourselves understood and he informed me that he was a resident of Rio de Janeiro, of which city he was a native, and that he was at present employed as a doctor on a Brazilian passenger ship in Montevideo, and that his regular trips were from Manaos on the Amazon to Montevideo, touching at all the seaports; his comrade, he informed me, was a Paulista and was the Marconi oper- ator on the same ship. Both had been making a visit to the different ships now anchored in Montevideo harbor, having had chats with the doctors and Marconi-men of said ships, and were returning to their own vessel when hailed by us. This yarn I refused to believe, for no man that I had ever seen had a more unmedical appearance than the boss boatman ; moreover instead of attempting to row us to the docks, both men were rowing towards the Brazilian vessel, which wc were approaching, and which belied its title of a passenger ship, having more the appearance of a freighter. The sea, as I said, was rough, and I yelled to the boatmen to swing around as I had no desire to be carried into the South Atlantic in an open boat; my mis- givings were not so much on account of the elements, as for the thought that I became obsessed with, namely that these two vagabonds were trying to shanghai us, endeavor- In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 5 ing to get us aboard the Brazilian ship. Alontevideo, Valparaiso, and Callao are noted as tough ports, where shanghaiing is rife, and many of these stories were brought to my mind. To Packer, who lay reposing in the stern, I told my doubts. He replied that he had been thinking the same thing for some time. I told him the best thing for us to do would be to ask for the oars so that we could row back to shore ourselves; in case the boatmen refused, to rush them, and lay them out. He said he was game for a fight but refused to row, giving some excuse which I interpreted in meaning that he was too lazy. I had nothing but a pocket knife with me, and in case of a fight, meant to plant the blade in some vulnerable spot in the anatom}' of the boss boatman, whom I took to be the boss villain. We had gradually been drifting out in the open sea, and the waves were becoming rougher. These were also unpleasant thoughts, especially since during the last few minutes the Brazilians had developed a streak of laziness. Packer gave me a wink which was the cue, and I asked for the oars. Great was my astonishment and also relief of mind, when instead of refusing my request which would have brought on a sanguinary fight with possible loss of life to one or more of us, the boss boatman handed me the oars. The Paulista, ready for a siesta, even though the sea was rough, dropped his oars beside his comrade, and turned over on his side for a snooze. All alone, with no help, I had to row the three occupants back, as each refused to labor any more. It took me two hours, hard pulling, before we again reached the dock at Montevideo. Believing that the "doctor" stunt was a lie, and that both were sailors from the Brazilian vessel, I offered the boat- men a piece of change for their aid in bringing us to terra firma, for unless they had taken us in their rowboat we 6 Journeys and Experiences would by this time be well under way for Santos. The boss boatman was indignant and informed me that I was insulting him. I then handed out some silver to the "Marconi" operator; he was on the point of accepting it, but withdrew his hand at a growl of disapproval from the "doctor. " "You had better have some refreshment,'" I said to them, leading the way to a nearby bar. They followed me and seating themselves at the same table with us, ordered some raspberry soda. This was astonishment No. 2, for I could hardly conceive such villainous-looking rascals imbibing anything milder than one hundred proof whiskey. "See this ring," quoth the Fluminense, turning a finger to me so that I could see within the gold setting, a black stone in which was chiselled the image of a serpent : " It denotes the cult of ^sculapius. Most Brazilian doctors wear them. I have been on the same ship for three years. Here is my card." The man pulled a book out of his pocket similar to a lodge pass-book at home, and true enough I saw that he was telling the truth, and that he really was a bona fide physician. We must have sat at the table for about fifteen minutes, when the Marconi operator got into a row with the waiter, whom he claimed overcharged him the day before on a dish of ice cream. The waiter called the proprietor and a big rumpus occurred. It wound up by the Paulista pull- ing a fist full of nickle-in-the-slot machine slugs out of his pocket and hurling them with great force into the face of the outraged proprietor. Before he could recover his astonishment, both Brazilians "beat it" in the direction of the docks. Packer and I, anticipating trouble, also "beat it, " but up the hill. No man likes to chase another up hill. In case any reader of this article should go to In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 7 Montevideo, and would like to know where this particular cafe is, I wish to inform him that it is situated at the southwest corner of the streets, Rampla and Alzaibar. That same night as I was standing on the Plaza Matriz in front of the Hotel Lanata, I was accosted by a very clean-looking gentleman, immaculately dressed in black, wearing spats, and carrying a small cane. I thought it was a case of mistaken identity and was about to pass on, when to my amazement I recognized the doctor. The trans- formation was complete. He could now pass for a boule- vardier while before he had the air of a cutthroat. He informed me that he had rowed back to his ship, changed his attire, and had returned to shore by a motor boat. The city of Montevideo has about four hundred thou- sand inhabitants exclusive of suburbs, and stretches over quite an area of land, due to the broad streets and lowness of its houses. It is built around the harbor and also along the Atlantic Ocean which is separated from the harbor by a hill in the shape of a whaleback. At the western end of the harbor is the cerro which marks the mouth of the La Plata and which is the only hill worthy of the name until that of Lambare is reached one thousand miles up the river, the landmark for Asuncion. The whaleback is the business part of the city, although the shopping district has now a tendency to spread more eastward. The gradient to the top of the whaleback on which lies the Calle Sarandi, one of the principal streets of the city, is gentle, but yet I have several acquaintances who refused to w^alk it, preferring to go from the docks to the Plaza Matriz in a taxicab. One of these men is Mr. Oliver H. Lane, formerly of Washington before that city w^as made "dry," but who, because that calamity befell the National Capital, moved to Boston. One day in December, 1915, he, Packer, and I started from the docks uptown on foot. 8 Journeys and Experiences After wc had gone two blocks. Lane planted his back against the wall of a building and said : "What do you take me for? Do you think 1 want to walk to Paraguay?" As there were no taxicabs around, Packer and I were obliged to walk about three-quarters of a mile to the Plaza Matriz to get one to return for Lane, whom we found in the same identical spot with his back still against the wall. Montevideo ranks according to the tonnage of vessels entering and clearing its harbor as the ninth port in the world, surpassing all South American cities in this respect. Until about fifty years ago, it was the metropolis of the La Plata watershed. About that time Buenos Aires passed it, and to-day the population of the Argentine metropolis is four times larger. Montevideo has a fine harbor; Buenos Aires has none. The Uruguayan back country is richer than the country behind Buenos Aires. Montevideo has a wonderful climate, cool, invigorating, with a fresh breeze always blowing; Buenos Aires has a humid, enervating, somewhat depressing climate. With these natural superiorities, one would think Montevideo would outrank Buenos Aires but not so. Buenos Aires has always had a spirit of progression, which has become contagious and has spread to Rosario, and to Bahia Blanca; Montevideo has always been conservative, entirely wrapped in herself, indifferent to other cities. Uruguay, which is the smallest republic in South America, has an area of only 72,210 square miles, not as large as the province of Buenos Aires alone. Of its population of 1,042,668 inhabitants, one half live within a radius of twenty miles from the center of the city of Montevideo. The difference between Buenos Aires and Montevideo is so great that it is difficult to realize that they are separated only by a night's run of 190 knots. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 9 The topography of the city is a succession of low hills which flank the harbor. They continue to the cerro, seven miles around the semi-circular harbor, and on their sides and summits are built a succession of villages not included in the incorporation limits of Montevideo. On the cerro rise the whitewashed houses of the town of Villa del Cerro, while at its bottom slopes near the La Plata mouth there is a large eucalyptus grove of dark green color, a landmark for many miles at sea. There was but little building done in Montevideo between the years 1912 and 1916; in fact I could see no change, although I have no doubt but that the population is increasing on a normal scale. The monotony of the appearance of the residential streets is impressing. Each street has the same cobblestone pavement; on each street there are sycamore trees between the pavement and the sidewalk; the houses are mostly the same, one and two stories high, built of the same material and offering absolutely no contrast in architecture, in size, or color to the thousands like them in the Uruguayan metropolis. This same condition must have existed since the Colonial times, because one writer, whose book written about 1830 I recently read, said in his description of Montevideo that on account of the great similarity of the houses and absence of street numbers, drunken men frequently mistook houses of other people for their own and entered them at different times of the day and night causing much embarrassment and confusion. The residences of the wealthier inhabitants do not have this monotonous uniformity. They are villas, set back from the street in large gardens and lawns, enclosed by low brick walls. In architecture they are light and resemble the houses of the aristocracy of Rio de Janeiro. Compared with the palatial homes of the Buenos Aires 10 Journeys and Experiences millionaires they are inexpensive. The Avenida Agraci- ada is the main residential street, but the Avenida Brazil in the suburb of Pocitos has many fine homes, some of which are the summer abodes of Argentinos who like to spend the hottest months of the summer by the seashore. The very finest mansion in the city is on the Plaza Zabala, the loafers' park, in the business section on the whaleback, and not far from the docks. It is owned by an Italian who wished to have his residence near to his place of business. The main shopping streets are vSarandi and Rincon. These are parallel and are but one block apart. The Avenida i8 de Julio, like the Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires, is the parade street. It is a beautiful broad avenue about a mile and a half long, and runs eastward from the Plaza Independencia. Seven blocks up it is interrupted in its course by the Plaza Libertad, formerly named Sagancha. It is one of the finest streets in South America. Many of the streets have old Indian names peculiar to the country such as Timbo, Yaro, Tacuarembo, Yaguaron, Yi, Cuareim, Ibicui, Ituzaingo, Guarani, etc. It is pleas- ant to see this change in street names after a sojourn in Argentina where in each city the nomenclatures of the streets never vary, with the omnipresent San Martin, Tucuman, Cordoba, Corrientes, LaRioja,and many others. Montevideo and its suburbs on the ocean are the great bathing resorts of South America and are visited annually by more people than Mar del Plata, the latter place being exclusively for tlie rich. On account of its proximity to Buenos Aires, it is resorted to daily by great numbers of tourists, who make the night trip across the La Plata River. Pocitos is the most popular bathing resort. The poor natives do their swimming from the rocks on the ocean front near the heart of the city. They are invari- In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile n ably garbed a la Adam, and are visible by all the occupants of the electric tramcars that pass along that shore. The most aristocratic beach in Montevideo is the Playa Ra- mirez but people do not flock to that section as much for bathing as they do for gambling. Everything goes in Montevideo. The exclusive and expensive Parque Hotel at the Playa Ramirez, the show place of costly raiment, and of sparkling gems which embellish the figures of their wearers, has in connection the finest gambling house in America, roulette and baccarat being the attractions. The Parque Hotel, which was formerly under the manage- ment of a naturalized United States citizen, Edward Aveglio, is now under the same management as the Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, and is considered to be one of the best seashore hotels in South America. It is patronized largely by Argentine aristocracy. The gambling establishment, probably after those of Monte Carlo and San Sebastian the most luxurious edifice of its kind in existence, opens at 5 p.m. and closes at 7.30 P.M. It reopens at 9 p.m. and closes at 2 a.m. A fee of one peso ($1.04) is charged to enter. One peso is the lowest permissible play on any single number at roulette and one hundred pesos is the highest. Unlike the Argentine roulette wheels which have a o and a 00, this one has but a single zero which gives the player (or rather the victim) one nineteenth of a better show to win, if successful. The same class of crowd that graces most European casinos is seen here at its zenith. There is present the nervous individual, who wants the public to think he has a system. To make them believe it, he pretends to study a chart and makes pencil notations. When he loses, he mutters an unintelligible exclamation. There also grace the scene fat dowagers with paste diamond necklaces. 12 Journeys and Experiences Some women who have wasted their allowance on bridge and poker, and are now in the clutches of the money- lender, come here to attempt to retrieve their fortune on one final coup, in most cases their swan song. Bankers, diplomats, millionaires, and cabinet officers from Buenos Aires, a president of one of the Latin republics are to be seen. Young fops are in evidence, not to play, but to ogle the raft of glorious girls always to be found in propinquity to tables of chance. The casino does a great bar business in champagne cocktails to the tune of forty-one cents a glass. This champagne cocktail, regardless of its high price, seems to be one of the favorite strong drinks there. The soft drink that tickles the palate of the Montevideanos is a nauseat- ing concoction named palta. It is made of orange juice, pineapple juice, sugar, and the yolk of an egg; to it is added siphon water. It is then stirred, and served in a large goblet. I tried some of it as an experiment and am sorry that I did not stick to beer, for the egg that the mixologist used in my palta was rotten. In R. Bibondo's Brazilian coffee house on Suipacha Street in Buenos Aires, I once received a piece of cake in whose making a rotten egg was likewise used. Although the Grand Hotel Lanata cannot be called first-class in any respect, excepting the restaurant which is the best in the city, it is far better for the unaccompanied male visitor to stop there than at the Parque, on account of its central location. It takes twenty minutes by electric car to reach the Parque from the Plaza Independ- encia. It costs Si. 20 to reach it by taxicab. The Grand Hotel Lanata of Ximincs and Santamarina is in the central part of the city on the Plaza Constitucion (formerly called the Plaza Matriz) and is convenient for shoppers and sight- seers. The Oriental near the docks is a good hotel, but In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 13 the glass-roofed parlor and lobby is malodorous from poor ventilation. Other good hotels are the Colon, Barcelona, and Florida Palace. Regarding the last-mentioned place, I must state that its proprietor is a Brazilian who does not draw the color line as to his clientele. Worthy of interest are the cathedral, the Solis theatre, the central market, the colonnaded buildings on the Plaza Independencia. the new university, the central cemietery, and the Uruguaya brewery. The cathedral is a twin-towered and domed majestic structure on the Plaza Constitucion with an elaboratel}^ decorated chapel. Four golden suns (the sun is the em- blem of Uruguay) are painted on an azure background on the wall beneath the dome. The rays of the natural sun above, penetrating the yellow and blue skylights of the dome, cast weird and ghostly lights in the interior. The Uruguaya brewery is on the Calle Yatai, to the west of the center of the city, but nearly two miles from the downtown business section. It is best reached by electric tramcar. The reason for a visit to it is the large beer hall like the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, and whose replica is to be found nowhere else in the Western Hemi- sphere. There are large bare tables, with chairs and benches. The visitor sits at one of these. He need not give an order for no sooner is he seated than a full schuper of foaming elixir is placed in front of him. When he has had enough, he turns his empty mug bottom up, other- wise it is a sign that his thirst has not been quenched and that he is in line for another one, which is immediately set in front of him. The specialties of Montevideo are the polished agates and stones common to Uruguay. These are found in abundance in the department of Minas, and although expensive are fine souvenirs. No tourist should visit the 14 Journeys and Experiences city without taking some away as the}' make admirable gifts to friends at home. They arc made into paper weights, paper cutters, stamp holders, buttons, etc. The best ones are dark blue; next come the smoky gray. Also beautiful, but cheaper, are the brick red ones, and those that are a combination of black and white. A beautiful pink lily graces the lawnis of the Avenida Agraciada. In shape it is like our common orange red milk lily but unhke the milk lily which grows in racemose clusters on a single stalk this Uruguayan lily has but one blossom. It is hardy and should thrive in the United States. A gastronomic delicacy of Montevideo is the lobster which is caught on the Uruguayan littoral, and which is seldom to be procured in Buenos Aires restaurants. Montevideo vies with Rio de Janeiro as being one of the cleanest cities in the Western Hemisphere; like Rio de Janeiro, its taxicabs and public automobiles for hire are the best in the Western Hemisphere. The Montevideano drivers are reckless, and one day w^hile out driving in the suburbs in a hired motor car, the chauffeur tried to drive his machine through a narrow place with the result that he drove into a five-mule-power wagon and smashed the left headlight and dented the hood for his pains. Return- ing by the same road shortly afterwards, he met the same wagon, and angered drove into the mules for revenge. This caused much annoyance as the mule driver, not know- ing that the automobile was a public vehicle, believed that it belonged to me and that I had set the chauffeur up to this nefarious trick. The latter, being a cur, stood safely to one side while I and the teamster had the altercation. Although we nearly came to blows on account of the chauffeur's scurvy stunt, the latter never opened his mouth to help mc out of the difficulty. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 15 The Uruguayan metropolis is the congregating place of desperadoes, ruffians, and other gentry of similar character from Argentina, and other nations. They loiter about the entrances of the disreputable saloons and sailors' dives and by their drunken actions and foul speech make it impossible for a respectable woman to pass down any of the streets near the docks without an escort. Argentina, glad to be ridden of this class of social outcast, makes no effort to extradite them unless they have committed some major crime. Here in Montevideo, they "raise hell" and scarcely a day goes by without the newspapers mention- ing some murder, assault, or burglary that has taken place. One of these gentry, a Cockney, evidently mistaking me for one of his kind, approached me one day as I sat in front of a cafe under the colonnades in the Plaza Independencia, and asked me for a job. He said: "I ham not a bit particular what kind of a job it be," and drawing near to my ear, he let his voice drop as he spoke: "I hax no questions. If there be hanybody you'd like to put out of the way, Hi'm the man to do it." Not many people traveling between Montevideo and Buenos Aires ever think of making the trip otherwise than on one of the palatial steamers of the Mihanovich Line which ply between the two ports in a night's run. The luxurious steamers Ciudad de Bueyios Aires and the Ciudad de Montevideo, and the smaller but admirable Londres and Lishoa, are in the height of the season jammed with passengers nearly to overcrowding. Tired of gazing upon the sluggish and muddy La Plata River and eager to see the Uruguayan landscape, I decided to make the trip by rail as far as Colonia and thence make the twenty-five mile crossing to Buenos Aires on one of the smaller boats. Colonia, capital of the department of the same name, is 153 miles distant by rail from Montevideo. Trains run i6 Journeys and Experiences thrice a week only, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, making the return trip the next day, and their running time is seven hours and fifteen minutes, the speed includ- ing stops being slightly over twenty-one miles an hour. I left Alontevideo on the Central Railroad one morning at 6.15 A.M., and thirty-five minutes later entered the department of Canelones at the large village of Las Pie- dras. The landscape during that short distance and even as far as 25 de Agosto, where the department of San Jose is entered was a monotonous succession of low rolling hills, with low, long red brick and whitewashed estancia build- ings set back from the countr}' roads, at the edge of euca- lyptus and pepperberry groves. Herds of fat cattle and sheep browsed in the pastures tended by shepherd boys with long-haired dogs. Between Las Piedras and 25 de Agosto a small city was passed. Its name is Canelones and was formerly called Guadelupe. It is the capital of Canelones and lies to east of the railroad between it and a river named the Canelon Chico. The rivers, Canelon Grande and Canelon Chico give the name to the province. 25 de Agosto is nothing but a railroad junction with some repair shops. The main line of the Central Railroad runs north to the Brazilian frontier at Rivera, and is here joined by the branch that goes westward to Colonia. The department of San Jose which is now entered, presents a different aspect than Canelones for the trees which had hitherto been present in abundance around the estancias, had now disappeared. The country had become more rolling, and to the westward a low range of hills appeared on the horizon. As far as the eye could see, a canopy of yellow dried prairie grasses bedecked the parched and blistered soil, sweltering beneath the scorching rays of the hot February sun. All over this seething landscape, roamed at will, half wild cattle, long and gaunt. It is as In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 17 much as a man's life is worth to venture on foot amidst a herd of these Uruguayan cattle. They seldom attack a horseman, knowing that he has them at an advantage, but the foot traveler should be wary, for the quadrupeds know the tables are turned, and will charge and gore him to death on sight. Birds of the genus Struthio, spoken of as ostriches, but which in reality belong to the branch named cassowaries, as they have three toes instead of two like the ostrich, and no tufted tail feathers like the latter, mingle with these nomadic cattle; so does the timid deer, unafraid and on terms of comradery, for it is only against man that these beasts have animosity. The city of San Jose, one of the largest in Uruguay, whose population I imagine is about .fifteen thousand inhabitants, is reached at 9.11 a.m. It is pleasantly situ- ated on a river of the same name at the base of some high hills, which rise at the west of the city. The town itself is intersected by the railroad which in a Uruguayan city is unusual as most are generally at quite a distance there- from. At Mai Abrigo, which is reached about an hour after leaving San Jose, the railroad branches out again, the other one going to Mercedes, a pleasant city on the Rio Negro, and the capital of the department of Soriano. Continuing on the Colonia line, we enter the department of Colonia and keep on till we reach a small place named Rosario which is the junction for another branch line to a La Plata port named Puerto del Sauce. Colonia is reached at 1.30 P.M. Connection is made with small boats of the Mihanovich Line which sail one hour later, making the crossing to Buenos Aires in three hours to the tune of $2.89. Colonia is a fine little town with about eight thousand inhabitants lying directly across the La Plata River from Buenos Aires from which city I imagine it to be about 1 8 .\rgentina, Paraguay, and Chile twenty-five miles distant. It is cool, with a fresh breeze generally blowing and, owing to this, is much visited by the inhabitants of the Argentine metropolis as a health and summer resort. It has two good hotels, the Esperanza and the Ruso. Besides the boats that ply daily between Buenos x\ires and Colonia, there are excursion steamers Sundays; also those that make nightly trips returning at an early hour of the morning. The reason for this last mentioned service is that in Uruguay gambling is per- mitted, and at San Carlos, near Colonia and reached by a narrow gauge railway, is another casino where the click of the ball as it revolves on the disk of the roulette wheel disturbs the nocturnal air. Aly friend Packer had an obsession for this kind of pastime, and many were the nightly visits he made to San Carlos. On one of these trips, while watching the game in the casino, an Englishman had made a consider- able winning, but owing to his inability to converse in the Spanish language, the croupiers were endeavoring to cheat him out of his winnings. He appealed to Packer, who helped him out and got his money for him. On the trip back to Buenos Aires that same night, he and Packer were seated opposite to one another in the dining-room. Packer tried to enter into conversation with him. The Englishman puckered up his lips and said : " I no speeka Engleesh." He deserved to be thrashed. It is a very common occurrence in most countries of South America, especially in Argentina for Englishmen to try to hide their nationality and pass off as a native. Why they do this odious act, I do not know, but any foreigner no matter how ignorant he is, can always spot an Englishman by his mispronunciation of the language he is trying to hide himself under. A syndicate was formed with SSoo.ooo capital to start o 19 20 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile a bull ring at San Carlos. It would have undoubtedly been a great money-making transaction drawing innu- merable people from Buenos Aires, but the socialistic government of the Banda Oriental, as Uruguay' is fre- quently spoken of, very wisely put a ban on this cruel sport. CHAPTER II BUENOS AIRES Buenos Aires which should have been named Malos Aires, on account of the enervating, depressing humidity of its summer chmate when the thermometer sometimes registers as high as 104° Fahrenheit, and when not a breath of air is stirring, is a city of nearly i ,750,000 inhabi- tants and rivals Philadelphia towards being the third in population in the New World. This capital of Argen- tina, built upon the west bank of the muddy La Plata River in latitude 34° south is the entrepot and distributing point for all merchandise and goods that enters and leaves the vast territory which comprises the La Plata system and in fact of all southern South America east of the Andes. It is a city of marble statues, of elegant public buildings, of sumptuous palaces, of parks and boulevards, and is often spoken of as the "Athens of America." It is also a city of narrow streets, of co7iventillos (poorer class tenements) teeming with Hebraic and Sicilian life, of con- fidence men, lottery ticket vendors, Greek and Syrian peddlers, fugitives from North American justice, bewhisk- ered Irish bums, and Galician Jews reeking of garlic, adorned with corkscrew sideburns. Down its avenues parade the same sort of crowd seen in Naples, also the pompous banker, the bespatted fop with slender cane, the staid business man, the artizan, beggars galore, and a galaxy of prostitutes, both Iberian and criolla. 22 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile The most remarkable thing about Buenos xA.ires is how fast one can get rid of one's money with so Httle received for it in return. Evcr3'thing costs half as much again as what it should, with the possible exception of clothes and shoes. Meals, hotel rooms, beverages, lingerie, photo- graphic material, drugs, theater admissions, and in fact nearly everything under the sun is sky high. The enter- tainments for a stranger to indulge in are but few and mediocre. It is every day the same routine after the first week of novelty of sight-seeing has worn off. Unless in Buenos Aires on business, the stranger absolutely kills time unprofitably by getting into a rut from which he does not extricate himself until it is time for him to sail for home. He finds himself two or three times a day at the same table in front of the same cafe, watching the same people promenade by, the only variation being an occa- sional visit to a burlesque show, the race track, the post office, or to the zoological garden. In a previous book, I stated that the sycamore trees on the Avenida de Mayo were sickly and did not think that they would live. I first saw them in January, 1913. In December, 191 5, when I again beheld them, I was aston- ished at their appearance. They were a third again as large, and they begin to show prospects of becoming ele- gant shade trees. The subway was completed in 1914. It begins at the Plaza de Mayo, on which square the Casa Rosada, or Capitol, faces, and continues underneath the Avenida de Mayo to the mile-distant Congress Building, thence underneath the next parallel street to the north, Rivadavia, the bisecting thoroughfare of the city, to the Once railroad station, the terminus of the Western Rail- way. An extension runs three miles farther to a section of the city named Caballito. Caballito is the name that the Naon estancia went by years ago before the city grew 23 24 Journeys and Experiences up. The part of the city where the estancia once stood still retains the name. Compared to subways in other cities, this one of Buenos Aires is poorly patronized. It resembles the Budapest subway, more than it does the New York or Boston ones, and its cars make but little better speed than do those in the Budapest tube. Cab fare and taxicabs are cheap, which are undoubtedly some of the primal causes of the subway's not excessive patronage. After his first few da3-s in Buenos Aires, when the novelty of a strange city had worn off, a friend and brother Elk, Mr. Oliver H. Lane, remarked to me: "Buenos Aires looks to me just hke a big Italian city. Her Avenida de Mayo, however, is a poor imitation of the Parisian boulevards." In the first respect, I agree with him. The architecture of the buildings, the attire of the male inhabitants, the way the moustaches are trimmed, the cafes, the toscanos, the wax matches, the lottery tickets, the dirty paper money, the confectionery stores, the ice creams, and the beggars all savor of the Lavinian shores. In the second respect I cannot agree with him. The Avenida de Mayo is physi- cally somewhat similar to the Parisian boulevards, but in character it is widely different. If it is supposed to ape them, it is then a poor imitation, but so different is it in most respects, that as a first impression 1 would only call it a physical imitation. The oftener and the longer one sits in front of the cafes and watches the people pass by, the further apart he draws the comparison of this street to any street in the world. I would designate the Avenida de Mayo as original. The buildings that flank it are much taller than those of Paris; the street is also considerably narrower than those in the French capital ; the crowd that parade the sidewalks is also not the same. In Argentina, Paraguay and Chile -^0 Rivadavia is the street which runs at right angles to the La Plata River, and continuing westward into the country, Buenos Aires Types divides the city into two parts, its intersectors having different nomenclatures south of it than they have north. For instance, a cross street has the name Santiago del 26 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile Estero south of it, and Talcahuano north of it: another is named Piedras south of it, and Esmeralda north of it, etc. In the old section of Buenos Aires, where the buildings are almost entirely given up to wholesale and retail trade, the streets are exceedingly narrow. A decade and a half ago, in order to give the people a breathing space, and to relieve the congestion of traffic in this part of the city, houses one half a block south of Rivadavia were torn down, and the Avenida 25 de Mayo was put through. It starts at the Plaza de Mayo on which is the Capitol, and ends at the Plaza Congreso, on which is the new white marble Congress Building, the finest and most expensive building in all vSouth America. The length of this boulevard is about one mile. Architecturally the exterior and fagades of the Buenos Aires buildings are as fine as any in the world; the style of architecture predominating is original, but the conta- gion has spread, and the new structures of Montevideo, Rosario, and Mar del Plata have copied the ornate and domed style that is preeminently Bonaerense. In order to compare the architecture of Buenos Aires to that of another cit^s let us choose Paris or Vienna because the Argentine capital is a city that is fundamentally European. Although more beautiful in buildings than either Paris or Vienna, it can hold no comparison to them in the massive- ness and solidity of the edifices in either of them. Nearly all the buildings in Argentina are built of the poorest imaginable brick, loosely fitted together, but little mortar having been used. To these is given a coating of plaster, which on the facades is worked into ornaments. On account of the climatic effects on the cheap material, these buildings in a few years' time take on a weather- beaten appearance. On account of the poor foundations on a muddy soil, many structures sink after a few years. < -B 27 28 Journeys and Experiences With the exception of the modern steel and trussed concrete edifices, the old patriarchal houses of the colonial times and days of the early republic are the best built. Hundreds of these are to be seen to-day on the side streets. They have marble-paved, glass-roofed patios onto which open the doors of the parlor, dining room, and living rooms. These rooms are likewise dependent on the patio for their light. Behind the first patio is generally a second one, open to the sky, but on rainy and on sunny days decked with an awning. Here sit the family in their leisure hours; from this patio open the doors to the bedrooms. A small gar- den is invariably at the rear; the kitchen and servants' quarters are in its proximity. The handsome villas and private residences of the wealthy inhabitants differ but little in architecture from the same class of buildings the whole world over. It must not be imagined that because the material and construction are poor that they are cheap. They cost nearly double to build what their dupli- cates would be in the United States. Brick, stone, iron, sand, lime, and lumber are much more expensive than at home. The cost of living in Buenos Aires is higher than in New York, with the exception of some articles I have already named. The hotel rates are, however, cheaper. On the Avenida de Mayo, Callc Florida, and Calle Callao, the show streets, one is obliged to pay Fifth Avenue prices for articles purchased ; on the side streets the same goods are much cheaper. The average native does not patron- ize the show places. At any of the Avenida de Mayo cafes, a small cordial glass of Benedictine costs twenty-one cents. At one of the side-street almazens (grocery stores), which have a dispensary, the same glass costs nine and one half cents. A pint of Guinness' stout at the Hotel Savoy costs sixty cents; at the Avenida de Mayo cafes it sells In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 29 for forty-three cents, while in the aknazens it can be bought for twenty-six cents. Mr. Oliver H. Lane This photograph was taken on roof garden of the Hotel Majestic Regarding hotels, Buenos Aires has some very fine ones. Most have table d'hote service, which in Argentina is 30 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile taken in preference to meals a la carte, for most of the guests take their rooms en peiisioii imless they intend to make a short stay only. The Plaza Hotel, which is the best known and widest ad- vertised, is operated l:)y the Ritz-Carlton Company. It was built by the banker Ernesto Tornquist and leased to them. It is nine stories high, and cost nine million pesos ($3,843- 000.00). Its rates are excessive for the service rendered. The rooms are small, its location is not central, and there is nothing to it that gives it the tone of comfort to be had at the other hotels, although the cuisine cannot be improved upon. Imagine paying twenty-five dollars a day for a small room with bath and vestibule, lunch and dinner, but not including breakfast. The Plaza is in much demand for private balls and teas, and is also much patronized by North American commercial travelers who wish to make a splurge, and impress their prospective customers with their own importance, or with the importance of the firm which they represent. An incident that happened in connection with this hotel should be mentioned. When Naon, the Argentine ex-ambassador to the United States, on a recent trip home wrote to his family asking them to get suitable apartments for him, his sister had a talk with the manager of the Plaza Hotel. The latter, seeing a chance for a hold-up, told her that Naon could have a certain apartment for five thousand pesos ($2 1 35.00) a month. This figures out $71.17 a day. Naon refused to consider the matter and engaged a much better suite at the Hotel Majestic at a much cheaper rate. A month or so afterwards, while attending a reception at the Plaza extended to him by the American Universities Club, the manager servilely approached him, and asked him where he was staying. Upon Naon answering that he was stopping at the Majestic, the manager spoke depre- a 2. 31 32 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chili catorily of the last -mentioned hostelry, and told him he would do much better for him at a lesser price at the Plaza. Naon said that he should have done so in the first place, but on account of his trying to hold him up, he would not stop at the Plaza if he should put the whole hotel at his disposal free of charge. The two best hotels in Buenos Aires, to my notion, are the Majestic and the Grand. The Majestic is on the Avenida de Mayo, at the north- west comer of Calle Santiago del Estero, which is but two blocks from the Plaza Congreso. It was opened in 1910 at the time of the Argentine Centennial. It was rented that year by the government to house the foreign diplo- mats attending the celebration. The prices are reason- able; the rooms all have baths, and most of them are suites with parlors. The meals are table d'hote and the food and service are excellent. The building is seven stories high, has a roof garden, and a corner tower. The parlors and writing room are on the third floor and are lighted from a skylight at the top of the five-story courtyard of pillared balconies. The Majestic is the residence of many foreign ministers and their families; of people of wealth and culture ; and of the commercial representatives of the best European firms. It is no show place, but a hotel of quiet refinement. The Grand Hotel, good but expensive, is on the main shopping street, the narrow Calle Florida, one block north of the Avenida de Mayo in a very noisy part of the city. The narrowness of the streets makes the rooms dark. The Palace Hotel, a large establishment on the Calle 25 de Mayo, is well spoken of. It overlooks the Paseo de Julio and a beautiful park at the river's edge, but the class of people and stores always to be found in the neighborhood of the docks makes the location poor. Among the older of ^i%. Fireman and Policeman, Buenos Aires ^ 33 34 Journeys and Experiences the modern hotels which are also good are the Paris, with a large restaurant and cafe, the Cecil, the Splendid, and the Esclava. The Espana, patronized by Spaniards, is a lively and excellent place with an a la carte dining room. It is a good place for the single man to stop at; also the Galileo and the Colon are first class, clean, and have good restaurants. The Colon is owned by the Gontaretti brothers, who are likewise proprietors of the Hotel Regina at Mar del Plata. It has in connection the best confec- tionery store in Buenos Aires, that of Dos Chinos. Of all the Buenos Aires hotels, the biggest fake is the Savoy, which is owned by the da Rossi Company. It is on the southeast corner of the streets Callao and Cangallo, but two blocks from the Plaza Congreso. It was opened in 19 1 3, at which time the current talk was that the district in which it is situated was going to be the best in the city. The prices are exorbitant, the food is poor, and the rooms are dirty. As in all the large Buenos Aires hotels, the prices here are made for the guest according to the fi- nancial judgment the scrutinizing manager passes on him. The waiters in the Savoy are veritable robbers, and there are two prices for drinks, and for the use of the billiard table, the North Americans having the benefit in being obliged to pay the highest of the two prices. They tried to "put one over" on "yours truly" on the price of wet goods one day when the writer was playing pool with some friends. The waiters had evidently forgotten that they had sold me a couple of bottles of Guinness' stout the day previous at a reduction of forty centavos (17c.) a bottle under the price they now anticipated that I would pay. An argument followed m which I won out, but only after I liad threatened them with a cessation of visits in case they insisted on making me pay the excess tax that they had imposed upon me. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 35 The Bonaerense restaurants are usually connected with the hotels, although there are many that are not. Among the best of the latter are the Rotisserie Sportsman, Char- pentier's, and the Petit Jardin. Aue's Keller, the Kaiser- halle recently opened by the employees of Aue's Keller, and the Bismarck are German restaurants and beer halls. There are manv Italian restaurants, that of Paccatini on Zoological Garden, Buenos Aires Calle Moreno a few doors east of Calle Piedras being quite popular. The cafes are excelled by none in the world either in size or in the expense of their equipment. Life in them is not as animated as in those of Vienna, Budapest, or Paris, and they close about i.oo a.m. They are not patronized much by women, nor do they display moving pictures on their walls as in Rosario. They are solely rendezvous for people who enter them to talk or drink; many have antiquated billiard tables. Among the best 36 Journeys and Experiences are the cafes Paris. Colon, and Tortoni, all on the Avenida de Mayo. As the Argentinos are not as a rule solely addicted to the frequent imbibing of strong drinks, soft drinks such as rcjrescos, lemonade, beer, coffee, and tea play an important role in the dispensing of liquid refreshment at cafes. The average Argentino suffers from gastric, digestive, and intestinal ailments, not so much from overeating alone as from his utter inability to use discretion in drinking. For breakfast he will have coffee; before lunch he will drink a couple of vermouths with bitters, which he desig- nates as an appetizer. (His favorite bitter is a sickening, sweetish syrupy liquor of Buenos Aires manufacture named Aperital.) At lunch he will either consume a pint of wine or a quart of beer, to be followed by a postprandial cup of strong coffee and a liqueur. In the afternoon, he will imbibe a bottle of mineral water and two cups of tea. The dinner beverages, the same as at luncheon, consist of beer or wine, coffee and cordial. After dinner, which is eaten at half -past seven or at eight o'clock, he feels "filled up" on food and liquid and has no immediate desire for alcoholic refreshment. He now prefers to sit in front of a cafe and watch the crowd pass by, but he would look out of place occupying a seat without paying for anything, so he orders a dish of ice cream and a refresco. A refresco is a syrup either of currant, strawberry, raspberry, or grena- dine flavoring, covering an inch in the bottom of a tall glass, to which is added either plain or soda water and cracked ice. An hour after partaking of this, he orders a whiskey and soda followed by a duplicate or a triplicate, unless he switches to beer. He caps the whole mess off by a cup of strong coffee. The Porteho (so is called the inhabitant of Buenos Aires, and which means Resident of the Port) is also a In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile T^i heavy eater. For luncheon and for dinner, he is apt to eat seven courses, four of which are meat and fish, and it makes no difference to him if the fish comes after the meat or before it. The dinner tables of the private houses have white slates on which is written with a black lead pencil the names of the dishes in the different courses as at a table d'hote in a hotel. In this way it leaves no surprise nor conjecture as to which the next course will be. Mate is passed around in the afternoon. This vile tea, brewed from yerba mate, an herb indigenous to Paraguay, the southern states of Brazil, and the Argentine Territory of Misiones, is poured into a gourd and is drunk through a metal tube with a spoonlike head, closed and perforated with little round holes, named a bombillo. But one person drinks mate at the same time. When he finishes this "slop" the servant takes both gourd and bombillo away from him and fills the former for the person sitting next to him. Two rounds of it are generally partaken of. This mate drinking, although said to be absolutely harmless, is such a habit with the native women of the poorer classes that they prefer it to a husband. At Tucuman, while I was there, three such wenches got into a fight and one had her ear bitten off. While at the police station she started wailing; the police thinking she was howling about the pain tried to soothe her. It transpired that she was wailing be- cause she left some mate boiling on the stove at her home and nobody was left there to tend to it. The Cafe Tortoni is on the north side of the Avenida de Mayo between the streets Piedras and Tacuari. It ex- tends back to Rivadavia. It is the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires and is owned by a nonagenarian Frenchman, Mon- sieur Curutchet, who is on the job morning and night and is still active, although the management of the establish- ment is in the hands of his son, M. Maurice Curutchet. It 3^ Journeys and Experiences was in front of this cafe that m}- acquaintances came at least twice a day, and from a marble-topped iron table beneath the street awning we observed Bonaerense life to great advantage as it paraded by. We soon became so accustomed to the different passers-by, man}' of whom went by at the same time each day, that we soon knew the vocations of many of the folk that were but atoms in the large population of the great city. There was a subway exit but a couple of rods from our table, and it was astonishing to see how people when they had reached the top step would stop and pant. It was not a deep subway, but so physically poor is the average Porteno of the middle classes on account of abuse of living that he soon becomes exhausted. He does not live long, and many men of forty are like men at home of sixty. The crowd that continually passes does so with quick step, neither looking to the left nor to the right, but straight ahead, serious and never smiling. I noticed this and remarked to an acquaintance about it. "They are evidently thinking," said he, "of how they can swindle somebody out of ten cents." The Porteiios appear to be a sad folk, and if one sees somebody smile or hears a sound of laughter on a Buenos Aires street, you may be sure that an Italian or a Spaniard is present. Latins from Europe that come to Argentina soon become like natives, depressed, excitable, and de- spondent. Many Argentinos of the cities wear black straw hats instead of white ones, which still further en- hances the funereal appearance of the men. This is a sign of mourning, similar to the black arm bands that were in fashion in the United States a decade ago. I know a Philadelphia jackanapes who wanted to follow the custom of Buenos Aires, and seeing the great number of men wear- ing black hats, bought one not knowins/ that it was a token In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 39 of respect for the departed relatives. He returned to his country evidently never knowing his mistake. The beggars, street fakirs, and peddlers on the Avenida de Mayo are terrible. No city in the world has so many. Neither Naples nor Las Palmas can compare with Buenos Aires in proportion in this respect. A man seated at a table in front of a cafe is never free a minute from annoy- ance from this rabble. Children from five years old up to octogenarians of both sexes systematically make multi- diurnal rounds up to the different cafes. Some are in- sulting. A narrow shouldered young man, a mixture of degenerate and of cigarette fiend, came to a table where I was seated and offered some chewing gum for sale. Upon my refusal to buy any, he backed up a few steps, started calling me names, and then walked away. A few hours later I met him accidentally; he wilted when he saw there was no escape. I grabbed him by the coat collar and nearly shook the eye teeth out of him. I at least put the fear of God into him. The street urchins have a habit of making the rounds of the different tables and if you are not watching, steal the cracked ice from the dish in which it is kept in front of you to put into your glass of refresco, according to your desire. I caught one such boy doing this trick to me, and slung the contents of a water pitcher at him which caught him squarely, giving him a drenching. Near by was seated a well-dressed Argentino who took the boy's part, and started to call the police. As a foreigner, especially a North American, has no rights in Argentina, I thought it best to walk away. There are milk depots stationed at various parts of the city and along the Avenida where a person may enter and for ten centavos (.042) bu}' a liter of milk either fresh or cooked. These belong to La Martona and other 40 Journeys and Experiences companies. Two ragamuffins one night entered the milk depot at the northeast comer of the Avenida de Mayo and Calle San Jose and begged some cracked ice from the waiter behind the counter. Upon his refusal to comply with his request one of the boys expectorated in a gallon iar of fresh milk that stood at one end of the counter, and which was for sale to prospective customers, and then ran out. Do you think the man behind the counter threw the milk out? I should say not. He merely took a large spoon, skimmed off the expectoration, and went about his business as if nothing had happened. I sat in a chair and watched three other customers, who came in later, be served from the same jar. The lottery ticket sellers are the greatest nuisance. They used to annoy jMr. Lane something fierce. Packer, a man named Brown, and I noticed it so we put up several jobs on him. There was a legless man who made the rounds of the cafes, being wheeled from place to place in a perambulator by an individual who might easily as to appearance be associated with the Black Hand. The cripple who was a middle aged, unkempt ruffian had a multitude of lottery tickets for sale, and was so persistent that he would absolutely refuse to go away until he had displayed all his wares. He seemed to take particular delight in torment- ing jXTsons who were anxious to have him move on. A few seconds before he was ready to be wheeled away, he would open up a torrent of abuse upon the person who refused to buy from him, and in this propaganda he was ably seconded by his comrade of Black Hand mien. Mr. Lane was of a nervous disposition and I do not believe the Canadian Club highballs he occasionally indulged in were any amelioration to this condition. He therefore was considerably annoyed with this ]3articular persistent In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 41 vagabond and his equally villainous confrere. They "got on his nerves." We, noticing his odium for this duo, one day when Mr. Lane was absent, hired the two vaga- bonds to come to him every time they saw him seated in front of the Tortoni and refuse to leave until ordered to do so by the police or the waiters. A few days afterwards while waliving along the Avenida, I saw Mr. Lane seated in front of the Cafe Madrid, which is a block from the Tortoni. "What are you doing over here"" I asked. "The Tortoni is getting too much for me; I never saw so many vagabonds in my life as there, so I changed places. The service and the goods are no good here; I've tried this place three days and can't stand it. I prefer the Tortoni but if that legless hobo ever tries to sell me a lottery ticket again, I am going to tip him out of his perambulator into the street even if I hang for it. I believe I shall hire the waiters at the Tortoni to give all the street peddlers a thrashing." Mr. Lane did so. The waiters cuffed up several of the human pests, and the policemen arrested a few others, so for about a week everybody was free from molestation by the riffraff. Then they gradually came back to their usual haunts. There was a woman who continually made the rounds soliciting alms by showing the bare stump of an arm severed about six inches from the shoulder. This harri- dan would take delight in walking between the tables of the restaurants while people were at dinner and expose this gruesome sight spoiling appetites. Another nuisance was a woman about thirty-five years old who had once been comely. She sold lottery tickets and was also terribly persistent. She carried in her arms a baby while a young child clung to her skirt. Although this woman was a nuisance, I never thought her to be 42 Journeys and Experiences disagreeable, but for some reason Air. Lane took an aver- sion for her which could be classified in the same category as the detest he had for the legless ruffian. One day while being pestered by this woman, he made a grab at her tickets, crumpled them up and slung the whole outfit in the street. He was sorry for it afterwards and gave her a peso to ease her. The next day, while Mr. Lane was absent, one of our associates called the woman aside and gave her two pesos if she would continue to display her lottery tickets to Mr. Lane. She accepted the proposition and did so much to his annoyance. This woman had for a husband a whiskered Irish bum. He would come several times a day to the subway entrance and make her hand over the proceeds of her sales to him. He had a staff of women selling tickets and his sole occupation was to make the rounds collecting money from them. There are many Irish bums in Buenos Aires, men past middle life who years ago became stranded in Argentina having deserted sailing vessels and who have never had the price nor the desire to return to the Old Country. They are strong, powerful men physically, unkempt with long beards; their clothes are a mass of rags and teem with vermin. Their daily occupation is to walk along the Avenida begging alms which goes for strong drink. At night they sleep in the doorways and in the gutter. One such man made his rounds on the Avenida about nine o'clock every night. Every time he passed our table at the Tortoni, Mr. Packer would give him some money, on one occasion the sum being a peso. As the man had begged in Spanish, we did not know his nationahty until a certain incident happened. One particular night, Mr. Packer was without funds when this hobo came around, and told him so. The bum sarcastically imitated Packer and tlicn broke out into such a tirade of profane and ob- In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 43 scene invectives and abuse in the English language, but with a strong brogue, that I am afraid the apostles turned over in their graves. The policemen of Buenos Aires are efficient. They are mostly of Indian descent and come from the far pro- vinces. They seldom make an arrest for misdemeanors for there are but few street quarrels when compared to the cities of the United States. They occasionally disperse a bunch of young beggars who return to their posts as soon as the "cop" has vanished. At night they make the drunken bums vacate the street benches whither they have repaired to sleep off the fumes of Geneva gin, which in Spanish goes by the name of ginevra. Quite a few incidents happen in the lives of the Bonaerense police, of which here are a couple: On the Calle Peru there is an old policeman, beloved by nearly everybody. The storekeepers in the neighbor- hood of which he is the guardian of the peace hold him in such high esteem that at every Christmas they take up a collection for him. For some unknown reason, a North American named Woody, who represented the Case Implement Company "had it in" for him. Mr. Woody was accustomed to partake of too much John Barleycorn and when in bis cups always abused this man in strong profane Enghsh. After awhile the old policeman caught on that he was being made the target of abuse which he could not understand, so one day changed beats with a big native Argentino policeman who was of Irish extraction. At evening Mr. Woody came along, as usual, much under the influence of liquor. The fumes of alcohol having dimmed his eyesight, he was oblivious of the shift that had been made. Seeing the policeman, he opened up with his tirade. The Irishman let him continue until Woody was weak from lack of breath and exhausted vocabulary. 44 Journeys and Experiences "Have yez finished?" the cop then asked him. Woody astounded at hearing the poHceman thus ad- dress him, stammered an affirmative. "Then, by Jaysus. come with me!" Mr. Woody spent the next eight days in jail until his friends learned of his predicament and bailed him out. The other incident is this: One of m}- friends was seated one evening in front of the Tortoni when a policeman approached him and asked him in Spanish if he spoke English. My friend answered in the affirmative and the pohceman told him to wait there a minute and walked away. Presently the guardian of the law reappeared with a young Englishman who could speak no word of Spanish. He said he was a sailor from a boat that sailed that midnight and becoming lost did not know how to get to it. He came on an electric car to the Avenida de Mayo and all that he knew about the line was that it bore a board on which was printed the name "Cinzano." Now this is the name of a vermouth which is widely advertised in Argentina, and he mistook the vermouth sign for the name of the street. After consider- able difficulty, his ship was located. One afternoon, while walking down the Avenida with Mr. Atwood Benton of Antofagasta, Chile, we saw a crowd collected and on passing by noticed that a grown man was slapping a little girl and dragging her around by the hair. Not a man in the crowd had made any attempt to prevent this outrageous scene, but all stood by with smiles of mirth on their faces. Mr. Benton made a rush through them and grabbing the man by the nape of the neck gave him a sound beating and held him while I called a policeman. When the rabble saw what Benton did, they raised an earsplitting cheer of "bravo" for him, yet none of the cowardly bunch dared interfere for fear of a poignard stab. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 45 A newspaper reporter chanced by, shook Mr. Benton by the hand, congratulated him upon his bravery, and asked him for his card as he wished to put it in his newspaper next day. Mr. Benton put his hand in his pocket and extended him a card which he thought was his own, but when the newspaper article came out in the La Nacion the next day, it happened that Benton had made a mistake and had handed the reporter a card of Mr. Percival O'Reilley of Concepcion, Chile. With the exception of the policemen, one sees but comparatively few mestizos or people of mixed white and Indian blood in Buenos Aires, when compared to the inhabitants of other Argentine cities, yet there are plenty, many being in the employ of the government. Dark com- plexions are not as popular in Argentina as light ones; therefore many of the criollos or natives whose facial characteristics are those of the original inhabitants of the land, beseech the photographers to put chemicals on the plates so as to make their visages come out light in the photograph. The descendants of Indians are called Indios; negroes are called Negros and Chinamen, Chinos. Many of the mestizos are nicknamed Chinos. All these words are terms of approbation and it is funny to hear an enraged descendant of an Indian call a white person an Indio or a Chino. There is in Buenos Aires a fine opera house, the Colon, and there are many other theaters, but the most patron- ized by the male public are the burlesque shows, the Casino and the Royal. The attraction for the men in those places are the "pick ups" that abound in the foyer, mak- ing these music halls clearing houses for loose moral femi- ninity. There is no more vice in Buenos Aires than in any other large city, but there is a peculiar system in vogue there which is original. 46 Journeys and Experiences A woman passes down the Avenida with a basket of flowers on her arm. She approaches the boulevardier seated at a table and offers to sell him a flower. He buys one and as he stretches out his hand to pay her, she slips him a card bearing the address of a brothel but refuses the money. These women are the hirelings of the brothel proprietresses. Often the duenas as these propnetresses are called do the florista act (flower selling). One night, while seated in front of the Tortoni, a famous duena named Carmen came along and pinned a tuberose on an army officer. A minute later, a rival dueiia named Alatilda passed by and seeing the tuberose on him, knew who pinned it there. She tore it off, and pinned on him a carnation. Carmen now returning from a neighboring table saw the trick and a battle royal like between two enraged tigers ensued. When the police put a stop to it, the two duefias, scratched up, and with dishevelled hair, were obliged to make for the subway, holding up the rem- nants of their torn clothing by the middle lest they should drop off. Among the fine buildings of Buenos Aires are the custom house and the Central Argentine Railway station at Retiro. This mammoth building, not yet completed, is the largest and finest railroad station in South America. This honor was formerly held by the Luz station in Sao Paulo, Brazil; that of Mapocho in Santiago, Chile, being second. The new Central of Cordoba Railway station is also fine. There are in Buenos Aires but few skyscrapers in the North American sense of the word, a fifteen-story building being the tallest. It is the new arcade on Calle Florida and is the largest in America. It ranks fourth in the world in ground-floor area; those of Milan, Naples, and Genoa being greater. There is a thirteen-story apartment house; the Otto Wulf Building is twelve stories high, and there In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 47 are probably a dozen other buildings that exceed in height ten stories. There are any number of seven-, eight-, and nine-story buildings. In Buenos Aires there are a great number of so-called Brazilian coffeehouses where about five o'clock after- noons people repair for coffee and ice cream. Casata ice creams are a favorite. They are a mixture of flavors, and these coffeehouses specialize in two flavors of coffee ice cream in the same brick. The best known of these establishments are those of Huicque and of Bibondo. The zoological garden is the finest that I have ever had the pleasure of visiting, as far as the collection of animals is concerned, but the botanical garden is much inferior to that of Rio de Janeiro. Palermo Park, the great corso for automobiles, is well kept up but does not take my fancy on account of the light shades of green common to all trees of the Argentina flatlands. The brilliant and variegated greens of the trees of the province of Tucuman are lacking. As to manufacturing, Buenos Aires is nil. There is but one brewery within the city limits, that of Palermo, whose product is vile. There was a so-called automobile factory which bought parts and assembled them, but it had to go out of business. There is not much future for manu- facturing unless iron ore is found in paying quantites in Argentina. Without iron and without coal in Argentina, but little can be done although there are several large oil fields in Northern Patagonia. Rosario is a better com- mercial city than Buenos Aires, but the latter will always keep on growing and retain its lead as the metropolis of South America. An institution of learning worthy of mention, and which I visited while in the Argentine metropolis is the Colegio Nacional Mariano Moreno. It is located at 3755 48 Journeys and Experiences Calle Rivadavia, and is one of the best institutions of secondary learning extant. The course comprises six years, the first year corresponding to the ninth grade in North American schools, and the last year being the same as the sophomore year in our universities. It is therefore more like a German gymnasium than a North American high school, although it differs from both in the election of courses. Here no Latin nor ancient languages are taught, but other subjects such as fencing and drawing are substituted. A good rule of the institution which is under the able management of the rector, Dr. Manuel Derqui, grandson of a former president of Argentina, is that no stu- dents under fourteen years are allowed to enter, no mat- ter how their preparatory attainments are. This tends to set a better standard to the instruction, although a younger one sometimes manages to slip in. Their age upon gradu- ation is at least twenty. A diploma will give the graduate entrance to any of the Argentine universities of which there are four besides that of Buenos Aires, the others being in La Plata, Cordoba, Sante Fe, and Tucuman. What would seem strange to us is that the Mariano Moreno College is a government institution, having no connection at all with the state of municipality. The interior of the building, with its unprepossessing fagade of four stories belies its external appearance. Its depth is the whole length of the block. It has a swimming tank and baths both for the instructors and students. The whole place is kept remarkably clean. The spirit of competition and advance is very strong among the stu- dents. Some of their mechanical drawings, the best ones which are on display on the walls are like the work of experts. A student invented an adjustable and movable drawing board which has been adopted by the drawing classes all through the republic. The department of In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 49 physics is a marvel, although the chemical laboratory falls short of that of some private schools in the United States, namely that of Hackley vSchool, Tarrytown, N. Y. I was informed, however, that the Mariano Moreno College does not specialize in that science, for those that desire to get a knowledge of chemistry go to the technical schools. A feature of the college is a recreation room for the professors and instructors in the basement. Its walls are hung with pictures painted or drawn by the professors. The enroll- ment of students is about 1500 exclusive of 700 who are taking a university extension course. The faculty con- sists of about 150 members. While speaking about Buenos Aires, a few words must be said about its inhabitants and their habits. The Portehos of the higher classes differ but little from those of the same social sphere the whole world over, excepting that they are more effeminate than the inhabitants of our country. Many of the men have perfumed handker- chiefs, and affect the Italian style of moustache. The men of the middle classes, in attire ape the aristocracy, but their habits are infinitely more dirty. With them a bath is an event. When these Argentinos take a bath they splash water around and make a great noise about it so that the people the other side of the partitions can hear them at their ablutions. They also spout and snort and make a great noise every time they wash their faces, especially if anybody is looking. This also applies to certain men who mingle in the highest social circles. I know a man of great prominence in Buenos Aires who every time he took a bath would tell everybody he chanced to meet about it. He met me one day on the street as I was coming out of the Majestic Hotel. "How are you?" I asked as a customary form of greeting. 50 Journeys and Experiences "I'm feeling fine," he replied. "I just had a nice cold bath." A few minutes later as we were walking down the Avenida we met another acquaintance. "Good morning, vSenor , " quoth the third party. "You are looking fine to-day." "No wonder," answered the first Argentino, "for I have just gotten out of the bath tub." "How strange, I also have just had a bath." The habits of the middle and lower classes throughout Argentina are very filthy. Clean toilets are unknown outside of a few of the best hotels and cafes of Buenos Aires and a few of the other large cities. In the Hotel Colon in Buenos Aires, two men were hired constantly just to keep the toilet clean and they did this job well. The men of the lower classes bathe more frequently than those of the upper and middle classes and some are really fine swimmers. These are mostly Italians, Spani- ards, and natives who do the work and are the backbone of the Argentine nation as they have not become affected by contact with those of the middle classes. There arc in Buenos Aires many Jews of Galician origin. Their ghetto is on the streets, named Junin, Ayacucho, and Ombii, but they are likewise scattered all over the city. Many wear corkscrew sideburns, which they smear with grease and fondle lovingly as they converse with you. These vile Kikes are mostly in the lottery ticket and retail tobacco business. They have native employees whom they send out on the street to hawk lottery tickets on com- mission. This lottery business is overdone. There are too many drawings. One takes place every week and it is only occasionally that there is a drawing with high enough premiums to make it worth while purchasing them. Lottery is a good institution if properly regulated, but In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 51 the annoyance that everybody is subjected to in Buenos Aires by the peddlers of the tickets soon makes a person wish that such an institution did not exist. Not only are the tickets of the Benificencia Nacional sold about the streets, but also those of the Province of Buenos Aires which has drawings at La Plata, those of the Province of Tucuman, those of Cordoba, San Juan, and even of Montevideo. These Buenos Aires Jews are the lowest class of riffraff. Their nasty children peddle strings of garlic from door to door. The adults are always gesticulating and trying to cheat the stranger. Regarding the morals, the average Porteiio of the middle class cannot be called immoral. He is unmoral because he never had any morals to begin with. His conversation invariably takes a lascivious turn which shows how his thoughts runs. Seduction, feminine figures, adultery, etc., are his favorite themes of conversation. Many of the women of Buenos Aires are beautiful. Nowhere have I seen such fine-looking women, excepting in Santiago, Chile, and in Budapest. They carry them- selves well and also know how to dress. Their figures and taste are such that they can make the poorest material look well on them. Their average stature is that of our North American women; most of the young Portehas are neither fat nor slim, but medium. They have wonderful black eyes and well developed busts. It is rare to see a poor figure. It really is a treat to sit in front of a cafe on the Avenida and watch them walk by. There was one beautiful girl that took the fancy of every man that saw her. She worked in an office and every day at noon she would pass the Tortoni ; she would repeat this again about five o'clock in the evening. This girl was about nineteen years old and the dainty way she tripped along absolutely 52 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile unconscious of her grace made the men rave about her. One noon as she walked by bound for home, I followed her a quarter of a block behind her. My intentions were to find out where she lived and try to arrange to get an intro- duction because she quite fascinated me. I found out that she lived with her parents on Calle Montevideo. I had a friend who lived in the block beyond her in Calle Rodriguez Pena, but unfortunately when I called on him to arrange for an introduction, I found out that he was on a business trip to northern Argentina and was not expected back for a month. As I intended leaving in a few weeks, I was doomed to disappointment and had to swallow my chagrin and content myself with gazing at her from the table in front of the Tortoni when she passed by. The amusements of Buenos Aires are few. Of course there are some very high-class dance halls with restaurants in connection such as Armenonville, but the hours are too late when life begins there. The race track of the Jockey Club is the best in the world, and races are held every Thursday and Sunday, but one soon gets tired of continually going to the races. The betting is by mutuals. There are some baseball and cricket teams in Buenos Aires which hold matches and games on Sunday afternoons. The players are English, American, and Canadian residents of Buenos Aires who clerk in the banks and in the great importing houses. The article of baseball they put out is ludicrous, and they draw no attendance. A good primary school at home could trim them. The pleasantest of all pastimes in and about Buenos Aires is boating at Tigre. This little town, the Argentine Henley, is twenty-one miles north of the capital and is reached by half-hourly service by the Central Argentina Railway. Strange to say at this time of writing (191 7) no 53 54 Journeys and Experiences electric line has yet been built between the two places. Tigre is on the Las Conchas River where it empties into the Lujan. one of the tributaries of the La Plata. It is thronged on Sundays by crowds from the city, who besides rowing and canoeing, also take in the pageant from the awninged verandas of the Tigre Hotel. Most Argentinos do not care much for North Americans although they are invariably polite to them. It appears that -there is a chord of jealousy somewhere against our nation. Some of this gentry have the gall to think that Argentina is the greatest nation on earth and these ideas are taught them in school. I have known inhabitants of Buenos Aires who believe that Argentina could whip the United States in a war, although most of them have an unwholesome fear of Chile. The British nation was not especially popular with Argentina because in 1833 it took the Falkland Islands from them. In 191 6 Great Britain seized a couple of Argentine vessels which it claimed were taking contraband to the Central Powers. An anti- British demonstration occurred on the streets of Buenos Aires most of the participants in which were students. Several were cut by sabers in the hands of the police but this affray did not prevent roughnecks from yelling at Americans and calling them names, mistaking them for Englishmen. I unfortunately was a victim of these insults, as I was driving one night in the Plaza de Mayo. Even though Great Britain was not popular, neither was Germany a favorite as can be testified by the depredations on property of German ownership. On the night of Saturday, April 14, 1917, a street mob attacked the offices of two German newspapers. La Uiiion and Deutsche La Plata Zeitiing, and broke all the windows. This same mob also demolished the delicatessen store of P. Warck- meister at 555 Calle Sarmicnto. A few months later. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 55 following Count Luxburg's iniquity, the mob wrecked the Club Aleman, and tried to burn it. Thirty miles south of Buenos Aires, is La Plata, the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires and which has a population of about 120,000 inhabitatns. Till 1880 the city of Buenos Aires was the capital of the province of the same name, but in that year it detached itself from the Station of the Southern Railway, La Plata province and became the Federal Capital. The province, now lacking a capital, decided to build one, and a site hav- ing been chosen and the plans for the laying out of a city having been approved of, the city of La Plata was formally founded and created capital of the Province of Buenos Aires, November 29, 1882. In 1885 the population of the city was 13,869. The census of 1909 gave it 95,126 in- habitants while that of 1916 gave it 1 1 1 ,401 ; the total for the commune being 136,026. La Plata is a dull, sleepy city of broad streets and low houses of light brown and cream-colored hues, with little 56 Journeys and Experiences shade. The sun's hot rays scorch the pedestrian as he walks over the sizzhng pavement of the ultra-quiet and tomblike town. I have known people who, however, pre- fer La Plata to Buenos Aires, but I cannot comprehend how a person can live there and not die of ennui. It is laid out much on the order of Washington with broad Old Railway Station, La Plata angling avenues cutting off slices of square and rec- tangular blocks. The most artistic building in the city is the station of the Southern Railway. It is an oeuvre of M. Faure- Dujarric, the Frenchman who was the architect for the grandstand of the Jockey Club at Palermo Park. It is a long and narrow white edifice with an artistic fa(;ade sur- mounted by a dome of bright green tiles. Its restaurant is said to be the best in La Plata, although I cannot verify this statement. La Plata used to have another railway station, even larger than the present one, and more centrally located. Why it was abandoned I never knew, In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 57 but it stands downtown on one of the principal squares, absolutely deserted, its lon<^^ dun-colored fagade an eye- sore to passers-by. Some of the largest and costliest edifices in the republic are in this capital of the Province of Buenos Aires, but Bank of the Argentine Nation, La Plata nearly all are weather-beaten and appear much better in photograph than they do in the original. In many cases the stucco has fallen off in places, exposing the rough red bricks of poor quality. Some of the facades are stained and blackened by exposure but nothing has been done to remedy them. The whole city is evidently laid out on too grand a scale, and something was started that is hard to finish. The Capitol, the governor's residence, the city hall, 58 Journeys and Experiences the Argentine theater, the courthouse, and many other buildings are far too large for the present need of the city, and by the time La Plata has grown to a size where such buildings will be adequate (it is doubtful if it ever will) they will have long been out of style and antique. Even the cathedral, if completed, would be too grandiose. It was started years ago, but is at present in the unfinished Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires, La Plata state as is shown in the accompanying photograph. The money gave out, and to-day it stands on an important plaza, a hideous frame of cheap brick, bearing no similarity to the elegant place of worship it was intended to be. This tendency to start to erect a fine building, get it half up, and then neglect it, is characteristic of all countries where Spanish rule has once dominated. For instance, in the same way is the Matriz church in Chilian, Chile, the Oratory of Lopez in Asuncion, the church of the Encar- nacion at Asuncion, a church in Posadas, one in San Luis, and the most striking example of all, the church of the In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 59 Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. In the plaza in front of the unfinished cathedral are some marble statues, Allegorical Statue of La Plata the best of which is that representing the great Argentine river system and named La Plata. It is an allegorical 6o Journeys and Experiences female figure with a horn of plenty from which are spilling fruit and vegetables, while beneath her are bundles of wheat. The diocese of La Plata, which comprises the Province of Buenos Aires and the territory of the Pampa, is the richest Unfinished Cathedral, La Plata in Argentina. It was created in 1896, and has as a bishop. Dr. Juan N. Terreno, who has held that office since 1900. This man is a great power in Argentine politics. There are numerous large banks in La Plata, the largest of which is that of the Province of Buenos Aires. Regard- ing hotels, the best is the Sportsman with good restaurant. The restaurant of the Hotel Argentina is second class. The food is greasy and is sj^rinkled with flies which become ensnared in the meshes of the oil in which the ragouts and filets literally float. Outside of the Museum of Natural History which has an admirable collection of fishes, the zoological garden, In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 6i the wonderful eucalyptus avenue, and a charming park, there is in La Plata nothing to interest the stranger. The city owes its importance to its port Ensenada, about five miles distant and to which is dug a basin where ships laden with grain and canned meats sail for North America and European ports. From here also in order to avoid the congestion in the Darsenas and in the Riacheulo at Buenos Aires, passenger ships sail, notably the Lamport & Holt Line, which keeps up a direct passenger service between Burnos Aires and New York. On this basin are two large beef-packing establishments, that of Armour and that of Swift. CHAPTER III SAN LUIS The average stranger coming to the United States to see the country very seldom pays a visit to an obscure state capital. The very contrary to this is what I did after I had been but little over a week in Buenos Aires, as I maintain that the only way to see a foreign country properly is to avoid the show places and get out among the people in the smaller cities. Knowing that San Luis was but a short distance from the main line of the Buenos Aires Pacific Railway between Buenos Aires and Mendoza, and is reached by one through train daily in each direction, I decided to stop off there. I left Buenos Aires at three o'clock one afternoon when the thermometer registered 100.4^ Fahrenheit and was soon traversing the flat landscape remindful of the valley of the River Po. The white, cream-colored tile-roofed houses, the small vineyards and vegetable gardens, the long rows of Lombardy poplars, and the oxen hitched to the wagons on the country roads presented a picture that could just as well be that of northern Italy as that of the Province of Buenos Aires. Nearly everywhere in eastern Argentina where the country is well settled, the landscape is decidedly Italian, due largely to the presence of the trees indigenous to the Po Valley, originally brought there by immigrants from that part of Europe. 62 63 64 Journeys and Experiences The train I was on was a very poor one, the first-class comi^artments being no better than third-class ones in Germany. Thirty-four miles out of Buenos Aires, we reached the town of Pilar, which lies a short distance north of the railroad. Its station is the terminus of the Buenos Aires suburban trains. Eight miles farther on is seen on the crest of a rise of ground to the south, the insane asylum of Open Door, a model of its kind. The method employed for the treatment of the patients is freedom from restraint, with the privilege to do what they please as long as they keep within bounds. The originator of this method of handling the insane believes that by allowing them to follow out their whims, they will eventu- ally become tired of them, and that the confinement of the demented prisoners tends to aggravate their condi- tion. This theory which he put into practice has had good results. Mercedes, seventy miles from Buenos Aires, with a population of thirty thousand inhabitants, is the junction of three railroads, the Central of Buenos Aires, the Western, and the Buenos Aires Pacific. It is one of the oldest cities in the republic and is the stamping ground of Irish settlers who drifted in here a few generations ago and have become rich. Unlike most Argentine cities, its streets are numbered. Chacabuco, one hundred and thirty-one miles from the capital, was reached about 7.30 P.M. It is a stock-breeding center and is in the midst of a rich agricultural district. One hundred and seventy-nine miles from Buenos Aires is Junin, an important small town from which leads a branch of the Central Argentina Rail- way to Pergamino and Rosario. The place was formerly called Fuerte Federacion from a fort on the Salado River. As late as 1876 it was attacked by Indians, the last attack having been made on December loth of that year under In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 65 the leadership of Pincen. The Indians were badly defeated and fled, leaving behind all the stock they had stolen on the way. A man from Junin who sat directly across the table from me in the dining car informed me that farm lands in the neighborhood of his city were selling at as high as three hundred pesos a hectare. That would make common prairie land worth there fifty dollars an acre. Street in San Luis During the night we crossed a corner of the Province of Santa Fe at Rufino where the dining car was taken off. The train then traversed the southern part of the Province of Cordoba and entered the Province of San Luis in the early morning. Excepting the capital, Villa Mercedes, which was reached at 7 a.m., is the only place of importance in the Province of San Luis. It is a well laid out little city with a fairly good hotel, the Marconi. It was here that I was met by J. D. O'Brien of Detroit who remained with me for some time in the capacity of servant. He had been gymnasium steward on the Vaiiban, and not liking the 66 Journeys and Experiences British ship's officers, took French leave at Buenos Aires, and decided to try his luck in Argentina. I needed a servant as I had considerable baggage so decided to hire him. He dropped his grip over the railing of the ship's deck one night when nobody was watching, and fearing Bank of the Argentine Nation, San Luis arrest because he had quit the ship after signing a con- tract to make a round trip, thought it would be better to get into the country until after the Vaiiban had sailed. Therefore I had him precede me on the journey, he going to Villa Mercedes the day before. Dr. M. de Iriondo, president of the Bank o£ the Argentine Nation, had given In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 67 me a letter to the manager of its branch bank in Villa Mercedes, but unfortunately I did not stop off there. There was a remarkable change in temperature com- pared with the previous day, because it was now cool and windy. The country that we now traversed was very much like that of eastern Wyoming, only the soil was better. There seemed to be a lack of water. Cattle grazed the endless pampa; here and there buttes and mountains rose from the plains, their sides covered with coarse grass and sagebrush. At the wayside stations were halfbreeds in ponchos, strong, good-looking fellows. Pre- sently the mountains came down to the railroad track and we were in a sort of an oasis watered by the Chorillo River. San Luis, the capital of the thinly settled province of the same name, is 493 miles west of Buenos Aires. It is a poor, unpretentious, and uninteresting town of fifteen thousand inhabitants with nothing to attract the ordinary tourist. Its buildings, with the exception of a few on the main streets, seldom attain a height of over one story and are for the most part built of coarse red brick, which here sell for 28 pesos ($11.96) a thousand. Many of these brick buildings are plastered over, but most are not, giving them but a half finished appearance on account of the poor masonry. The original idea of the man who builds a house in most of the cities of the repub- lic is to eventually have the brick stuccoed over, but it is frequently the case that his money gives out, before he gets that far, and he has to forego that luxury. There is also a considerable number of adobe buildings. These are mostly in the outskirts of the city. I also saw a few huts in the outlying districts whose roofs were thatched. There are no large fortunes in San Luis although my informants told me that there might be one or two men 68 Journeys and Experiences who could boast of possessing the equivaleni of one million pesos paper ($427,000.00). There are only seven auto- mobiles in the city, two of them being Cases; two are Fords. The only one that I saw was of the last-named Capitol, San Luis manufacture. When asked if the governor of the pro- vince, Senor Juan Daract. possessed one, I was told he was too poor to own one, although his monthh' salary' is 750 pesos paper ($320.25). This would make his yearly salary from governmental sources $3843.00. I was sur- prised to see horses sell so cheaply, mediocre hack ones bringing only thirteen dollars apiece. Good mules aver- aged about thirty-two dollars each. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 69 None of the streets of the city are paved. On the main one, San Martin, there are several good buildings, the Bank of the Argentine Nation being the best. It is the newest. The post office, the Federal Court, and the custom house are also possible, although they are but one story high. Nobody should overlook the Casa de Gobierno or Capitol, which is in a class by itself. Its Renaissance fagade, which faces the Plaza San Martin, and its side which faces one of the main streets contain sockets for nine thousand electric light bulbs. When the building is lighted up in all its external brilliancy, the electric meter which controls the other lights of the city has to be shut off because the electrical plant has not power enough to keep them both going at the same time. So much money was expended on the lavish decorations of the Capitol that there was not enough left to furnish the building. The two large plazas, Pringles and San Martin, each contain an equestrian statue in bronze erected to the memory of the heroes of their nomenclature. General Pringles, the popular local hero, was born here. The square that bears his name is the handsomest in the city. It is bordered by giant pepper trees whose fragrance per- fumes the air. Facing it is the huge unfinished brick basilica, the Matriz, the white dome of which is a land- mark for quite a distance, and is visible from all parts of the city. By the side of the Matriz on the Calle Pringles stands a small algorroba tree scarcely twenty feet high. It is enclosed by an iron railing and is held in much rever- ence by the inhabitants of San Luis, because to this tree, the Guerrero, General Jose de San Martin, tied his horse in 18 1 6 on his westward march to Chile, where he over- threw the Spanish dominion at the battles of Chacabuco and Maipu. There is an interesting old church in San Luis, that of 'O Journeys and Experiences Santo Domingo. It is of Mission style of architecture, and in many respects is similar to San Gabriel Mission near Pasadena, California. Taken as a whole, San Luis Matriz Church, San Luis The tree in the distance is an algorroba. To it San Martin tied his horse in i8 i6 mi his westward march across the Andes to Chile differs much from most Argentine cities. Its buildings are of a decided Spanish colonial type of architecture. The city has an antique appearance and is nearly gravelike as to tranquillity. When I stepped out of the fine spick and span, five-year- old depot, I was in a dilemma regarding which hotel to go In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 71 to. My guide book, which I never trust, and which I only- look at when I desire to kill time, favored the Espanol; the landlord of the Marconi at Villa Mercedes recommended to O'Brien the Royal; the sleeping-car conductor on the train praised the Comercio; the cab driver extolled the Mitre, so thither I went. The German photographer, Streich, whom I met later in the day, boosted the Pringles, whose landlady is German. The Mitre, which is owned by Perez and Iglesias, is leased to two brothers whose prenomens are Pedro and Juan ; nobody seems to know their patronymics, although many persons seemed to be on intimate terms with them. I later found out that their surname is Negera. When the fat, loquacious cab driver stopped in front of their one-story hotel, he announced my arrival by bawling out "Pedro!" The person addressed came slouching out of the barroom, unkempt and unshaven, and despite the earliness of the morning fairly drunk. He reeked of alcohol. I thought he was the porter until differently informed. Several times in the course of the morning he came into my room out of curiosity, each time making an excuse. In the early afternoon he sobered up, shaved, and donned a tuxedo. Drunk or sober, Pedro was a worker. He waited on the table, tended bar, made the beds, swept the rooms, and assisted in the cooking, besides doing errands for the guests. I never saw a better hotel man. The rooms opened onto the patios and were kept scrupulously clean, excepting the privy, and even that was much cleaner than in nipst rural South American towns. The chickens had taken refuge in it to keep away from the lean cats, which eyed them voraciously. Several times I had to drive a yellow cat out of my bedroom. The food would hardly remind an epicure of the menu of Oscar of the Waldorf-Astoria, but as there were many people eating it /- Journeys and Experiences in the lon^ rectangular dining room with its twenty-five- feet -high ceiling. I imagine it was wholesome. Despite the coldness of the weather (the temperature was no more than 60"" Fahrenheit, a drop of 40° from the temperature of Buenos Aires the day before) flies abounded in m}' bed- room and in the country were myriads of locusts. Speaking of the yellow cat that persisted in occupying my bedroom, Argentine and Chilean animals have a penchant for human society. They seem to take delight in crawling under the beds and other furniture, and no matter how often they are driven out they persist in returning. A peculiar incident of this nature befell an acquaintance of mine, Mr. Osmond of Rosario. Mr. Osmond has lived many years in Argentina and his busi- ness frequently takes him into the Campo, as the flat, end- less pampa is called. On one occasion he stopped at an inn no difTerent from the general run of inns found in all the small towns of Argentina. A fat sow entered his room from the patio as he sat writing. He drove her out. Several times during the afternoon he had to repeat the performance as the sow was bound to occupy his room. As he lay asleep that night he was awakened by a rumpus beneath his bed, and lighting a candle to find out the cause of the nocturnal disturbance of his slumbers, dis- covered that the sow had crawled under his bed and had given birth to a litter of pigs. The country in the immediate neighborhood of vSan Luis is extremely fertile, although sometimes it only rains once in a year. The Chorillos River, which rises in the Sierra de San Luis, is dammed, and the water is drawn off by conduits. The main dam is seven miles east of the city and I drove out there to see it. The road passes by the barracks and continues by fine fields of blue blossomed alfalfa in which fat cattle and horses arc grazing knee-high. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 73 There is a primitive park on the left of the road in whieh is an artificial lake, on which swains enjoy taking their innamoratas for rowboat rides. A crude attempt at ini- Estancia near San Luis tiating a zoological garden is borne out by two pens, one of which contains a three-footed hen, the other one being the prison of two sabors, or Argentine lionesses from the Sierra de San Luis. A stranger is surprised at the number of fine-looking saddle horses met on the roads. Nearly everybody rides horseback, many with good grace and ease of movements. The gentry use English saddles ; the poorer classes use those of Moorish type. The cab drivers 74 Journeys and Experiences as well as the horsemen gallop their animals through the streets at a mad pace. The air of San Luis is healthy and invigorating. I was surprised to note the great number of old people to be seen in the cit}' and its environs. In this respect it is exactly the reverse of Buenos Aires. The men and women are fine looking; the girls are beautiful with their laughing black eyes, their faces brown from the sun and wind, with a touch of rosiness to their cheeks; their figures are like- wise good. Argentinos and Spaniards alike call the native-born criollos or criollas, according to sex, the word meaning Creoles. It is by no means a word of contempt. There is quite a strain of Indian blood among the inhabi- tants. Seeing some dark-skinned people by the roadside, I asked my driver if they were Indians. He laughed as he answered : ' ' Son Criollos como yo. Son cristianos. " (" They are natives like myself. They are Christians. ") The word Indio, meaning Indian, is one of contempt and applies only to the members of the pagan and uncivilized tribes. There is much natural wealth in the mountains of the province, gold, silver, and sulphur, but nobod}^ cares to take the initiative about exploiting them. The unsettled coun- try greatl}' resembles the unfertile parts of California, it being a wilderness of mesquite, chaparral, wild sage, and juniper. There is also much cactus, the varieties ranging from the prickly pear to the Spanish bayonet. Every- where that water strikes the ground, wild flowers and vines spring up in rank confusion, the wild cucumber l:)eing common. One of the native bushes has pods on it like a bean, about the same size and s]ia])c, l)ut rather oily. Of the fruit trees, the apricot is cultivated ; grape vines grow to a large size, but their fruit is inferior to that of Mendoza. Although the inhabitant of the central provinces of Argentina is invariably of mixed l)lood, and is lacking in In x\rgentlna, Paraguay, and Chile 75 the culture of the inhabitants of the cities, he is more of a gentleman than the majority of those who belong to our select aristocracy. He is patient but by no means humble. Expecting no money remuneration for extending a favor or a courtesy to a stranger, he will willingly go out of his way to do so, but spoken to gruffly, will have nothing more to do with him. In San Luis I asked a cab driver where there was a good barber shop. The one he pointed out was filled, so I went out in search of another one. He saw me and driving down the street, overtook me, and offered to drive me to another one. Arrived at my destination, he refused any remuneration. The son of Pedro Nogera, the hotel proprietor, acted as porter. Upon paying my bill, which was trivial when compared with the services rendered, I offered the boy a small tip. He refused, say- ing that I had paid for what I had received. Who is there in such stations of life at home that would refuse a tip? Most would be angry if it was not given, and if the sum was too small, would go off grumbling. One of the peasants of San Luis that I consider a gentleman was my regular cab driver. Born in San Luis, he had never been out of the province. His name is Antonio L. Rojo. In appear- ance he is of large build, somewhat coarse, and inclined to stoutness. For the sum of one and a half pesos (6ic.) an hour, he agreed to drive me whenever and wherever I wished to go. Although inclined to be loquacious, he showed none of that grossness and vulgarity of character that our cab drivers are apt to demonstrate. This man knew his position and was most attentive in showing me the points of interest of the city and neighboring country. He was also well read in politics but never knocked. Occasionally he would stop and pick from the roadside fruit or flowers indigenous to the country to show me what grew in the neighborhood of San Luis. Upon 76 Journeys and Experiences leaving San Luis, I gave him a tip of five pesos ($2.14). This at first he refused to accept and only took it finally by my literally forcing it upon him. He was so dehghted with the money that he took a railroad trip to Balde, nine miles distant, to visit some relatives, and on the way offered to spend some of it to treat me. Shortly after leaving San Luis, westward on the railroad to Mendoza there is seen to the south the large brackish Lake Bebedero; it keeps in view a considerable distance. The short cut of the Buenos Aires Pacific skirts its south- ern end. The second station west of San Luis is Balde, a collection of straw and brushwood huts, the abodes of the peasants. One well, which supplies the whole community, has been sunk, water having been struck at a depth of 21 19 feet. It is artesian. Fifty-one miles west of San Luis, the Desaguadero River, muddy and deep, lying in a chasm between high clay banks, is crossed. This river forms the boundary line between the provinces of San Luis and Mendoza. The country is a flat wilderness of mes- quite which grows much larger than in our southwestern States, probably on account of the superiority of the soil, which here is a light clay. There is a considerable amount of alkali, but not in so marked a degree as in the western plains of North America. The mesquite, which grows to a great size, some of the trees having veritable trunks, is chopped and is used as cord wood and also as fuel on the freight and passenger trains. La Paz, not to be confounded with the Bolivian metropo- lis, nor with the Entrerieno town of the Parana River, is reached shortly before one o'clock in the afternoon on the daily passenger from San Luis to Mendoza. It has two thousand inhabitants and is seventy-four miles west of San Luis and eighty-eight miles east of Mendoza. It is im])ortant for here begins the cultivated zone which In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile ii extends as far as the Andes and which is known as the Zona del Riego. The estancia Hmits and the country roads are all bordered by Lombardy poplar trees, planted closely together. Our North American farmer who plants his fence trees a rod apart would be astonished to here behold them a yard apart. Notwithstanding their proximity to one another, they here attain a goodly height. Some pest seemed to have attacked many of these trees. Many of the leaves were turning brown and the trees dying. It is a curious fact that where this species of tree abounds, goiter is prevalent among the inhabitants. In northern Italy, parts of Hungary and Croatia, and in certain sections of the United States where there are many Lombardy poplars, people are seen with this affliction. CHAPTER IV -MENDOZA From Dr. A. R. Davila, proprietor of La Prensa, South America's largest newspaper, I received a letter of intro- duction to one of Alendoza's best known and wealthiest men, Dr. Juan Carlos Seru, a lawyer and country pro- prietor, who resides in a fine residence at 1055 Avenida San Martin. I went to see him to pay my respects and from him obtained some valuable information. Up to the present time viticulture has been the staple industry of the Province of Mendoza, the landscape being covered with vineyards as far as the eye can see. This business has been on such an increase that it has now reached its climax for Mendoza wines have not been exported out of the country to any extent. With the opening up of Neuquen Territory, which is likewise adapted to the growing of grapes, the market will be more than flooded and there will not be much future in the business unless there should be a large export trade. Steps have already been taken to introduce Mendoza wines into Brazil which have so far met with success. Since the European war, the price of grapes has dropped and many of the small j^roprietors have been forced to the wall. The large ones and old established firms have managed to reap the profits. The value of the vineyards all depends on their proximity to a railroad or to the city Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 79 of Mendoza. Dr. Seru owns seventy hectares of vine- yard two stations distant from San Rafael, a wine produc- ing district in the southern part of the province, which he values at three thousand pesos paper to the hectare; this would bring the value of a vineyard at the height of its production to approximately $512.40 an acre. One of the largest bodegas (wineries) is that of Tomba y Sella in Godoy Cruz, a suburb of Mendoza. It was originally a private concern owned by Antonio Tomba. A scrap among the heirs caused a division and it is now a stock company with Domingo Tomba as president and the largest shareholder. The wine is kept in cement casks. The most famous bodega, although not one of the largest, is that named Trapiche, owned by the Benegas Brothers, situated about three miles southwest of Mendoza. It has agencies in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba, Tucu- man, Bahia Blanca, and in Parana. One of the brothers lives in Buenos Aires where he conducts show rooms and a sales agency at 420 Calle Florida, while the others live in Mendoza, supervising the manufacturing end. I went to their bodega with Mr. Serii and was shown through the whole institution by the manager. The vineyard com- prises 538 acres. The winery at the time of my visit w^as about filled and has the following capacity: Casks Liters Total liters 4 100,000 400,000 2 40,000 80,000 20 30,000 600,000 60 20,000 1,200,000 44 10,000 440,000 30 8,000 240,000 20 5,000 100,000 180 213,000 3,060,000 8o Journeys and Experiences To this must be added 9000 barrels of 200 liters, total 1,800,000 liters, which brings the grand total to 4.860,000 liters capacity. These 9000 barrels mostly contain a brand of red wine named Reserva which sells for $51.24 a barrel. The wine sold in the bottle is i^, of a liter for it takes 280 bottles to fill the barrel. Perkeo of Heidelberg surely would have had a high old time if turned loose in the Trapiche wine cellars. Seven-tenths bottle of ordi- nary Reservada which retails in Mendoza at ninety-seven cents is selling now in Italy among the Mendocino Italians, who have returned home on account of the war, at $1.76. The Benegas Brothers manufacture seventeen brands of wine and two brands of unfermented grape beverage. The manager, who showed me around, must have thought I had a saintly countenance, for when I left the institution, instead of handing me some wine to sample, he poured out for me a tumbler of grape juice. I do not want the readers of this book to draw the conclusion from this that I left Mendoza without refreshing myself with some of the real article. The Tomba is the largest of all the bodegas, and there are many larger than the Trapiche; the Barra Quero being one of them. Not only do the Benegas Brothers manufacture wine and grape juice, but they have lately installed a cold- storage system at their plant for the preservation of grapes which are sent to Buenos Aires and other parts of the country to be eaten in the elite restaurants and in the homes of the wealthy. One kilogram (2H pounds) of table grapes from their vineyards retails in Buenos Aires from 56 cts. to $2.14 according to their quahty. Dr. Seru, seeing the results obtained from viticulture in this province was one of the first men to conceive the idea of growing fruit for canning as has been done in California. On his estate near San Rafael, he had some canned which In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 8i he sent to Buenos Aires to compete with some articles from CaHfornia. His product was found to be superior and to-day he has one of the best fruity?';/ an- in the repub- Hc. Gath y Chaves, the great department firm which has branches in every large town in the republic have decided to accept, for their trade, no other brands than his. This is a big feather in his cap because Gath y Chaves is the largest firm of its kind in South America. Dr. Seru is now endeavoring to get North American capital interested in Mendocino lands for he is of the opinion that fruit will eventually supersede viticulture. Fruit lands average about $51.24 an acre; orchards of plums, apricots, peaches, and pears, six years old, will cost the purchaser $683.20 an acre. These figures are nearly exact regarding their present worth (191 7), and if anybody who reads this book goes to Mendoza, not knowing conditions there, they should not be bluffed by other figures as these are nearly correct, they having been given to me by viticulturists and fruit growers of repute. Mendoza has been hit rather hardly in the question of labor for three thousand Italians alone have emigrated from the province to return home on account of the European war. Business is now at its lowest ebb, but of all the provinces ot the republic, it has undoubtedly the brightest future. It is going to be a great granary, and wheat is going to play an important part in its exports. Everything is grown by irrigation, and it has been found that grain grown this way there doesn't rot or soften as it does in other districts under similar conditions. Under ordinary conditions, the wheat yield in Aiendoza is fifty- two bushels to the acre; that of the whole republic is only twenty-three. A man on an experimental farm grew ten acres that averaged seventy-six bushels to the acre; figures that I had hitherto thought impossible. 6 S2 Journeys and Experiences There is no flour mill in the province ; neither is there one in the neighboring province San Juan. Sr. Emilio Vogt, manager of the Molino del Rio de la Plata, the largest flour mill in Argentina, which has a capital of $14,945,000, tells me that a flour mill cither in Tucuman or in Mendoza would be a profitable investment. One with a daily capacity of 30 tons would cost 300,000 pesos ($138, 100.00). It would need 200,000 pesos ($85,400.00) extra for working capital, bringing the total to 500,000 pesos ($223,500.00). He says he would guarantee a mill like this to make forty per cent, annually on the original investment. It would have all it could do to supply Mendoza city alone. Vogt says that in the flour business in Argentina, everything depends on the freight. The grain belt at the present time is midway between Buenos Aires and Mendoza. Wheat is shipped to Buenos Aires to be ground and the flour then shipped back over the same rails and beyond to Mendoza. This cuts a big hole in the profits. Since Mendoza is destined to be a great wheat country, the grain won't have to be shipped far to the mill if one is established there. The city of Mendoza according to the census of 1916 had 59,117 human inhabitants. Its neighbor, Godoy Cruz had a population of 16,021. The canine popula- tion of both of these cities outnumbers that of the human in a proportion of at least three to one. Only two dogs out of this vast number are of any consequence and they are on exhibit in the zo6lo;.^ical gardens. The other dogs are not worth the powder to blow them up. With the exception of Buenos Aires, Mendoza is un- doubtedly the finest city in Argentina and is the liveliest of the provincial capitals. It is a beautiful place with many Inroad avenues bordered by symmetrical rows of sycamore, plane, and linden trees. All the streets of the In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 83 newer part ot the town are well paved with rectangular cobble stones. Between the road and the sidewalk are ditches paved with round polished stones and spanned by bridges under which rivulets of muddy water flow. I have been told that in this respect, Mendoza bears a similarity to Guatemala. The sidewalks are paved with tile of various somber colors and designs. The residences are mostly one story in height built of a brownish brick or of adobe and stuccoed. The town presents an ex- tremely verdant and refreshing appearance largely due to the murmuring of the running water that is everywhere. The Plaza San Alartin, the principal one, though to me not as charming as the Plaza Pringles in San Luis, is the finest in the republic. In its center is a large equestrian statue of the guerrero, San Martin, looking towards the Andes. From its center, eight walks, the tile paving of which cost the city forty thousand dollars, radiate, the four center ones containing little islands of flowers. The corners of this plaza which are sunk about two feet below the level of the street are round. In this neighborhood much of the activity of the city centers for here are the Grand Hotel, Hotel Bauer, the cathedral, the Spanish Bank of the River Plate; the Bank of the Province of Mendoza (a huge building in construction) ; the Bank of the Argentine Nation and the Municipal Theater. Near- by is the post office. There is another plaza, that of Independencia, which is still in an embryo state. It contains four city squares and when finished is expected to be a masterpiece. Work of grading is now in progress but it is being done so slowly that I conjecture the year 1920 may not witness its com- pletion. In the meantime horses graze on the tall grass and alfalfa that will be eventually dug up to be planted to 84 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile trees and lawn. This is supposed to be the exact geo- graphical center of New Mendoza and on it faces the capi- tol and governor's residence. Both these edifices are but one story in height ; the former covering an entire block. Statue of San Martin, Mendoza The city is divided into nearly equal parts by a broad avenue, that of San Martin, formerly the Alameda which runs north and south. These two parts are called by the distinctive names of Mendoza which is the western section and Old Mendoza, the eastern one. Old Mendoza, which I think contains ilu' greatest population is in the form of a trapezoid, while a .3 CO 'S 85 86 Journeys and Experiences the new city is that of a square. The old city was the part that existed before the earthquake of 1861. It was nearly totally destroyed and has been rebuilt again. The best to do inhabitants instead of repairing their ruined homes, laid out plans for a new and better city with wide streets and spacious parks. It is this new part that to-day is the most important. Old Mendoza with its one-stor}', primitive adobe buildings, in some respects resembles San Jose de Costa Rica, although it is not nearly as fine and clean a city. Its streets are treeless and most of them are never paved. The poor element lives here. The old plaza with its dirt walks, which was formerly the center of the city, is a full mile from that of San Martin. The ancient crumbling unstuccoed adobe pile which was the prestine city hall is now an almshouse. There are no residences in Mendoza which can be termed palatial, that of my acquaintance. Dr. Serii being the best. It is a two- story structure on the wide and shadeless Avenida San Martin, hemmed in on both sides by shops. The resi- dence of Domingo Tomba at Godoy Cruz is the finest house in the province, but it is in a poor location, on the busy and dusty plaza of that small city. Regarding the earthquake in Mendoza, "Until 1861," writes Dr. Martin de Moussy, "the Province of JMendoza was not aware of the terrors of an earthquake. The vio- lent shocks that had at different times agitated the Chilean provinces seemed to lose their intensity on going over the chain of the Andes. The inhabitants only knew slight tremblings of the earth previous to then. March 20, 1861, one of the most violent earthquakes ever recorded de- stroyed in a few seconds the city of Mendoza and buried one-half of its inhabitants under its ruins. At 8:30 P.M. that night, the town was totally destroyed by one of the most violent earthquakes ever experienced. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 87 The sky was perfectly clear; the atmosphere quiet; the greater part of its inhabitants at home, although some of them were enjoying a walk in the Alameda and on the plaza. Suddenly a subterranean noise was heard, and at the same moment before there was time to escape, all the public buildings and private houses were falling in with a tremendous crash. The walls fell outward and all sides of the rooms and the roofs came down in the center so that the inhabitants, both those who were inside the houses and those who w^ere on the streets were all buried beneath the debris. The movement was first undulatory from northwest to southeast and afterwards seemed to come from below upwards. Its violence was so great that in the gardens many people fell down. In the Church of San Augustin, where mass was being held, only one person escaped alive. He was a drunken man asleep in the vesti- bule. The pillars fell in such a way that he was uninjured. Fire started by broken lamps and from kitchen braziers. The debris of the earthquake clogged the canals and started a flood. Food ran short and the stench of the corpses which could not be taken from the ruins was awful. The fire raged ten days. When everything was normal again, it was estimated that at least ten thousand people perished. The Almanaqiie del Meusajero gives the total number of victims at fifteen thousand. The shocks were continued at frequent intervals until the end of May. There was a suggestion to rebuild the city on some granite hills known as Las Tortugas but old ties and affections pervaded so a new city was built directly west of the Alameda which is now the Avenida San Martin. The ruins of the churches of San Francisco and San Augustin should be visited. The Parque Oeste (West Park) which its name indi- cates is in the western part of the city. It is built on a S8 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile scarcely perceptible general slope, and to my idea out- rivals that of Palermo in Buenos Aires, it being more natural and rustic. It is not yet entirely completed, but that part of it which is, nearly attains a perfection. It is spacious and its broad avenues, cross lawns planted to trees indigenous to the country. There is a fine music pavilion and a zoological garden there. Westward from this park and past the hospital in the course of construction, a broad road bordered by year-old Carolina poplar trees takes one to the mile distant Cerrito de la Gloria a 1300 foot hill which rises abruptly from the desert Pampa. Its eastern slope is planted to eucalyptus, various generi of cactus, pepperberry, and other trees and shrubs. Dependent on water which is forced through a conduit to the top of a hill, they have in the three years of their existence here attained a marvelous growth on what was formerly a barren waste. Serpentine automobile roads with no balustrades coil upwards around the hill. It would be no place for a joy ride. A driver in very sober senses drove off the road in broad daylight in August, 191 5. The only occupant of the victoria beside himself was a young girl. They both saved their lives by jumping but both the horses rolled over into the ravine and were killed. The summit of this hill is crowned by a gigantic monu- ment of granite and of bronze erected in 19 14 by the Argentine Republic in commemoration of the Army of the Andes which crossed that giant barrier and defeated the Spaniards at Maipu and at Chacabuco in Chile. It was unveiled on the centennial day on which the army left IMendoza. The monument is a Goddess of Victory look- ing northward. (It was northward through Villavicencio that San Martin's army went.) The granite pedestal formed from three huge blocks of massive rock has em- Monument to the Army of the Andes, Mendoza 89 90 Journeys and Experiences bedded in it a bronze bas relief, depicting the cavalry, artillery, and infantry of that time with the famous general and his ofificers and also a reception given to the liberators after their victory. On top of the bas relief is shown the number of men comprising the conquering army, classi fied as follows: Superior Ojficers Officers Soldiers Artillery 4 Infantry 9 Cavalry 4 Militia 16 124 55 241 2,795 742 1,200 Engineers 120 Total 5310 men including 212 officers. There were 91 91 mules and 1600 horses. The names of the heroes dear to the Argentine and Chilean public are engraved on one bronze plate in order as follows: San Martin O'Higgins Las Heras de la Plaza Conde Cramer Alvardo Zapiola Beltran de la Quintana Condarco Cabot Paroisicn Freire Mansilla Zentena Arcos Martinez Guiraldez Lavalle In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 91 As to hotels, Mendoza can boast of none that are first- class according to the standard of those of the average European or North American city of its size, although the Jewish hotel of Emilio Levy which tries to be inter- national and neutral (but which is not), is the best. It is named Grand Hotel San Martin but in colloquial conver- sation the suffix San Martin is usually left out. Levy is an Alsatian Jew as well as are his immediate entourage of hirelings and some of the printed sheets of German atro- cities in this European conflagration that his clerks dis- tribute on the dining-room tables and in the corridor are evidence to show the wandering Briton or Frenchman that his money is solicited even though he may receive kosher food for it in return. The rooms are large and clean, most of them opening on to a patio as is the custom of the hotels in provincial Argentina. The food is good but I am sorry to say that it is lacking in quantity as well as in variety. Three years ago, while I was in Mendoza, this same hotel set a fine meal and a large one but one must take into consideration that the greater the variety of food as well as the quantity, the greater is the cost, and Jews are always out for the money. The Apulian bartender knows how to draw a nice schuper of Quilmes beer, but I am told that the barman of the Hotel Bauer across the plaza on the Calle General Necochea keeps his draught beer better. The only serious objection I have to the Grand Hotel is its middle class Yiddish clientele of all nationali- ties who stare rudely at the other guests and while eating, wave their forks and knives as they loudly explain some anecdote. The Hotel Bauer, patronized by Teutons, runs largely to cafe and barroom which are the only departments of this institution in evidence from the street. The dining room and the bedrooms are in the rear, but the bedrooms are 92 Journeys and Experiences small. The Hotel Italia is "free and easy. " They have a regular rate but if a person brings a woman companion to his room who is not his wife or of any consanguinity, he is charged double. Mendoza is no smokers' paradise. Cigars dry up in the dry atmosphere and become as crisp and brittle as tinder and as dry as powder. As to amusements, there are none save a few cinematograph shows and a bagnio named Petit Eden. One of these moving picture shows was showing films of the Willard-Johnson fight. It was such an attraction that the place was jammed. I had seen no moving pictures of the fight as yet, although I wanted to, as I had witnessed the genuine article in Havana. I was dumbfounded at the finale after the twenty-sixth round to see my visage conspicuous in the foreground displayed upon the white canvas, as I did not know that I had been within range of the camera while at the fight in Havana. The Province of Mendoza is rich in mineral springs due to the volcanic Andes. The most famous of these springs is that of Villavicencio about sixty miles northwest of the capital in the fastnesses of the mountains. It was through here that San Martin marched his army on his way to Chile. He came out at the point where the railroad now lies at the farm of Uspallata. The Mendoza agents of the Argentine Brewery have bought the spring and trans- port its waters in bulk to Mendoza where they bottle it. To the north of the Province of Mendoza lies the Pro- vince of San Juan with an area of 33,715 square miles. It together with Mendoza and San Luis, formerly formed the Province of Cuyo which belonged to that part of the Spanish dependencies that were governed from Santiago, Chile. In character, San Juan is much like Mendoza although it has less fertile lands. This is due to the fact that while Mendoza has three rivers which serve to irri- In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 93 gate it, San Juan has but one. San Juan is noted for the superior quaHty of its figs which here thrive to per- fection. Its capital city is also named San Juan. It is ninety-eight miles north of the city of Mendoza and is reached by the Buenos Aires Pacific Railway which here has its terminus. It is a small town of 14,595 inhabitants with shady streets and of ancient appearance. Most of its houses are of adobe. It is also the seat of the bishopric of Cuyo. The bishop is Jose Americo Orzali who has held this post since 19 12. Leaving Mendoza westward, the narrow gauge Tran- sandine Railway runs parallel to the canal of the Mendoza Rive, and crosses it twice. Several kilometers out, the snow-capped peaks of the Andes are visible, among them Aconcagua, vSouth America's highest mountain and extinct volcano in Argentina near the Chilean line. This great height of twenty-four thousand feet was first ascended by E. A. Fitz Gerald after several efforts, but since then it has been scaled several times, there being guides at Puente del Inca to take mountain climbers to the summit. Twenty miles from Mendoza, we enter the defile of the Mendoza River, and are in the midst of the Andes. I left the train at Cacheuta, where at that thermal resort, I put in forty-eight hours. There are hot springs at Ca- cheuta and a small establishment was built as they were found to contain qualities beneficial for rheumatism and kindred ailments. The trade of the place increased until it became necessary to drill holes into the ravine bottom to pump the hot water out for baths. The patient is apt to get worse for the first five days after the beginning of this treatment, but then gets better and improves until the course is completed. The Gran Hotel Cacheuta is a sumptuous and luxurious affair built on the style of which we are erroneously led to believe is Cliff Dweller archi- 94 Journeys and Experiences tecture like the Hotel El Tovar at the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. I was not long there before I found out that the main attraction of Cacheuta was not the baths but instead roulette and nickel-in-the-slot machines. The first mentioned game was in full swing; a separate building was given over to that form of joy producer. Chips cost Waiting for the Train at Cacheuta a peso apiece, except for the three dozen, red and black, and odd and even, where a five-peso chip must be thrown on the green cloth. Little girls not more than twelve years old watch their beplumed and besapphired mammas win or lose. Long-robed priests wander back and forth, occasionally placing a bet where their holy inclination tells them to; vermuth glass in hand, they are seen in the bar- room to walk up to the products of Mills and of Caille and to the tune of a twenty-centavo piece watch for their luck. In Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile 95 In the way of scenery and other attractions besides the bath there is nothing at Cacheuta to divert one's time. It is a society place for gambhng and a place for rest for the tired business man. It is wonderful, however, to see what man has done in a place not favored by nature. The barren mountains obscure the view in all directions; the sandy On the Terrace at Cacheuta soil can bear no vegetation. Here and there are to be seen the corrugated iron huts of the railroad workmen in front of whose doors their numerous brown-skinned off- spring are playing. Through the whole scene runs the turbulent Mendoza River, muddy with silt and sand. Not far above Cacheuta is Potrerillos, where it is pleas- ant to see a speck of green. Steers graze in alfalfa fields enclosed by tall poplar trees. A stock company was formed to bore a tunnel two kilometres through the 96 Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile mountains to the plain, deviate the stream from its course by running it through this tunnel and which once through, would irrigate new lands. As it would also render waste the lands now under cultivation, the wine growers and agriculturists served an injunction on this company stopping them in their undertaking. The tunnel is com- pleted, but it is a hundred to one shot nothing will ever come of it for the company tried to steal the river. The whole trip to Santiago over the Andes so often de- scribed is one of great scenic beauty on the Chilean side where the descent is very abrupt and where one can look down the whole length of the valley of the Aconcagua River which is cultivated where nature will allow. That on the Argentina side is grand with the giant peaks in the neighborhood, and also awe-inspiring, but it is apt to be tedious. The last stop of importance in Argentina is Puente del Inca, where there is a thermal establishment and electrical works. Here there is a natural bridge under which the Mendoza River flows and which gives the place its name. High up on the mountain side are curious groups of rocks which from the valley appear like people praying. They are named the Penitentes. The crest of the Andes is pierced by a tunnel at an altitude of 10,364 feet. This tunnel is 9848 feet long, 5460 feet of it being in Argentina and the remaining 4388 feet being in Chile. It takes eight minutes to run through it on the train. In the winter time when snow blocks the passes so it is impossible for trains to run, travelers between Argentina and Chile ride through this tunnel on horseback. About 1500 feet above the tunnel at the summit of the Cumbre there is a statue of Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) , seen by me on several occasions as I have crossed the mountains on horseback. It was designed by the Argen- tine sculptor Matteo Alonso. It is of bronze and is over T 5i'