Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1891-07-25
MONTEvIDEO.


M0NTEvIDEo.
A Inpert.nt Csnnsrolal Clty Due lAtsie
kn0wn 60 Americana.
No city IN South America has greater
Advantages in geographical position than
Montevideo. the capital Of the Republic,
and If IL possessed only good port, its
prosperity would be multiplied tenfold.
In the bay, it appears, the depth Of
water has diminished five feet within
the past seventy years, and now does
not exceed fifteen feet at the deepest,
while the roadstead outside the Cerro is
so exposed as to be one of the most dan.
gerous in the world. The Rio de IL
Plata is by no means the ideal river that
many believe it to be; indeed, after
every strong pampero you may count
wrecks and ships aground between the
estuary and the island of Martin Garcia
literally by the score. For want of .
port or protection of any kind, all bust
ness Is interrupted while the pampero
Is blowing, communication between the
shore and the ships anchored in the
roads being impossible. The necessity
of loading and unloading by means Of
lighters and tugs renders the operation
exceedingly expensive, and in many
cases the costs of landing goods at
Montevideo are equivalent to the freight
of the goods from Havre. Hamburg. or
Liverpool. Ever since 1862 there have
been various schemes proposed for max.
ing . port, but all have fallen through.
During my visit in 1890 no less than
twenty-one costly projects were sub
mitted to the Department of Public
Works, but the well-informed consid-
cred that none of these projects was
likely to be accepted. To all of them
two grave objections were to be made:
First of all, the enormous cost; and Sec
ondly, the fact that all the projects were
based on the gaining OF land as prin-
cipal object, of course with . view to
lucrative speculations, after the example
of the harbor and dock works of Buenos
Ayres.
Landing at Montevideo is often ter.
rible and even dangerous operation.
The ocean steamers anchor two miles or
more from the shore, and after the for
malitles of the medical inspection have
been accomplished and the quarantine
flag hauled down, small steamers are
moored alongside. the baggage is low
cred, and then the passengers have to
make perilous leaps from the foot of the
gangway to the decks of the tugs.
start, painting and putting, threading
their way through ships of all sizes and
descriptions anchored in the roads. The
Panorama of the city is grand.
To the left. forming the western
point of the bay, is the. Cerro,
that gives its name, Montevideo, to the
town; on the summit, 1877 metres above
the level of the sea, is fortress built
by the Governor, Elio, after the capitu-
lation of the English in 1908, and used
as lighthouse and observatory; at the
foot of the Cerro the broad bay sweeps
round. crowded with small craft, and
joins the turtle-back promontory on
which the old town is built. Seen from
the river the points that strike the eye
are the bill on the left, and on the right
the vast custom-house depots, the fine
new hotel, and the towers of the cathe-
dral and the churches rising above the
white and Oriental-looking silhouette of
the town, that slopes up from the water
and attsins in parts q height of 100
metres above the level of the sea- The
landing-stage is at the end of the Gus
tom-house, q wooden wharf or jetty pro-
vided with narrow wooden staircase, at
the head of which the changadores, or
porters, wait in line to carry baggage.
The want of good police regulations and
fixed tariffs makes itself felt here as in all
the ports of South America. The new
corners, and the natives too, have to
submit to much extortion, although the
porters of Montevideo and the whole
service of the landing-stage are better
managed than at Buenos Ayres. The
hotels of Montovideo are all poor, the
food they provide is inferior, and often
exeersbly prepared, and as there are no
other restaurants except those of the
hotels, there ia no alternative but to
suffer.-From "The Republic OF
Uruguay" in Hdrper's Magazine.
Satan's Invention OF Dyspepsta.
By those who know whereof they
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