St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-05-23

A SOUTH AMERICAN PARK.

A SOUTH AMERICAN PARK.
Oss-Door Recrsatioas oe the People d
Baenos Ayres.
Buenos Ayres has its Bois de Bon
iogne or Rotten Row in the Parque 8 d
Febrero. situated to the north Of the
town, and close to the river. On 0ul
way to this rather distant park we have
an opportunity Of seeing some Of the
handsOmest modern houses in the capr
tai. in the vicinity Of the Gallo Juncal,
Avenida dc Ia Republica and Avenida
General Alvcar, the last . fine broad
and long road, destined some day to vie
with the Partisan Avenue du Bois de
Boulogne. Few of these speci-
mems Of domestic architecture
are remarkable for good taste OF
| originality; the models. as We have
| already observed, are almost invariably
borrowed from France, and adapted to
Argentine needs with little discern
ment One millionaire wants . small
Pitt palace built; another prefers the
chateau of Bl0is; third requires copy
Of neat Renaissance villa that he saw
In the Pare Monceaux at Paris, always
with the addition of little more orna-
ment; and as there il no building stone
in the Argentine, caryatides, capitals,
pillars, balconies, cornices, and every
molding and detail, are made of stucco
by ingenious Italian workmen, who
build up remarkable monuments of in
sincerity over simple framework Of
brick and iron.
The Parque s de Febrero, commonly
known as Palermo, is prettily laid out
and covered with fine trees and shrubs,
but, with the exception Of the two ave-
nues-planted, the one with palm-trees.
the other with firs-where the daily
show Of carriages takes place, the walks
and roads arc not kept up with all the
care that could be desired. In double
file the procession of carriages moves
up one side and down the other, under
the superintendent of mounted police;
few horsemen canter in the intcrven-
ing space between the lines of carriages,
amazons are very rare; loungers and
spectators on the sidewalk are also rare.
There is really little to distinguish the
promenade of Palermo from the usual
dull staring match which all great CAPT
tails have in one form or another. Its chief
characteristic is want of animation; ii
is silent and funereal; the women in
carriages, mute and expressionlcss, seem
fulfilling doleful duty as they sit in
their cOupes, landaus or victorias, often
drawn BY fine Trakencn, English or
French horses, imported, like the carri-
ages, at great expense. The latest ma
mia amongst the rich ArgentineS is to
have imported carriage horses and hand
some carriages. You even see young
.'bloods," marvellously clad in putty
colored of cream coats, adorned
with broad seams and buttons rs
large as q saucer, perched on lofty
English dog-carts, and trying to drive
tandem. In short, SO far as il concerns
horses and carriages, Palermo makes
an excellent display. As for the
ladies, you see many girls Of strik-
ing beauty, but very few mature wom-
en- who are not disfigurcd by excess of
adipose deposit, and both old and young
abuse poudre de riz and veloutine. The
costume of the ladies of Buenos Ayres is
entirely a Ia Parisienne.
Still to the north of the town-the
one near Palmero and the other at Bel
grano-arc two pleasant race-courses.
the Hippodromo Argentine and the Hip
podromo Nacional, with fine and
picturesquely-sit tracks and
tastefully-designcd .tribuncs On one
or the other courses there
are races on Sundays and fete-
days during the winter months. under
the direction Of jockey club. and
with all the formalities and apparatus
of the race meetings of Europe. Tho
Argcntines are becoming great buyers
of European stock, and they already
have their stud-book and important and
well-stocxcd racing stables. AS races
are usually pretext in civilized coun-
tries for gatherings Of elegance and
fashion, ! went to the meetings at
Buenos Ayres on several occasions, but
my observations were each time iden-
tical. In the tribune Of the members
of the jockey club counted about
a dozen ladies'; scattered over the
other tribuncs and on the lawn
might be seen about the same num-
Der of cocottes; the rest of the public
was composed of men and boys For
this rough horde of human beings the
only interest that the races offered
was the betting, conducted in the Ar
gentine, as in Europe, by means of the
mutual pool or pari mutuel system. On
each race the totals amounted to fifty
or sixty thousand dollars, and the mo-
ment the race was over there was 4
roar of many feet and . stampede from
the tribune to the paying Offices
Theodore Child, in Harper's Bazar.
The Inventor Of the Panorama.
The panorama was invented by Q
Scotchman named Robert Barker, who
obtained n license in I.OndOu IN 1:0- a nd