The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-18

find score of young girls in Buenos Ayres
who have any such education as Is given
at our first-class women colleges.
FAMILY LIFE.
1t is hard to learn much about family life
in the high circles Of the Argentine. Each
family is run as a close corporation, and
when a son is married he usually brings his
wife home. Sometimes an addition is built
TO the house, and the newly married couple
move into 1t. The sexes are not kept apart
as much as in the other countries of South
America before marriage; still. there is no
such indiscriminate calling and counting as
in the United States If young man pays
any attentions to a girl he is understood to
mean business. and If he goes to her house
often he is expected to ask her in marriage.
When he calls he does not see his sweet
heart, and ne is not permitted to be with
her without the family is present.
After marriage there is more freedom, but
even then women are closely watched.
am told that the women are usually faith
full to their husbands, and it is said that the
percentage of good married women is great
er in Buenos Ayres than in any capital of
Europe. You seldom hear of a scandal in
connection with wife or mother of a high
as divorce, although there are separations.
The women are very proud and their regard
for their children often keeps them from
making a fuss about things which other
wise they could not pardon. As to the men,
there are many good husbands, but there
are many who have as loose ideas OF such
things as you will find in Paris, and who
model their lives after much the same style
fho% 0ff Ia Of cf nf he oh
novels. The percentage of illegltimate
births is very high.
THE WOMEN AND THE LOTTERY.
The women are the religious element of
the community. They keep up the churches
attend mass regularly and manage all the
charities of the country. One of the chief
charitable organizations presided over by
these ladies is supplied with funds from the
national lottery. a certain percentage Of
which goes to them. This lottery has draw
ings weekly and the sums realized are
enormous. The women take charge Of
them and spend the money for charity.
Such actions cannot have but bad effect
upon the character of the people. You can
not make child think it is bad to gamble
when his mother handles the iH-gotten
gains, matter for what good. The result
is that the Argentines are nation of gam
blers, and Buenos Ayres to-day is as badly
affected by its lottery was New Orleans
when the Louisiana Lottery was at the full.
There are drawings every week, the
grand prize some weeks rising to upward OF
100000 in silver and at every Christmas to
1000, 600. Last year SIS, 100000 worth of lot
terry tickets were sold. There are now lot
terry offices in every block. You meet lot
terry ticket peddlers on every corner, and
you are not safe from them even at the
doors of the churches. Among other gam
bling institutions are the ball alleys, the
raca course and the stock exchange. / shall
write of the stock exchange in another let
ter. But in the lotteries, the ball alleys and
on the race course 1 see by a statement
in a Buenos Ayres paper that $47, 100000 were
and lost last year, while the sales at
the stock exchange footed up the enormous
amount of $436 Geo gold. The total for
eign trade of the country during that year
was less than $120, 900 800 gold, showing that
three-fourths of the business of the ex-
change was done on worthless paper There
is great deal of private gambling in
Buenos Ayres. There are card tables at the
clubs where a hacienda may be lost in a
night, and there are many small gambling
bells which carry on their business contrary
to law under the very eyes of the police.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.