The Indianapolis journal., 1899-01-29

hands Of the English. Some have been
built much like our roads at home with
heavy capitalization, and with their ups
and downs on the stock market. 1t is safe
to say, however, that more than half
billion dollars has been actually spent in
constructing railroads through the Argen-
tine. In 1896 the capital stock of the roads
footed over 500, ,O00,0 600, and their gross re-
ceipts were more than $31, 10000. while the
expenses were not more than 100000
This made clear profit of $l60O0.O00 gold
during that year. The most of the roads
are English broad gauge, or wider than
any of our roads at home. The rails now
being used by the Southern Railway weigh
seventy-four pounds to the yard. They
are of steel. They are imported from Eng
land, from where most of the rolling stock
has been brought, although now the chief
companies have their own stock and are
making cars. There are a few Baldwin
and Rogers engines, but these are chiefly
on the government lines
Italians are the chief railroad workmen.
The work is done by contract, one Italian
taking a gang and doing his work by the
job or the yard. The captain of each gang
is called capitaz and he is responsible for
the work of his men. Upon road in Pata-
gonia which 1 visited 1 found twenty gangs,
each containing ten men, laying tracks.
They were given so much per mile. The
workmen lived in tents which they put up
along the railroad and they were supplied
with provisions from a provision car
A GROCERY STORE ON WHEELS.
This provision car of the Argentine is a
curious railroad institution which l have
not seen elsewhere. 1t is called a provi-
deria, and it is, in fact, a little grocery and
department store on wheels. The car is
fitted up with shelves, upon which are
clothes, tobacco, liquors, groceries and in
short everything that the men can possibly
want 1t has storekeeper in it, who
furnishes goods to the railroad men at the
lowest possible rates
The company supplies the goods and pays
all the bills. 1t keeps about $4,000 worth
of goods in stock, and sells them to its
men at such rates that its profits are about
per cent. 1t puts the goods at such prices
that the men know they can buy more
cheaply of the provideria than at the stores
For instance, good Italian wine is sold
for about 40 cents of Argentine money a
quart. This is less than Is cents American.
Beef costs about cents of our money a
pound, and clothing is proportionately
cheap. Among the curious things l saw in
one Of these stores were London jams and
Indian chutney. saw olive oil, macreni and
all kinds of crackers.
was interested in the track layers and
visited them in their camps was told that
a man could live on about 20 cents of our
money a day. and that the average man
received about $25 gold month and saved
about so cents day out of his wages. The
men complained that their tents were too
that only four cots could be placed in each
tent. But five men were allotted to a tent,
and so one man had to sleep on the ground
Among the discomforts Of railroad riding
in the Argentine are those which come
from the wind. 1t blows on the pampas at
time with all the force of a Kansas bIiz-
zard. am told that while the road from
Buenos Ayres to Mendoza was building the
cars were sometimes blown off the track
and that it was customary to put sails on
the freight trains and allow the wind to
push them along over the rails. This, how
ever, / doubt, as / am prone to do other
stories told here in this land of luxury, lazi-
ness and lies.
do not doubt, however the stories as to
the dust. There is no land where the dust
blows more than it does here The dust
storms are thicker than snowstorms They
sometimes stop the cars, filing the grades
and cuttings so that you need plow to get
through During q storm a few years ago
it took 1900 men a week to clear the track
of one of the roads.
Such duststorms sometimes obscure the
sun, and if rain comes while the dust is
in the air it brings down a shower of mud,
which paints the houses and fences and
everything with a sticky mass II the rain
continues the wood is secured clean by the
mud, but if not, it is left in a most de-
plorable condition.
1 have heard Of duststorms which have
filed the floors Of the cars, the dust being
so fine that it went through the windows
and doors, and l know to my sorrow that
such storm will coat your face and
clothes in ten minutes with thick coat of
dirt, and make white man and Indian, Af-
rican and Caucasian of the same gray COM
pleXion. II will cause your lips to crack
and coat your tongue so that you feel as
though you had been biting into one of the
apples of Sodom, and had got therefrom a
mouthful of ashes.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.