Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-19

How? Why, by its smell. There is a great
slaughter house on the Cerro I'M which 200.
Geo cattle are killed every year. and from
which during a land breeze a dissustns
odor is waited over the waters. | knew
was coming to Monteyiieo long before
could see the city by this smell.
4 Look Mt the Hnrbors
The Bay OF Montevideo Is naturally ont
Of the finest in the world. It is in the shapt
Of a horseshoe six miles in circumference
and so large that ! 900 ocean steamers coult
be In II nt one time. Hundreds q steamer
formerly cast anchor there This is not th
case now although more than 1000 ship
call at the port every year. The waters o
the Rio de la Plata are filled with mud, an
for the last seventy years they have beel
dropping this mud into the bay. They hay
been filling it up at the rate Of an inch
year, and now no ship which draws NOR
than fifteen feet can come in. The result
is that the ocean steamers must anchor fan
out in the river and all goods have to bt
brought in upon lighters We we're carried
to the city on a steam tug, our ship re-
naming several miles from land.
For years Muntevideo has been planning
to dredge out this bay. It is estimated thai
1t will cost 100000 coo to clear It, but The
result would be worth much more than thai
to the city. 1t would make it the chic
| port Of the River Plate, as it Is already
the chief port of the country. There are
now daily steamers from Monteyideo tC
Buenos Ayres. and every day or so you car
get ship from this city to Europe.
There are also steamers to and from the
ports OF Brazil, and there are boats here
which will take you for thousands OF miles
up the Parana, Paraguay and Uruguay
rivers. / travelled more than l2OO miles
on river steamers in coming here | TOOK
ship at Asuncion in Paraguay, and after
couple Of hundred miles on the Paraguay
river travelled something like 500 miles on
the Parana and $50 miles on the Rio de Ia
Plata to reach Montevideo.
Fine Public Buildings.
I find Montevideo better built than the
other South American cities | have visited
About one-ffth of the houses are Of three
stories. They are made of stone quarried
nearby and are in architecture more like
the cities of Europe than those of South
| America Many CT the houses are covered
with stucco and some OF them are painted
| in bright colors. Some are very large. The
| Soils theater, for instance, covers almost
two acres, and will seat 5000 spectators
| It was built more than forty years ago anC
| cost $500, 900 at that time. Sarah Bern
hardt has played in it and not long age
Patti sang there at her usual high prices.
| Another fine building is the Bolsa, OF
| stock exchange, at the corner of Zavala anc
Piedras streets. This was built in 1853 anc
cost Just about half as much as the opers
house. 1t is the stock gambling place Of
! Uruguay, and like the stock exchange OF
Buenos Ayres has seen some notable crazes
| Uruguay went wild along about 1880, as
! did the Argentine. 1t had one bank whost
capital was $l2, 600 900 and whose stock
! after its failure at that time dropped dowr
! so per cent below par At present there are
Il number OF good banks, some of the larg
est being branches of the foreign banks a
Buenos Ayres. Money brings good rates ot
interest, and so far as l can learn all OF
the banks pay dividends.
| Speaking of money matters in Uruguay
| this is the only country | have visited which
| is on solid gold basis. In Peru, Chill, Bo'
| livia and the Argentine l got about three
| dollars for one when | presented my letter
| of credit at the bank, and in Paraguay
when | made a draft for 500 gold l usually
received about $500 in Paraguayan money
This was very pleasing, indeed, for al
! though tho money was not worth SO much
it went q great deal farther than the same
amount when reduced to gold. In Monte.
video an American dollar is only worth 90
cents and for an English pound you only
get $4.72.
/ Cab fares here cost so cents a trip or 81
an hour. In Buenos Ayres l paid only 81
an hour in Argentine money, and this would
have been less than SO cents Uruguayan
| The result is that everything is dear anC
money does not go half so far. At the hote
| | pay $3.50 n day, which is almost a golC
dollar a day mere than l paid at BuenoE
Ayres, where the rate was IS in Argentine
money. A bottle Of St, Julien which l haC
the other day cost me 81 and everything is
proportionately high.
uruguny's New National Bank.
There is now talk of establishing a banl
with capital OF 100000 coo, which shall bC
under the control of the government ant
| which will have the right to issue bank
notes to half the value CT the capital sub.
scribed. This bank will be called the Banl
Of the Republic. 1t will have the right II
pay its notes in gold or silver at its owr
| discretion and the president and directors
are TO be appointed by the government
! This bank will in all probability reduce
! Uruguay to a silver basis for any suct
! financial institution under South American
government cannot be trusted. The officer!
in power today may be all right, but those
who may possibly come in by the revolution
OF tomorrow all wrong. national bank
like this would always be at the mercy Of
the president and there is no telling wher
an executive may arise who will not EN-.
bezzle the funds. Borda, the last president
had nothing when he was elected. When ht
was assassinated his estate was worth So,
OOO,O 600 and his widow today has villas
farms and gold galore. Another president,
am told, stole about $5,OOO,OOO from the
national bank during his administration, He
had the appointment of the directors of the
bank and would send down for $50, 900 at
| one time.