The Republican journal., 1905-12-28
add THINGS IN ARGENTINA
Nnsic Costs the Government More Than
the Maintenance of Public Schools. The
heaviest "Staple" of Consumption is
Tobacco. A Falstafian Army.

{
loklng over the archives for Argen-
statistics | have come across some
r things. For example,: In a COM
tive exhibit of the expenditures of
provinces for public schools
brass bands, | found that the latter
+ decidedly the best of it. In sever
{ them the music costs the govern
t about the same as the mainten-
, of all the schools put together; and
ne province of Roja nearly twice as
IA. Even in remote districts where
governors are paid the smallest sal
5 there is always a wide and elastic
gin in the annual appropriation
rewith to pay the pipers for anus
the meandering populace on MOON
Z evenings and Sunday afternoons.
re is no village so insignificant but
is open air concerts at regular and
uent intervals, and the critical
lgh largely Observation-Disclosures
out en- masse from adobe casas
Straw-thatched huts to listen to
music of the masters and will not
lie Indifferent performances The
tge United States band, with its
-piittlng instruments and prepon-
nee of drum, would be stoned ont
an before it was half through with
rr The Ball Is Over
universal custom in all parts of
Ssh America to promenade to good
Oh the plaza ''in the cool of the
when, according to holy writ, the
walks in the Garden, might we'll
in our own country, wher-
md whenever the Wretched climate
termit. Given the soft warm night
IT. semi-tropics, a golden moon at
uli, the splashlng of fountains, the
nee of flowers, and the light I'M
ri to love-lit eyes, to the accom-
ment of southern music, and you
4 combination of circumstances
ated to make one forget the pro-
tbIngs of life-home temporarily
led.
other odd thing is the official rec
.f Argentlna'S annual consumption
nUacco, chiefly in the form of cigar
$ In addition to the considerable
Int of tobacco grown in this coun-
The estimated value of that import
rom Paraguay, Brazil, Hamburg,
men and the West Indies, exceeds
Ye million dollars a year. The total
of tobacco for the five
rs preceding the present reaches the
NOUS amount of 81, 2S3, 267 kilos. A
e report states: eff we add to the
nifty of tobacco annually imported
amount of the native product it
be safely estimated that the yearly
9Nmption of the weed of Argentina
,derably exceeds seven million XII
Assuming that there are one mil
smokers among the entire popula-
# the republic, the annual con
ptlon is seven kilos per capita. The
J, Ut the yearly output of the native
nries, at the Wholesale prices, is
10000 currency: which, on the as
.rI basis, gives an average of thirty
dollars per head-decidedly more,
impartial observer would think,
. many of the heads were worth.
argentina everybody ''of the male
uaslon' and some of the female
Nes continually. Here one never
,he familiar pIacards Of the North,
smoking allowed" posted any
e, in restaurants, or railway cars.
,utel parlOrs, or concert halls; but
rs are supposed to be as well sea
nj to smoke as the men. In public
r, the clerks are permitted to smoke
lag .ong, and | saw an old report of
model institution, the National
in which, among other uncon-
-'i titles, there appeared an item
10000 for cigars for the di-
uls - for one year, Last year
elhlug over ffty-three million
D., we're imported into Argentina,
-p mention the large quantity
Ii to have been Struggled in, be
tAr %, GOO, 900 cigars manufactur-
-. the country from the imported
Although the consumption of
'rso II this form reaches such high
lr~ that of cigarettes is almost
.'t times as great. 1t is practical
possible to transact any kind of
uass in Argentina without the ac-
Haniment of the omnipresent
lite. You call upon a gentleman
ny sort of negotiations, and no
'er how early or late the hour, out
rs the inevitable atado of cigar
s. not usually made up. but the to-
o which looks like coarse gun
jrr packed into papers; and it is
tccomplishment akin to fine art,
ured only by long practice, to
'ty Tie packet into the palm of your
rand, give 1T a roll and stir and a
pat with the forefinger of your
= replace it in the paper without
my a grain, and finish off the
cite with the polished grace of an
rutinlan whose lips meanwhile
"eI compliments and polite phrases
totuse and unsubstantial as the
.ht WreathS that presently curl up
G,.
'+ Argentine National Army con-
~ 8, 800 men, and 900 officers. In
RI # war this force could be raised
'out 10000 by calling out the re-
~s, not including the National
t-Gs, III which every able-bodied
,entlan is bound to serve and which
use of invasion could muster 400, 600
.r Thus this republic possesses an
live fighting force equal to nearly
IN percent of the entire population.
'ime of serious disturbance, aliens
liable to be pressed into the ser
f. Of the nation unless provided with
sports. In points of physique the
mon soldier of Argentina is not
)reSsive. Aside from the President 5
Il guard of few picked men, his
tage height is considerably below
teet--a very large number being
,er four feet-an army of pigmies
posed chiefly of Patagonian Indians,
tanned Guaranis and other subju-
ri chlnos, with a liberal admiXture
riminals from the States prison. Ii
Id be hard to find more villainous
ing horde than the rank and file
eountenances of the majority being
Ktd with the brand which nature has
united upon the savage eXDreSSiV