The Republican journal., 1906-01-18
Housekeeping in Argentina.
The WAYS of the Women are Much the
Same. With Variations, the World Over.


special Correspondence of The Journal
HTFNoS AYREs, Dec. I, 1905. Ii you
5s,lred to set up vine and Zig tree OF
,-.1,r own in the capital of this southern
republic, you would find your worries in
H. house-hunting line as great as those
~. ,- encountered in Washington, ID. c.,
,lIcb. as everybody knows, is notorious
,,- the difficulties 1t presents to would
s- home makers. In both cases there
are Louses enough and to spare, but the
-lIr thereof is out of all proportion to
.F-,r real value, and each has Imperfect
IONS to which it is hard to become rec
Incl! ed. Having just passed the million
mark in population Buenos Ayres is
.5.5u ''on the BOOM" 1t is now the
.I1rteenth city of the world in inhabi-
.gats. and is by far the largest city on
western hemisphere outside of New
5-..,. Chicago and Philadelphia. A few
--- ago Rio de Janeiro was many
sands ahead of it; but now the
n-.y.an city is far behind. During
... year there arrived in Argentina
.....v one hundred and eighty thou
.... mmig2ants-a third more than
-leyious year. Argentina has an
about the same as all the United
s.. -,- east of the Mississippi, although
..g lation, all told, is smaller than
PennsylYania-not quite 6,000,-
households of aristocratic Ar
ans a great number of servants
uuloved-at least one to each
-c Of the family. and often two
re times as many. My lady must
Ia 4 nd orr
-. his valet. and every child its
al nurse: besides housekeeper,
md. cook, porter, coachman, foot
.. moz0S. table walters, house-girls,
-rryantS servants, altogether too
rous to mention. The dependent
best paid and most considerable
ated is the anna dc leche, or wet
-- whose services are required in
.. t FAMILY where there is an infant.
-f0nable ArgentinianS take pride ID
- ing up this important parsonage
Decking her In smart ribbons and
Like the French bonnie, when she
- ut with the master and mistress,
LIE often does, she must wear a
r cap with long stTeamers and a
muslin apron trimmed with lace:
r. ese are the only tokens of servl-
..a she shows, and by them-that is
. .He length of streamerS and depth
II ace and multiplicity of ribbons, the
.ar standing and financial status of
Employers may be accurately fg
.r.. If she is successful in rearing
II harges she is overwhelmed with
ST. + clothing and money. and comes
E.. 0- looked upon as friend of the
.ae.y Most of the ''amas" are mar
~-i women of the poorer class, who
. that it pays them better to go ont
sing other peoples babies to the
.,r Of so OF $50 a month, besides
keep and many perqulSites and
IF. the additional advantage of a
cement for their husbands, than it
..- 10 take care of their own. SO the |
a.4~ child is sent to be nursed by a |
an of humber degree than herself |
me emigrant italian Neapolitan fe- |
.a- peasant, who is only too glad to |
u" amy number of them for twenty |
rty dollars year; and 1t is said |
II they seldom fail to nurse their |
Iorsaken charges out of this cluel |
in course of few months.
.m the keeper of the keys down to |
-tcuen scrub all the servants are |
us. as the native lower classes are |
-j and all but the petted anna de |
are poorly paid and held in viz
avery but quite as well as they |
~ to be. The Chino is by nature |
3.. dirty and indifferent, but devot- |
his master soul and body An in !
IaL specimen in the house would |
cough to drive methodlcal |
-rr lOu>ekeeper to tile verge Of |
action but viewed as d class they |
Interesting, because of certain |
tal ugluess, like that of a pug |
Jr a bit of japanese brlc-a-brac.
are q dWarlish people, with
.rgs and enormous heads, taWny !
lat features and wiry black hair, |
the women Wear braided in two !
pig tails, but when cut short sticks |
.trught all over the mems heads |
lie bristles in a backing brush, /
cir native heath-the Canto, or |
their homes are primitive to a
-e Wretched huts made of branches |
sun-dried mud, matched with |
- no windows, no door but an old |
k-t, no floor but mother Earth, and |
MIXTURE but coW-Skin for bed,
lots of home baked clay and two
Zee bags of goat or pig skins sus
I'd from the ridge pole. The small
Uldren tumble about entirely naked,
uother and her half-groWn girls at
... only in chemise and calico skirt,
after having to serve as a family |
IF overing at night. 1t is not a
~ for wonder that servants drawn I
a such surroundings and transplant
w.. d. civilizations should be dirty and |
Tiled. Among these denizens Of |
Pdmpa the marriage service is |
as simple as that of their near
aeighbers, the ostriches. The |
IN swain proposes to the father of |
1T one she cen hardly be called |
and no voice or will of hers has |
ing to DO in the matter. If the |
sal he fRvorably considered, the !
Ter is Invited to pass the night in |
rides expectant home, where she !
'H 1t one end of the room beside her
o'.Ner, aud he in another corner with
.~ father, where they spoon at long
alse, 50 to say, with giggles and ten
- dances. Next morning before day
l-ik he is off to the woods, to kill, or
'--.rr still to catch alive, an ostrich,
W.u pig or deer, to take to his lady
.,s As d proof that he is expert in the
-a-e and can supply her material
watts If be does not succeed in
srtAring or killing anything, he does
l'' return and the engagement is forth
2 declared ''off;" but when he comes
spoil, there Is great rejoicing. The
mother takes the saddle from his
and places it uron the exact spot
SILL. id the family hes meanwhile select