The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-02-09

Tn addition TO these purchases. the
Argentine tool many other American
goods. / see our machinery and ma
chine tools in all the big cities. AS
| rode across the Pampas l saw the
armer thrashing with American
thrashers, and away down in Pata-
g~oniaChicago windmills are scattered
over the desert. The Argentine bough
SO, 900 barrels Of apples OF US last
year, and it is adding to its purchases
of cement and cash registers, as Wen
| as wagons and carts and automobiles.
| The people are friendly to us They
| have recently erected q statue of
George Washington in the prlnclpdl
| park of the capital. They k our
| manufactures, and there is no reason
| why we should not compete with 9TH
er nations in almost any branch OF
foreign trade.
One of the great openings Of the
present is for coal. Since the fight
ing in Europe began, the prices OF
fuel here have been as high as s14
a ton, and there has been such a coal
scarcity that some OF the factories
and mills have stopped running and
the railroads have reduced their pas
| senger service. In 1913 Argentina
imported about 1000, 900 tons of coal,
| Of which about one-fortieth came
from our country. The most Of the
balance came from Great Britain.
The coal used here is bituminous, and
it is no better than the P~Ocohontas
and other kinds of United States coal
Soft coal is now bringing about $40
q ton at RIO de Janeiro. 1t could be
brought from Newport News so as to
be sold for much less, and now is the
time to make the introduction.
There is a big opening here for
motor cars and all sorts Of vehicles.
So far the most Of the high-priced
automobiles have come from Europe,
as many as 1900 having been i'm
ported from France shortly before the
war began. They are now selling
many cars of a cheap make we'll
known in America, and the demand
for these is on the increase. Their
is a good taxicab service here, but
the taxis are largely French made.
They seem to do a good business, and
Will take you trips Of more than q
mile for so cents each. Argentina is
improving it's roads, and Buenos
Aires has plans for new streets that
will require $500, 600, 900 before they
are carried out. This will include an
immense amount of paving material,
and especially wood paving blocks.
Many of the best streets are OF such
!. blocks laid in cement.
Argentina is a rich field for plant
ing American dollars. The British,
Germans, French, ~SpaniardS and Ital-
ians have long known this and they
have their money invested here at the
capital and throughout the republic.
The British lead. They are said to
own about two thousand million dol
lars worth Of property of n kind
: or other in Argentina, and they have
more than $1,000, 600, 900 invested in
; the railways. They have taken the
bulk Of the private loans Of this coun-
; try, and it jars them to see some OF
the public loans going to the United
States. Argentina is rich in
] but h has to have money from the
outside. She is in about the same
t shape as we were thirty or forty years
t ago and she needs millions for pub
e lie works Of all kinds. Among the big
things now under way are the plans
: for paving Buenos Aires and the i'm
provement Of the harbor and docks
S and other port contracts. The city is
e now putting in subways. It has al
: ready one of the best in the world
and it is constructing another OF &
0 length Of over six miles. The plans
for the latter were prepared by j. G
n White & Company. There is much
$ land Improvement going on and there
are irrigation and pumping scheme
which will require a great deal O.
capital. In the valley of the Rio Ne.
g gro is an irrigation scheme that viii
d redeem 500, 900 acres OF desert, ant
n there are other schemes for dykins
and drainage of the lOWlands alon.
the Parana river hat require the ex
penditure of millions.
II JUS now times are hard in Argen
tina. At the time the War began tn,
0 country was suffering from a financial
stringency, and there had been failur
after failure, amounting to millions
e There was practically nothing doinj
d at the stock exchange, and every on
was complaining. The war mad
things worse, and thousands of me-
are now unemployed. There are 80,
as 600 out Of work in this city alone, an,
similar conditions obtain in Rosari
,e and in other places. The government
h is doing what it can to give the IN