The farmer and mechanic., 1915-05-04

The COnvcntllOS OF SiuHs " T,:
Aires. Large Families and Iheif
onc.Room HOmes-High Rents
and Market Prices. The Italians
and Spaniards-What the Unions
Arc Doing. Pensions for RailrOad
EmplOycs-Womcns WOrk-A Sys-
tenn of school Teaching Introduced
by Yankee SchOolmarms.
copyright, 1915 by Frank G. Car
penter).
Buenos Aires. May 2.
Times are hard in Argentina Eng
land and France, the money-lendlng
uncles Of South America, have taken
down the three golden balls from over
their doors and shut up shop on ac-
count of the war. The result is that
public improvements are at stand
still, new contracts cannot De unOer-
taken railroad building is practically
stopped, and there are thousands OF
men out of work A recent census OF
Buenos Aires shows that many thOu-
sand laborers are looking for jobs, and
the conditions are almost as hard in
Rosario, Bahia Blanca and other
large cities. There is no other neutral
country that has been more affected
by the war. The Argentinos live up
TO their incomes, and little ahead
Of them. They are speculators, and
borrowed money is the life blood OF
the nation. The most of the loans
come from abroad, and the tightness
Of the money market before the war
began had caused many failures.
Those of 1913 aggregated total of
more than $50,OO0,OO0 in gold. There
were more failures in 1914, and the
outlook is that 1915 may break the
record. All this affects employment
conditions and brings hardship to this
land Of riches and plenty.
1t is a mistake to suppose that the
Argentine population is made up of
land barons, cattle barons and sheep
barons 1t also has tens of thousands
of laborers, thousands Of small farn-
ers, and, altogether, some millions
who have never had a silver spoon
in their mouths The people are
largely of foreign birth. The country
has been absorbing immigrants at the
rate OF about 1000 a day. and fully
one-fourth of the whole population is
composed of Italian peasants, who
have come here to settle or work. In
addition there are some hundreds OF
thousands of Spaniards, Russians
Austrians, and Syrians, and there also
is the large proportion of poor Argen.
tinos, who act as the cowboys for the
great eStancieroS and who live from
hand TO mouth. They dwell in mud
huts, cook their mutton and beef
over the Goals, and, like as not, sleeI
on the floor, which in many home
is the bare ground.
This city Of Buenos Aires has some
of the palaces of this hemisphere 1
has long avenues lined with magnifi
cent buildings, a capitol which ha
cost so much it is called the "hOus,
of gold" and upon it's streets You will
see the best dressed men and womel
of the world. But there is anothe
ha Of
aces also is a city Of novels, a city O
warrens. The outskirts are peppere
with galvanized stone boxes, Whic
stand out on the plain without re
gard to order or artistic surrounding.
The suburbs of Buenos Aires are tn
meanest l have seen anywhere. an
the city has places where the peopl
are crowded together as in the slur
districts of New York and London.
The tenement sections are largel
mad up of conventilloS. These an
immense buildings of one or tw
stories, running along narrow pa.
sages or around small courts. Fac
conVentillo contains scores upC
scores of tiny, one-roOmed homes.
single room forms the dwelling pla.
Of one or more families, and in SON
cases it is so small that the washir
and cooking has to be done outsit
in the court. The most of these hom
the door, and their only light com
III TIE same way. Many of them ha
but one bed, occupied, perhaps, by Il
parents, and the rest of the fami
sleep on the floor. There are
means of heating such dwellings, al
they look more like caves than t
homes of twentieth century human:
Buildings of this character are to
found scattered throughout Buen
Aires. Many have been destroyed
the new street improvements,
tthers still exist under the shadows
the great stores and fine public bull
ings. l visited such a one the otf
DAY. 1t was not far from the Ora
Opera House, where the charge fo1
seat in the pit is SIG per night enou
TO feed poor family two weeks. T
conventillo consisted of a two-st.
building surrounding a court alb,
six feet in width and 200 feet 10
The walls on the longer sides of
court were so close together that
stone tagging was perceptibly v
and | could feel the damDneSS thro,