Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-22
COST OF LIVING
IN BUENOS AIRES
TOPS THE RECORD
A Four-Room Heated Flat RAM.
for $11O a Month, and Shoes
Sell for Sis a
Pair
TOILET SOAP Sill A carr
Food Prices About the Same =. !.
American Cities, but Wages
Are Lower

BUBNoS AIRES, Argentina. An.
maiD.- A cake of toilet SOAP retsr,a Wg
25 cents in the United States costs y
here. This is typical of Argentina Ill I'll
generally. They are perfectly tss.,ss ICES
stupefyingly incredible. ine
Drugs cost three to four timas -,
they cost in North America, ordlnarv Vim snN
brushes SO cents EACH everyday gloves Il
pair
A four-room steam-heated fat in
but not aristocratlo part of this c,,v ssA ~
not be had for less than s1lO y,a~.s f
A smaller fiat minus the heat, NAV ~ hVl.a "
at $3.50 There are four or Ave r,os.sa
here during which heat must be bsd 0aus Wy
Cardiff coal, virtually the only kina "as y
the market, costs from S2s.16 TO tss ~ ~
sometimes bit more. 'S
In the remote suburbs tiny Iittla 49, :.
houses may be rented for $3.50 mon,S
sans heat sans light, sans everything y,
cept four walls. -
Meat is not high, as Argentina ia a r...
country. The very fanciest cuts oi 49,
steak may be had at 25 cents a norrs
Ribs and rump steaks cost 17Is cents
pound; mutton, 10; veal, 3Ok cents. ana
pork, 22 cents. "'
other items of household expensa MI,
be about like this: Butter, IA; bread km,
coffee, IA; tea, 39h; granulated surav
Ii: chickens, 35 cents a pound.
Milk costs cents a quart. Eggs a,.
4S cents a dozen.
A suit which would cost s25 IN N..
York or Chicago or San Francisco. casa,
s45 in Buenos Aires A pair of s5 or "A
American shoes cost SIS. An ordinary s,,,
of winter underclothing costs $40, United
States money.
The man who buys his wife a not ov.r.
fashionable walking suit must pay $50 Tor
it. If she is not too particular he can
get her a bonnet for $40.
The beer is good, but it costs IL cents
per glass. A waiter must bring each gasa
to a small table, and every time he er.
poets a tip of cents Whisky, including
the tip, is % cents a glass,
There is virtually no such thing as
cigar for less than cents, and these ara
virtually unsmokable. Havana cigars cost
from A cents up.
The man who falls i'll will have to pay
an ordinary family doctor So a visit. II
his teeth hurt him, it will cost him IS an
hour to have repairs made, unless he goes
to an expensive dentist, in which case there
is virtually no maximum limit.
People who like to keep clean must pay
to their washerwomen approximately the
same prices as are charged by the highest.
priced New York laundries.
Roughly speaking, II costs about twice as
much to live in Buenos Aires as II costs
to live, not, perhaps, in New York. but In
Chicago.
A citizen of the United States who goes 10
the Argentine metropolis to live on the
same salary he received at home may con.
slider that his income has been cut In two
and will be financially wise If he readiusti
his expenditures accordingly.
Living expenses are higher in Argentina
than in any other country in South America
Why prices are so high in Argentina b
not entirely clear. For one thing, u
countrys population is small and II =
plenty of money, so that If the cash wa
evenly distributed the per capita weaA
would be high. Furthermore, 1t Is nOts
manufacturing country. 1t lacks workng.
men in sufficient numbers; II has lttls
water power and 1t has almost no fuel
There is considerable prospecting for oil
If 1t should be found In adequate quantities
IL will be a godsend and ought to maka
billlonaires of the discoverers. In the mean.
time manufactured articles have to b
brought from a long way of, which costs
money.
Finally, internal transportation facilities
are primitive and shipping, plying to foregn
ports, is in a few hands,
To a considerable extent, however i
looks as If 1t is expensive to live in Argen.
tina, simply because the people who furnish
the necessarles of life are able to extort the
money.
The average Argentine is not paid for bis
work in proportion to what he has to psI
for his living.
A salaried man is considered in possesson
of a good, round income II he receives slse
to 5000 monthly. OF course this does mol
go nearly so far as 1t would in the United
States.
Bricklayers are paid from $3.50 to sahs
daily, but do not have work all the time
carpenter, who also has periods OF unen'
ployment earns $3.50 TO $3.50 daily.
There is a wide variation, according .
season, In what an unskilled laborer re
ceives At times he gets as low as 80 peso
and at others as high as 80 pesos monthly
or in United States money, from sls2S
$500. c. p