Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-18
BY REX COLLIER.


gentina is a tempest in a teapot stirred
up by small group of European agi-
tators of Communistic leanings, whose
activities are discredited by the gov
eminent and by the rank and file Of
the Argentine people.
The agitators, encouraged possibly by
interests reSentful of American trade
aggression in South America, have sue
| ceeded in gaining the ear only of the
uniformed and the ignorant. Their
| radical dissertations against Yankee
(, imperialism" are an insult to the intel
| ligence of the great masses of the Ar
| gentine people.
No better evidence of the fact that
this constitutes the actual situation ir
Argentina can be cited than the mar
velous cordiality of the reception ac-
corded the Hoover good will mission ir
the beautiful capital Of the second
largest South American republic.
Argentina, fearful lest she might be
misjudged through such activities OF
anti-American agitators as the Sacco-
Vanzetti demonstrations, the bombing q
year before of the National City Bank
| and the recent discovery of a plot to
bomb the Hoover special train on the
outskirts of Buenos Aires, went to ex-
tremes to prove her friendship for the
United States.
Riotous Welcome Staged.
She rounded up scores of suspects
and put them in JAIL she threw an
extraordinary military guard around
| the Hoover train to insure it's safe en-
| trance into the capital, she bedecked
| the capital most laviShly in madi gras
| dress, she sent her President to the
| station to greet the mission and she
| inspired her citiZenry to stage riotous
| welcome in front of the Central Argen-
! tine Railway station.
The bomb conspiracy, handily frus-
| trated by agents of the government I'M
der the personal direction of President
Hipolito Irogoyen, was, without doubt,
an echo of the Communist demonstra-
TON attempted in Palo Alto on the
eve of Mr.. Hoover's departure for Latin
America. Only meager details of the
eve Of Mr.. Hoover's departure for
Latin America. Only meager details
| Of the plot were received by those
| aboard the train bearing the good
will party to Buenos Aires The
| drastic military precautions instituted
to guard the train as it approached the
capital, while designed to allay alarm
on the part of the mission, really tend
ed to create an opposite effect Some
of the members had not regarded the
bomb reports very seriously at first,
but when they were handed special
| military passes by the Argentine off,
| Gals, who had boarded the train at
Mendoza, and when they found that
every foot of the route into the city
/ had been placed under elaborate mill
tary and police guard. there was more
or less general lifting of the eyebrows
Tension Lessons at Cheers.
AS the crowds along the track grew
larger and the cheering and waving
of hats and flags became more frequent
the tension of those on the train less
| ened, however. Certainly there was
nothing sinister, nothing unfriendly in
| the spontaneous cheers of these crowds
| in the suburbs of the metropolis.
Tt was the wild greeting of the en-
thusiastic throng at the Buenos Aires
station that dispelled the last vestige
| of anxiety. The frenZied, friendly mob
broke through the supposedly imper-
vious Gordon of police and soldiers as
| Mr.. and Mrs. Hoover entered presi-
Dental limousine, and in an instant
the automobiles of the party were sur
rounded completely by a surging sea Of
humanity. 1t was tidal wave of pop
ular acclaim-the answer of the Argen-
tine people to the exhortation Of agita-
tors that they treat the American
visitors with silent contempt"
Before that onrush of men, women
and children the gendarmerie was help
less for several moments. Mounted pc.
licemen charged at the crowds with
their horses, swinging their clubs free.
ly. American Secret Service men were
caught in the jam and one or two Of
them narrowly escaped being crushed
between prancing horses and the de.
fenSelesS automobiles. The horses
were pushed against the cars and
frightened by the excitement, reared al
times as though to climb on the run.
ming boards or tenders of the presiden.
tial automobile.
Hoover Worried for Crowds Safety.
The President-elect and his wife hat
worried countenances during the feigh
of the commotion, not in fear of an,
act of hostility, but of the possible &C,
cidental consequences Of the outburst O.
friendly hysteria. The police at las
managed to clear the way for the auto
mobiles, and the party proceeded
through crowd-congested, decorated
thoroughfares to the American embassy
Newspaper men and photographer
with the party, in the meantime. hat
been lost in the first charge of the spec
tatorS, and special arrangements fo,
their reception and conduct to hotel
were rendered useless. The photogra.
pliers were unable to take any pictures O
the spectacular reception, for it was al
they could do to hold onto their camera!
and suit cases. Automobiles had beer
provided to carry the press to the embass,
or their hotels, but the cars never were
located. A growing Spanish vocabu.
larry, however, enabled the correspond
ents to find their way to the excellen
hotels, where rooms had been reserved
for them.
The streets of Buenos Aires wer,
ablaze with special illumination for tn,
occasion. FeStoons of electric light,
colored red, white and blue had trans
formed the broad Avenida de Mayo int
fairyland of dazzling splendor, ana
outlined upon gigantic arch of light,
were the words Welcome, Herber
Hoover"
The peculiar chants of Argentin,
newsboys filled the air until early morn.
ing, as extra editions of many of "B
as" papers were run off the presses
The city has more than 200 newspaper,
ana magazines in half dozen Ian.
guages, and many of them published
special Hoover editions during the Pres
ident-elect's stay there.
Two Leading Papers Vie.
La Nacion and La Prensa, the tw,
great rivals Of the Argentine press, yiet
with each other in the effort to suppl,
their readers with news of the visit art
information of biographical natur,
about Mr. and Mrs Hoover