Buenos Aires

“ If the best parts of Buenos Aires are as tasteful as those of Paris, there is plenty of ugliness in the worst suburbs. On its land side, the city dies out into a waste of scattered shanties, or "shacks" (as they are called in the United States) , dirty and squalid, with corrugated iron roofs, their wooden boards gaping like rents in tattered clothes. These are inhabited by the newest and poorest of the immigrants from southern Italy and southern Spain, a large and not very desirable element among whom anarchism is rife. ”

“ But Buenos Aires is one of the world's great cities, and always just beyond the asphalt you can somehow feel the pampa and its endless cattle and wheat. The Rumanian capital is a town of some three hundred thousand people in a country you could lose in the Argentine, and there is nothing, comparatively speaking, to offset its light-mindedness, to suggest realities behind all this life of patisserie. ”

“ Such was Buenos Aires within the memory of men who do not yet consider themselves old; such it is still in the average imagination of the outside world. It is with something stronger than surprise, therefore, that the newcomer finds the Argentine capital to-day the largest Spanish-speaking city on the globe, second only to Paris among the Latin cities of the world, equal to Philadelphia in population, resembling Chicago in extent as well as in situation, rivaling New York in many of its metropolitan features, and outdoing every city of our land in some of its civic improvements. ”

“ The city of Buenos Aires itself, of which the docks have already been described, is simply a glorified port for this trade, and for the produce of a wealthy hinterland. The old part of the town, in which all business is transacted and which most impresses itself on the memory, is a labyrinth, or rather chess-board, of terribly narrow streets. ”

“ On leaving the docks and driving up into the city, the visitor is at once impressed with the fact that Buenos Aires is not so wholly wrapped up in the purely material as is our commercial center on Lake Michigan. It has broadened along more æsthetic lines and is cultivating the graces, not alone the sordid features, of cosmopolitanism. In the newer parts, particularly in the fashionable suburb of Belgrano, the buildings and shaded boulevards and beautifully landscaped parks resemble rather those of Paris; although it is not behind our own big cities in public utilities. ”

“ The architecture and adornments of the city, the culture, education and manners of the inhabitants, their inborn courtesy and generous instincts combine to explain the admiration which all who visit the city never fail to entertain and express. The cosmopolitan character of the population, the palatial residences—the broad and spacious avenues, museums, libraries, art galleries and other unmistakable signs of the high degree of culture of the citizens, fully justify the description of Buenos Aires as the Paris of the western hemisphere. ”

“ The destiny of this town is a singular one, condemned, as it has been, to an unceasing strife, sometimes with enemies from without, at others, with more formidable foes from within; and which, in spite of these ceaseless struggles, is still one of the richest and most flourishing cities of Spanish America.
Like all the towns founded by the Castilian adventurers in the New World, Buenos Aires is placed in a lovely situation. Its streets are broad, laid out by rule and line; the houses are well built, with a garden to each, thus affording a pleasant prospect. ”

“ Season of awakening grace and enchanting harmony, with nothing of the torpor of hot climates, the over-vivid colorings of the tropics, nor of the sluggishness of those lands where nature puts human energy to sleep through a long winter! Springtime in Buenos Aires! The air quivers with a dust of gold, which seems to float [Pg 149] down from the brilliant sky, emanate from the trees, the flowers, and the grass, enveloping the buildings and transfiguring the human beings who pass through it. Springtime in Buenos Aires!
But for Monsalvat the spring was a season of sadness. ”

“ As a small instance, in Buenos Aires the habit of the Spanish siesta is abandoned. There is no pulling down of business shutters between noon and three o'clock. The climate is enervating, but be the day never so steamy, with hot gusts panting from the north, the city is early alive with commerce, the suburban trains are packed, the Stock Exchange is a babble of excitement—and there never seems to be any drawing of rein till five or six in the afternoon. ”

“ On every hand the traveled visitor is reminded of this or that other great city; it is as if one were visiting a newly laid out botanical garden in which the origin of most of the plants, taken from old established gardens elsewhere, is plainly evident, with only here and there a native shrub or a curious hybrid to emphasize the changed conditions of soil and climate. When one has noted the origin of nearly all its human plants, it is no longer surprising that Buenos Aires seems more a European than an American city. ”

“ Buenos Aires is something between Paris and New York. It has the business rush and the luxury of the one, the gaiety and pleasure-loving aspect of the other. Everybody seems to have money, and to like spending it, and to like letting everybody else know that it is being spent. Betting on horses is the favourite amusement, and the races the greatest occasion for social display. An immense concourse gathers at the racing enclosure and fills the grand-stand. The highest officials of state and city are there, as well as the world of wealth and fashion. ”

“ In order to compare the architecture of Buenos Aires to that of another city, let us choose Paris or Vienna because the Argentine capital is a city that is fundamentally European. Although more beautiful in buildings than either Paris or Vienna, it can hold no comparison to them in the massiveness and solidity of the edifices in either of them. Nearly all the buildings in Argentina are built of the poorest imaginable brick, loosely fitted together, but little mortar having been used. ”

“ The city of Buenos Aires has not the picturesque environment that adds so much to the natural beauty of the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Mexico, nor the harbor capacity of New York; nor are its culture and civic personality, perhaps, as deep-rooted as in Boston; it makes little pretension to the aristocracy of blood boasted by the still essentially Spanish Lima; nor has it yet attained such distinction as a national center of art, literature, and music as has the Brazilian capital. ”

“ Probably few cities are more difficult to describe than Buenos Aires. Its streets are quite as narrow as those of Italian towns, but every one is full of noise and bustle. This absence of wide streets, squares, boulevards, and parks greatly detracts from its magnificence; the wood can never be seen for the trees. ”

“ Mayo is inferior to the Avenida Central of Rio in length and splendour of appearance, as Buenos Aires must always be inferior to the Brazilian capital in beauty, but this disadvantage is far more than counterbalanced by the prosperity and enterprise of the inhabitants who in these respects leave their neighbours far behind.
Every one admires the buildings of Buenos Aires. ”

“ Buenos Aires has become the principal manufacturing centre of the republic, and its industrial establishments are numbered by thousands and their capital by hundreds of millions of dollars.
The growth of Buenos Aires since settled conditions have prevailed, and especially since its federalization, has been very rapid, and the city has finally outstripped all rivals and become the largest city of South America. At the time of its first authentic census in 1869, it had a population of 177,767. ”

“ The most remarkable thing about Buenos Aires is how fast one can get rid of one's money with so little received for it in return. Everything costs half as much again as what it should, with the possible exception of clothes and shoes. ”

“ Buenos Aires remained a dependency of Asunción until 1620, when the Spanish settlements of the La Plata region were divided into three provinces, Paraguay, Tucuman and Buenos Aires, and Garay’s “city” became the capital of the latter and also the seat of a new bishopric. The increasing population and trade of the La Plata settlements naturally contributed to the importance and prosperity of Buenos Aires, but Spain seems to have taken very little interest in the town at that time. ”

“ Buenos Aires is evidently a city j it has a civic hurry and excitement ; there is a polished manner of citizen in it ; the first glance tells us that it is not, like Monte Video, a town. The houses, especially externally, are palazzi, built by Italians, who partly follow the Spanish taste ; they appear remarkably fine and solid after the poorer architecture of the Brazil. ”

“ The people regret the cramped proportions of the town, and, in the days of the great boom, they cut the handsome Avenida de Mayo through the congested streets, and its fine effect shows what a sumptuous city Buenos Aires would be if the process were extended. ”

“ Depicts Buenos Aires in its role as hub of a nation's commercial, industrial, and agricultural activities. Shows such typical citizens as a grain broker at his executive duties, and a packing plant employee at home and at work. ”

“ Buenos Aires from very early times has had a brisk trade. Even in the seventeenth century the traffic in hides excited the admiration of travellers, and at the end of the eighteenth century the new and liberal commercial policy pursued by the [215] Home Government resulted in a promising development which was roughly checked by the Revolution. ”

“ One-fifth of the entire population dwell there, for the head has outgrown the body. “Paris is France,” says the Parisian, but the importance of that capital to France is outclassed [23] by the significance of Buenos Aires to Argentina.
Buenos Aires is a wonderful city, and its inhabitants are a remarkable people. Italians and Spanish abound there in great numbers; thousands of French, British and Germans have found a haven on the low bank of the Rio de la Plata, and it would be difficult to find a race in Asia or Africa that has not its representatives in that cosmopolitan metropolis. ”

“ But business life and political life, as well as literary and intellectual life, are so concentrated in Buenos Aires as to make it to dwarf all the other cities and give to it an influence comparable to that of Paris in France. ”

“ I very soon realised that American progress, the rapid increase, that is to say, of the wealth of Argentina and the incessant modernisation of the customs and institutions of the country, were a sort of national religion, which was accepted by most people with a blind credence. So in the end, I was persuaded that this ardent faith in progress must be attributed to the preponderating influence of Buenos Aires, that immense city, almost half the population of which is composed of European immigrants in search of wealth. ”

“ There are almost a million and a quarter of these busy people who make their homes in Buenos Aires. In the New World it is exceeded in population by only three cities of the United States. It is as cosmopolitan as New York, and is the hub and centre of the whole republic. On the vast pampas grow the grain and meat which sustain the energies of the factory workers of Europe, who, in turn, send to Argentina the product of their looms and machine shops. ”

“ There is a number of that pattern of Englishman in Buenos Aires. There are excuses for them. They go out under a three- or a five-years' contract to some post. A lad is a stranger in a strange land, and has yet to pick up Spanish. He naturally consorts with his own countrymen. ”

“ You see, when Buenos Aires was really founded, it was in 1580, sixty-four years after the River Plate was discovered by Solis, who called it the River of Silver, because he believed [34] silver could be found on its banks. They called the city 'Good Airs,' because of the fresh, invigorating quality of the air that blew over from the vast prairies. This first settlement grew, and others farther into the interior sprang from it; all of them Spanish settlements; and in 1661 the King of Spain recognized them as a colony and appointed a governor. ”

“ Buenos Aires, however, will always maintain her political and commercial supremacy. She is not only the capital of Argentina, but out of every five Argentinos, she claims at least one as a denizen of her narrow streets. Already ranking as the second Latin city in the world, her population equals that of Madrid and Barcelona combined.
Hardly has one left the docks on the way to the hotel before one is impressed with the commercial power of this great city. ”

“ The capital was constantly becoming richer and more attractive with its brilliant court functions, its gay carnivals, its fashionable promenades, its theatre, balls and splendid religious festivities. In 1778, during the administration of the Viceroy Guirior, Amat’s successor, the viceroyalty of Buenos Aires was formed, embracing the former Audiencia of Charcas. ”

“ The people, however, appear well contented with Buenos Aires as it is, and it undoubtedly possesses the usual attractions of great cities. The opera and theatres are said to be very good, and the Argentines are keen musical critics. ”

“ Buenos Aires deserves its name, for its air is clear as well as keen, there being no large manufacturing works to pollute it with coal smoke. The streets are well kept; everything is fresh and bright. The most striking buildings besides those of the new Legislative318 Chambers, with their tall and handsome dome, are the Opera-house, the interior of which equals any in Europe, and the Jockey Club, whose scale and elaborate appointments surpass even the club-houses of New York. ”