1 88 To the River Plate and Back 



ing done for the state. Introductions took place. I 

 found myself in very pleasant and intelligent company 

 for the rest of the evening. Let me in passing observe 

 that I think that those in charge of the service on the 

 dining-cars in the United States might with advantage 

 to themselves and to the traveling public take a few 

 lessons from the officials of the Argentine railways, or 

 from those who control this branch of the service on 

 the "trains de luxe' : in Europe, whose methods are 

 strictly imitated in Argentina. Our dining-cars are 

 more commodious than those in Europe, the linen and 

 tableware are generally somewhat better, but the 

 viands are not as well prepared and served. In con- 

 trast with the existing crudities in the service of our 

 most famous trains are the delightful and appetizing 

 little luncheons and dinners which are served on the 

 Cote d'Or and Orient expresses in Europe and on 

 the fast trains in Argentina. The dinner served on 

 the evening express between Buenos Aires and Mar del 

 Plata was at all events excellent in fact surprisingly 

 good. 



And now that allusion has been made to the table, 

 its pleasures and its pains, let it be understood that 

 the rank and file of the people in Argentina do not sub- 

 sist upon such fare as is supplied to first-class passengers 

 on the express trains to Mar del Plata, or the Tucuman 

 Limited. The herdsmen or gauchos on the cattle- 

 ranges, the peons on the great estancias, do not possess 

 the means to have, nor do they require, the services of 

 French chefs, any more than do the rank and file of the 

 citizens of the United States. In the shacks and 

 shanties of the cattle-herders and the plowmen the 

 cuisine is not always such as would call forth the 

 approval of a connoisseur. There is, however, plenty 



