BUEXOS AIRES AND ITS RIVER OF SILVER 



395 



The chief artery of the city is Avenida 

 de Mayo, stretching from the President's 

 home to the Capitol. The Casa Rosada 

 (Pink House), corresponding to our 

 White House, is a great pink pile, with 

 imposing entrances and handsome carv- 

 ings and bas-reliefs. It faces the Plaza 

 de Mayo, where on May 25, 1810, Argen- 

 tine independence was first proclaimed. 



This avenue, under which the subway 

 runs, is lined with hotels and fine shops 

 and has many cafes with little tables out 

 on the sidewalk under awnings, a la Paris. 



Another interesting thoroughfare is 

 Calle Florida, the street of restaurants 

 and jewelry stores. It is so narrow that 

 there is barely room for two cars to pass, 

 and in the late afternoon all traffic is 

 stopped, so that the people may prome- 

 nade in the street. 



Nearly all stores and business houses 

 take a respite in the late afternoon, the 

 Spanish for black coffee and the English 

 for tea. 



Buenos Aires was founded in 1580, 

 after colonization efforts in 1534 and 

 1542 had failed. From the first it had to 

 fight against apathy and even open hos- 

 tility on the part of the Spanish rulers. 



For generations regulations were in 

 force preventing direct commerce be- 

 tween Buenos Aires and Spain, so that 

 goods had to be shipped overland across 

 the Andes, through Bolivia and Peru, 

 thence by vessel to Panama, and trans- 

 ferred across the Isthmus. 



Thus handicapped, it is no wonder that 

 the port grew slowly. It was not till the 

 last half century before the Spanish yoke 

 was thrown off that Buenos Aires began 

 to come into its own. Once independence 

 was achieved, it grew rapidly, and when 

 in 1 910 the hundredth anniversary was 

 celebrated, it had a population well over 

 a million. 



THE GIFTS OF THE NATIONS TO BUENOS 

 AIRES 



Much of the city's beauty dates from 

 this centenary in 1910, at which time 

 many countries presented Argentina with 

 commemorative statuary symbolic of the 

 occasion. xAs is fitting, the gift of the 

 Spanish people is the most conspicuous. 

 In the center of the broad Avenida 

 Alvear, the city's loveliest promenade, 



rises a great white marble pedestal, 

 crowned with an angel of victory. Below 

 are many other figures and friezes, while 

 the four corners of the pedestal bear 

 bronze groups symbolizing the Andes, the 

 Pampas, the Chaco, and the Mesopota- 

 mian region (between the Parana and 

 Uruguay rivers). 



France's contribution is among the 

 finest and also stands beside the Avenida 

 Alvear. It is of rose-colored granite and 

 white marble, with exquisitely carved 

 figures. 



America's gift is not in keeping with 

 her importance, and, standing in a rather 

 obscure corner of one of the parks, is 

 missed by many tourists. It is a bronze 

 life-size figure of George Washington on 

 a severely plain pedestal of pink Ver- 

 mont granite. 



The English commemorated the oc- 

 casion by the gift of a great red brick 

 clock-tower, in the center of the beautiful 

 Plaza Britannica, opposite the Retiro 

 Railway Station. Germany's gift was a 

 broad white marble fountain ; while Italy, 

 in the Plaza Italia, has a large equestrian 

 statue of Garibaldi. 



Throughout Argentina, in every city 

 and in many towns, may be seen eques- 

 trian statues of San Martin, Argentina's 

 greatest national hero. Among the best 

 is the one in the center of the Plaza San 

 Martin, with bronze battle groups and 

 bas-reliefs, in an excellent setting of 

 palms and formal flower beds. 



BELGRANO SUBURBS LIKE A BIT OE 

 ENGLAND 



All about the city are suburbs, with 

 which there is good communication by 

 the frequent suburban trains. Of these 

 residential districts Belgrano lies closest 

 and is the best known. It is especially 

 popular among the many British resi- 

 dents, and in some portions, were it not 

 for the Spanish street signs, one might 

 imagine himself set down in England. 

 On one corner is a boys' boarding school, 

 and in the open lot behind it English lads 

 in "shorts" — their Eton jackets and 

 broad white collars laid aside — are en- 

 grossed in cricket or football. On an- 

 other corner is an ivy-clad Episcopalian 

 or Presbyterian church, a bevy of pretty 

 English girls chatting on the steps. Even 



