Sleepless Official 

 Gives Tourists 

 Smiling Service 



Veteran of Three Wars, 

 Argentine Travel Man 

 Is Steady as a Rock 



(No. 28 of a Series.) 

 By W. IT'SHIPPEN, Jr., 

 Star Staff Correspondent. 



CORDOBA, Central Argentina.— 

 The young executive from the Prov- 

 incial Tourists' Bureau hadn't been 

 to sleep for five days. 



No grandee of Old Spain, how- 

 ever, could have 

 been more ex- 

 quisitely polite. 

 He p o u r e d tea 

 for the ladies, he 

 lit the gentle- 

 men's cigars, he 

 ran errands, an- 

 swered questions, 

 smiled and 

 bowed. 



He was dressed 

 in flowing trou- 

 sers of immacu- 

 late white linen, 

 tucked into half 

 boots, and a 

 smart, double- w. h. shippen, Jr. 

 breasted blue coat. His long-fin- 

 gered hands were beautifully mani- 

 cured and steady as a rock when he 

 offered matches to the guests— first 

 holding the flaming sticks away 

 while the sulphur burned from the 

 tip. 



The tourist official had a Clark 

 Gable mustache and was almost too 

 handsome. He was at the beck and 

 call of some 300 delegates and their 

 wives attending an international 

 congress of postal officials in the Ar- 

 gentine — guests from almost every 

 country in the world, whose wants 

 as to transportation, hotel accom- 

 modations, food, etc., were even more 

 complex than their languages. 

 Off- Season Staff Suffices. 



We met him at a splendid summer 

 resort hotel in the Sierras of Cor- 

 doba—the Eden, about 50 miles west 

 of here. The season for the moun- 

 tain hotels is December, January and 

 February, but the staff on hand was 

 sufficient to provide an elaborate 

 Argentine luncheon, including wines 

 and champagne, for sorrte 400 tran- 

 sient guests. 



Our little party merely happened I 

 by, but the tourist official had time 

 for us, although, for more than a 

 week, he had been accompanying 

 the postal authorities on a tour of 

 the surrounding country. He and 

 another young official— who was driv- 

 ing us on a cross-country trip— in- 

 troduced Dr. William M. Mann, di- 

 rector of the National Zoological 

 Park, and Mrs. Mann to the Gov- j 

 ernor of the Province of Cordoba 

 and found seats for us in the crowd- j 

 ed banquet hall. 



After we had been seated the first 

 official bowed from the waist. "Zank 

 you so much for coming," he said, j 

 The fellow had at least a score of ' 

 immediate demands to attend to. 



"How does he do it?" I asked. 



"Ah," said the Argentine in our 1 

 party, "he is an old campaigner!" 



"But I thought your Tourist Bu- 

 reau was less than a year old?" 

 Veteran Nevertheless. 



"That is correct. But he is still 

 the old campaigner. Before he en- 

 tered the tourist business he was - 

 what do you North Americanos say? 

 —the gentleman soldier of fortune. 

 He has fight in three wars. The 

 Chaco— the "Green Hell." you sav 

 and other places. He has been shot 

 some times and knifed. He is an 

 excellent rider, an old campaigner, 

 and accustomed to stay awake at 

 nights . . . otherwise he might not 

 wake up feeling so good . . . you 

 comprehend?" 



After luncheon the "old" cam- 

 painger escorted us to our car. He 

 saw the ladies and gentlemen com- 

 fortably seated, he offered cigarettes 

 all around, shook hands and bowed 

 many times. 



"When do you plan to get some 

 sleep?" I asked. 



"Sleep, sir" he said, blinking his 

 eyes, "I have no wish for sleep 

 when so many charming guests are 

 here to entertain me with their con- 

 versation! I look forward to en 

 joying them for two days yet!" 



Service With More Smiles. 



The young officer who was as- 

 signed to Dr. Mann and his party 

 was equally as courteous. His car 

 and his time were at our disposal 

 some 12 hours a day. He drove us 

 over perilous mountain roads, to 

 ancient monasteries, shrines ard 

 spacious resort hotels; he saw that 

 we enjoyed the best foods and serv- 

 ice in a country where both are 

 abundant; he arranged hotel ac- 

 commodations, shopping tours, and 

 side trips; he helped us cash travel- 

 ers' checks and acted as interpreter 

 in a country where almost no Eng- 

 lish is understood. 



This evening, when Dr. Mann 



called upon the Governor, His Ex- 

 cellency asked: 



"What can we give you, Dr. 

 Mann? What would you like to 

 take home from our Province of 

 Cordoba?" 



"Well, sir." Dr. Mann replied, "if 

 it's all right with you— I'd like to 

 take home a couple of your tourist 

 officials!" 



, Tomorrow: * Impressions of 



Cordoba. 



• 



