The river is here 28 miles wide, so that one does not see the opposite shore except from a height such as the Capitol dome. It is 125 miles long more or less, according to where you consider the ocean line, Buenos Aires being called about 100 miles from the sea and 90 from Montevideo. The city, 65 feet above sea level, has like Chicago plenty of room to grow and has improved the opportunity to extend itself until in area it is one of the largest cities in the world, three times as large as Berlin, but smaller than London or New York. Its population, according to the last accounts, 1913, is about a million and a half. Thus it is the fourth city in the Western Hemisphere and the second Latin city in the world. At its present rate of growth it will soon be crowding Paris; some day, perhaps, it may become the first in population of the cities founded and ruled by a Latin race.
CHAPTER XXIII
BUENOS AIRES
Hotels. Plaza, E. P., 10 pesos and up; Palace, a little more moderate; others A. P., Grand, 9-20; Royal, 9-20; Majestic, 12 up; Metropole; Splendid; Caviezel’s New Hotel; Phœnix; Albion.
Cabs. First class, 15 blocks, 1 peso, next 15 blocks, 50 ctvs.; second class, first course 60 ctvs., second 40 ctvs. By the hour, first class, 2 pesos, then 80 ctvs. each half hour; second class, 1.50 first hour, .60 each half hour. Automobiles, higher.
Money. Argentine peso, 44 cents; double the Chilian peso.
Guide-book to the Argentine Republic by Albert B. Martinez, valuable; in Spanish and French, perhaps now in English.
Chief Points of Interest
The Plaza and the Avenida de Mayo, the Government Palace, Capitol, Palace of Justice, Plaza San Martin, the Museum of Art, Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Palermo Park, Hippodrome, Colon Theater, Parque Lezama and National Historical Museum, Recoleta Cemetery, the Docks, Frigorificos, Mercado de Frutos.
Tourists coming from Mendoza will arrive at the Retiro Station. Outside are numerous carriages to convey the traveler and small luggage to his hotel. The price of these carriages is astonishingly cheap to a New Yorker, 1 peso, 44 cents, for a ride of 15 squares, and nearly all of the hotels are within this distance. From the docks the ride may be longer, according to where landing is made. Further, there are carriages of the second class, which seem equally good. For these the fee is 60 centavos. The only difference that I could learn was that the first-class coachman wears a uniform. The number of horses, one or two, makes no difference. The automobiles are somewhat more expensive. The drivers have a habit, as elsewhere, especially at the station, of demanding more than their fee, particularly on Sunday; so it may be as well to say nothing, take the first carriage offered and pay what is due with a small tip and no remarks, and something additional for baggage. Trunks should be arranged for with an agent of the express company, Expreso Villalonga, either at the station, or after reaching your hotel, if that is not already decided upon. The hotel porter will attend to it if you hand him your checks.