The School of Arts and Trades in San Salvador street, between Minas and Magallanes, may be reached by cars 36 and 46.
Other institutions which may be visited are the Penitentiary, the Markets, and the Cemeteries. The first may not interest every tourist; but if one desires to see a model construction of this category, arranged according to the most modern tenets of penal science and of hygiene, the opportunity here presented should be seized. It has a fine situation near the river on Punta Carreta (30 minutes by Car No. 35, fare 8 cts.), especially open to the southeast winds well ventilating courts and interiors. The rectangular plan was preferred to the radial. Back of the administration building is the entrance to the prison proper, which is surrounded by a great wall nearly 40 feet high. Here a military guard is placed. On one side of a central corridor is the kitchen and bakery, on the other, the laundry. Separated by a large court from these is the prison house with 384 well lighted cells, each 13 feet long, 8 wide, and over 10 feet high, furnished with iron folding bed, book shelf, bench, and porcelain bowl and seat. Opening on a corridor 20 feet wide, the cells are arranged in 4 stories, to which lead marble and iron staircases and elevators. Fifty baths are at the service of the prisoners, who may choose either warm water or sea water for their ablutions. Workshops of eight classes are provided for the convicts: iron and tin work, carpentry, broom and shoe making, printing, and book binding. Two patios, 160 by 220 feet, afford space for recreation, and there is room within the enclosure for two more prison houses if at any time they are needed.
Every one likes to see Markets if not prisons. Of these there are four, most important, the new market Agricola for wholesale trade, built of iron except for the base wall, and roofed with glass according to the Dion system, the construction covering 65,000 square feet with a central height of 72 feet. Provision is made for the entrance and circulation of carts; four galleries 45 feet wide surrounding the large central open space provide shelter for attendants and for the service of the market.
Of the four cemeteries, the Central at the foot of Yaguaron street is called the best; the Buceo, which is the largest, may be reached by Car 39, and by Car 38 which runs to the suburb Union, passing the Buceo and the beautiful British Cemetery adjoining. All of these are finely situated on a bluff above the water. They are adorned with trees and flowers, and contain many fine monuments, some of which are sculptured by noted artists.
The Parks and Watering Places, most important features of Montevideo life, have perhaps been left too long; they are attractions of the highest rank which no one should overlook, however short his stay. The largest and finest park is called the Prado, which contains also the National Botanical Gardens. One may here roam for miles among immense magnificent trees, half a century old, sheltering smaller palms and bamboos, flowering shrubs, and beautiful gardens; here too are lakes and grottoes, vegetation of cool and of warmer climes, a region more delightful on account of the hills and hollows with which it is diversified, in pleasing contrast to the flatness of the Argentine shore. The park, which is surrounded by villas and chalets, is approached by three fine avenues and may be reached by three lines of cars, 2, 44, and 47 (8 cts. fare) in 25 minutes.
A little nearer the city and on the other side, close to the ocean, is Parque Urbano, served in a ride of 20 minutes by six lines of cars, Nos. 5, 6, 7, 33, 36, and 46, with 4 cts. fare. This is a most popular recreation ground, a large park with trees, flowers, lakes, pretty bridges, etc., a great circular avenue, a theater of novelties, and near the entrance on the side towards the sea a pavilion where popcorn is made and sold by a fine young man and his happy looking wife, both from the United States. Popcorn is a new and popular article of food for the natives; every American will certainly wish to buy some. Business is good and the young couple enjoy the place and the people, though now expecting to come home some day. The seashore in front is called Playa Ramirez, a fine bathing resort. On the sands stand a multitude of little bath-houses on wheels, which a horse draws out into the water, thus permitting less display of gay bathing costumes or of bathers than on our own beaches, a custom with obvious advantages. The men generally go in on one side of the iron pier, the women and children on the other.
Close to the Park and the Beach is an imposing hotel and casino, four stories high, the Urbano, with 300 rooms, a great dining hall, and other salons, called the finest and most luxurious hotel in South America. It was erected at a cost of $600,000, and since it was opened in 1909 it has been a point of attraction to many of the best Argentine society, as well as to the people of Uruguay.
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