Uruguay and Paraguay
Uruguay is the smallest of the South American republics. It is just a little larger than the state of Oklahoma. It is a little wedge between Brazil and Argentina and is, all in all, the most advanced country in South America. At the time of the visit of the writer it was the only country in South America whose dollar was worth a hundred cents. The population is about a million and a quarter—eighteen to the square mile. The principal industry is stock raising. The country has something like nine million head of cattle and fifteen million head of sheep. The meat packing business is enormous for such a small country.
Fray Bentos, a town near Montevideo, boasts of the largest establishment in the world for the preparation of beef extract. The tall chimneys of this great factory make it look like a large city. The employees number thousands. They are well cared for and contented. There are no strikes there. They are well paid while able to work and pensioned when they reach old age.
Thus, the Leibig company, has given all South America an example of the better way to treat men and women who toil. Schools are provided for the children. The religious nature is looked after, the company furnishing a church building. The company also provides hospitals for the sick. The cottages of the working people are supplied with electricity and are quite comfortable.
This company has its own gas and water systems. In the great slaughter house many hundred head of cattle are killed each day. It only takes eight minutes from the time an animal is killed until it is in the refrigerating rooms ready to be made into beef extract. Every drop of blood is saved in this factory, being dried and made into chicken feed or something else that is useful. Chicago, however, goes Fray Bentos one better for there you know the squeal is caught by the phonograph and the records sold for grand opera.
This establishment is not the only one of its kind in Uruguay. There are many other great plants where meat is chilled or frozen in the most modern, up-to-date way. In no country in the world is meat more carefully or scientifically cared for than in these great establishments and no one need be afraid to eat the meat that comes from Uruguay. The inspection is said to be the most rigid of any packing plants in the world.
The Uruguayan boasts that every acre of ground in his country is productive. The grass is green the year around and stock does not have to be housed and fed in winter as in our country. All the grains and vegetables that will grow in our middle west will grow in Uruguay and there the farmers never have such a thing as a killing frost.
The greatest city in Uruguay is Montevideo, the capital city. It is located on the Rio de la Plata river, which really seems more like a sea than a river, being sixty-two miles wide at this place. Buenos Aires is but a hundred and ten miles away and to reach it you just go angling across this great river. Montevideo is larger than Kansas City, Missouri. It has many splendid buildings, but no skyscrapers. The parks or plazas as they are called, are as pretty as nature and the hands of man can make them.
These people claim that Montevideo is the most healthful city on the globe, but the traveler often finds the same claim made for other cities. Most of the streets are narrow but are well paved and generally quite clean. Their street car system is certainly a good one. When the street is wide enough for a double track the tracks are laid close to the sidewalks which leaves the center of the street free for autos and other vehicles. This plan could certainly be adopted by the cities in our country and be a blessing. I had no idea that any city contained so many beautiful homes and flower gardens until I took a ride into the suburbs of this city. Almost every home, or villa, has a rose garden and there must be many wealthy people for it takes a tremendous amount of labor to keep these wonderful flower gardens in such good order.