BEYOND THE PANAMA BUENOS AIRES Buenos Aires Tlie city is the metrojxjlis of Ar»'eiitiiia, liaviii<>’ a i)()i)ulatioii of one and a lialf millions, and is the Key City of South America. It is one of the most proo-ressive cities ot the American continent. Fdectric street car lines lead to all parts of the city. The busy wharves despatch millions of tons of merchandise. Agenting Idle reiniblic of Aro-entina has been known as the land of the jiainjias. With its untold herds of cattle it feeds the markets of the nations and jiroduces leather which sus- tains the tread of many iieojiles afar off'. It has wheat enouo’h to siqiply the whole world. Besides this, the snow-cajiped mountains jiroduce abundant mineral wealtli. ^0,4-0"2 miles of railroad are built, leadin'^ to all parts of the nation, and climbino’ their way across the Andes to the western coast of Chile. Tlie natural features produce beauty unsurpassed in tlie world ; the waterfalls rank with those of Africa and North America in wonder. Races d'lie peojiles of Argentina are many. (lathered in Buenos Aires are representatives of thirty nations. Amono- those from abroad are Eno’lish, German, Italian, American, Scandinavian, Spanish and French. The Siianiards were the earlier settlers of the country and their lan^uao'e is the most universally used. En^disli is now commercially po|)ular and educated jieople employ French mucli in intercourse. In addition to tlie rac*es mentioned. A Vista in a City Park tliere is a considerable i)()i)ulation of the orio’inal inliabitants — the South Amer- ican Indians. Patriotism Orio’inall y a country of lar<>:e landliolders, the Si)aniards were accus- tomed to a i)aterna] life whose intellec- tual ideal found its expression in study of the i)rofessions. Ib’itish mereliants and later, (iermans in lai’^’e numbers, made extensi^e investments in mines and railroads and now have larne inter- ests in the c’ommeiXMal aeti\ ities of the nation. In Ai'jxentina , as in all the countries of the world, thei’c is at pres- ent develoi)in<>: a strono- national eon- seiousness whieli is brino-iiio- the Aro-en- tines — that is, th<>se born in Arn-entina — into the places of power and induenee. A c’ompulsory military ser\ ic*e includes all Aro-entine citizens. The trend in educational lines is to employ Aro-entine teachers. Social The social life in South American cities cannot be defined as dissimilar from that of Euro- pean society elsewhere. Matters of dress and custom are very analo- o-OLis to those of the Northern hemisphere and there exist only the variations due to latitude and Cathedral a rapidly evolvino- citizenship peculiar to South America. Alle- t^iance to the established church is nominal. Social life, owino- to the laxit}' in personal moral fiber, is much restricted. Chaperonaffe of youno’ people is insisted upon, and the lack of sound teachino- underlying’ the social structure is much deplored. Education One of the chief sources of the rapid and si)lendid develo])ment in Buenos Aires lias been tlie extent of the educational nmvement, there being many government schools. Miss Cortez, Secretary j)ub]ic and j)i‘ivale scliools iunnl)eriii^‘ a laro’e women's normal seliool and an admission of women to the university eourses. In Aroentina one-tentli of the total national expenditure is for educa- tion. The oldest university was founded in Kil l. 'i'he eurrieulum of the univer- sities is exaetino- and of a hioh standard. There are Kno-lish schools for o-irls in Buenos Aires. Business Conditions The rapidity of material pi‘(»^i’ess has led to the employment of a la]‘<2,e numbei’ of women in shops and ottiees, d'here is a demand also for teaehino- in families and select schools, eonse(piently a lai-o’c number of women are attracted from Europe and even from the United States to enter these openings. The noon hour is of two hours' duration, at 'which time tlie sh()])s are locked and youn<>- 'women are oblitred to find a jdace for recrea- tion outside the place of em])loyment. It is rare for a shoj) in Buenos Aires to have a rest room for its emj)loyees. Young Women's Christian Association The oro-anization was established in 1890 by the British ladies resident in the port. With the comino- of large numbers of foreign youno- women to Argen- tina ignorant of the i)erils of life in a strange country and in need of friendly counsel and safe envi- ronment, it was decided to reor- ganize the work on a larger scale. The first American secretary 'was Miss E. Jean Batty who was sent in 1900, su]3])orted by the Associa- tions of Minneapolis, Penns^vlvania, Delaware and Maryland. Encouragement Since the opening of the work, business men, consuls, rail- Reading and Rest Room road authorities, doctors and c*ler«)’Dieii, ship companies, steamship otfic‘ia]s, all ha\'e referred to the Association as an ao-ency to direct young* women who have come under their observation. The work |)lanned originally for foreign young women is now being appre- ciated by those of the country, and two Span- ish speaking secretaries are em])loyed in the work for Spanish speaking women. Difficulties Being a city of rapid growth and up-to-date l)rogress, Buenos Aires is also a city of high ])rices, and the Young Women’s Christian Association was forced to begin in a small way with rooms for only six or eight boarders, but the growth has been Cooking Class— Ten Nationalities steady and today it occupies a liouse of thirty-four rooms whicli will accommodate thirty- three residents and a number of transient o’uests. The bud