Getting Around, 1909

On first arriving in Buenos Aires many a visitor, relying upon knowledge gained by the perusal of ancient, out of date, or fictitious literary matter, is surprised to find that Buenos Aires is a city, a really great city, and not a picturesque collection of wooden shanties, backed by a prairie and inhabited by a population of half-civilised ' gauchos,' mounted on rough-coated ponies and armed to the teeth.

It is as well to dispel this illusion at once by stating that Buenos Aires is one of the largest cities in the world; the largest of all in South America and undoubtedly the most important and the most modern and progressive in the whole continent. Larger in area than Paris, Berlin, or Vienna, the ' Paris of the South,' as Buenos Aires has been by no means unaptly nicknamed, is possessed of every possible improvement and convenience that modern ingenuity has devised. In fact, the resident of Buenos Aires would be far more surprised to hear of any modern improvement his city does not possess than the newcomer to see the many that it does.

Buenos Aires was founded as a city in 1535, but it's only during the last half-century that her progress has been so phenomenal as to attract world-wide attention.

In a city such as Buenos Aires, where much depends upon the season and even more on the statistics relating to immigration, it is not possible to give any precise figure as to the amount of population. It may be put down roughly at one and a quarter million inhabitants, and a very large percentage could be described as floating population, spending part of their time in the city and part in the camp, as the country districts are generally referred to. Also, the population varies to the extent of very many thousands, according to whether the shipping is brisk or dull. The town is divided into twenty parishes and police districts, and protection is provided by thirty-eight auxiliary police stations ('comisarias') besides the Central Police Department in Calle Moreno. On the whole the police force is conscientious and efficient, although somewhat scanty for a city of such importance. In all cases of complaint the stranger can depend upon courtesy and civility, more especially on the part of the superior official. He will, however, not so easily find promptness and dispatch, but the visitor may as well make up his mind from the moment of landing to philosophically practise the virtue of patience when dealing with any class of officials whatsoever.

How to Find Your Way.

The arrangement of the streets is such that, when the new arrival learns to bear a few facts in mind regarding construction, he can find his way about with a minimum of inconvenience. The town is entirely bisected by a long, and, in places, broad thoroughfare, named Calle Rivadavia.

Starting from dock No. 3, this street runs through the whole town, and every street placed at right angles to it starts its numbers there. Thus, walking up Calle Rivadavia and keeping his back to the river, the pedestrian will find that the first house in each street he passes is marked No. 1 on the one side and No. 2, on the other, this rule of numbering odd numbers and even numbers on opposite sides being preserved without exception. The streets are divided into blocks of fifty numbers per side. Thus, it stands to reason that any given number may be located by a moment's thought. The No. 580, for instance, in Calle Cangallo, is on an exact level with No. 580 in Calle Bartolome Mitre, Cuyo, or any of the other streets running parallel with that thoroughfare. At any corner of Cangallo, the visitor will see by the number-plates of the houses of all streets running at right angles that he is at the end of the second block, the houses show 199 at one side and on the other. By that he knows at once that he is but blocks or squares from Calle Rivadavia, the city's main artery.

The map supplied with this publication is printed with the EAST - where the City is entered from the docks at the FOOT, which is usually occupied by the South. This is done to place the plan of the City before the traveller as the City itself is when he lands from the steamer.

Tramway Service.

The city's tramway service claims to be the most perfect in existence. Throughout the entire central portion of the town there is a line of electric tramways in every street with the exception of the Avenida de Mayo and Calle Florida. The narrowness of the streets already referred to forbids the existence of a double line except in such wide thoroughfares as the Paseo de Julio, the Paseo Colon, the Avenida Alvear, and various portions of such streets as Calles Las Heras, Rivadavia, Cordoba, Almirante Brown, &c., and in the various suburbs. For instance, car No. 9, running from Retiro, makes its way up Calle Reconquista, but returns via the next street, Calle San Martin. To ascertain the various routes traversed by the different numbered cars the visitor cannot do better than purchase one of the ten cents tramway guide-books, on sale in any part of the town.