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MAGAZINE TRIBUNE INSTITUTE BOOK SECTION JULY 24, 1921 MAGAZINE TRIBUNE INSTITUTE BOOK SECTION PART V. TWELVE PAGES CONEY ISL?N m r~m The sands where the Uruguayans of Montevideo look out upon the Atlantic ; and in the background, a tent city. Sea bathing in South America, however, isn't as popular as it is with us. The poor make little use of the sea for pleasure. And at the fashionable coast resorts, the roulette wheel has a greater lure than the surf -ir -gr ERE are some of the things the Coney Island "fan" will have to do without if he or I a she ever tries the delights of sea bathing in South American resorts, where the ocean JL Jg_ dip is prized for its own sake and not for its attendant features: Chutes. Nobody ever slides down a glazed trough in South America, because there are no glazed troughs there. Roller coasters. Nobody increases the action of the heart and lungs by the Coney Island method : Hot dogs. There never has been a strike of sausage vender? in South American resorts because there are no sausages to vend. Acid drinks. Circus lemonade and the South American resorts are strangers. ?Barkers. One's vocabulary of slang has to be increased by other instructors. There is nothing to bark for at a South American bathing beach. Witching Waves. The only ones are the wet waves of? the shore line. Merry-go-rounds. There may be some made-in-Germany affairs later, if American man? ufacturers don't wake up to their opportunities. By Charles Evers THE most important beach resort of South America is situated south of Buenos Ayres and some of the most delightful seaside places of Chile are south of Valparaiso, but, taking only the coast line from Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso, round the northern extremity of the South American continent, we find no fewer than 5,280 miles of sandy and rocky beaches, 3,760 miles of which?from Santos to Antofagasta?are act? ually within the tropics. Eight of the ten republics are maritime. Brazil's extension of coast is immense, and of Chile it may almost be said that the country consists of nothing else. It might therefore well be supposed that the young people of both sexes who live beside the sea** in South America would be addicted to the great sports of swim? ming and surf bathing, just as the youth of New York delights in the turbid waters of Coney Island or?if their means permit?in the more transparent and boisterous waves of Atlantic City. Human nature is more or less the same everywhere, and the urge to cool the body in the ocean when the sun's rays are insufferably hot is felt in Pernambuco and Callao just as strongly as in New York or San Francisco; but customs differ, and the fact remains that the big coast cities of the southern continent have not seen the necessity of making the sea easily accessible to the masses for the exercise of the best sport in the world, and much less have they tried to popularize this healthy en? tertainment by the addition of side shows such ?s have made Coney Island famous. Obviously, the nations of South America are afflicted with the conventions of civili? zation in the same measure as are we our? selves, and the people must have compen? sation and inducement to endure the ills attendant on their pursuit of the joyous dip. The sweltering, confined journey in the sub? way, the heavy bag, the hutch in which they indress, the absurd ponderous costume or? dained for women by the blue laws, the long, we_ry waiting at the door of the bathhouse, the dripping, heavier bag on the return jour? ney?all these impedimenta to pleasure must nave their corresponding reward?the water, the friendly intercourse, the opportunities for Cirtation, the scenic railway, "drop the ^P." the water chute and the succulent hot dog. ht Honolulu and Tahati the bath is sufficient inducement, but then there is no Jourr.jy, no bag, no bathhouse, no waiting *5d no costume. The water is clearer and !"e frie>nd.ly relations are more intimate. *n South America there is nearly always a Journey to be made, a bag to be carried, a costume tn be donned and a period of waiting to be endured before entering the uninviting cubicle; but there is no "giant r*cer" ?rid no hot dog, and oonn flirtation? are frowned upon with the utmost severity. It need not be inferred, therefore, that the boys and girls of Brazil and Peru ar-3 less inclined to appreciate the delights of ocean bathing than are those of America and Hawaii, but they have not the same oppor? tunities or the same inducements. It is easier for them to take a shower bath at home and then go for a trolley ride into the country or to visit the bull-ring or tho racetrack. Nor must it be thought that these young people are at all 'water shy. All the native-born South Americans of the coast are cleanly, especially the Brazilians. Of some of the immigrants and some of those who live in the highlands the least said the better in this respect. There ia a great opportunity for some enterprising American impresario to provide Spanish for "Swept by Ocean Breezes" is the correct slogan for the Municipal Beach of Buenos Ayres. the great cities of Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Ayres, Valparaiso and Lima with some Coney Island shake-ups, but they must be of the best. Some years ago, at an exhibition iri Rio de Janeiro, an ideal location was given to some such contrivances imported from the United State?; but they ?ven? all second rat? without thrills or shocks, and the show was a dismal failure. Coney Island 1921 prices would not do at all, at least not while ex? change keeps its present level. There is to be another exhibition in Brazil next year to commemorate the centennial of Brazilian independence, and it is none too early to 0 get busy in this matter unless Americans ar? content to let these essentially American constructions be made in Germany. I have said ihat there are some facilities for sea bathing?without frills?for the masses ? in the big cities of the coast. These estab? lishments are well frequented, but that means Mar del Plata, Buenos Ayres, the Atlantic City of South America. The Rambla is a magnificent esplanade, two and a half miles long and one hundred feet wide very little because they are so few and so small. For the rich there are other places, notably at Mar del Plata, in Argentina, and at Montevideo. At Rio de Janeiro the ac? commodations are poor?the water of the bay is not very clean, and the currents at the seashore are said to be dangerous for bath? ers; they are better at Guaruj?, near Santos. At the southern extremity of Callao harbor is the growing seaside resort of La Punta. From December to May its fine beach is thronged with bathers; Vi?a del Mar, near Valparaiso, ' is fashionable, but there is no rush for the sea bathing. Mar del Plata is the Atlantic City of South America, though it is not a bit like the New Jersey resort. It is also much further away from Buenos Ayres than Atlantic City is from New York; but the railroad of 250 I miles is good and the service quite well done. both as regards sleeping arrangements and food. Mar del Plata was made to order by the government of Buenos Ayres Province in 1879, and soon grew to a respectable size, thanks to the wealthy citizens of Bueno." Ayres, who built their villas here by the score, each surrounded by a beautiful garden. These villas a?c unique, as most of them were built regardless of expense in the tim: of the great boom in the eighties in a style of architecture which the French call 'ras taquoer." Needless to say, this style, favored by the newly rich and by the unsophisticated, is no longer fashionable in Argentina. Tho Boardwalk of Atlantic City is rep? resented at Mar del Plata by the "Rambla," a magnificent esplanade and arcade of stone and cement two and a half miles long and a hundred feet wide. Here are fine scores and music galore for the temptation and entertainment of visitors, who are snap? shotted as they walk pass the wily photog? raphers, and buy their own portraits ex? posed in the windows on the following day. Bathing in the morning, golf in the after? noon, a constitutional on the "Rambla" in the evening, and hard work at night over the roulette and baccarat tables of the Casino: this is the daily round at Mar del Plata. The Argentines, like the Brazilians, the Chileans and the Peruvians, are inveterate gamblers. La Raz?n estimated that in the year 1919 the huge sum of 176 million pesos ?$77,440,000?was wagered in the republic on horse races, in lotteries, at roulette and in other licensed public gambling devices. For a population of 8,000,000 people this is going some. The progressive city of Sao Paulo, in Brazil, is taking a step in the right direction by the construction, in time for the Brazil? ian Centennial next year, of a casino and hotel with a great swimming pool for which sea water will be brought up 2,600 feet from Santos through a tube 49 miles long, furnishing 1,177 cubic yards an hour. It is estimated that the total cost of this es? tablishment will be 12,500 contos of reis, of which 1,800 contos will be spent on the canalization of the sea water. One conto of reis at the present time is worth less than $110, but the estimate of cost was probably made at a much higher rate of exchange, and these works are likely to cost $2,000,000, a consid? erable outlay for a city of half a million inhab? itants. The hotel might be expected to pay for itself, but the sea baths, if made available for all classes of the people, could scarcely bo self-supporting. However, thj contractors asked for a concession of thirty years, exemption from duties, and other privileges. There is a world of hidden mean? ing in the words "casino" and "other privi? leges," and one is thereby led to hope that the Paulistas may be permitted to enjoy the pleasures of sea bathing at the expense of those who will, frequent the green cloth covered tables within the walls of the Casino, just as the good citizens of Monaco disport themselves in their own way in blissful ignorance of the nature of an income tax. Santos, the principa! seaport of Sao Paulo, is provided with sea bathing facilites within easy distance of the city by trolley car. Thy attendance is good in the early morning and on holidays, but at no time ?3 there any real popular exodus to the seashore, as there are no inducements for holiday makers except the ocean and a few restau? rants. But the glory of Santos is Guaruj?. This little place, situated on the exposed shore of a big island, one side of which forms the east? erly limit of Santos harbor, is composed entirely of villas owned by the rich people of the capital. There is a small Ritz-Carlton hotel and a casino where high play may be seen in the season. The surroundings ar-j enchantingly beautiful, and the beach is well adapted to bathing, but, with the exception of some men who spend their summers at the place because they have to go to business in Santos every day, and some damsels ar? rayed in the latest fashions of Dieppe and Atlantic City, who have been ordered by their doctors to take dips in the sea of so many minutes' duration for so many days, the people who cross the sands from the prom? enade to the water's edge are few indeed. Guaruj? is at its best late in the evening, when the brilliant crowd, mostly dressed in white linen, walk under the stars and the electric light and enjoy the perfumed airs of the sea and forest while the band plays the strains of the latest comic opera. To get from Santos to Guaruj? you tak-3 a gasoline launch from the Custom House, and, having crossed the harbor, a miniatura train which pulls you slowly through the for? est across the island to the door of the hotel facing the Atlantic. Perhaps it will be gathered from the fore? going that roulette provides the incentive to visit a South American seaside resort. After all, one cannot remain in the sea all day long, and away from home lack of amusement or work means boredom. The writer well knows that to chronicle the doings of the seaside of a happy crowd of the working classes would make a better story than to tell of the vapid pursuit of excitement by the well to do. But the poor of South America do not. make much use of the sea for their pleasure.. What do they do? I don't know, but I have noticed that they often utilize a guitar. it is generally spring time in South Amer? ica?or so at least the lovely climate wouM lead us to suppose?and then, we are told, "the young man's fancy lightly turn . > thoughts, of love." For him the purlieus <--i the city are "Paradise enow."