from the lighters, with which they had come thus far from the vessels, to sinall boats and then to great wheel-carts that went out a long distance in the water to meet the lighters.

The new docks are very extensive, and lie along the immediate front of the city and connected with it; they were designed by the well-known English firm of engineers, Hawkshaw and Hayter, and carried out under the supervision of Mr. James Dobson, the resident engineer. The concessionaire was an Argentine citizen, Mr. Madero; the contractors were the experienced English firm of Walker & Co., who built the Manchester Ship Canal. These men all deserve the highest credit for carrying through, under the financial difficulties of the period above mentioned, a great public work, costing $38,000,000 (gold).

In order to reach the docks from the sea, a channel had to be excavated in the mud foreshore from the anchorage. This channel (the North one) is at low tide 21 feet deep and 330 feet wide, and about 51⁄2 miles long from its intersection with a channel which already existed by previous dredging from the other end of the port, at the mouth of a small, sluggish stream called the Riachuelo in which channel there generally is about 19 feet of water at low tide. The tide of 2 or 3 feet, depending largely upon the direction and force of the wind and very uncertain, permits vessels drawing about 23 1/2 feet to enter the port by the North

Channel. The new port was connected with the older port, and now both channels are being used, and the depths in them are about as I have stated.

The Government has recently begun the extension of the North Channel straight out to the anchorage, and later will deepen it to 22 feet. In the meantime the navigation uses a crooked channel beyond the intersection, which has been partly dredged, curving round from the South Channel to the anchorage. The depth of water in the north

ern entrance basin of the Port is 21 feet, but in the four great docks 23 feet, with tidal gates so that the vessels at low tide may be afloat.

The works are built in the most substantial manner-masonry walls founded on what is called "tosca" (loess), the hard substratum that is found in this part of the country. The four docks, or basins, are from 620 to 750 yards long, and are all 170 yards wide, connected by passageways 22 to 27 yards wide, over which passes by hydraulic turning bridges, the foot, vehicular and rail traffic. A sea wall in front protects the entire port. On the city side are three and four-story brick ware

houses, 24 in all, with a total frontage of 11/2 miles. Sheds, cattle yards, railroad tracks, hydraulic cranes and capstans and other important appurtenances give the port modern facilities for handling cargo.

When the docks were opened at the Southern end in 1899, the registered tonnage of vessels arriving and departing at the Port of Buenos Aires was 3,800,000; in 1901, 8,661,299, more than 100 per cent. increase. There are only twelve ports in the world of greater tonnage, and none of them show such phenomenal growth.

In 1880, about the time that the works were proposed, the tonnage was 644,570, and the plans were made for 2,000,000 tons only.

The extraordinary growth of the commerce has made it necessary to make an enlargement of the facilities, and this was one of the works intrusted to me during the last year of my stay in Argentine. I am able to show you the general plan of the actual port with the proposed enlargement, which will have free access from the sea and a depth of 26 feet.

The plan also provides facilities for "inflammables"-coal, petroleum, gasoline, naphtha and some explosives.

The Standard Oil Company of New York is now arranging to bring bulk oil in tank steamers to Argentine, and the Shell Transport Company is preparing to make a specialty of the importation of fuel oil from Texas and the Dutch East Indies.

The work of enlargement of the port is divided into sections, so that it can be carried out section by section, as the increase of commerce will require. The general plan also includes the protection and deepening of the entrance channels.

One of the principal ports of the country is Rosario. Ocean navigation reaches it, and, for that matter, reaches Colastiné, the port of the city of Santa Fé, the capital of the Province. The registered tonnage of the Port of Rosario in 1899 was 3,000,000, of which more than 2,000,000 were over sea vessels, about 700 per annum. The merchandise entered and cleared was about 1,650,000 tons; 67 per cent. of the exportation was wheat. In the busy months there are often over 30 vessels seen at one time along the wharves and the barranca, where the wheat is loaded in bags, sliding down from the high cliff 60 feet above the vessel, in what are called "canaletas." The imports amount to about $10,000,000 (gold), and the exports to $30,000,000.

The National Government is making a great port of Rosario, endowed with all modern facilities for handling cargo. It sent out to Europe and the United States a full report with all necessary data, submitting the project to capitalists and contractors, with the request for propositions to build and operate the port. It will cost from $10,000,000 to $12,000,000 (gold).

The contract, after an examination of and report upon the projects presented by a Board of which I had the honor to be President, has been let to the well-known and experienced firm of contractors, Mess. Hersent, of Paris, associated with Schneider and Co., of Creusot, the Krupp of France. The works of construction were inaugurated by the President of the Republic on Oct. 26th, 1902.

The plans of the work have been based on the data above mentioned.

Some important problems had to be solved in connection with the improvement of so great a river as the Paraná, the bed of which is subject to such important changes, and also its islands and banks.

The front line of the proposed wharves is over 21/2 miles long. The masonry piers must go down into the tertiary sand below the scour of the river, and their foundations will be from 60 to 80 feet below the low water level.

The importance of this work, furnishing a modern seaport to the second city of the country, can scarcely be over-estimated. In my report on the project made in Sept., 1900, I used the following words, which two years of subsequent study have corroborated:

"It is safe to say that the establishment of a first-class port at Rosario with suitable channels of access, will revolutionize completely the commerce and industry of this Republic."

I can now show you some interesting views of the more important buildings of the city.

La Plata port and city were built by the Provincial Government, when, in about 1880, the National Government came to Buenos Aires to occupy it as the capitol of the nation. It is an excellent port; it is built on the shore of the Rio de la Plata, about 35 miles from Buenos Aires, and cost about $14,000,000 (gold). The opening of the national port at Buenos Aires has driven most of the commerce from La Plata, but it is capable of being made, with a comparatively small sum of money, deep enough, in its entrance channel (five miles long) and in its port areas, to accommodate vessels of 26 feet draught at low tide; it now has 21 feet.

The remaining port of importance and rapidly growing is outside of the River Plate, in the South, Bahia Blanca; it is the principal shipping port of agricultural products by the Great Southern Railway, the largest system in the Republic. This port