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CHIVILCOI.
373

the first time within the life of one man, was a region in South America so transformed. It contained a church which Colonel Sarmiento had dedicated, a beautiful public school-house, for the front of which he had induced a native artist to carve a marble group of Christ blessing the children, and which was raised to its place on the same festival, with an eloquent address; a bank of discount; various private schools, and a fine railroad station. Where the industrial movement is most conspicuous, at this railroad station, the only square called for a living man bears the name of Sarmiento. The 25th of May (the anniversary of their successful battle against Spanish rule), the 9th of July (their independence day), Washington, and Lincoln; Moreno and Belgrave (generals of the war of independence); Florencio Varela, the first martyr assassinated by Rosas, and Echevarria, the poet, give names to the other squares.

At the three days' banquet of the festival, the name of Sarmiento was toasted from one end of the long tables to the other, by the representatives of every public interest, each of which he had fostered; and subsequently thousands poured out to see with their own eyes how a little enterprise could make the desert blossom as the rose. In a land where cows were the chief object of interest, milk could not be supplied for the cities or even for the country, and the art of butter-making was lost! To this day it is imported, and is one of the most expensive articles of luxury. Cereals and vegetables are now brought to Buenos Ayres from Chivilcoi, as well as from the Isles of the Parana, a South American Venice, which by Colonel Sarmiento's