LA PLATA, pin plii'tn. Capital of the State of Buenos Ayres, Argentina, situated 32 miles southeast of the city of Buenos Ayres, and 5 miles from Ensenada, its port on the La Plata estuary (Nap: Argentina. F 11). The city is laid out after the plan of Washington. the capi tal of the United States. In form it is a perfect square, with an area of 6 square miles, and is surrounded by an avenue 330 feet wide. The streets cross each other nt right angles, making rectangular blocks, which are intersected diag onally by broad avenues, and there are twentv three open squares or parks of various sizes. The public buildings are many and handsome, the most notable being the Capitol. the court-house, the museum. and the public library. The ob servatory stands in the beautiful Buenos Ayres Park. which is entered through a handsome arch. Education is well provided for by a system of public and private schools, at the head of which is the provincial college founded in 1885. The
city has a good supply of water. pumped from wells into a reservoir 72 feet high. The streets are lighted by electrieity and traversed by sur face railroads. An artificial harbor 20 feet deep has been constructed between Ensenada and La Plata, by means of a dike: it is connected with the La Plata Pit er channel by a canal 5 miles long. Two drainage canals keep the water from becoming stagnant. The town has increased very rapidly in population. numbering. over :30,000 three years alter its foundation in 1882. and now having upward of 70.000 people. it was established to provide a capital for the State of lluenos Ayres, when the city of that name was ceded to the National Government.