ARGENTINA: A Lone Man Like Me

Juan Peron has been like a generous rich uncle to the members of Buenos Aires’ High-School Girls’ Union. Since he first started teaching them to ride motorcycles at his presidential quinta in suburban Olivos last August, he has hardly let a day pass without some kindness. Recently he gave the union the rambling old presidential palace on downtown Calle Suipacha—unused since President Ramon Castillo’s overthrow in 1943—for a clubhouse. To notable girl athletes he gives a standard present: a plastic vanity case with $36 inside.

The quinta in Olivos, a eucalyptus-shaded estate at which the President and Evita passed some of their happiest times, has been drastically rebuilt since Evita’s death. Crews of workers added tennis and basketball courts, a swimming pool, open-air theater and riding stables. So that the high-school girls could go to the nearby river beach without crossing a busy street, Peron had a costly tunnel dug. Last week, with most of the alterations completed, President Peron turned the quinta over to the girls for a second clubhouse. “It’s too big for a lone man like me,” said he.