The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-11-16
VALPARAISO
AND SANTIAGO.
Theodore Child Writes Of the
Chilean Republic.
A Country Of Great Wealth and Beauty. Va
ried in Aspect, Vast in Extent AID Still
Full of Energy and chivalry.

THEODORE CHILD'S accounts of
FIX travel through South America. which
SAfS have been published in Harper's Maya
zine, and which have been reproduced in part
in The CALL, have been among the best de-
scriptions of that country ever presented to
the public. The following are extracts from
urban and Commercial Chile" avery well
written sketch about the republic Of that
name published in the November number of
that magazine.
Valparaiso, the port Of Santiago, and the
principal port of the republic, is quite an
English city. "The Chleans will not be
pleased to read that statement" suggested a
friend at my elbow. "Can it be denie1?"
/ asked rs not the whole aspect of the
place English? Is rot the bay full Of En-
glish ships? Do you not hear English
spoken everywhere as soon as you get
ashore? Do not the public-hOuse bear the
familiar old sign-boards of the Royal
Oak the Queens Arms the Red Lion
'All the Worlds Corner? Here Is the
suave English chemist, whose speech Is so
precise; the English bookseller, three or
four of them with fine shops; the English
sell bacon and ickles and style themselves
Italian warehousemen.' according to the
classical tradition of their guild; English
shop-keepers of all kinds; English
hotels, and. Of course, an English newspa-
per. What are all those tail and slender
girls, with blond hair, queer hats, loosely
fitting dresses, a rather unsraceful although
athletic walk, an incOmparably fine quality
of rose and white flesh, such as Reynolds-
Sir Joshua, should say-l0ved to paint. are
they not Enthusiastically English girls? Up
there on the hill do l not spy an English
church? All these business blocks, house
after house, are not the firms English, with
an interinixture of German2 Ii you
take away the English firms from
Valparaiso. what remains? 2" True" re;
even 90 further and ask what is left of Chile
if you take the foreigners away, particu-
larly the English and the Germans?"
Good gracious! hope you are not gong
to put these fearful IDEAS into print You
alarm v,na C T op the rs sfP @e
and imagining vaguely that it is some far
away and delightful Paul and Virginia
country-as it truly is-a country OF great
wealth and beauty, vast IN extent. varied
in aspect, and still full of the energy
and chivary of the conquistadOres. is
surprised to find that the defendants OF the
conquistadores are very few in number rela-
lively to the extent of their territory and the
age of their settlement. He is struck, above
all things, by the prominence and ublquity OF
foreigners in the practical management ard
organization of the great business enterprises,
and even of the great private fortunes of the
land. You who are living here do not notice
the phenomenon so much as one who has ar
rived freshly. For instance, we will sup
pose you come to Chile By way of the Strait
of Magalhaens In TERRA del Fuego you
are astOniShed to find station of English
missionaries, who have taught the Indians
to be kind to shipwrecked mariners, and
not to eat them as they formerly
did, In Punta Arenas the great sheep
farming enterprises are i'll the hands of En-
glishmen. Valdvia is simply German col
ony, the most fiouriShng and charming in
the republic, troubled only by too numerous
bands of cattle-liIters and brigandS, who
also plague the English, French and Swiss
colonies in the old Araucanian Territory.
Now we come to the coal coast, and the first
proprietors we find are the 'Arauco Com
pany uIiihited), London also owners Of
railway, at the hands of whose English man
ayers | received kind hospitality. The Lota
and Coronel mines belong to Chileans,
THE CoUsINo FAMILY,
But the managers are all English. The
managers of the Cousino agricultural
estates arc likewise English. In Talca-
large scale is done by English OF Germans.
The railway from 1alcahuano to Santiago
and Valparaiso was built by English engi-
neers; many of the higher employees are
English; so. too,. are majority of the
engine-drivers. All the State railways. be
it remembered, were paid for almost exclu-
sively with the money obtained from British
loans. Valparaiso is incOntestably English.
In the mining districts Englishmen and En-
gIish capital predominant"
Santiago, with its steeI les and towers and
its wooded hill Of Santa Lucia, lies toward
one end of a broad plain, hemmed in by
mountains which are always visible. The
plan of the town is the usual rectilinear
chess-boaSd arrangement of uniform cuadras,
or blocks, with grand central square,
and an avenue. or alameda, of Overarching
trees. On one side Of the plaza
are the cathedral and the ArchbishOp's
palace; on the other the Municipalidad, or
town hall. as we should call it, and the post
office; and on the two remaining sides por-
tales, or arcades, with shops on the ground
floor The architectural monuments of the
plaza call for no special commendatiOn, eX-
cepting the postoffice, which is conveniently
arranged on North American model, and
served by obliging ladies and by male
clerks, the latter as morose and obstinate
as post0ffice employees in Latin countries
generally appear to be. The plaza is the
center of all tile movement Of Santiago,
the terminus and starting point fer
the tramways, the great station for hackney
coaches, the fashionable evening prom
eliade, when the band plays in the music
kiosk. All the features of this movement
are interesting 10 the visitor. At any hour
of the day, from early morning until late at
night, the observer will find there some
thing to note, something to reason about and
speculate upon. How pleasant this plaz,
is! what an important role it plays In the
life of the town! and what pity it is that
the builders of AnglO-SaXon towns in new
countries do not profit by the wise pre-
cepts of the old Spaniards, whose first
care was always to provide their cities with
lungs, breathing-gronnds. and agreeable
hot forpad
common hearth around which the citizens
gathered both for pleasure and for business
the continuation, in fact of the old Ro-
man forum! The plaza, the cathedral, the
town-hall, the Governors palace, repre-
and the central authority, invariably form
the center of the Hspano-American
towns, and invariably you will lind some
effort to make of this spot point of enter
tanning resort. Even in the smallest village
of Spanish South America there is always a
plaza. planted with trees and furnished with
benches. for the accommodation Of citi-
zens, the mothers. and the nurse-maids;
for the plaza is not only the prom
enade of the grown up persons, but
also the playground of the young
folks, who, however. amuse themselves in
quiet and orderly manner, having none of
those bOisterous games and violent exercises
which are needed to develop the conquering
muscle of Anglo-SaX0n youth. The plaza
of Santiago is of fine proportions, and rem
dered very charming by the shade trees
planted around it, and by the small but
luxuriant garden and trellsed walks
around the central fountain. which in sum-
mer plays amidst
BRILLIANT MASS
OF perfumed flowers carefully protected by
iron ratings and vigilant policeman, who
locks the gates at 10 o'clock. so that the gar
den and its blooming riches may not be car
ried away surreptitiousy by night. As
was informed by an Irish lady who has had
thirty years. experience of Chile at the head
of a charitable institution for orphan girls:
1.-The vice of the country is thieving. Pro-
tective measures are therefore necessary"
In the daytime the plaza is visited only BY
a few people of the lower classes, who sit on
the benches to rest OF TO loaf. Other people
cross it dagonally on their way to and from
different parts of the town. The coachmen
wait for customers for their twO-horss
Ian daus and barouches which stand
around the plaza select few pre-