Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-30
A SMILE AND A BOW
Is What the Rich Young Man of Chile
Is Always Dispensing.
BUT STREET ETIQUETTE Is BAD.
The Male Creation Will Not Bulge and Are
Sure to Make Remarks.
HARD LINES OF THE wAsHERwoMEN.

CoNcEPCIoN, CHILE, Aug. 4 - The
stranger to this remote corner Of creation is
apt to imagine that the Chileansare q semi
barbarous nation, wretchedly clad, If chad
at all, with little refinement and less edu-
cation, superstitious, cruel and blood
thirsty. When first arrived here-aston-
ished by the magnifcence of clos Ricos''
(the wealthy class who, though numerically
few, yet rule both Church and State), their
splendid casas and numerous schools and
places of amusement, their costly living and
stylish dressing and dazzling display of
Jewels, and their graceful and generous hos
pitality-he jumps at the conclusion that
his previous impressions were absurdly and
entirely erroneous
But as time goes on, and he learns how
bulk of the population, live and move and
have their being-he reluctantly comes
back to his first opinion as concerning q
large majority of Chileans. There are so
many conditions of existence in the land,
and consequently such a variety of charac-
ter, that one may say of these people with
equal truth-they are both highly civilized
and sunk in barbarism; profoundly edu-
Gated and densely ignorant; rich as Cresus
and poor as Jobs oft-mentioned turkey;
that they live in palaces furnished with every
modern luxury, and in mud novels with
nothing but beans and raw CLANS for "daily
bread" that they are the most warm
hearted, genial, hospitable and thoroughly
delightful people in the world, as well as
the most treacherous, revengeful and never
to be depended upon.
THE LEADING CHARACTERISTICS.
Certain natural characteristics may be
clearly traced through all Glasses of society
-suoh as the quick, sensational and emo
tional nature, which makes the Chilean
soldier terrible foe; the Chilean citizen
ready to lay down his life at any moment
for point of honor or the cherished insti-
tutions of his beloved country; the Chilean
Lady or gentleman most generous and de-
voted friend; the Chilean lover, male or fe-
ly conceivable by an Anglo-Saxon mind,
and inclined to Jealousy as sparks fly up
ward.
In Chile tho typical Rico (rich many,
young or old, dresses every day in fgura-
tive purple and fine linen. For him there
is no "seoond-best" attire in the way of q
rough-and-ready morning costume or busi-
ness suit, for he has No need of such, being
like the lilies in that he tolls not, neither
does he spin. His clothes are always fine,
dainty and fashionable as an artist tailor
can ''create" them; his polished hair care
fully parted in the middle or trained to
stand straight up Ia pompadour; his i'm
maculate shirt cuffs, with conspicuously
jeweled buttons, extending toward his
knuckles just SO far by hairs breadth; his
very small, sharp-toed, high-heeled shoes
rejecting his beauty as in twin mirrors; his
monogram-embroidere handkerchief deli
oately scented, and in his eyes a handsome
diamond ring and scarf-pin are no less es-
sential than shirt or trousers. He has been
taught department from his cradle, and mas
tered that science to perfection at an early
age. sAs often as he meets you, be it q
dozen times day, he holds his slender cane
dainty in one well-gloved hand while tip
ping his faultless tile with the other, bows
gracefully and low, and shakes you by the
hand-with never the slightest perccptible
variation in the depth of the obeisance or
the warmth Of the shake; unless you happen
to be man and an intimate friend, in
which case he may embrace and kiss you.
HOSPITALITY OF THE RICH.
II, being only casual acquaintance, you
call upon him on an errand of business or
pleasure, he will hasten to inform you that
everything he possesses is unreservedly
yours--his house, himself, his family, his
servants, are all su disposition de usted-
sat your disposal" His wife, who is gener-
ally beautiful and always well dressed, will
smile on you benignly through a drift of
face-powder with touch of rouge on either
side the nose, and assure you in soft-voweled
Spanish of the pleasure she feels Of thus
forming your acquaintanoe-andm make you
believe it, too, which is the best part of it.
Fellow foreigners tell us that all this trop-
ical courtesy means little and is only "skin
deep" But who cares to go deeper? It is
delightful, all the same, and quite deep
enough to outlast the occasion.
We, who profess to be a cultured people,
and are likely to stiffen our neoks with
Yankee conceit when our ways are COM
pared with those of other nations, might
learn from the Chilenos agood many needed
lessons in common politeness. For ex-
ample, they never enter or leave q coach,
street car or other public vehicle without
bowling TO all its occupants. No lady or
gentleman to the manner born ever sat down
to or arose from q table in Chile, either
public or private, without an inclination
of the head to all present. So in shopping
they bow to the merchant or his salesman
on entering or leaving store. That sort
of thing, it seems to me, is much more
human between fellow-travelers on ife's
short journey than our dom n't-care-for-any-, {,
body way.
CUSTOM ON THE STREETS.
In the streets. however, the average
Chilean might learn some good behavior
from Germans, Englishmen and Yankees.
Here gentlemen consider it proper tribute
TO female beauty to stare into the lady's
face as long as she remains in the range of
vision, whether she appears to like it or
not; and in passing, though she be an en-
tire stranger, to address her some oompli-
mentary remark, such as beso sus manors,
Senorita, 81 kiss your hands, Miss" or
'sYou are very beautiful" "Your eyes are
like the heavens" etc. When a group of
gentlemen are conversing on the narrow
sidewalk, and lady approaches, they sell
dom think of making way for her, or, at
most, will move nearer the wall, leaving her
the curbstone; and have often seen ladies
to step down into the gutter in
order to pass around them.
Tho excuse Of these gentlemen is that
they are not yet accustomed to female
Their real ladies are seldom
seen alone upon the public streets, and
Chllian ideas Of caste forbid them to show
much Difference toward common people"
In Chile no place is sacred from the fumes
Of tobacco, except, perhaps, the church.
Gentlemen are always smoking, whether
walking or riding, with or without ladies.
at the table. The Priest in the Pantheon
takes Whit between his prayers; and the
gay bomberos (fremen), while running
with their engines, must pause to light the |
,igarrito, be the emergency never 80 great. |
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