The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-01-20
GILLIAN COUNTRY LIFE.
Watsr-,Iolons socms to 10 Staple Rood OF
tho Poorer Classes.

Interesting country to visit Tho scon-
DRY, suggesting memories alternately Of
California, Switzerland and Northern
Italy, is both grand and charming.
Nothing can DO seer, moro majestic and
impressive than the ..oin ridge Of the
Andes, with tho volcanic peaks white
with snow, while occasionally toward
tho south some small crater shoots up
volumes Of smoke and lava, as Villa
Rica did about tho time that 1 was at
Traiguon. Nothing can be moro charm
ing than the scenery along tho Rio Bio
Bio. whose sinuous banks the railway
follows between San Eosendo and Con-
copcion. In parts this rivor. the longest
and broadcast in tho republic, having a
course OF 22" miles, reminds ono Of tho
Loire. except that it flows continuously
between sloping and often wooded hills.
Like tho Loire it is full OF shifting
nd-bsnks, some OF clean yellow sand,
Others OF black volcanic sand; and thcso,
as the wator varies in depth, give 10 tho
surface moiro Of violet and yellouish
green. AS for tho rustic population,
and the incidcnte of life along tho road.
they offer plenty OF material for the
painter. and food for reflection to tho
student of manners Hero indeed Is
primitive civilization, needing no house
furniture, no comfort, very elementary
clothing, and only tho simplest forms OF
ceramic ware. What palmer food could
be found than bread, beans and onion
pie? What moro natural drinking YES
sci than calnbash? What less COM
pleS vcstment than tho ''poncho?'
what shoe moro easily mado than bit
OF cowhido tiod on with thongs? What
moro refreshing and obvious combination
OF food and drink than tho familiar water
melon, which would seem TO DO tho chiof
and only nourishmont taken by many of
tho poorer Chlans? In tho stations
you sec whole trains loaded with water
melons. In the towns tho watormelons
arc sold in every shop, and piles OF them
are stacked in tho streets wherever
there is an open-air breakfast stall. On
tho steamers that ply botwcon tho ports
OF tho Pacific tho decks arc oncumborcd
with tho inevitable melons, and tho
water in the harbors is covered with tho
floating rinds OF the empty ones. In
no Other country have seen such uni
vorsal consumption OF watermelons cx-
cept along the banks OF the Danube,
where tho peasants arc no better lodged
and no better fed than those of
Chill. All this 1 say not
in dispraiso of the Gillian
"poones." On tho contrary, nm con-
WINGED that they arc fine follows in
their way, and splendid workers, ospcc-
tally by tho pieco. No Europeans can
surpass thom in strength and endurance.
Above all, no European could exist in
tho same conditions of Authorization and
habitation. In Chilli tho "poono." live
literally like pigs, both in the country and
In tho towns, without regard OF hygiono
or ovon the most ordinary sanitary pro-
cautions Tho consequence Is that infant
mortality is great; tho infants dio like
lilies, and those who survive are only tho
strongest and the fittost. This rural and
urban working population is ignorant,
though not unintolligcnt; tho "peonos"
can rarely read or write, but thoy havo
natural talent for imitation, and when
once thoy have been shown how to do II
thing they willgo on doing it; thus they
learn i'll few lessons to manage ngri-
culture machinery, and when thoy havo
once learned they do not forget AS for
morality, it is feared they have but
littlc. They arc not afraid of death
themselves, and have not much respect
for tho life of others, and both mon and
women alike appear to have in
heritcd fair dose OF suporsti-
ton and many qucer boliofs
from their Indian ancestors, to-
gethor with number Of silly remedies.
Tho women, when thoy havo hoad-
ache, paste rounds OF paper on thoir
temples, or the pip Of watermelon. II
thoy feel anything the mattor with
thor eyes they will plaster their chooks
over with leaves. Indeed, you rarely
SEQ a woman who has not something
stuck on her face. All these defocts,
all these suporstitions, and all this
neglect OF tho laws of hygiono Prcsi-
dent Balmaccda hopes to eradicate by
education, and therefore, we 500, not
without surprise, in rustic townships
like Traiguen, fine school-housos being
built, at a cost of $50, 900, before thoro is
yet single brick house within tho dis
trict. This policy Of building schools
and promoting education Is being ac-
lively carried on throughout Chilli
Wherever you go you SEQ a fino school
being built and at no great distance
from it an equally fine new prison, and
the chances arc that tho coils of tho lat
tor will be filled sooner than tho class
rooms of tho former. However, tho
education of tho masses has been one of
tho great cards of modern rcpublicanism
in Europe and i'll tho United States, and
1t is therefore not astonishing to find
Initiative Chilli following in the wake,
perhaps a littlc hastily and littlo
blindly.-Thcodore Child, in IIarpors
Magazine.
Hc Was Hard Up.