Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-08-30

at the table. The priest In the pantheon
takes Whit between his prayers; and the
gay bomberos (hremen) while running with
their engines, must pause to light the
cigarrito, be the emergency never so great.
Though in this alleged republic, all titles
were long since abolished, many of the old
families who would be glad to retain them
still keep up the retinue and state of nobil-
lty. a shining example of this was the late
Countess of Zorro who gave the govern
ment yearly sum for the privilege of be-
ing called 4 countess-a qualification for
which she could well afford to paw, being
possessed of almost fabulous wealth Her
enormous, two-storied brick casa was
painted a brilliant red, with white doors
and window castings. Her deceased hus-
band ordered in his will that its color should
remain unchanged and stipulated that DISC
bedience on the part of the widow would
forfeit the property. To the day of her
death the estimable countess sported
Partisan coach and four, with four out
riders and postilllon.
The typical middle class Chileno is very
like'his more aristocratic neighbor at least
in outward appearance. His house may be
almost barren of furniture and the wolf
may sometimes prowl dangerously near the
premises; but At all times his manner is ex-
actly like that of Los Ricos, and his clothes
are as nearly copy of theirs as circum-
stances will permit. But the Gillian roto
tirely different being, who never apes gen.
tility, having no style to sustain and no am
bition to rise above the caste in which he was
born. He has no relations whatever with
his richer neighbor, except te serve him for
pay whenever occasions require; and he re-
CARDS the rico as great parsonage, whose
dignity ne would fight for any day The
Roto wears a SLOUGH hat, always NANCY
from long usage, dirty breeches rolled up
from the bottom, and garment of indistin-
guishable hue,
WHICH he CALLS A SHIRT.
If the weather is warm, he perambulates
barefooted; if cold, he clatters around on
pair of clumsy clogs with wooden soles an
inch thlck-that IS, If he can afford them;
if not, he goes barefooted both winter and
summer. When chilly he dons heavy
blanket, called a poncho, that has slit in
the middle through which he thrusts his
head. He is not a beauty-thick, coarse
black hair hanging straight from the crown,
high cheek bones, wide mouth, and skin
the color of an old shoe; but he has dazzling
white teeth, and small hands and feet that
any Gringo might envy. He has no yearn-
ings after the unattainable, and his few
wants are easily supplied. He desires no
better palace than the one-rCom adobe hut,
with straw roof and dirt floor. His furni-
ture consists of rude bench or two by way
of chairs, a pine table, or perhaps a dry
goods box in lieu of it, hide in one corner
upon which TO sleep. another rough box
which serves for trunk, closet, cupboard
and the shrine of his patron saint, a mate
cup and pot of charcoal upon which his
wife prepares the beans and garlic.
Like all ignorant people he is extremely
SuperstitiouS, believing in charms and anu
lets as powerful to drive away diseases,
that the devil roams about in various
guises perpetrating mischief upon man,
and that saints and angels, and even the
Blessed Virgin herself, will come in person
if importuned to wrestle with his satanic
majesty. He is slovenly, slow and patient,
but man whom it would be wise to avoid
when his anger is aroused He knows how
to use the terrible curvo, and would think
no more of Severing your windpipe with it
than the neck of chicken.
His numerous sons and daughters grow
up without education, and their most hope
full outlook upon the future is to serve in
the rich mans casa. Happy indeed is the
young rustic who can become valet or mayor
domo to a gentleman who will pay him the
splendid salary of 81 or IS per month"; feed
him from the refuse of the family table and
cothe him in the cast off purple" The
highest aim of the Roto maiden-eXcepting
of course, the more natural ambition TO
marry and set up a home of her owns to
become d cook with a salary all the way
from So to $40 month, or 4 lady's maid,
who falls
HEIR TO HER MISTRESS DRAGGLED FINERY.
In this country there is no objection to
"woman'S rightS"-that is, for women of
the ROto class-So far as the right to labor
in any avenue is concerned. They are not
only employed as street-car conductors, but
they do the street cleaning, and gangs of
them with short willow broomS sweep the
dirt into the bitches long before sunrise.
Outside the cities they keep the shops, the
hotels and the drinking places, besides do
ing all the garden work. They occupy the
markets almost exclusively, selling meats
as well as vegetables. The roto's wife will
carry basket of fruit around all day on her
head, peddling from door to door, or will
seat herself somewhere in the sun and pa
tiently await customers, content with the
profit of a few pennies between dawn and
dark To buy anything of her a lengthy
negotio is inevitable. If she expects to get
so cents for basket of peaches her first
price will be - or So Then she will bag
gle and chatter and plead and demonstrate
with you, and if you start away will
abandon other customers to follow you, un-
til she finally splits the laws straw of diff
ference and goes back smiling at her own
business ability.
If the husband is ranchero, the wife or
daughter must drive for MIN the yoke OF
oxen and sell the farm produce or wood cut
for burning. The poor lavenderas (wash
it. With dresses pinned high around the
waist they stand all day llnee-deep in the
river, pounding the dirt from other peoples
clothes. In Chill water is never heated for
washing purposes, neither is soap extern
sively used. nor fabric destroying bleacherS,
and tubs and wash-boards are unknown.
The lavendera, with bundle of soiled clothes
on her head, seeks some favOrite spot on
the banks of a running stream where is a
projecting rock; and there standing in wa
ter which is almost ice-cold during half the
year, she moistens the garments one at
time, and laying them on the rock,
POUNDS THE DIRT OUT OF THEM
with a club or wooden paddle. never saw
whittier linen but it requires three or four
days to do a washing, every piece being
wet pounded and bleached, over and over
again, until white as snow. l have watched
these poor women during the winter
months, when chilly, penetrating winds and
rains would drench their garments, and I
shivered in furs and fiannels, standing with
hours day. every day in the week. In
not at hand and the people are more learned
in the ways of the wicked world, the Law
enderas wash in shallow wooden trays,
kneeling upon the ground near their own
doors, and use acids which quickly rot the
lothes.
In Chill everything is wonderfully ex-
pensive but muscle, and that is of compare
lively little value. A lady's bonnet costs
from $50 to 800, dress silk from So TO $50
the yard, and the modiste will charge you