Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-30

AUGUST ", 10
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 pre-
cisely like that of los Ricos, and his clothes
are as nearly q copy Of theirs as circum-
stances will permit. But the Chllian
''Roto"-the acknowledged poor man-is
an entirely different being, who never apes
gentility, having no style to sustain and no
ambition to rise above the caste in which ne
was born. He has no relations whatever
with his richer neighbor, except to serve
him for pay whenever occasions require:
and he regards the "Rico" as great per-
sonage, whose dignity he would hight Tor
any day.
The Roto wears q SLOUGH hat, always
NANCY from long usage, dirty breeohes
rolled up at the bottom, and q garment of
indistinguishable hue which he calls shirt.
# the weather is warm, he goes barefootedi
If cold, he clatters around on PAIR OF
clumsy clogs with wooden soles an inch
thick-that is, If he can afford them; II not
he goes barefooted both winter and sum-
mer. When chilly he dons heavy blanket,
called ponoho, that has slit in the mid
die through whjon he thrusts his head He
10 not q beanty-thick, course black hair
hanging straight from the crown, high
cheek boues, wide mouth, and skin the
color of an old shoe; bnt 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
with straw roof and dirt floor. His furri-
ture consists of rude bench or two by way
of chairs, pine table or perhaps dry
goods box in lieu of it, a hide in one corner
on which to sleep, another rough box which
serves for trunk, closet, cupboard and the
shrine of his patron saint, mate cup, and
q pot of charcoal upon which his wife pre-
pares the beans and garlic.
FILLED WITH SUPERSTITION.
Like all ignorant people, he is extremely
superstitious, believing in charms and anu
lets as powerful to drive away diseases, and
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 sloyenly, slow and patient,
but man whom 1t 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 a 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 OF
major-domo to a gentleman who will pay
him the splendid salary of Sc or SS per
month, feed him from the refuse of the fam
lily table and clothe him in the cast-off
s'purple." The highest aim of the Roto
maiden-e1cept, of course, the more natural
ambition to marry and set up home of her
owns to become cook, with salary all
the way from So to $40 moth, or lady's
maid, who falls heir to her mistress drag
gled inery.
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 doing
all the garden work. They occupy the
as well as vegetables The Roto's wife will
carry q basket of fruit around all day on her
head, peddling from door to door, or will
seat herself somewhere in the sun and
patiently await customers, content with the
profit Of few pennies between dawn and
dark.
THEY ANTICIPATE HAGGLNo.
To buy anything of her lengthy negotia
tion Is inevitable. If she expects to get 80
cents for basket Of peaches. her first price
will 50 or So. Then she will haggle and
chatter and plead and demonstrate with you;
and if you start away, will abandon other
customers to follow you; until she finally
splits the last straw of difference and goes
back smiling at her own business ability.
If the husband is a ranchero, the wife or
daughter must drive for him the yoke Of
oxen, hitched by the head to numbering
cart, and sell the farm produce or wood cut
for burning. The poor lavendera (wash
woman) seems to have the hardest time Of
1t. With dresses pinned high around the
waist, they stand all day knee deep in the
river, pounding the dirt from other peoples
clothes In Chile water is never heated for
washing purposes, neither is soap extensive
ly used, nor Notwithstanding bleachers, and
tubs and washboards are unknown. The
with buudle of soiled clothes
on her head, seeks some favorite spot on the
banks of running stream, where is pro-
jecting rock, and there standing in water
which is almost Ice cold during half the
year, she moistens the garments one at a
time, and, laying them on the rock,
pounds the dirt out of them
with club or wooden paddle. never saw
whittier linen, but it requires three or four
days to do washing, every piece being wet,
pounded and bleached, over and over again,
uptil white as snow. have watched these
poor women during the winter months,
when chilly, penetrating rains would drench
their garments and 1 shivered in furs and
with bare legs in the
day in the week. In Santiago and VAL
paraiso, where river or public fountain is
not at hand and the people are more learned
in the ways of the wicked world, the laven-
daras wash in shallow wooden trays, kneel-
ing upon the gIound near their own doors,
and use acids which quickly rot the clothes
LABOR ALONE IS CHEAP.
In Chile everything is wonderfully ex-
pensive but muscle, and that is of compare
lively little value. A lady's bonnet costs
from $50 to 500; dress silk from $6 to $40
the yard, and the modiste will charge you
you from $50 to $50 for making it. In San
tiago I paid S12 the dozen for linen hand
kerchiefs of small size and ordinary quality,
and $1S for pair of button boots which at
home would have cost about 81 30. am
that gentleman 8 suit Of common
clothes costs from $50 to 500, and pair Of
shoes from S15 to $50; and a
silk hat not less than $40. Breadstufs are
high, and far beyond the
reach of the poor Rotos.
But there is one luxury In which the
poorest Chilean woman will indulge, what
ever else may be wanting, and that is
stifiy starched white petticoat. Though
her dress may be ragged, her feet and head
bare she would no more do without it than