Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-16
A BEAUTY OF CHILE.
She Drags Out a Monotonous Exist
ence as if Life We're a Bore.
DAUGHTERS DON'T KNOW MOTHERS.
Experience Of an American With the Serv-
ants of Conception.
A BEVERAGE USED INSTEAD OF TEA
tcoRREsroNDENcn OF THE p1spAroR.l

tCORREBfONDENCEO OF THE
CoNcEPo1oN, CHILE, July 14.-This is
life in Chile; to vegetate in delightful cli-
mate, whose hottest sunbeams are cooled by
breezes blown from the Andean snowfelds
happily exempt from all excitements ex-
cept those that spring from natural causes,
notably love, earthquakes and revolutions;
to attend strictly on all festas of the
Romish Church, and by that means ESQ say
the priests to secure for oneself an equally
tranquil hereafter; to promenade every
evening in the public garden, which is
known in the native grandiloquent style as
el Jardin de las Delicias, "the Garden of
Delight" and later to attend the opera, or,
at least, a tertulia, as social gatherings In
private houses are called
The fair Chilean rises late. She dresses
hastily, throwing charitable shawl aboas
her shoulders to hide manifold sins Of omis-
sion-her little feet thrust carelessly into
slippers, her splendid black hai-, snarls and
all, plated in two long braids that fall down
her back, and her ablutions, if she troubles
herself to make any, being merely form
of politeness at the wash bowl
Of course she must go to morning mass,
but the big black manta that custom de-
mands for that service, drawn over the head
to the eyes and closely enveloping the body.
obviates the necessity for any further dress
ing. In every case the Chilean woman
prefers a silk or woolen gown. however
est fabrics, for she considers the latter
material the exclusive property of servants
and the despised Gringoes, or foreigners.
Thus in dishabille she dawdles about,
amusing herself with fancy-work or doing
nothing at all, until ennui drives hert to shop
ping or paying visits. Then the glossy hair
mounts up on top of the head in marvellous
heap, the slip-shod slippers give place to,
French boots with the highest heels and
most peaked toes that were ever invented
to torture their foolish wearers, and in all
the splendor of costly apparel, than
which Solomon in all his glory was never
so arrayed, she sallies forth with stately
tread, generally bare-hesdcd, closely fol-
lowed by a servant whose business it is to
bear my lady's purse, handkerchief, parasol
and whatever trfhe she may purchase.
ONE MoNoroNoUs ROUND.
At the sunset hour or in the early even
ing-before time for opera or tertulia-she
repairs to the promenade, to enjoy little
music and perhaps some mild firtations-
the last mentioned amusement, however,
being discreetly restricted to sighs, t'sheep's
eyes" and following footsteps. Thus for
the women the days go by in one monot-
onous round, year in and out. The men
omit the mass, look little after their bust
middle of the day, but diligently attend to
fha oropnopoda ho onaro and tart11lia ap
to the gaming table for the night.
Gambling is national habit. In many
of the swellest casas of Santiago and Val
paraiso the gaming table Is regularly set
out and forms one Of the features of private
entertainments, like the baccarat Of Great
Britain, which lately plunged the eldest
hope of her respected Majesty into such
boiling hot water. In Chile, the poorest
poems and ragged gamin may be seen at all
times in the alleys and by-ways betting
nedios and centavos, (the pennies and
nickles of the country, with as much
esgerness as the wealthy mine owner stakes
his gold ounces.
A HIGH ROLLER AT CARDS
The tallest gambling that evercame under
my own observation took place on steamer
between Copiapo and Talcahuano, when a
man who had recently "struck it rich" in
copper at the Atacama mines, lost $780, 900
in single night. There are laws against
gaming, but they are seldom enforced; and
even the church winks at 1.-THE quid nuncs
assert because so many Of her dignitaries
are addicted to monte. A friend tells me
that he once attended Sunday morning
mass in the church of an interior village,
where the congregation, having waited long
for the coming Of the priest, finally sent for
his reverence. The messenger found him
at cock-fght, which he refused to desert
until the exciting combat was ended.
A Yankee school teacher who recently re-
turned to the North after several years
residence here, says of the Chilenos: 'dThere
are notably two classes of society. If q
man wears silk hat and carries a pretty
cane, it is presumable that he belongs to
the better class If he has a servant to
wait on him at home and to carry his small
luggage when he travels; if he settles with
his landlord by handing him large bill
without a question, and shoves the return
change into his pocket without deigning to
count it, there is no doubt about his being
frst-class cabellero (gentleman). But
should he dare to omit the silk hat or the
pretty cane and the man to carry his be-
1ongings, he can in no wise expect to be ad-
mitted into the upper circles.
A MINISTER'S UNPARDoNABLE SIN.
"Thus the Rev. Mr.. -, man of great
worth, ability and learning, was given the
approbrious title of vaquero Cowboy, be-
cause he persisted in carrying home every
morning small pitcher Of milk to his baby.
A true cabellero would have sent the serv-
ant, and even his silk hat and polished cane,
coupled with extremely polished manners,
could not save him.
''In Chile the man who makes your shoes,
the tailor who cuts your coat, the woman
who irons your linen, will charge you ac-
cording to your cloth for his or her serv-
ices If you claim to be gentleman by
dressing up to the character, the price will
be enormous; but if you are a tradesman, a
clerk, or laborer of any description, it
will be more moderate. Should you be so
excessively vulgar as to venture to the mar
ket in person to purchase piece of meat it
will cost you at least 40 cents pound; but
if you send servant, he will buy the same
quantity and better quality for half the
money. The Chilean physician who made
a professional visit to my family, requiring
his services for less than half an hour, sent
In bill for S75; but when I informed him
that was poor man, he wrote me a very
polite note, saying that it was of no conse-
auence, and that I might pay him at my
own convenience whatever sum thought
proper"
RELATIONS OF MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.
In Chile the greatest respect is shown by
children to their parents, but the tender
love between mother and daughter, as it
exists among us, is almost unknown. At
birth the children Of the wealthy are invar-
70