Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-16

there are many cases of matrimony within
the forbidden degrees of consanguinity-
even to the union of uncles with nieces and
stepfathers with step daughters.
THE SERVANT QUESTION.
Servants are abundant, and if one does
not please, better may be readily obtained,
SO that Chilean ladies are entirely relieved
from some of the responsibilities that harass
Northern housekeepers. Here the hire of
servants is so cheap and their demands so
moderate that people can more easily afford
the five or six that usually compose the
kitchen brigade than the matrOn of the
United States her one or two. Eight dol
lars per month is high price to pay ones
cook, and so ON down the scale to moth
ing but his "keep" for the errand boy,
who is everybody's servant and the hardest
worked member of the household.
A New England lady who is now wrest-
ling with the mysteries of Chilean house.
keeping at Valparaiso writes me as follows
concerning her experience: "We engaged a
cook, who promised faithfully to come on
certain morning, and retained our predeces-
sor's man-servant, neither of whom spoke
one word of English, while we were equally
ignorant of Spanish. We took possession
y,
appearance. The dinner hour came and
there was no dinner. There was nothing in
the house but groceries and bread, and we
could buy nothing, because we could not
speak the language of traffic; and even with
plenty of provisions on hand we could never
have cooked on that queer adobe range. So
the gentlemen returned to the hotel and the
ladies satisfied themselves on bread and
butter.
DINNERS FROM THE CAFE
"a friend who called during the evening
suggested that, pendin g the arrival of
cook, we have our meals brought from
cafe-a common custom here. You have
lot of tins made, fitting one into the other,
with wire passing through rings at the
side. The bottom tin contains Goals, and
different meats and vegetables are placed
one above the other in the successive tins.
AT dinner time one NAV see men rushing
through the streets of Valparaiso in every
direction, with strings of dishes varying in
length according to the magnitude of the
purchasers dinner.
'sWe lived in that way for week (on
half cold food that all tasted of unwashed
tin and the menu of many yesterdays) until
at last we secured well-recommended cook
who is to have Sc per month for getting up
and going to market She sleeps in her
own house and has the usual perquisites
accorded to servants here, viz, meat and
vegetables from our own table, one pound of
brown sugar week and cents worth of
bread per diem. Butter is never allowed
them; coffee at the generosity of their en-
ployers.
ORDERING WITH A DICTIONARY.
10 IN fbe
ing approach my cook with money in one
hand and a dictionary in the other, to give
orders concerning the marketing. 1t is not
difficult to catch the pronunciation of Span
ish, and in case of stern necessity one may
dispense with verbs altogether. The brief
est of dialogues, something in this fashion,
always occurs: Dolores, quiero papas,
buevos, beefsteak. q want potatoes, eggs
and beefsteak) To which Dolores respect
fully replies; 81, Senorita, muy bueno-
Qes, Miss, very well. =
''The man servant, or major-domo, as he Is
magnifcently termed, takes charge OF the
dining-room, waits at table and act as cham
Der maid-for it is singular fact that the
chamber smaidens' of Chile are universally
of the other sex. We have one street stair
case, up which everything is brought. The
first thing hear in the morning is the clat-
ter upon the steps of the water carrier, who
brings US two kegs of water daily, tor which
he Is paid So 30 per month. Then comes
the bread man, to whom we pay 30 cents q
day for what our family Of seven are sup
posed to consume; then the milkman, bring
ing half pint for eight cents; and, lastly,
the cook arrives, with the marketing and
the days supply of fuel In this hand-to
mouth way Of living always have an un-
comfortable impression that some day we
shall be left destitute. But everybody else
lives in the same fashion, and, indeed, no
other way is possible here"
A POPULAR CHILEAN DRINK.
In every Chilean household hospitality
to evening visitors is expressed by tea and
cakes, the hostess always pouring out the
beverage and a servant handing it to the
guests The beverage of the common peo-
pie Is yerba mate, the leaves of shrub
that grows in Paraguay, and itsis also much
used by the better classes, though the Chin
ese plant takes its place. in the parlor.
Yerba mate is a slightly exhilerating drink,
with the taste of tea and faint SAVIOR of to-
bacco. 1t is prepared by putting little
burnt sugar in the bottom Of q cup, then a
pinch or two of the dried leaves, after
which boiling water is poured on and it is
drunk, steaming hot, or rather is sucked
through q tube. The poor use little gourds
for cups, with bamboo tube called bonn
billa, while the rich indulge in elegant
mugs of silver or china, with silver bombil-
las
Evening parties, large and small, formal
and informal, are very much in fashion, and
the refreshments served are always cakes,
ices and tea Years ago-before the Chile
ans grew Jealous of foreigners, and also,
perhaps, before journalists came down here
to publish unpleasant truths about them
all strangers were welcomed with overflow
ing hospitality and delightful simplicity.
But now such warmth is seldom shown, ex-
cept in remote country places where the
mate cup and its bombilla is still passed
from your neighbor's lips to your own; and
where the hostess will pause in front of you,
with her dish of dulces in one hand and
spoon in the other, while she envelopes a
peach in it rich syrup and gently thrusts it
into your mouth, and SO on around the cir
cult Of the drawing room.
FANNIE B. wARD>
PEARLS GET SICK soMET1MEA