Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-01-31
THE WOMEN OF CHILL
courtship Carried on Under
Difficulties.
EASTER BONNET is UNKNOWN,
Nobody Goes to Church to see the Latest
styles-The Ugly Manta.
Some High Types of Feminine Beauty.
They Have no Word That Signifies
PIainness OF Feature-Mar-
rage not 5Iercenary.
EASTER BONNET is UNKNOWN,
[Copyrighted 1sQa. by the United Press.J

I
recognized also in Chill. The social code or
the country would regard as scandalous the
freedom which in North America aud Eng
! land is permitted to the sexes.
The CHILEAN young lady never sees her
lover, except in the company OF others.
The standard American jokes about the
milkman in the morning, the grouty father
ON the stairs, and dim light in the parlor,
would all be Greek to her, If she ever read
them. If the family of the young lady are
in favor of her admirer they give the
couple an occasional chance to see each
other and converse by inviting him to enjoy
the hospitality of the house. II they are
opposed to the courtship, it can be carried
on only in defiance of difficulties, which
American young men are happily seldom
called upon to confront Under such
circumstances it is not only love at sight in
the beginning, but all the time; for there is
no opportunity for any other communica-
ton.
So determined is Gillian custom to pre-
vent the senorita from attracting attention
when she goes abroad, even under the
guardianship of the family, that dressing
for church, in the American sense, Is
unknown in Chilli. The Eastern bonnet is
a perplexity as yet foreign to the CHILEAN,
however rich may be garments laid away
for the rare occasions when custom per-
mits a display of feminine attire, they
would be of no use going TO public worship.
Beauty Of form and style are alike hidden
under the black manta, shawl worn IL the
fashion of hood over the head, and long
enough to conceal the dress. The manta
is most ugly garment, even more an
enemy of female attractions than the baggy
veil in which women of the East are con-
cealeG from inquisitive gaze; for the
Turkish garb leaves much to Imagination
while the manta spoIls, with its ugly frame
work, the prettiest face.
1t is not to be wondered at that Gillian
women are intensely religious. They are
not distracted from their devotions BY any
display Of millinery, and their very morti-
fcation at the thought of the appearance
they present must naturally drive them to
seek consolation in prayer. As the men
rarely go to church, the spectacle of the
rows of black mantas in the Gillian house
of worship is about as depressing and SOM
Der az can be imagined The gathering,
which in America, would be bright with
the latest achievements of the dressmaker,
is in Chilli suggestive of an assemblage of
nuns.
That Gillian women grow up to be de-
voted to the church goes without saying.
They are the main support Of the padres,
and that faith in religion is perpetuated, is
largely due to the deep religious spirit of
the mother, absorbed and fostered under
the folds of the ugly manta. There are pro-
tests against the manta now and then, on
the part of the enlightened Christians, who
know something of foreign habits, and are
not entirely bound up in adhesion to an
cient ways; but there is no sign that the
manta is losing its hold. A sonora or
senorita going to church without it would
be even more conspicuous than a lady who
should enter bareheaded one of the fashion
able churches in an American city.
Among the pure-blooded families of the
upper class specimens of the highest type
,af4r Esar1
conversation the Gillian lady is usually in
teresting, and while they have their share
of liking for gossip and small talk, they
seldom indulge, even to each other, in Sc
we're remarks about their mutual friends.
They have no word equivalent to ''ugly,''
or even the American use of ''homely,"
but if they cannot truthfully say that an
other girl is pretty, they speak of her as
muy simpatica, or very sympathetic. This
same term Is sometimes applied to male ac-
quaintances for the same reason. There
fore if an American visitor TO Chilli hears
himself alluded to in dulcet tones as very
sympathetic, he may not take it as a trib-
ute to his goodness of heart n
One circumstance that tends to favor fe-
male charms in Chill is that the climate is
not so languid as in the tropical countries of
Latin America The life led in the house
and out of it Is more vigorous and tends to
the development of hard and healthy ply
sique. 1t may seem incredible that in a
country where the weather, in the southern
portion, is often as severe as that
of a North American winter, fire
places, except for cooking, are al
most unknown. The Chilians, like the
Chinese, add more clothing to meet the in-s
creasing cold, and families may be seen sit
ting down to dinner in overcoatS and furs.-
This absence of the fireplace is not duesto
poverty; for in the most palatial homes of
&c ha &c rba
AS matter of fact the cold causes consid-
cradle suffering, Notwithstanding wraps
and furs, and yet it is patiently endured
because, the Chiians claim, fire-places are
unwholesome.
The spe ctacle may be witnessed of people
richly dressed, and belonging to the best
society, compelled by the GOODNESS of a
drawing-room or ballroom, to keep NOV
ing about in order to keep warm. But it
must not be inferred that Gillian hospitality
is measured by the temperature. Once the
4cor is thrown open TO stranger or friend,
the reception is as generous as it is mani
testify cordial.
Notwithstanding the formal relations be-
tween young people Of opposite sexes in
Chill, marriage is, IS a rule, matter of
genuine choice and affection. While care
fully guarding their daughter, Chilian par
ents permit her, under restrictions, to see
enough Of her lover to learn whether he is
nkely 10 De desirable as husband. Inter-
views are freely permitted, with other
members of the family in the room, and
the rooms are often large, and the
others present politely blind and
deaf to the courtship. There is little,
if any, of the bargain and sale that charac-
terizes matrimony in the stilted circles OF
European continental society And the mar
riages that result are, as a rule, happy.
The women are excellent wives and moth
ers. Divorce is unknown, the people being
governed in that respect by the rules of the
church, and the separation OF married
couples is very seldom heard Of However,
when Chllian thinks he or she has occa-
sion for jealousy, the result is likely to be
tragic.
The above observations apply more
especially to women of the upper order
Among the lower classes of Chilians there
is less restraint. and women, both married
and unmarried, do not hesitate to go out in
the world to make living by industry. In
Valparaiso. for instance, the conductors on
the street cars are women, and some of
them young and pretty. One of them is
noted for her good looks, and it is said
that the car of which she is mistress is a
fayorite resort Of the golden youth of Val
paraiso, attracted by the hope that in Civ
ing change for fare, she viii also throw in
an encouraging glance or smile. This hope
is seldom realized, as the young woman is
said to be as good as she is pretty, and able
to combihe proper reserve with strict atten-
ton to business. sJULIAEo PRATT.