The Republican journal., 1903-12-24
EVERYDAY LIFE IN CHILL.
SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR THE ALMA
MAC is UPSIDE DOWN. LOST IN
THE WEATHER,
Special Correspondence of The Journal.]

The tourist coming down from the
tropics feels exhilarated by the climate
of Santiago as by draught of old wine.
Benjamin Taylor in his Between the
Cates.' describes it exactly, for no
where else are the seasons more neigh
oorly. Says he: THE improperly of
winter lingering in the lap of spring
las made public scandal; but when
september is on whispering terms with
May, and old January masquerades in
june's clothes, and July gives all her
.ainbows to November, it is time to
ak. The winter is in summer, and
ne spring is i'll winter, and harvest is
n seed-time, and autumn is left out of
-e calendar altogether. The siroccos
ow from the north and the cold winds
nom the south; and you must never
-dil by the almanac, or you will lose
5our reckoning and get lost in the
geather." But there is another side to
is charming picture. Though the
gear. and roses are perpetually in
loom, and ripening fruit and baby
0SSoms show at once on the same
aoh, as they do i'll happy human fami-
es-there is a summertime of tleas
ud dust, during the season of our
m.d-winterl, and an uncomfortable
spell of chilly dampness throughout
Ire rainy months, when northern peo-
q.e are suffering most with heat. The
>easons are transposed south of the
uatorial line, you know. "A former
;. consul to Santiago wrote as fol-
yWs about the summer time of this
,ttude; The first day of your arrival
ere when you are filling and tacking
nd beating up the breeze, and blowing
as if it were a friend, and blinking at
ne dust that waltzes at you around
umers and bears down upon you with
ne gait that Byron'S Assyrians came,
,ou wink at it all in the light of prac-
cal joke and VOW that you will go
ome tomorrow. And when you are
tarching from chin to slippers for that
gnce of jumpers. beside which Cortez
osom friend Alvarado was no leaper
Furth mentioning, and taking yourself
. in pieces but never catching any
ing, you declare that you will leave
,o-uight. But weeks glide by, and the
.eezes blow and the pulgas leap, how
-aan our vulgar word flea )-and still
au tarry, at first resigned then en-
dnted: and the charm deepens and
opens as time goes on
There is downright discomfort here
ring the cold days of the rainy sea-
-u The people have a deep-seated
every sort, and except i'll houses
hit by English OF American residents,
ere is hardly stove, CRATE or fire
ace to be found in all Chill. The
ormouSly thick walls retain no end
iampness, the tloors-laid flat upon
ground, without cellars beneath
r cold and clammy as tOmbstOnes:
...,l as every casa is built around cen
.a court into which ali the rooms
.en. there are seldom communicating
.uurs between the various apartments
SO that. whatever the weather, one
ust step out into the uncovered patio
go from parlor to dining room, bed
.,om or kitchen. Although the pre-
"Hiling diseases are pneumonia, throat
.ud lung troubles, and the mortality
ION these causes is frightful during
lie wet season, nothing can convince d
lillian that artificial heat will not alb
~oiutely poison the atmosphere. When
{ visits the home of foreigner and
uds the rooms comfortably warm and
ny, he invariably grumbles and re-
uests that the door be left open SO he
LAY not suffocate-but all the same he
breads his hands and coat tails before
ne cheerful blaze as if he thoroughly
-njoyed it.
1t looks odd at party or reception
10 see ladies in bare arms and decolette
todices, with blue noses and chattering
.eeth, wrapped in shawls and fur-lined
oaks, crowding around a charcoal bra
zier, which emits just enough heat to
make one more sensible Of the deadly
ctills that 60 galloping up and down
one's spinal column; and odder still to
see them at table still wrapped in cloaks
and shawls, the aching feet of each
guest thrust into a fur foot-warmer,
though surrounded by every luxury
except fire., that wealth can buy. The
toot-warmers above mentioned are
unique institutions, and as ornamental
as indispensable. They are regular
pockets, each just large enough to slip
4 pair of feet into, and are made of fur
OF flannel, lined with llama wool. They
are often richly embroidered, and are
Usually of home manufacture, or are
made by the nuns and orphans in the
asylums, who are all experts in needle
work. oldest of all it seems to see
Gentlemen and ladies perambulating
tho nlazaS in mjd-Winter the former