Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-08
Mr.. Peppers Observations Of
Santiago.
s CHARACTERISTICS
DISPLAY OF ENERGY AND DISPo-
sITIoN TO TAKE LIFE EASILY.
Opening of the Congress-A Ministerial
Crisis-Problems to Be Considered
Friendship for This Country.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.


on me gradually
l had looked for Latin or Spanish Amer1-
ca and found little of that character except
the language. Valparaiso, as might be ex-
pected of a great seaport. is cosmopolitan.
But Santiago, In the interior, could be
judged rightly to be characteristic Of the
country. 1t is fully SO, capital which Is
essentially the heart of the nation, and
here more than anywhere else the impress
sion has been made on me that Chile is
Chilean.
A confession Of ignorance is due at the
outset. 1 did not know that the capital
was a big, fine city of 100000 inhabitants,
a commercial center as we'll as the seat of
government. 1t Is both.
The plan of the town is Spanish enough
in it's regularity of parallel and cross
streets, plazas the broad central avenue
of the Alameda. and houses which repro
duce the dwellings of old Spain. But after
puzZling over it for awhile 1 discovered
what Is lacking TranSplanted Spain Is
not dominant in the architecture. 1t ls
subdued almost into insignificance. This Is
particularly SO of the churches which,
moreover, are less numerous than In other
South American cities. They have not the
Moorish adaptation that is so pronounced
in Lima and they have little SAVIOR of
ecclesiastic medievalism. Instead of being
picturesque and half ruined most of them
are practical modern-looking structures. BY
their negative qualities, INTELLECTUALLY
speaking they help to take from Santiago
the characteristics OF Latin-America and
make is more distinctively Chilean. Even
the cathedral in its reconstruction was
moderniZed.
The un-Spanish element is also seen in
Santa Lucia, the craggy hill which is San
tiago's most precious possession. and which
any city may we'll envy it, l suppose In the
old days a thick-walled fort may have
strategic n
tages and because the early Spantards
could not help placing fort on little hill
il the church had not got ahead of the sol
diers. In the memory Of recent generations
Santa Lucia was only a mass of rocks until
the inspiration to transform 1t into noun
tain-side park was felt, and the conversion
into perpendicular hanging garden of
drives, terraces, groves, statues, fountains
and grottos was accomplished without art
being allowed entirely to deface nature. If
Castilian Andalusian traditions had had
much lodgment in the Chilean character,
the most that would have come of the
splendid situation would have been a park
at the foot of Santa Lucia.
These are physical aspects which seem to
be reflection of mental traits. Some of
these traits help further to understand
Chile and Its capital. but full explanation
of them would leave no space to tell where
in the country, or rather the people, par
take of North Americanism.
North American Qualities.
This place is so far away. about as far
south of the equator as Savannah is north
of that line. and the number of residents
from the United States is SO very small.
that the presence Of the North American
qualities may be doubted. Yet they exist.
A single incident satisfied me of this.
1t was the evening express. which covers
the distance from Valparaiso to Santiago In
five hours. A heavy rain was falling and
,1l, rt~t, III ft,a nR hA vi
chair car like a bullet. After time the
water began to trickle in, not enough for
an umbrella. but enough to annoy those
who had paid extra fare for the privilege of
extra accommodations. The Chileans who
were passengers complained to the train
conductor, to the parlor car conductor and
to one another. And they expressed them
selves freely about the railway manage
ment.
When Santiago was reached 1t was nearly
midnight My travelling companion and
myself were glad enough to seek hotel
envying those who had houses to go to on
such dreary night and not doubling that
they would hasten thither. The next
morning the first thing l read in the news
papers was the complaint of the passengers
who had gone to the offices and made
known their grievance. Now 1t takes
pretty robust character to forego personal
comfort and insist on remedytng a hard
ship for the benefit of the general public.
People of soft temperaments are not
'kfckers."
This was one phase of the incident which
made me feel at home. Then the newspa-
pers took up the matter, and in the name
of the public demanded that no more leaky
parlor cars be sent out They argued.
rightly, that there was bad management
somewhere. This was also like the states.
The matter was trifiing, yet people who
go to the newspapers with their troubles
and complaints have confidence in the in
fiuence of the press. That Is so in the
United States, and it is SO in Chile. where
the journals are not only enterprising in
news. but are very aggressive in maintain
ing their functions as leaders of public
opinion. l shall have occasion to write Of
the Chilean press later.
The names in Santiago might make any
one from the states feel at home but here
he would be deceived. The Spanish names
which correspond to Brown Jones and
Smith are not predominant, and this might
be taken as another evidence that the
Spanish element in the Chilean character
is lacking. This guess would be faulty
They are not from Catalania or Andalusia
but the patronymics of the mountain
provinces and Of the Basque region are
very common.
Where the newcomer from the states is
deceived is in supposing the many familiar
names he sees and hears, which have not
trace Of foreign tongue. must be of his
own people or Of his English cousins
Hearing some of the names the inquiry
almost always is, your father must have
been American, English. Irish or scotch?'
anu tlio answer Is NO, Dut l believe nv
fathers grandfather had English ances-
try" One or two generations is not
enough to account for the names. They
go long way back.
The Leisurely Life.
While in many ways a visitor from the
north feels himself at home here so far
south in other respects he finds that the
land and its customs are strangers to him.
There is no North American rush and push.
Trade, industry, official and social life flow
In smooth currents. The day does not real
ly begin until after midday breakfast, and
1t ends in time for leisurely preparation
for the evening dinner The stores open
late and close early. The work of all
classes, except the laborers, seems to be
compressed into the space of five or six
hours.
did not know how slowly the life Of the
city unfolded until starting out for MORN
Ing walk on the Alameda. The hour was 8
o'clock, certainty not early. yet the streets
were almost deserted and the only signs OF
a city awakening to Its daily activity were
a few boticas, drug stores, the employees
of which were taking down the signs The
Alameda is a long avenue, about three
miles, and nowhere was there movement
Not till along toward noon was the city
really astir. / can quite believe q friend
who declares that the Santiago shopkeep-
ers resent a customer putting In an APP
pearance before II o'clock. Then at half
past IL is the noon closing which LASTS nm