The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-01-30
AWAY DOWN IN CHILL.
SOME FUNNY NATIONAL CHAR
 ACTERISTICS.
street curiosities-An Equestrlau Gen-
 sIemnn. Special Correspondence of the Journal and Courier.)

take a ride, he does not send around to the livery stable for a vehicle, but sal lies forth on foot, carrying whatever paraphernalia tne excursion may re- quire, and walks until birlochero comes along. The public carriages are much like the hacks in common use at home, except that they are built in more substantial fashion, for these roughly paved roads would soon shake
 an ordinary coach into kindling wood.
 Hail passing birlochero, and it's driver
 will whirl his raw-boned horases two or
 three times around in the narrow
 street, grazing the houses on either
 side, to the imminent peril of pedestri- ans; for he considers that a deal of noise, flourish and whip-cracking are needed to do proper honor to the occa- sion. Having satisfied his conscience in that regard and brought his foaming Isteeds to a stand-still, you chamber in
 and are whisked away, pell-mell, over lthe stones, at a pace that may truly be ltermed a spanking" one, for you are bounded against the top like rubber ball and hurled into your neighbor s larms with force enough to fracture lthinly cushioned ribs-bonnets battered, that's knocked off; but you may be con lsoled with the reflection that you are Iriding for pleasure, and that this heroic lexercise is good for garlic-impaired di- lgestion.
 Hereabouts the favorite after-dinner drive is to a suburban pleasure garden, lcalled the Palancho, which is much fra- of ai<fx "a lplace in itself has no attractions, but ithere are few ways of varying the mo- Inotony of life in Chili, and the human Ispecies are like sheep the world over, lyou know, in following the lead of a bell-wether.
 When first arrived in this part of the lcountry, we used to carefully explain to our coachnen that we were strangers in the land and desired to be shown the lmost beautiful and entertaining sights. We found the cocheros obliging fellows,
 always delighted with the mission and lproud to exhibit home institutions; but unfortunately, their ideas of the beauti- Iful and entertaining differed greatly from our own. The first Jehu drove us
 straight to the slaughter-house, and throwing wide the door, triumphantly : invited us to enter and view the whole
 process of. killing and dressing. Hav- ling declined that amusement, to his in- finite surprise and disappointment, he drove us next to the big hospital where llegs and arms are sawed galore, and where a vast array of amputated sores
 and tumors and monstrosities are set
 forth in glass bottles Finding us still , lnot agreeably diverted, even by this gruesome display, which possesses ex- ; ltraordinary fascination for the low class
 Chileno, he spent the remainder of the
 afternoon sullily driving up and down lthe same streets, evidently ruminating
 upon the stupidity of los Gringoes.
 Another cochero, delighted with the
 same mission, made a bee-lne to the lalmshouse; another carried us at once , ito the penetentiary; and another to the , poor little cemetery. At last we learned that Conception has nc sights even her churches being toe lnew to be interesting; and now on oul : lafternoon drives we give the unvarying
 order of ladies to the manor born ssVaya al Palancho'' -go to the pleasure l Igarden. One is sure to encounter many novelties er route, and the streets arc g a lively panorama, slow-moving bu ' kaleidoscope, of unfaiing interest t
 the foreigner.
 IT For example, there is a bearded e digniied Guaso, mounted on a fin, {. lhorse, with his fat wife behind him. H, I is topped by a broad-brimmed hat, tn |. rest of his person enveloped in bright e llued poncho, or native blanket, with 1;
 slit in the center through which h,
 lthrusts his head: while she wears :, ipurple cotton gown, a scarlet shawl land mans hat of Panama straw. Tn, j, horse's bridle is plated with silver ant { on his saddle are piled five or six shag
 lgy pillones, or woolen cloths, which al
 lmost cover his thighs. The rowels o :. the guaso's spurs are without exagger lation, large as ordinary tea-plates, fiv ! or six inches across, and heavily plate, e with silver His stirrups are made o : a block of oak, elaborately carved an, ' lholloWed inside-say ten inches high b, : Inine in diameter for a moderate size
 leach weighing four or five pounds ' forming complete protection for tn J | It tain bushes and rocky deffles. At on r. lside of the saddle is fastened a coile, e llasso, made of twisted hide, about a 1T thick as your thumb, fifty or sixty fee
 long, with a slip-noose at the end. Tn
 Guaso is never without lasso, and tn
 skill with which he can use it is amaz
 ling. If he wishes to catch an anima d that may be running away at full spec
 he takes the coil in his right hand IS lurges his horse to a mad gallop, an ( whirling the lasso several times aroun is his head to give 1t momentum hurls it e loop with unerring aim around the necl l. horns or legs of the animal with a
 Imuch ease and accuracy as skille
 baseball player sends his ball. Tn l. horse is so trained that the instant tn
 lasso leaves his riders hand he stor in and braces himself to bear the strain ( the exercise from infancy, and ever rs rag-muffin urchin old enough to toddl to is rforever practicing his art on poul le try, dogs cats and other small animal or that may come in his way, with tn of same dabolical persistency that tn
 Igamin of Peru and Bolivia shy stone = out of slings at passers-by at Patage
 nian boys, a degree less civilized, shot
 their bone-tipped arrows Hurrying 0
 toward the Palanco, we meet and pas K, lother birlocheros, all filled with chat -' tering and smiling Chilenos; drunke no sailors. come over to s'paint the town