The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-12-01
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES


@@! ANTIAGO, Chile.-Chile is
SI Chilean. 1t is also North
American. This mixed eY-
N=I preston unfolded on me
lslll gradually.
had looked for Latin or
SRanish America, and found little of
tkat character except the language.
Valparaiso, as might be expected of
xreat seaport, is cosmopolitan. But
,&antiago, in the interior, could be
Judged rightly to be characteristic Of
ethe country. 1t is fully so, capital
which is essentially the heart of the
nation. and here more than anywhere
else the impression 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 big, fine city Of 100000
iphabitants; a commercial centre as
well as the seat Of government. 1t
is both.
The plan of the town IS Spanish
enough in its regularity Of parallel and
cross streets, plaZas, the broad central
arerue of the Alameda, and houses
which reproduce the dwellings OF old
Spain. But after puZzling over it for
n. while I discovered what is lacking.
Transplanted Spain is not dominant
fin the architecture. 1t is subdued al
most into insignifcance. This is par
ticularly 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 medic
yal;sn. Instead Of being picturesque
and half ruined, most of them are prac-
:tical, modern looking structures.
!. The un-Sranish element is also seen
In Santa Lucia, the craggy hill which
is Santiago's most precious possession,
and which any city may we'll envy it.
suppose in the old days thick
walled fort may have crowned it, both
for its strategic advantages and be-
cause the early Spaniards could not
help placing a fort on little bill! if
the church had not got ahead Of the
soldiers.
In the memory Of recent generations
Santa Lucia was only mass Of rocks
until The inspiration to transform it
into a mountain-side park was felt,
and the conversion into perpendicu-
lar hanging garden Of drives, terraces,
groves, statues, fountains and grottoes
was accomplished without art being
allowed entirely to deface nature. If
Castlian or Andalusian traditions had
had much lodgment in the Chilean
character the most that would have
come of the splendid situation would
have been q park at the foot Of Santa
Lucia.
The names IN Santiago might make
anyone from the States feel at home,
but here he would be deceived. The
Spanish names that correspond to
Brown, Jones and Smith are not pre-
dominant, and this fact might be taken
as another evidence that the Spanish
element in the Chilean character is
lacking This guess would be faulty.
They are Tot from Catalania or Anda-
Iusia, but the pat-onymics of the moull-
tain provinces and Of the Basque re-
gion 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 4 trace OF foreign
tongue, must be Of his own people or
OF his English cousins. Hearing some
of tie names, the inquiry almost al
ways is: Your father must have been
American, English, Irish or Scotch?'
and the answer is: NO, but believe
my fathers grandfather had English
ancestry"
=; Orc Or two generations IS not enough
to account for the names. They SO
long way back.
While in many ways 4 visitor from
the North feels himself at home here
SO far south in other respects he finds
that. .he land and its customs are
.SIICUHHTS 10 Hill. l1ctS wv th
American rush and push. Trade, in
.dustry, official and social life flow in
smooth currents.
TIE day does not really begin until
after the midday breakfast, and it
ends in time for leiSurely prepara-
ton for the evening dinner. The stores
open late and close early. The work
of al classes, except the laborers,
seems TO be compressed into tie space
OF FIVE or six hours.
! If should have q quarrel with Santt-
sgo, it would be over the climate.
This is the winter eason-alMoSt mid
winter. And '+ is cold. Yet the o.
anse trees in the patios of the dwell
apgs are yellow with fruit: the slopes
of Santa Lucia. if not Of the rich ve.-
vet green of The spring and summer.
arc still green, and The foliage along
the Alameda, while little brown and
thin, is rot sere.
A. nost the appearance is OF early