The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-02-13


 creation is apt to imagine that the Chil- lans are a semi-barbarous nation, clad, if clad at all, with lit tie refinement and less education, su- perstitious, cruel and blood thirsty. When first arrived here-astonished by the magnificence of los Ricos" (the class, who. though numerically few, yet rule both church and state), their splendid casas and numerous schools and places of amusement, their costly living and stylish dressing and dazzling display of jewels, and their and generous hospitality-he jumps at the conclusion that his previ- ous impressions were absolutely and entirely erroneous. But as time goes on and he learns how the common people" who make up the bulk of the population, live and move and have their being-he comes back to his first opinion as concerning a large majority of Chilians. There are so many condi- tions of existence in the land, and con sequently such a variety of character, that one may say of these people with equal truth-they are both highly civil ized and sunk in barbarism; pro- foundly educated and densely ignorant; rich as Croesus and poor as Jobs oft mentioned turkey; that they live in pal aces furnished with every modern luxu- ry, and in mud novels with nothing but beans and raw clans for daily bread" and that they are the most warm hearted, genial, hospitable and thor oughly delightful people in the world, as we'll as the most treacherous, re- vengeful and never-t to be depended upon. Certain national characteristics may be clearly traced through all classes of society-such as the quick, sensational and emotional nature, which makes the Chilian soldier terri ble foe; the Chilian citizen ready to lay down his life at any moment for point of honor or the cherished institutions of his beloved country; the Chilan lady or gentleman a most generous and de- voted friend, the Chilian lover, male and female, ardent to an extravagant degree hardly conceivable by an Anglo Saxon mind, and inclined to jealousy as the sparks fly upward.
 In Chili the typical rico (rich man), young or old, dresses no second best attire in the way of a rough and ready morning costume or business suit, for he has no need of such, being like the lilies in that he tolls not, neither does he spin. His clothes are always the finest, daintiest and most fashionable that an artist-tailor can create" his polished hair carefully parted in the middle or brushed straight up a la pom padour. His immaculate shirt cuffs, with conspicuously jeweled buttons, ex- tending toward his knuckles just so far by a hairs breadth; his very small, sharp-toed, high-heeled shoes ref1eetins his beauty as in twin mirrors; his mo- nogram- embroidered handkerchief deli cately scented; and, in his eyes, the handsome diamond ring and scarf-pin that he wears are no less essential than shirt or trousers. He has been taught department from his cradle, and mas tered that science to perfection at an early age. As often as he meets you be it dozen times a day, he holds his slender cane daintily in one well-gloved hand while tipping his faultless tile with the other, bows gracefully and low, and shakes you by the hand-with never the slightest perceptible variation in the depth of his obeisance or the warmth of the shake; unless you hap pen to be a man and an intimate friend in which case he may embrace and kiss you. If being only a casual asquaint- ance, you call upon him on an errand of business or pleasure, he will hasten to inform you that every thing he pos sesses is unreservedly yours-his house, himself, his family. his servants all are a su disposition de usted-"at your disposal"
 His wife, who is generally beautiful and always well dressed, will smile or you sweetly through a drift of face powder with bright touch of rouge or either side of the nose, and assure you in soft-voweled Spanish of the pleasure |she feels in thus forming your acquaint- ance-and makes you believe it, too which is the best part of it. Fellow foreigners tell us that all this tropica courtesy means little, and is only "skir deep" But who cares to go deeper:
 It is delightful all the same and quite deep enough to out-Iast the occasion
 We, who profess to be cultured peo-
 pie and are inclined to stiffen our necks
 with Yankee conceit when our ways are compared with those of other nations may learn from the Chilians good many needed lessons in common polite ness. For example: They never enter or leave public dining room, coach street car or other vehicle withou
 bowng to all it's occupants. No lady ol gentleman to the manor born ever sat down to or arose from a table in Chili
 either public or private, without an in clination of the head to all present Sc in shopping, they bow to the merchant or to his salesman, on entering or leav- ing a store. That sort of thing, il seems to me, is much more human be. tween fellow-travelers on life's short journey than our don't-care-fo for-any. body way Says one: "The great so- cial question of the day is whethetr, fol transient acquaintance, it is better tC meet an Englishman who will be bluff and bearish toward you and make yor feel like an intruder, while his heart is |overf1owing with good will toward you or one of these more courtly southern CTS, who flatters you with politeness until you are perfectly at ease. while all the time he is thinking what both CT you are. Most politeness is pleasant |shamming the world over. I see no req son for distrusting hospitality simply because it bears a mothers blessing, ana