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

move nearer the wall, leaving her the curb-stone; and I have often seen la dies compelled to step down into the gutter in order to pass around them. The excuse for these gentlemen is that
 they are not yet used to female eman-
 cipation Their real ladies are seldom seen alone upon the public streets. and
 Chilian ideas of caste forbid them 10
 show much deference toward common
 people" In Chili no place is sacred
 from the fumes of tobacco, except per haps the church. Gentlemen are al-
 ways smoking, whether walking or rid
 ing, with or without ladies. They do it
 in the parlor the ballroom and at the
 table.
 The priest in the pantheon takes
 whiff between his prayers: and the gay
 bomberos (fremen) while running with
 their engines. must pause to light the cigarrito. be the emergency never so
 great. Though in this alleged republic,
 all titles were long since abolished,
 many of the old families who would be
 glad to retain them still keep up the re-
 tinue and state of nobility A shining
 example of this was the late Countess
 of Zorro, who gave the government
 yearly sum for the privilege of being
 called countess-a qualification for
 which she could well afford to pay, be-
 ing possessed of almost fabulous wealth.
 Her enormous, two-storied odobe casa
 was painted brilliant scarlet, with
 white doors and window castings. Her
 deceased husband ordered in his will
 that it's color should remain unchanged,
 and stipulated that disobedience on the
 part of the widow would forfeit the
 property. To the day of her death the
 estimable countess sported Parisian
 coach and four, with four out-riders
 and postllion.
 The typical middle-class Chileno is very like his more aristocratic neighbor
 at least in outward appearance. His
 house may be almost barren of furni-
 ture and the wolf may sometimes prowl
 dangerously near the premises; but at Iall times his manner is exactly like that
 of Los Ricos, and his clothes are as
 nearly copy of theirs as circumstau-
 ces will permit. But the Chilian Roto 1.-the acknowledged poor man--is an
 entirely different being, who never apes
 gentility, having no style to sustain and no ambition to rise above the caste in
 which he was born He has no rela-
 tions whatever with his richer neighbor,
 except to serve him for pay whenever
 occasion requires; and he regards the Rico as great parsonage, whose digni-
 ty he would fight for any day. The
 Roto wears a slouch hat, always mangy
 from long usage, dirty brooches rolled
 up from the bottom, and a garment of
 indistinguishable hue which he calls a
 shirt If the weather is warm he per
 ambulates barefoot; if cold, he clatters
 around on a pair of clumsy clogs with
 wooden soles an inch thick--that is, if
 he can afford them; if not, he still goes
 barefoot both winter and summer.
 When cold he dons a heavy blanket,
 called poncho, that has slit in the
 middle through which he thrusts his
 head No stretch of imagination can
 conceive of him as beauty-thick, coarse black hair hanging straight
 from the crown, high cheek bones,
 wide mouth and skin the color of an old shoe; but he has dazzling white teeth,
 and small hands and feet that any
 Gringo might envy. He has no yearn- ing after the unattainable. and his few
 wants are easily supplied. He sesires ! no better place than the one-room adobe hut with roof of straw and floor of ] Mother Earth. His furniture consists of a rude bench or two by way of chairs , pine table, or perhaps dry-goods
 box in lieu of it. cow-hide in one cor fer upon which to sleep, another rough
 box which serves for trunk, closet, cup , board and the shrine of his patron
 saint, a gourd mate-cup, and a pot of charcoal upon which his wife cooks the beans and garlic. Like all ignorant people he is extremely superstitious, be- lieving in charms and amulets as pow erful to drive away diseases, and that the devil roams about in various guises , perpetrating mischief upon man. He } also devoutly believes that saints and angels and even the Blessed Virgin
 herself, will come in person if iinpor- 1 tuned. to drive away his satanic majes- 1 ty. He is slovenly, slow and patient : but man whom 1t is wise to avoid when his anger is aroused. He knows how to use the terrible curvo-the } knife shaped to fit a human throat sharpened inside the curve-and would think no more of severing your wind : pipe with it than the neck of a chicken l In this country there is no objection Ito "woman's rights''-that is, for wo- , men of the Roto class, so far as the } right to labor in any avenue is con cerned. They are not only employed as : street-car conductors, but they do tht 5 street cleaning, and gangs of women } with short willow broomsss sweep the dirt into the ditches long before sun l rise. Outside the city they keep the : shops, the hotels and the drinking , places, besides doing all the garder , work. They occupy the market almos exclusively, selling meats as well as r vegetables The Roto's wife will carry . a basket of fruit around all day on hel head, peddling from door to door, oi : will seat herself somewhere in the sur , and patiently await customers, content , with the profit of few penniess be tween dawn and dark. If the husband is a ranchero, the wife or daughter : must drive for him the yoke of oxer t and sell the farm produce, or the woot cut for burning. The poor lavendera! (wash- women) seem to have the hard est time of it. With dresses pinned , high around the waist they stand al f day knee-deep in the river, pounding l the dirt from other peoples clothes II