The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1905-01-04

t9 wi Chilean. 1t is also North
American. This mixed ex-
-zo-I preston unfolded on me
(ll9u lguJ gradually.
had locked for Latin or
Spanish America, and found little of
that character except the language.
Valparaiso, as might be expected of
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 impression has been made on |
me that Chile is Chilean.
A confession of ignorance Is due ut |
the outset. did not know that the
| capital was a big, fine city of 100000
| Inhabitants, 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
avenue of the Alameda, and houses
which reproduce the dwellings of old
Spain. But after puzzling over 1t for
a while l discovered what is lacking.
Transplanted Spain is not dominant
In 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
valism. Instead Of being picturesque
and half ruined, most Of them are prac-
teal, modern looking structures.
The un-Spanish element is also seen
in Santa Lucia, the craggy hill which
is Santiago's most precious possession,
and which any city may well envy 1t.
suppose in the old days a thick
walled fort may have crowned 1t, both
: for its strategic advantages and be-
cause the early Spaniards could not
help placing a fort on little hill 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 II
into a mountain-side park was felt,
! and the conversion into a perpendicu-
r lar hanging garden of drives, terraces,
!, groves, statues, fountains and grottoes
was accomplished without art being
{ allowed entirely to deface nature. II
J. Castilian or Andalusian traditions had
;, had much Judgment in the Chilean
: character the most that would have
+ come of the splendid situation would
e have been a park at the foot of Santa
b Lucia.
The names in Santiago might make
anyone from the States feel at home
r but here he would be deceived. The
u Spanish names that correspond tc
l. Brown, Jones and Smith are not pre-
> dominant, and this fact might be taker
q as another evidence that the Spanish
), element in the Chilean character II
y lacking. This guess would be faulty
l. They are not from Catalania or Anda
. lusia, but the pat-onymics Of the noun
tain provinces and of the Basque re
gion are very common.
Where the newcomer from the States
is deceived is in supposing the man,
familiar names he sees and hears
which have not a trace of a foreign
y tongue, must be Of his own people o
II of his English cousins. Hearing som
VI of the names. the inquiry almost al
II ways is: "Your father must have beel
'e American, English, Irish or Scotch !?
y and the answer is: mo, but I beliey
my fathers grandfather had Englisl
u ancestry"
'e One or two generations is not enougl
a. to account for the names. They 90
IL long way back.
ie While in many ways a visitor iron
the North feels himself at home her
O. so far south in other respects he find
IN that the land and its customs ar
es strangers to him. There is no Mort
c American rush and push. Trade. II
dustry, official and social life flow
We smooth currents.
10 The day does not really begin unit
ne after the midday breakfast, and
~ ends in time for leisurely prepar,
ton for the evening dinner. The store
In open late and close early. The wor
CT of all classes, except the laborer
r. seems to be compressed into the spac
ne of five or six hours.
n II should have quarrel with SAINT
81 ago, 1t would be over the climat
nj This is the winter season--almost nit
In winter. And 1t is cold. Yet the o
n ange trees in the patios of the dwell
le- ings are yellow with fruit; the slop,
Is of Santa Lucia, IL not of the rich We
se vet green of the spring and summe
on are still green, and the foliage alor
IL the Alameda, while little brown al
m thin, is not sere.
on At most the appearance is Of ear
Id autumn. But the cold is a damp, pc
al etrating cold indoors, and not cris
ed invigorating cold outdoors. Few Of Il
re- houses have chimneys, so that opt
fire-places are rare. The parafiine
oil stoves, which are the only meal
OF heating, are wofully unsatisfactory
ed The trouble, the native residents ga