The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-06

noses. They often wear their fur
wraps at the dining table beneath
which is pair of foot warmers made
of llama WOOL for the occupant of ev-
cry chair All this when their nouns
tains are covered with timber In the
winter While the men appear upon the
streets in fur caps and mufflers tho
women present themselves al ffesci
bareheaded
The Chillano is queer mixture of pa
uiotism and cruelty and this same In
consistency is found in the roto, de-
scendent of the Spaniard and the Indian
as the cholo of Peru is the child or the
Spaniard and Inca a national law conf
pels every chillano to decorate his house
with banner by day and a lantern at
night upon the anniversary of the eoun-
trys Independence; all schools must use
text books written by native authors, and
all bands OF music must play renditions
of native composers. But he Is cruel in
the extreme, cruel to his fellow man and
cruel TO his beast. His favorite weapon is
a long curved knife called a curve, and
with it upon the slightest provocaton he
seeks his brothers. throat In warfare
he is said te exceed the American indian
in endurance and celebrity of march, but
he prefers the onrvo TO the gun as a
weapon of battle. and when the conflict
is over more Of the dead upon the field
are found with threats cut than bullet
wounds.
His cruelty to beasts is unparalleled, and
as horses are cheap, tlteir common end is
TO be ridden or beaten TO death. Stables
are unknown and after a days work all
beasts, including the cattle, are compelled
to roam the streets and highways IN
search of food
The Chllano is IA child in many re-
spects, and he loves to play with ma
clinery. He has been known to ruin a
of-VV N < 10 Ter
he can run railroad train down grade
the greater is his delight. Among the
steam craft of the Chlian merchant ma
rine there is not a native engineer. 1t IS
too expensive to employ them. The people
look for an earthquake as rgularS as we
do for change in the moon, and 10
parry the effects Of The tremble many Of
the houses Of the poor are built of cor
rugated iron. In some parts OF Valparaiso
there are hundreds OF blocks Of houses
constructed of this metal.
Horses are cheap il chile that every
body goes about on horseback. even the
beggars. and have seen helpless lepers
strapped TO a horse by the stump of a
handless arm and upon the other arm,
from which the wrist mad been eaten away
BY the dread disease, was tied lineup
into which aims were deposited.
one Of the most beautiful yet pathetic
Of the church services Of the country is
the celebration of the Feast of the Nir-
gins Since 1870 1t has been celebrated IN
mourning because of the burning of Il
church upon similar celebration in that
year, when 5000 young girls were penned
in the burning walls and met death in
the flames. The music upon these oc-
casions is exceptionally soft and sweet,
but as the church forbids women particle
pating In choir service, When an exception
is made IN case of some celebrated fe-
male opera singer, the cantratrice Is com
PEELED TO don male attire.
AS in all of the South American conn
tries, there are but two classes of humans
in chile. the very wealthy and the mis-
erably poor.
II is a treat to behold the wealth dis
played in the outfit of a rich caballero
with his silver mounted saddle. solid sil-
yer slippers for stirrups spurs of The
same metal and costly vicuna pOncho,
the tout ensemble of which frequently
represents an expenditure of S0ptO- Even
the horses bit Is often fashioned Of solid
silver and weights five pounds, while
krldles with gold mountings are Of cofIl-
mon occurrence | shall not attempt
description of the elaborate saddles, bur
when one is mounted therein he feels as
though he We're envelcped in swaddliag
clothes. The reins terminate in hand
some tasseied lash caleb chicote and
OF such length that it frequently dfass
upon the ground. Ofen ball OF lead
takes the place of the tassel and serves
as weapon of ofrense and defense AMI
more often the poor horse il most merci-
1essly beaten with this barharous slug.
| have written IN a previous paper Of nay
trip across the Andes on mule back. but
the dangers and the pleasures of The
undertaking are equally fascinating. The
trip requires five days three of which
are spent in the saddle, The foxes often
gnaw the bun hide. bridges. in which
event many an unwary travslnr is ureci
tated to death IN the awful chasm below.
over the passes i3.50D feet high the winds
freuuentlv sweep with a ferOcity that
human endurance cannot endure carrying
n ule and rider over the cliff and leaving
Them for the condor's feast BY some
strange intuition these birds seem 70
know the dangerous passes and frequent
them with ghoulish expectancy. BIT
most Of the Andean accidents are the re-
suits OF recklessness or unframed mules.
and the glories Of the niauntain passage
are Incompatible Aconcagla the king
of the Andes. Is ever present and en-
thfalls the Traveller tlIoughout the en-
fire passase, Its latitude brings the snow
lines lower than that of any other aonr-
tain of its character in the world, and
shinmering IN the sunlight its iuaceessi-
ble peak dcties the mountain gloom OF its
score uf giant eonpatrots as II peers
over their efests to the blue sea tossing
in the far offing The pass was tho trail
Of the lncas and the highway of triumph
for Don Diego de .Abnaero so that lis
associations are of the most romantic
character. Amid such a feast for the iul-
agiration and such scenic grandeur 20
charm and fascinate the eye one is iisfi-
ied in terlnins Chile the Vale OF para-
disc.