Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-10-25

ltical and business heart Of
this country. IL Is tho pulse
- Of the nation and the people
move as it beats fast OF slow. 1t con-
tains all OF the statesmen and most of
the money. II Is the center Of all great
movements, and in fact, II might he
lalled Chile itself The Santiago of 1914
contains fully onc-siNth Of all the people
inside the republic. II has a population
Of over 10000 and has doubled in size i'm
tho last fifteen years. 1t has grown I'm
beauty and modern improvements It has
Nidened its streets and paved them with
asphalt. The Alameda has become a
sTand boulevard, with "a garden runnins
through the center and driycways on each
side Tho Cousino park, tho gift Of the
millionaire family that owns the coal
mines. has spruns up on one side OF tho
city and a forest park has been created
skrting both OF the banks Of the Mapocho
river. The Quinta Normal has been
greatly improved and Santa Lucia, the
table mountain that rises straight up out
of the heart OF the city, has developed
into a creation more wonderful than the
Hanging Gardens OF Babylon.
rest Public Park.
7 wish T could show you Santa Lucia!
40 city OF the world has a public park
10 compare with it. If you could drop
down into the very center Of Phladel-
rhia, Baltimore or Boston a mighty rock
with almost precipitous walls 500 feet
high and with a base OF 100 acres or
more you might have the park as it was
AT the beginning. To make IT what it is
row you would have to cover the walls
With vines plants and trees until the
whole became one mass Of green. This
mass would include eucalyptus and palms
oak trees and pines and semi-tropical
plants and flowers OF every description.
The rock ia so rough that natural grottces
are formed in its walls, and as you climS
your way up you so past fountain after
fountain and waterfall after waterfall.
You walk through paths chadsd b. 81
Santic fern trees and flowers OF many
Colors the names of which are un-
known in North America. Every step up
ward gives a different view OF tho city,
and at the top a beautiful little park at
the height of a thirty story flat over
hangs the capital Of the Chilean republic
In the center OF this park, right on the
top. is level space floored with tiles
where the city band plays of an evening.
and there on a curtain stretched across
the rock is an opcn-air moving picture
show. where the people sit out under tho
clear sky OF the Andes, as the doings OF
other parts Of the world pass before
them
surrounded by Mountains.
The view from Santa Lucia shows the
magnificent location Of Santiago. The
town lies in flat basin or valley sur
rounded by ragged blue mountains. Il
is 100 feet above the Pacific ocean and
I'm plain sight Of tie Andes. Around
ono side OF il flows the Mapocho river.
further down is the Msipo, and beyond
them arc the rich farms, orchards and
vineyards of the great central valley.
The city is right under and all around
you. 1t is a vast eXpanse of gray roofs,
cut here and there by wide streets that
cross one another at right angles In its
center is the Plaza des Armas, on which
stand the cathedral, the city hall and
other great buildings, and little further
over. taking up whole square. is the
Chilean capitol or house, of congress, one
OF the finest buildings in all South
America. The capitol building is sur
rounded by gardens filled with tropical
trees, including great palms, the trunks
OF which are tas large around as a hogs
head, although they are not more than
thirty feet high.
Now look down over your feet!
Right under you begins the Alameda,
tho Pennsylvania avenue or Common
wealth avenue of Santiago. It is lined
with magnificent buildings and hero and
there over the whole city you can see the
spires of churches rising above the roofs
Of the buildings. You can also see trees
apparently growing right out of the
houses. Those trees are in the patios.
Many of the buildings are of Spanish
style, running about gardens, filled with
roses and palms and other tropical trees.
plenty of Street Cars.
But let us go down from Santa Lucia
and take a ride through the city. There
are plenty of street cars with woman
conductors, who will give us a seat on
the roof for or cents or we can get
an automobile quite as cheap as IN any
town in North America. We choose the
motor car. and fly this way and that
through the town. How big the houses
are and how low! The older ones cover
acres and but few of them have more
than two stories. They are made Of
brick. plastered with stucco and painted
i'm the brightest of colors. In the best
parts of the city the architecture is
Greek. The doors are upheld by pillars
and / venture there are more Corinthian
and Doric columns in Santiago than in
Athens. Others of the residences are like
Italian palaces. and not a few have each
cost $4,000 and upward. Nearly every
great house has some legend connected
with It. There is a magnificent one on
the Alameda whose plans were drawn
in Paris and sent out to the builders. In
some way they got the plans mixed and
put the back of the house TO the street,
and so it is to this day.
stores Have Improved.
Now we are in the business part Of
SantiAco. Here there are many fine
buildings that have grown up within
the last few years. There are magnifi-
cent stores with the goods Of the latest
for its fine window displays and its many
srcades. The business blocks are large,
patterns from Europe. The town is noted
and the fact that they are not skyscrap-
ers makes it possible 10 cut these covered
passageways through them, roofing the
arcados with glass. Often block con-
tanning several acres will have arcades
that cross one another at right angles.
Each is a favoTite promenade, for the