Omaha daily bee., 1914-10-11

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industries. Many Of them are rich farm
ers. and II IL from them that come the
heads Of universities and the chief doctors
and lawyers. The most OF tho arlsto6rats
are men Of fine education. They are the
progressive element OF the country. They
are proud OF Chile and are Intensely
patriotic. They are not afraid 10 fight for
their rights, and they will not submit to
injustice either az individuals or as n ma
/ ton.
/ The middle clauses are merchants and
small land holders. Among them are
many pure whites. and many who have
more or less Indian blood mixed with that
which comes down from the Spanish.
The lower class are known as the In
quilinos, or, erroneously. as rotos. The
word roto Is one OF contempt. II conveys
tho idea OF a drunken. good-for-nothing
character. This IL not the nature of the
lnquilino. the Chilean peasant. lie is a
good Woodworking. honest man as a rule
and anything but a loafor. He is a dc.
scendant OF the peasant class of north
Spain and OF the Araueanian Indians. He
IL Intelligent and quick to learn anything
that requires hardness and craft. He
can do all kinds Of work, and makes AN
excellent mechanic farmer or orchardist.
He IL born horseman, and IL skilled In
the handling os stock. He r. hardy and
vigorous. and noted for his endurance
and patience. At the same time. he ia
brave. he Is very quick tempered and
win fight upon slight provocation. He
seems to care nothing for life, ana very
little for pain.
Foolish I'm Character.
Indeed. the Inquilino will do ali sorts
OF foolish things rather than be despised
! by his friends. The other day several
poems we're drinking together with a
crowd OF their fellows, whom one man
charged another with being a coward.
| You think sor' was the reply '.WeII
! win prove that I am not" Would a
coward do thisr' And thereupon ne pulled
out his knife and plunged II into his
bowels again and again, before the adj
miang eyes OF the crowd.
| Il win show you that I'also am not n
coward" rejoined the first speaker. ana
no began to stab himself. The two men
would have committed suicide. had not n
young priest rushed IN ana torn the
knives from their hands. and called m
the police 10 take the men 70 the hos
pital These men were drunk. but even
so, no drunken man but a Chileno would
think OF proving his courage in such a
way.
Speaking Of drunkenness this 4. the
crying evil among the Chilean peasartry
| The InauiIinos drink 10 excess IN ho,n
city and. country. Their chief epd seems
to DO to set drunk and the majority
4 a
called the roto's holiday, for he IA often
20 drunk SUNDAY that he has TO take
Monday 10 recover. The LIQUOR used "A
the West OF alcohol, being often made OF
potAtoes ana rotten - bies. II would,
az one OF the emT\1yers says. kill the
ordinary man at thousand yards. The
stuff IL gulped down in great quantities
not oecause-n Is liked, but because Il
makes the drunk come There are many
! saloons, and recent census showed 5000
places In Santiago where liquor was sold
and In Valparaiso the average was one
saloon for every twenty-four men. There
are drinking places in all the Chilean
villages. and every small town and haci-
!, enda store keeps liquors for sale. OF late,
there have been some movements toward
temperance. but so far but little has been
accomplished.
! Mortality is Great.
As result OF these excuses and of the
poor food and unsanitary conditions OF
the houses, the mortality among the
lnquillnos Is great They breed like Aus
tralian rabbits, and their babies die like
flies. II Is only the strong children who
live, and for this reason perhaps the
poems, as a class. are as tough and strong
- any people OF the world ] have seen
them carrying nitrate bags Weighing 800
pounds each and tossing them about like
bass Of feathers. Four OF them will lift
q plano and carry Il along the roadway.
and Ia the mines a peon will tote a bag
Of ore. Weighing $50 pounds. up the
notched stick that serves as a ladder all
day lons.
As to the homes OF the peons. they are
often little better than pigpens Some OF
the large haciendados have recently been
erecting model dwellings, but the most Of
the tenant houses are still shanties OF
adobe brick or huts made of reeds and
sticks. woven together and plastered with
mud. They are matched with straw. The
doors are rude ana the windows are
small. The ground Is often the floor. and
the furniture consists OF little more than
a table covered with oilcloth. few rough
chairs and bed. These people have large
families. and hut fifteen or twenty feet
square Is often the home OF six or eight
people.
Tho inquilinos pay no rent for such
e houses and they have in addition small
tracts OF ground which they can cultivate.
as well as pasture for a certain number
OF cattle. In return they have TO provide
} labor for the proprietor whenever Il Is
required. and that AZ wages that are often
half the current rates OF. the nelghbor-
hood The haetendado has the right 10
discharge the Inquilino, and the Inquilino