Chapter VII: Part 7

On November 27, 1909, five and a half years after the contract was approved by the Chilean Government, the last section of rock in the tunnel, separating the two gangs of workmen operating from different sides, was removed, and a line of communication which had been the dream of years was established; a line that has had a marked effect, not only upon the two republics which it directly connects, but upon the world. On May 25, 1910, the first train was run through the tunnel and an all-rail route opened between Valparaiso and Buenos Aires, a distance of 888 miles,--the first railroad across the South American continent. Thus after thirty-seven years of work and planning, vicissitudes and discouragements, the hopes of the promoters of this great enterprise were realized and the Transandine Railway an accomplished fact. The date will remain a memorable one in the history of Chile, as it occurred in the year of the one hundredth anniversary of the Independence of the Republic.

The Chilean terminus of the tunnel, which is 10,385 feet long, is at El Portillo, at an altitude of 10,450 feet above sea level, and on the Argentine side at Las Cuevas. On the Chilean side the road ascends the mountains 7,615 feet within a distance of 46 miles, between Los Andes and the summit, an average of 166 feet to the mile. Directly over the tunnel, on the Uspillata pass, at an altitude of 13,000 feet stands the “Christ of the Andes,” a statue erected in 1904, as a symbol of perpetual peace between the two republics. It was cast in bronze from cannons contributed by both nations. It stands upon the international boundary line established by a commission appointed by King Edward, after war between Chile and the Argentine had been imminent for years. The figure representing Christ is twenty-six feet high, and placed upon a colossal column it makes an imposing and impressive monument. In one hand is held a cross, while the other is extended in a blessing of peace. The inscription on one of the tablets is: “Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than the people of Argentina and Chile break the peace to which they have pledged themselves at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.”

The Transandine line in Chile is made up of two systems with different gauges of track. From Valparaiso to Los Andes the route is over the State railways, which is of standard gauge; from Los Andes to the Argentine frontier, including the tunnel, a distance of 50 miles, the road is narrow gauge, 39 inches, a portion of it rack and pinion system.

This route shortens the distance to Buenos Aires, and consequently between Europe and Chile, by about twelve days, as formerly, during a considerable portion of the year traffic from the Atlantic and the east coast was by way of the Straits of Magellan.

ARICA, LA PAZ RAILWAY.

Another important division of the State railways is the line extending from Arica to La Paz. This road, constructed in accordance with stipulations in the treaty celebrated between Chile and Bolivia, October 1904, was built at the expense of the Chilean government at a cost of $11,900,000 U. S. currency. The treaty agreement providing for this road caused a vigorous protest from the Peruvian government, as the route lies through the province of Arica which, previous to the war of 1879, was Peruvian territory, and which is still involved in the Tacna and Arica question. The contract for the construction was awarded on March 4, 1906, and the road was completed in 1912.

The engineering difficulties encountered were numerous and complicated, the gradient in some places being exceedingly steep. At one point the line rises 3,610 feet, within a distance of 25 miles. The total length of the line is 267 miles of which 28 miles is of the Abt rack system on a six per cent. maximum grade, which constitutes the longest continuous stretch of rack system railway in the world. The highest altitude reached is 13,986 feet, at a distance of 112 miles from Arica and 155 from La Paz.

The road passes through an undeveloped country that is rich in mineral resources, and furnishes direct communication between Chilean ports on the Pacific and the capital of Bolivia. This line, connecting the two republics, and supplemented as it is with numerous branch roads leading into the various mining districts, forms a railway system that has contributed materially to the development of the territory through which it passes.

Under treaty agreement it is to be operated by Chile for a period of fifteen years, after which time the section in Bolivia becomes the property of the Bolivian government.

LONGITUDINAL RAILWAY.

The most important division of the government railway system in Chile, however, because of its relation to the industrial and commercial interests of the country, is the longitudinal line extending from Tacna to Port Montt, a distance of over two thousand miles, and constituting the great central artery of communication, uniting the mineral zones of the north with the agricultural regions of the central valley and the timber sections of the south. This road has as feeders over thirty transverse lines of varying length connecting the productive centers of the Republic with all the principal seaports of the coast. Notwithstanding the fact that transport is maintained by sea along the entire length of the territory constituting the Republic, a north and south railway was felt to be a necessity. In addition to commercial needs there are strategic reasons for a longitudinal line: to facilitate the transportation of troops and armament from one end of the Republic to the other in case of war.

As far back as Balmaceda’s time the building of this road figured among the government’s projects, and in succeeding administrations plans were made for the execution of the work. It was President Don Pedro Montt, however, who took up the task of carrying out the idea and, with characteristic perseverance, succeeded in getting the National Congress to pass a law in 1908, authorizing him to call for public tenders for contracts for the construction of the Longitudinal Railway. In 1909 contracts were let for the building of over eight hundred miles of the road at a total cost of $35,000,000.

The completion of this longitudinal line leaves only the territory lying south of latitude 42 degrees, and forming the greater part of what is known as Chilean Patagonia without a railway.

The service on the railways in Chile is, as a rule, unsatisfactory, and on some of the lines it may be designated as bad. This is due to the fact that the management of the government roads is influenced by politics. The compensation of government railway employés is very low, and payment of salaries not infrequently long delayed and somewhat uncertain. The tenure of service depends upon political influence, and there is little in the system to encourage honest industry. Employés feel no personal responsibility and to cheat the government, particularly in the failure to render good service, is a common practice that is not considered a crime.

First class fares correspond to those prevailing in the United States, but second and third-class fares and freight rates are very low. The express trains from Valparaiso to Santiago, and from the capital south to Concepcion carry American chair cars in the day, and on the southern section, Pullman cars on the night trains.

The lack of facilities for carrying freight, the unsatisfactory service in cargo trains, and the slow method of unloading and loading cars, is a serious handicap to business depending upon the prompt delivery of merchandise and material. The freight service on the government roads is generally bad. The yard and track facilities in all the important commercial centers are wholly inadequate to the requirements. It is frequently impossible to secure cars, and when once the freight is loaded and accepted by the railway, there is much uncertainty as to when it will be forwarded to its destination. If the freight consists of perishable goods the chances are that it will be seriously damaged or entirely destroyed before delivery. In either event there is no recourse in law for damages.

In 1904 there was a great shortage of freight cars in Valparaiso. Merchants and manufacturers were demanding cars in which to ship cargo long overdue in delivery. When the manager of the State railways was appealed to for relief, he stated that all freight cars on that section of the road had been ordered to Santiago where a census of the rolling stock was being taken. Complaint against abuses in the service is useless.

One redeeming feature of the railway service in Chile, is the cheap passenger fares for the poor people, who are ill able to pay high rates, and who do not expect much in return for their money. Time is no object to them, and if trains run slowly and not up to schedule, there is no complaint.

ELECTRIC ROADS.

The use of electricity as a motive power in Chile, is in its incipiency. Electric car systems now in operation are, the street railways in Santiago, Valparaiso, Concepcion and Talca, and their respective suburbs, a few lines in mountainous districts, used for carrying ores from the mines to the reducing stations, an interurban line connecting Concepcion with the ports of Talcahuano and Coronel, and one extending from Valparaiso to Viña del Mar. A government concession has been granted for the building of an electric railway from Santiago to Valparaiso, and plans are being made for the electrification of some of the government roads.

Connecting with the railways of the country are cart roads, the best of which may be classed as bad, and the branches connecting with the principal highways are nothing more than trails over a rough mountainous country. Few new roads are being built, and little attention is given to the improvement or maintenance of those already constructed.

TRAVEL.

The only means of travel in many localities is on horseback. Long or short distance, singly or in numbers, the country people traveling on horseback, will often follow poorly defined trails over the mountains for great distances, seldom losing their way or deviating from the shortest route. They seldom carry any baggage, except such articles of clothing as they require for the trip, which is transported in bags or baskets.

The country people are generally hospitable, usually offering to passing strangers such food and accommodations as they may have, and without expectation of remuneration.

INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS

From the earliest history of the Republic, the energies of the Chilenos have been devoted largely to agricultural and horticultural pursuits, stock raising and mining. The conditions of soil and climate, and the natural resources of the country have encouraged the people to interest themselves in those lines rather than in industrial occupations. The result is that there are few large manufacturing interests in the country. The majority of the more important manufactured articles are imported. There are, however, various small industrial institutions, most of which are closely related to the agricultural and mining interests. The methods employed are more or less primitive, as is frequently the case where a low value is placed upon labor.

Practically all of the manufacturing interests in Chile are operated by foreigners and controlled by foreign capital. This may be attributed to the fact that the Chilenos do not possess the taste for industrial pursuits. Another cause is the irresponsibility of laborers and mechanics. The average Chilean workman has no sense of responsibility. If given a task to perform, he cannot be made to understand that any importance attaches to the time when it is to be completed. Individually and collectively, the workmen are afflicted with the “mañana” disease. This condition has existed from the time of the earliest history of the country and continues to be one of the serious drags upon industrial and commercial progress. If remonstrated with for indifference to his employer’s interests or his procrastination of time, the workman will declare his willingness to leave his position. To discharge him does not improve the situation, as the man employed in his stead will entertain similar ideas as to his rights and duties. He cannot be encouraged by kindness, or even an increase of wages to change his habits. He is without ambition, and does not expect to improve his condition. It is useless to manifest any sympathy for him, he does not want it. He is satisfied, and will not accept innovations. That which was good enough for his father and grandfather, is satisfactory to him. He believes that he was born to his station in life, and he sticks to it stupidly and stolidly. Another drawback to the manufacturing business is the fact that the Chilean workman or mechanic seldom learns his trade properly, and takes no pains to improve himself or his condition.

In Chile a lad is put to work in a shop, and in a few weeks or months he tires of the job, and tries something else. After a time he tires again and tries another trade. And so he goes on changing until the time arrives when he should be a competent journeyman tradesman, and he goes forth a jack of all trades and master of none. The Chilean workman has his good qualities, however, as well as his faults. If properly encouraged he will render excellent service as a laborer. He does not work intelligently, and where skill is required he is unsatisfactory. Inured to a life of toil, hardship and deprivation, he does not hesitate to engage in any kind of labor, no matter how menial or trying. He has wonderful endurance, and can subsist upon the plainest food, in limited quantities, while performing tasks requiring the greatest exertion. In handling heavy freight or cargo he has few equals. He has great strength in his arms, back and legs, and the enormous weights he can carry is cause for comment among those who witness his feats of strength. A roto will trot along the street carrying a box or bale of merchandise upon his back that weighs three or four hundred pounds, and is apparently not distressed with the burden. It is at labor where strength and endurance count that he is valuable as a workman.

Organization among the working classes in Chile is in the formative stage; yet even in its incipiency, unionism has proved itself to be a dangerous political element and a serious menace to society. The working classes are not sufficiently educated to appreciate the responsibilities, or to enable them to direct with intelligence and judgment, an organized force. The roto has little idea, and no appreciation of obligation to his employer, to society, or to the State; no regard for his word and little for the law. He is illiterate, intemperate and superstitious. He is not lazy, but improvident, and works because necessity prompts it, rather than for the purpose of bettering his condition. He can neither be persuaded nor forced to understand the importance of reporting for duty at a fixed hour for a given number of days in the week. He is independent and clannish, and has an exaggerated idea of his republican citizenship. His hatred of foreign workmen is intense, and he will not stop short of murder, if that be necessary, to prevent the “gringo” from coming into competition with him. He is an apt pupil in the ethics of trades unions, in so far as it applies to his side of the question. He believes that the province of the union is to force shorter hours and more pay, without giving in turn good and steady service. He has yet to learn the commercial value of truth; the beneficial effects to himself of personal industry, of rendering an honest day’s labor for his wage. He must learn the good result of applying new methods to his work, and also lessons of economy and providence. In short, he must join the onmarching procession of industrial and commercial development before he is qualified and competent to assert his authority and make demands as an organized force. A dangerous phase of the labor union problem is the fact that when encouraged by clever leaders and enforced by numbers, the Roto Chileno is not slow to resort to violence.

The most serious charge made against labor organizations in Chile, and one that is well founded is, that they do not seek to elevate the standard of excellence among their members, or to better their individual condition. Neither do they encourage temperance, and obedience to law, or protection to society.

VINEYARDS.

Grape culture and the manufacture of its products constitutes one of the principal industrial interests of Chile. In this, as in other industries, there are no statistics available on which to base satisfactory calculations concerning the acreage, production of wine, “aguardiente” and “chicha,” manufactured annually. It is estimated that there are now about 20,000 acres of producing vineyards, and the acreage is being annually augmented. The soil is especially adapted to grape culture. Vines thrive and produce well both on the dry hill lands and in the irrigated sections. The grape vine was introduced in Chile by the Spaniards during colonial times, but the cultivation of it has become a national and profitable industry only in recent years. There is already a large export trade in wine, which is annually increasing. On the large estates the French method is employed in the manufacture of wine, and most of the distilleries are in charge of expert wine-men from France.

There are few more interesting sights than that of a large estate devoted to vineyards. The vines, planted in even rows, are carefully wired and trimmed and gracefully festooned. On the terraces of the hill farms the vari-tinted foliage presents an artistic appearance, particularly so when from the vines are suspended millions of amber and purple clusters ready for the vintage.

The grapes are picked from the vines by women and children, and placed in baskets. Two-wheeled ox carts, equipped with large tanks made of animal skins, are used for conveying the grapes to the winery. The first process consists of passing the fruit through a machine that mangles the grapes but does not crush the seeds. From these machines the pulp and juice fall into fermenting vats. If red wine is to be made the liquid and stems are left to ferment together; if white wine or chicha, the liquid is drawn off through a strainer. The method of fermenting, bottling, seasoning, etc., is the same as that employed in large wineries in other countries.

In the smaller vineyards, different methods are used; there, the primitive process of making wine by hand is still employed. The vats for holding the wine, instead of being made of cement or wood, are the skins of bullocks, removed from the animals with as little opening as possible. While green these hides are placed upon poles, hammock fashion, and filled with stones, which stretch them into the desired form, and in which position they are left to dry. When seasoned these skins form natural tubs or vats, to which the portion originally covering the tail forms a faucet, or outlet. In some instances these primitive wine producers employ the original method of crushing the grapes, by throwing them into vats, where naked men trample them, often walking neck deep in the pulpous mass. The wine is fermented in casks, and when ready for use is stored in large earthen jars, made by hand and baked in crude kilns.

VEHICLES.

There are no large manufactories for the production of vehicles. Most of the vehicles used in Chile are primitive in design, crude in construction and finish. Two-wheeled carts, which are almost universally used as transports for freight, are manufactured in all the towns and villages. Most of them are clumsy, with high wheels, heavy, rough spokes, broad, thick fellies, and wide tires. The box or frame is fastened to the axle, without springs or other means of relieving the jolting sensation produced by the wheels passing over the rough country roads or uneven streets.

In the country, oxen are used almost exclusively for drawing carts. The pole of the cart is a piece of timber fastened firmly in the center of the axle, and extending forward a sufficient distance for the animals to be harnessed to the vehicle. The yoke by which the oxen are attached, instead of resting upon the neck of the beast, as is common in most countries, is placed upon the head just back of the horns, and fastened with strips of rawhide passed around the horns and over the forehead. This method of harnessing gives to the animal no freedom of action of the head. The frame of the cart being firmly fastened to the tongue, all the jarring sensation produced by the motion of the vehicle comes upon the head, causing great torture.

Vehicles used for transporting goods in the cities and towns are the same as those employed for similar purposes in the country, except that they are not so heavy. They are provided with shafts and are drawn by horses. One horse works between the shafts, and another is attached by a single trace, upon the left, or near side. A saddle constitutes a part of the harness of the animal on the left, on which the driver is mounted.

One of the common methods of transporting cargo in the towns and cities, is upon the backs of horses. Groceries, meat, milk, in fact all classes of freight from barrels of oil and cement to huge timbers and piles of lumber, are carried upon horses. In the country, mules are employed for the same purpose, as they are more sure footed upon the hills, and will carry heavy loads for greater distances.

COAL.

Outcroppings of coal were discovered in Talcahuano, Coronel and Lota, all of which are situated upon the Gulf of Arauco, Province of Concepcion, department of Lautaro, as nearly as 1840. The first attempt to work the mines was made by Don Antonio Memparte, in the vicinity of Lota, in 1850. Two years later the property passed into the possession of Don Matais Cousino, who finally succeeded in establishing the reputation of the Lota coal for smelting, steam and domestic purposes. Later other mines were opened, and the district known as the Lota and Coronel country now produces coal in large quantities, supplying nearly all the steamships passing that way, as well as the government and corporation railways of the country. The development of the coal industry at Lota encouraged the establishment of various manufacturing industries in that locality. Among the more important industrial concerns are brick and pottery works, which were established in 1855, and a large copper smelting plant that has been in operation since 1860. Later a glass factory, the only works of the kind in Chile, was added to the industries of the place. These concerns are all operated by the Lota Company in connection with the coal mines.

The first practical teachers and pioneer miners at Lota were Scotchmen, very few of whom now survive. They were about thirty in number. Their original destination was the island of Vancouver, but owing to some difficulties that occurred on the voyage, the ship on which they were traveling put into Valparaiso, where they remained for some time, and from where they were later engaged for the mines at Lota. There they founded what is still designated the British colony. It is now, however, British in name only, there being but few of the original colonists or their families left. The remaining few abandoned their national customs and language for the customs of the country in which they lived. To such an extent have they adapted themselves to local conditions and influences that very few of the residents at Lota bearing English names can speak the English language.

The coal from the Lota district is of a low grade, producing an unusual amount of cinders and refuse. The Arauco Company which operates mines in the same district, and which has a railroad running from Coronel to Colico, a distance of some twenty miles, is also producing coal in large quantities.

MINING AND MANUFACTURING.

Owing to the extensive working of the great nitrate of soda deposits, mining takes first place among Chilean industries. Although producing nearly a million tons annually, coal mining has not developed sufficiently to supply the needs of the country, the importations amounting to about one and a half million tons a year. Copper is the most important of the metals mined, although gold and silver are mined in considerable quantities.

In recent years more attention has been paid to manufacturing. In 1909 there were 5,000 manufacturing establishments, large and small, with a capital of $45,000,000, and an aggregate output valued at $64,000,000. There are 960 establishments in the shoe and leather industry, 870 in food supplies, 670 in metal industries, 555 in the manufacture of garments, 440 wood working industries, 210 in paper and printing and 200 in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages.

The value of imports into Chile in 1909 was approximately $95,000,000 and the export values for the same year $110,000,000. Of the total imports Great Britain supplied 32 per cent., Germany 22 per cent., and the United States 10 per cent. Of the total exports, amounting to $110,000,000, Great Britain purchased 45 per cent., Germany 24 per cent., and the United States 20 per cent. Europe and the United States bought over 90 per cent. of the exports, and furnished 80 per cent. of the imports.

Nitrate of soda constitutes about 75 per cent. of the total exports from Chile, and copper, 5 per cent. The four articles of import showing the largest values are, steel and manufactures of, coal, cotton goods and industrial machinery. Eighty-five per cent. of the imports consist of manufactured articles.

POPULATION AND COLONIZATION

Pedro Valdivia, in a letter to Carlos V. of Spain, dated at La Sarena, September 5, 1545, described the beautiful climate of Chile as one where man could work under the summer sun without inconvenience, and expressed the belief that there could be developed and maintained a strong, virile, superior race of people that would be an honor to, and the pride of the mother country. He also expressed the belief that in the conquest of Chile he would secure territory where he and his companions might leave a lineage that would honor their memories.

In some respects this seems to have been a prophetic view of the situation. The mixing of the blood of those bold, intelligent, but cruel and unscrupulous “conquistadores,” with the strong, courageous qualities of the Araucanian Indians, has left in Chile a distinct type, a characteristic race of people. They possess the romantic tendencies and diplomatic qualities of the Spaniards, combined with the independent natures of the Araucanians.

They are a hospitable people, but are clannish, and have a strong prejudice against all foreigners. This prejudice, apparently inherent, and deep rooted in the minds of the people, while it has contributed materially to the maintenance of racial characteristics, has also discouraged and restricted immigration. As a result of this antagonistic feeling against foreigners coming to the country, the increase in population has been small, and the progress of commercial and industrial development correspondingly slow.

At the time of the Spanish invasion, in the sixteenth century, the Indian population was estimated at 1,000,000. The aggregate number of inhabitants is now calculated at 3,500,000, an increase of 2,500,000 in two hundred and seventy years. This very slow increase in population in a country possessing an equable and healthful climate may be attributed to several causes.

During the period of the conquest the ranks of the indigenous races were greatly decimated by war. Later, the utter disregard for hygienic conditions, the proverbial uncleanliness of the common people and the unsanitary manner in which the majority of them live, have increased the death rate to abnormal proportions. This is especially true among the children, many of whom die from inattention, cold or lack of proper food. Tuberculosis is a common malady, and annually claims thousands of victims. The prevalence of this disease is also due largely to the manner of living. In the homes of the majority of the poor people there are no floors, except the ground upon which the houses are built. In the winter, or rainy seasons, the cold and dampness of the dirt floors cause pneumonia, and colds that prove fatal to delicate children and adults of weak constitution, or those suffering from hereditary pulmonary diseases. The number of births in Chile in recent years has been little in excess of the number of deaths.

As a means of increasing the population, and hoping thereby to promote the development of natural resources and industrial interests of the country, the government of Chile adopted a colonization law for the purpose of inducing emigrants from Europe to settle in the agricultural and timber regions of the south. The law contains some liberal provisions, and attractive features, including free transportation for colonists from European ports to their destination, one hundred and sixty acres of land for the head of each family, and a government subsidy of five hundred pesos, with which to buy farm implements, build a house, etc. To promote this scheme of colonization, the Chilean government maintains agencies in Europe, through which the advantages to be gained, and the attractive features of colonial life in the Republic are liberally advertised. Through this plan a number of important foreign colonies, especially German communities, have been established throughout southern Chile. Valdivia, which has grown into an important manufacturing city, as well as the highly developed and cultivated country surrounding it, are settled almost exclusively by Germans. In more recent years the Italians have established large communities in the southern provinces, but they have been less successful than the Germans, and much dissatisfaction is the result. Among the early settlers in Chile, under the colonization law, were communities of Scotch, the majority of whom were disappointed with the conditions and with what they claim was a lack of protection of their personal interests, and their property rights.

A book published by an anonymous writer, entitled “La Raza Chilena” (The Chilean Race), and signed “Chileno,” bearing date 1905, is devoted to a discussion of the race question, population and colonization. The writer criticises severely the colonization plan, and the evils that have crept into the system, citing many instances of dissatisfaction among colonists, and cases of corruption and jobbery on the part of immigration agents, in support of his demands for reforms in the law, and a change in the plan for encouraging colonists to settle in the country.

VILLAGES AND CITIES

All the villages in Chile are similar in appearance and general aspect. There is little variety and few attractive features to distinguish any of them, or one from another. The one story houses are almost invariably built of adobe, and roofed with tile or thatch. The architecture, if the style of the village buildings can be dignified with the term, is Spanish. The houses front directly upon and are flush with the sidewalk, most of them being built round a patio.

There is an unattractive sameness about Chilean villages, even to the disagreeable smells. There is usually one long, straight street upon which are located the shops and better class of dwellings. This main thoroughfare is backed by a few other streets, flanked with low, rambling huts, the habitations of the poorer classes. In the center of the town is the plaza, the chief feature of every Spanish-American municipality, large or small,--the common meeting place of the village people and playground for the children. Ornamented with trees and flowers, it forms a pleasing contrast to the dull gray of dusty streets and adobe walls. In the more pretentious of the municipalities, the plaza is frequently enlivened in the evenings with music by a band, which never fails to attract a crowd. On such occasions the plaza presents a scene of lively interest and animation. There the people congregate to visit, gossip and enjoy the music. Black-eyed señoritas and stout matrons, with faces framed in mantillas, join in the promenade, passing and repassing the caballeros with whom they exchange knowing looks and significant glances, the method employed in love-making and conducting flirtations in Chile. Upon the green sward, beneath the friendly trees, happy children engage in juvenile sports and youthful pleasures. It is in these public meeting places that the village people are seen at their best; there they abandon themselves to the simple pleasures and enjoyments to which their environments limit them.

A curious feature of every Chilean village is the varied and violent colors used in painting the houses. Shades of blue, red, yellow, pink and green frequently appear in strange contrast in the same row of buildings. Intermingling with these peculiarly contrasting hues are red tile roofs, the lighter shades of thatch, and the gray of undecorated adobe walls, relieved by occasional stretches of whitewashed houses and garden enclosures.

The little “despachos,” with their inartistically decorated windows and curious assortment of bottles of “chicha,” wine, “aguardiente,” dry goods, provisions, firewood and charcoal, are a feature of every town in the country. In the front of these shops where articles of various kinds are dispensed, is a sort of hitch-rack which may be used as a place for customers to leave their horses when on business, or as a means of engaging in the common sport of the country, “topiadura.” It is in the village drinking places that the country people meet to exchange news and gossip of the neighborhood, and to indulge in a social cup. On feast days and Sundays crowds congregate in these places where drinking is indulged in to excess. There are few places of amusement, and perhaps no place where the opportunities for entertainment of an intellectual or elevating character are more limited and restricted than in a Chilean village. The despachos with their gambling, drinking and accompanying vices, afford the only relief from the monotonous home life of the poor people, which has little in it to encourage mental or moral improvement.

The population of the villages varies from three to five thousand in the departmental centers, and from one to two thousand each in the others. They have no industries except a few shoe shops, blacksmith and carpenter shops. Some of the general stores have well assorted stocks, and in some of the small towns there is a drug store with a billiard room and cafe. These together with the drinking places fill the commercial list. The business of the villages depends entirely upon the people living in the adjacent farming country. When in the towns they spend their time in eating, drinking, talking politics, singing, dancing and playing cards.

The crops of the adjoining farms do not enter into the business of the towns and villages, but are shipped to the nearest mill, railway center or seaport. In all the towns there is wealth, not extensive, but considerable, when the necessities and modes of life are taken into account. In Chile, as in other countries, there is a predisposition on the part of the country people to congregate in the towns and villages, be they great or small; in close proximity to any of the municipalities, any day in the week, one will meet all classes and conditions of rural residents on horseback, in ox carts and on foot, wending their way to town. It is another evidence of the universal desire of mankind to seek companionship and association with his fellow man, even though the contact furnishes no novelty or new sensation.

Every village has a Catholic church, and the female portion of the population finds relief in the “iglesia,” from the monotony of domestic life. They attend every service, and on Sundays and feast days the scene about the village church suggests a convent, as the women all wear mantillas draped over their heads, giving them the general appearance of nuns.

SANTIAGO.

There are few municipalities of sufficient size and commercial importance to entitle them to be classified as cities. Santiago, the capital, is a beautiful city of over 300,000 inhabitants, charmingly situated in the verdant valley of the Mapocho, and surrounded by rugged, snow-crowned mountains. Few cities possess so many natural advantages in situation and environments. All around loom giant peaks of the Andes, their white crests among the clouds. In the smiling valley, clothed in the green of perennial summer, is Santiago. Long, quiet streets, badly paved, are lined with handsome houses, French and Spanish in architectural design; many of them palatial in proportions. The lack of industrial life and commercial activity, and the peaceful repose of this daughter of Latin America, give to the capital of Chile more the appearance of an indolent Oriental city than the metropolis of an ambitious young Republic.

Situated in the center of a great natural amphitheater, in a beautiful fertile plain, through which flow several streams, supplied with crystal waters from melting snow in the higher ranges of the Cordilleras, Santiago, viewed from any of the many points of advantage, presents an attractive, picturesque and prepossessing appearance. In the center of the city, rising abruptly from the level plain upon which it rests, is “El Cerro Santa Lucia,” a precipitous, rocky hill, four hundred feet high, and covering at its base an area of eight acres. This wonderful natural formation, often described as a freak of nature, is one of the most remarkable of its kind in the world. The entrance to the “cerro” is through a gateway of artistic design, with approaches of fine stone columns and buttresses. The summit is reached by winding carriage roads of easy grade, which are flanked with stone walls, towers and battlements. There are also shaded walks, lined with many hued flowers, by which the hill may be ascended. From the summit one looks down upon tile roofs, flower bedecked patios, adobe walls green with moss and overrun with rose-vines, streets and avenues fringed with poplars and alamos. The Alameda, one of the finest avenues in the world, with its wide roadways, fine old trees and shaded promenades, starting at the foot of the Santa Lucia, extends for a distance of three miles, cleaving the city in halves, marking the center and focus of traffic in the metropolis. The Cathedral with its double towers and central dome, fronting upon the Plaza de Armas, in the heart of the city is a good viewpoint from which to trace and locate other objects of interest. In the near distance are the parks and the “Quinta Normal,” the government agricultural and horticultural propagating station, all robed in the gorgeous green of semi-tropical verdure and adorned with a variety of beautiful flowers that grow luxuriantly and bloom most generously in the soft, sweet air and golden sunshine of temperate Chile. This lovely picture, this charming ensemble of city and plain, hill and river, parks and gardens, this municipal mosaic with emerald green settings, crowned with a dome of turquoise blue, is framed in a wall of wonderful mountains composing a part of the Andean range.

In detail Santiago is not unlike other cities, resembling in many features some European municipalities. Being the capital it has attracted to and includes in its population the rich landowners, the aristocratic classes, political elements, literary and cultured people and the exclusive society of the country. The homes of these well-to-do, traveled and cultured people are equal in appearance, appointment, furnishing, decoration and equipment to those occupied by similar classes in older countries. The social life of the rich and seclusive classes in Santiago is composed of a pleasure loving people, with an inherent love of display. They are musical by nature, with a keen appreciation of, and an aptness for acquiring quickly a little knowledge of music, and other accomplishments, conveying the impression that they are clever, if not brilliant. They lack, however, the industry and application that lead to thoroughness, and few of them develop great talent for any art or profession. Their knowledge is more general than genuine, more superficial than special.

The life of the poor people in Santiago, the manner in which they live, their customs and habits, the misery and vice, the depravity, the disregard for law, and the low level of intelligence that prevails, form a sharp contrast to the picture presented in the homes of the rich.

VALPARAISO.

Valparaiso, the principal commercial port in Chile, and the second city in population in the Republic, is picturesquely situated upon a poorly protected harbor on the Pacific. It is crescent in shape, describing a semi-circle around the bay. The business section occupies a margin of low lying ground along the water front, the residence portions extending back over a series of high, rugged hills. Viewed from the harbor it presents an attractive appearance. Along the “malecon” are the business houses, uniform in height, and presenting a straight stiff sky line, back of and beyond which rise rugged, terraced hills. Adobe houses, painted in various colors, red tile roofs, and patios green with verdure and brilliant with the bloom of flowers, are some of the features of the scene presented in a view of the hills forming the residence districts of Valparaiso. Conspicuous objects in the view are the church of El Espiritu Santo, a large, inartistic building topped with a huge, single, square tower, and situated in the center of the city, and the “Escuela Naval” (naval school), a fine architectural creation crowning one of the numerous hills that surround the bay.

Valparaiso is as cosmopolitan in architecture as it is in population. It possesses no architectural features that can be considered national in character; it has few public buildings worthy of the name, no system of parks or boulevards,--nothing to distinguish it, except a consistent mismanagement of municipal affairs. Being a great seaport, into which sail annually thousands of ships, representing nearly all the nations of earth, it has caught in the net of travel a cosmopolitan conglomeration, and includes in its population all kinds and conditions of people.

It is more European than Spanish in appearance, and the languages spoken are as varied and numerous as the nationalities of which its population is composed. The majority of the business is done by foreigners, the British, Germans, Americans, French and Italians taking the wholesale, importing and exporting trade, in the order named, while the small retail business is largely in the hands of Italians and Spaniards.

There are few places of amusement, especially for the poor people, and desirable, or intellectual public entertainments are infrequent. The municipal theater is a fine building with a capacity sufficient to accommodate several thousand people, but with the exception of two weeks of Italian opera during the winter it is little used.

The municipal government has done nothing in recent years to improve or beautify the city. There is practically no drainage, except for streets receiving the water from ravines coming down from the hills, and they are usually in a state of disorder that renders them useless. The streets are miserably paved and proverbially filthy, and during the rainy season they are filled with sludge washed down from the hills.

Notwithstanding the great shipping interests represented, and the fact that Valparaiso is the chief commercial port in the country, the bay upon which it is built affords one of the most insecure harbors on the west coast of South America. There is absolutely no protection to ships and shipping interests against the strong winds and severe storms that prevail during the months of June, July and August. There is no breakwater in the bay, which faces to the north, the direction from which the storms and heavy seas come during the winter, and as a result great damage is done to vessels in port, and to cargo along the water front.

VIÑA DEL MAR.

The majority of foreigners and many Chilenos engaged in business in Valparaiso find relief from the disagreeable features of life in the port by living in Viña del Mar, a beautiful residence suburb situated on the opposite side of the bay, six miles distant, and connected with the city by steam and electric railways.

Viña del Mar, which includes the stations of Mira Mar and Chorrillos, is the popular pleasure and seaside resort of Chile. It is attractively situated in a verdant valley, surrounded by rugged hills, has a fine bathing beach, a number of large hotels, many beautiful residences and cottages, and during the summer season, December to March, it is thronged with visitors from Santiago and other interior cities, who go annually to that favorite resort for the baths and the social pleasures incident to a season at Viña. Among the attractive features of the resort are a fine race course, where are held two race meetings a year, polo, cricket, football, tennis, golf, etc.

CONCEPCION.

Concepcion, the third city in size and commercial importance in the Republic, has a population of 60,000. It is a characteristic Spanish-American municipality, with some European features, Oriental and indolent in appearance, with long stretches of unattractive streets, flanked with houses painted in many colors.

Situated in the verdant valley of the Bio Bio, near its confluence with the bay of Arauco, it is surrounded by orchards ladened with fruits, and gardens brilliant with the bloom of beautiful flowers. Well tilled, irrigated haciendas, with stone walls and lines of graceful alamos defining their limits, cover the lovely plain, back of which rise tree-crowned hills, adding a picturesque feature to the scene. It is the commercial metropolis of a large section of productive country, and enjoys a business prosperity and trade activity surpassed only by Valparaiso. The ports of entry for Concepcion are Talcahuano and Coronel, a few miles distant and situated on the bay of Arauco.

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

Under the constitution of Chile, municipalities constituted a part of the general government, and until recent years were controlled by national authority. Article 127 of the Constitution, 1833, says:

“The governor is the chief of all the municipalities in his department, and president of that one in which his capital is established. The sub-delegate is president of the municipality in his sub-delegation.”

The Intendentes, or governors of provinces, with jurisdiction over the cities and towns in their respective territories, are appointed by the president, and they in turn appoint the sub-delegates. All public improvements and municipal works were formerly authorized by the government and paid for out of the general fund. The purpose of the framers of the constitution was apparently to keep the municipalities out of politics. The authority of the legislative branches of the municipal government, whose members are elected for three years, was limited and their duties perfunctory.

The politicians of Chile were not satisfied, however, with leaving the management of municipalities with the national government. City offices were attractive political plums, and the control of public works and improvements could be used to advantage in influencing election results, and a means was found for placing them in the hands of officials elected by popular vote.

The scheme for changing the plan of municipal government originated with Senator Irrazaval, who having traveled in Switzerland, thought to engraft the system employed there upon the laws of Chile. After his return from Europe he secured the passage of a measure by Congress which provided for the election of municipal officers by accumulative vote. Under this system one man can cast as many ballots for a single candidate as there are names on the ticket. If there are ten offices to fill, the voter may cast ten ballots for one candidate instead of voting once for each of the ten different aspirants to office. This gave politicians an opportunity to deal with the lower classes, to encourage unscrupulous men to engage in questionable political practices, and the working classes now dominate municipal politics. Having become a political factor in the cities and towns, they aspired to higher positions, and in recent years a number of representatives of organized labor have been elected to Congress. There is an encouraging sign, however, in the fact that a better class of people is beginning to manifest greater interest in political affairs. There is also a strong public sentiment in favor of abolishing the law providing for the accumulative vote in municipalities.

As a result of the present political system the management of municipalities in Chile is proverbially bad. As an illustration of this fact, there could be no better example offered than Valparaiso. The business portion occupying a narrow strip of land along the water front, the residence districts extending over and occupying the hills that rise abruptly all around, Valparaiso affords natural facilities for drainage which should render it an easy matter to establish and maintain an excellent sewerage system. Yet it is proverbially and notoriously filthy, and it is only the influence of a salubrious and healthful climate that prevents the population from being annually decimated by contagion and epidemics.

A most tragic example of municipal mismanagement was witnessed in Valparaiso in 1905, when the smallpox plague visited the port. Finding there in the filth of the streets, in the general lack of sanitary observance, in the crowded, foul, disease-breeding condition of the “conventillos” (apartment houses) and in homes of the poor, a prolific atmosphere for contagion, the plague spread so rapidly that the number of cases reached into the thousands, and the death rate was two hundred daily. When the municipal authorities found the city in the throes of a disastrous epidemic, and the public was demanding ways and means for combating and checking the plague, and caring for those stricken with the malady, the municipal government proved utterly impotent, absolutely incompetent to handle the situation. The result was a national tragedy in which thousands of lives were sacrificed. The municipal treasury which from various sources is annually augmented by two millions of pesos, was found empty, and to make a showing at combating the epidemic the national government was requested to provide means for establishing a vaccination service, hospitals, ambulance and medical corps. Speaking of the first appropriation by the central government for this purpose, amounting to ninety-two thousand pesos, _La Union_, one of the leading dailies of Valparaiso, under date of July 12, 1905, discussed the question in an article from which the following is an abstract and translation:

“Ninety-two thousand pesos in sand, mud and mire. This fact is in reality worthy of mention in history, because one who reads in foreign lands of the project of law passed by the President to Congress, to solicit the above sum to clean drains and carry away sand, mud and mire from the streets of the first port of Chile, cannot but feel the horror and dread for the country whose principal port on the Pacific lies in a pestilential pool. Years go by, cruel and compassionless plagues and calamities afflict us, the government money is squandered upon frivolous matters which are far from curing the evils, and Valparaiso lies in her muddy bed, inhaling the breath of death evaporated from the infested and unhealthy drains and streets.”

The following is an extract from and translation of an editorial that appeared in _El Mercurio_ of Valparaiso, July 8, 1905:

“The foreign press is beginning to occupy itself with the situation of Valparaiso, and take note of the sad state in which the first port of the Republic finds itself, and in which reigns a deplorable and filthy abandon that helps the devastating work of smallpox that is decimating its population. Valparaiso with its infested streets, sidewalks destroyed, pavements removed and full of holes, with the enormous piles of dirt and mud accumulated in residence districts; Valparaiso, where there is no municipal street sweeping nor watering, or even carrying away of dirt; with infested public buildings (like the prisons), without organization to resist an epidemic, must create the impression in the minds of people in foreign countries, who read of its deplorable condition, that it is not the city of 200,000 inhabitants, described in geography as possessing an advanced and cultivated population and situated in an agreeable climate; as not being the port of so much commercial and maritime movement, which, as a bitter irony has sometimes been called the ‘Jewel of the Pacific.’”

Translation from _La Union_, Valparaiso:

“Valparaiso is again unfortunately under the weight and opprobrium of the great calamity of every winter. Mud covers all the streets, traffic is interrupted, social life is suspended, and one touches on every side mud and filth. To this is added the calamity of administrative corruption, and life is little more than a fight of a few civilized elements against barbarism, which destroys everything, morally and maternally.”

(The foregoing refers to Valparaiso before the earthquake in August, 1906, which destroyed the greater part of the business portion of the city, which has since been practically rebuilt, and the sanitary conditions somewhat improved.)

These and similar arraignments by the press of Chile of the management of municipalities, give a better idea of the existing conditions than any criticism that might be offered by a foreigner.

THE NATIONAL HYMN

The first National Hymn of Chile was written in 1819, by Bernardo Vera, y Pintado. It was well received by the public from the first, and enthusiastically so when sung on September 18th, the anniversary of Republican Independence.