THK O.MAnA SUNDAY BEE: OCTOBER 11. 1014.
Social and Commmercial Activities in Chile
ft A
s
Copyright. 1914. by Frsnlc O. Crporrtr 1
ANTIAQO. Chile Chtl la har-!
In hsrd times and the Euro i
rtean war adds to It wns
Ths people havo hn living
hjrond their means. Many J
of them are loaded with debt.
and the foreign obligations of the nstlon
ow amount to more then a0 for every
fsmllv In the republic. The Internal debt
la over T.mo.W9 and the Chilean dollar
la Rl per cent below par. Business la not
Itood and at the same time the. coat of
living haa jumped out of sight. Beef,
which haa always been cheap, haa rteen
until aome euta now sell for 30 cents and
more a pound, and bread, milk, vegetable
and rruits are higher than they have
ever been In the past. Houae rente are
rising. Here In Santiago ordinary dwell
ings are bringing from $30 to t a month,
and nearly every one ta denouncing the
greed of his landlord.
The moat of the common people live In
what we would call two-family houeee.
The buildings are low on account of the
earthquake and many of them have only
two floore. The first story apartments
bring the most money, as from such
apartment one 'an get out the quicker.
There are no big flat buildings here. The
hlgheet houses have only four or five
stories, and skyscrapers sre yet to be
built.
The very poor live In whst are called
cites. These are little tenements of one
ktory. built In blocks. Each tenement has
two rooms, one at the front and the other
at the bark. The only window la at the
front There are no heating or bathing
arrangements, and the water haa to be
tarried In from outside. Such aa apart
ment will rent for from IB to H per
month, and If It ta In a good location and
of a little better construction It may
bring US or 130. Many such buildings are
owned by the church, and others by rich
Chllenoa, who get most of their Incomes
from these rents. The capitalists Ilka
these small houses because the rent la
always paid In advance, and the Interest
en the Investment Is high. The church Is
one of the great real estate owners of
Santiago. It haa .all kinds of property,
from tenements to palaces, and from In-
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A large part of the property on the Pleas
dea Armas. In the very heart of Santiago :
belongs to It, and It owna buildings of all
kinds scattered here and there through
the city.
Labor Prices Rlslaaj,
The prices of labor In Chile are rising,
but they are still far below those of the
United States. The average salary of a
clerk In a store la equal to from $30 to
19 of our money. Bookkeepers gat about
lot a month, stenographers 110 or IW, and
If they are foreigners they may receive
as high as 1100. In this ease they must be
able to apeak and write Spanish, and also
be expert with the t typewriter and In
reading their notes.
In this connection. I would say that
there la no chance here -for young Amer
icans without money who have no special
experience or skill of one kind or another.
If they are mechanical or mining engin
eers, or experts in farming or fruit rais
ing, there may be some openings; but. for
pure brains and pure muscle the country
haa an ample supply of Its own, and that
at wagea' which would not be tempting to
the American.
. Aa It Is now, the native labor supply
of Chile la being largely Increased by the
employment of women. They are making
their way Inte the government offices.
They clerk In " the postoff Ices, they act
as raahlers In the mercantile establish
meats, aad they- sell goods to the Urge
department stores that have recently
been established la Bandage. In the lat-
ter plaoes female elerks are paid aalaiiea
of 130 a month with a commission on their
sales, which In some cases runs the sal
ary, to as high aa 1100 per month. - The
?hlef objection to such positions is that
the holder loses caste among her tr lends
by taking them. . Women . have been so
secluded In Chile that tre people have
aot yet become accustomed to their fight
ing the battle of life for themeelveaNlce
girls never go out alone in the evenings,
and even' In the daytime those of the
brtte classes, are. seldom ' seen en the
street without soma older woman Is "wtth
them. . When a young girl goes te school
he is usually accompanied by a servant
ar by her father or mother, and some
ana la neat to bring her back home. The
oefttons ef secretary and cashier rank
higher than those of the clerks, but most
classes of the people look askance at the
girl who works for a living. '
Warktatw Girls ret Bstra Safe.
I doubt whether the young business
woman Is as safe In Chile as she Is In
our country. The fact that she worka
out at all subjects her to the danger of
libertiea en the part of the ether sex
The white slave trade exists to ah even
greater extent thaa In the United States,
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Th& Chilean
industrlos. Many of them are rich farm
era, and It la from them that come the
heads of universities and the chief doctors
and lawyera. The most of the aristocrats
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 to flxht for
their rights, and they will not submit to
Injustice either as Individuals or aa a na
tion. The middle clanaee are merchants and
small land holders. Among them are
many pure whites, and many who have
more or less Inrllan Mood mixed with that
which cornea down from the Hpanteh.
The lower class are known aa the In
qulllnos, or, erroneously, aa rotoa. The
word roto la one of contempt. It conveys
the Idea of a drunken, good-for-nothing
character. This Is not the nature of the
Inqullino, the Chilean peasant. He Is a
good, hard-working, honest man aa a rule
and anything but a loafer. He Is a do
srendant of the peasant class of north
Spain and of the Araucanian Indiana. He
la Intelligent and quick to learn anything
that requires handlness and craft. He
csn do alt kinds of work, and makes an
excellent mechanic farmer or orchardlat.
He Is a bom horseman, and la skilled in
the handling of stock. He Is hardy and
vigorous, and noted for his endurance
and patfctnee.' At the same time, he la
brave, he Is very quick tempered and
will fight upon slight provocation. He
seems to care nothing for life, and very
little for pain.
Faoltsh ! Character.
Indeed, the Inqullino will do all sorts
of foolish things rather thaa be despised
by his friends. The other day several
peons were ' drinking together with a
crowd of, their' fellows,' when one man
charged another with being a coward.
"Tou think soT" was the renlv. "Wen
I will prove that I am not" Would a
coward do thief And thereupon he pulled
out his knife and Splunged It Into hla
bowels again and again, before the ad
miring eyea of the crowd. '
"I will ahow' you that I 'also am not a
coward," rejoined the first speaker, and
ho began to stab himself. The two men
would have committed suicide, had not a
young priest rushed In and torn the
knives from their handa, and called In
the polios to take the men to the hoa
pltaL These men were drunk, but even
so, no drunken man but a Chlleno would
think of proving his courage la such a
way.
peaking of drunkenness, this Is the
crying evil among the Chilean peasantry.
The Inaulllnoa drink to exoeas In both
city and. country. Their chief end seems
to bo to get drunk, and tha majority
havo a spree onoe a week. Monday is
called the roto's holiday, for he la often
e drunk Sunday that. he haa to taks
Monday to -recover. - The liquor used Is
the vilest of alcohol, being often made of
potatoes and rotten' blea it would,
aa one of the emiVyers aays, kill the
ordinary man at a thousand yards. The
stuff Is gulped down In great quantities,
not becauee-tt Is liked, but because it
makes the drunk oome. There are many
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and I am told that there Is a large class aaloons, and recent census showed .M
of girls who are by no means as good as
they should be. The social evil Is II- j
censed In the .cities, and everything Is
supposed to be under a rigid inspection.
The Spanish custom of preventing the
.boys and girls from having anything to,
do with one another on the social level
ef purity aad virtue drives the young
men -ta the demi-monde for their social
nompeniona. aad It defaata the . end U
hopes to gain.
Moreover, If a young maa calls upon a
young woman a half a dosen times, and
spends the evening with her In the pres
ence of the family, hs is thought to have
serious Intentions of marriage, and the
father, . uncle or aunt straightway de
mands how soon hs expects to propose. If
he then says that he doea aot want to get
married, he ta told that hla further vUita
are aot desired. The bear act., which
means the standing out on the streets in
front of your sweetheart's house and
casting sbeap's-eyes at her as she looks
down from the balcony, is fast going ot
of use. although It is still the custom In
some other of the Latin-A merloaa coun
tries, and notably In Mexico and Central
America. Nevertheless, in the aristocratic
i-lasa a family would have to be in finan
cial straits before It would think of al
lowing ita daughter to clerk in a store.
For this reason the female clerks are
sometimes sneered at as "rotosT by ths
Mhers of their sex, who prefer to starve
at home.
(trrOs of CI
la order to understand the social eondl-
Jons here It must ho remembered that the
Munlry Is ona of classes. Chile has al
ways had Ms arisocrau. Its middle d
end Us common people. The last
the work of the country, and It is gener
ally known by the term Inquplllao. The
arutocrata are the descendant of the
fpanlards and more especially ef the
patriots among them, that had to do with
freeing Chile from the yoke of peia.
Tbca men are the controlling Influences
f the country. They have the fat offices.
and own nearly all of the property. Some
eev otock In the nitrate and other miUa
anJ owl a few are engaged In the various
plaoes In Santiago where liquor was sold,
and In Valparaiso the average was one
saloon for every twenly-four men. There
are drinking places In all the Chilean
villages, and every email town and hael-
enoa eiore seeps liquors for sale. Of late,
there have been some movements toward
temperance, but so far but little haa been
accomplished.
Mortality ta Great.
As a result of these excess and of ths
poor food and unsanitary conditions of
the houses, the mortality among the
InquUlnos Is great They breed like Aus
tralian rabbita. and their babies die like
flies. It Is only the strong children who
live, and for this reason perhaps the
peons, aa a class, are as tough and) strong
ssi any people of the world. I have seen
them carrying nitrate baga weighing suo
pounaa eacn and tossing them about like
baga oj feathers. Tour of them will lift
a Piano and carry It along the roadway.
ana in ine mines a peon will tote a bag
of ere. weighing 150 pounds, up the
notched stick that serves as a ladder all
day long. .
As to the homes of the peons, they are
eftea little better than pigpens. Soms of
the large hadendados have recently been
erectjg model dwellings, but ths moat of
msr- tenant houses are still shanties of
adobe brick or huts made of reeds and
sticks, wovea together and plastered with
mud. They are thatched with straw. The
doors are rude and the windows sre
small. The ground Is often the floor, and
tha furniture constats of little more than
a taste covered with oilcloth, a few rouah
chairs and a bed. These people have large
lamiue. ana a nut fifteen or twenty feet
square la often the home of sis or eight
people.
no inquuinos pay no rent for such
bouses, aad they havo In addition small
tracts of ground which they can cultivate.
aa wen as pasture for a certain number
of cattle. la return they have to provide
labor for the proprietor whenever it is
required, and that at wages that are often
naur the current rates of. the neighbor
hood. The haciendade has the right to
discharge the Inqullino. aad the Inqullino
has the right to leave when he-pleases.
As a rule the haclendados try to hold
their men, and the men, If at all well
treated, are not likely to move. On some
of the farms there Is a general store run
by the landlord for his servants, and there
the. Inqullino makes the most of his pur
chases. He Is supposed to give one man's
work In exchange for his rent and this
means that he gets his house and garden
for from 13 (o il per week.. 1 am told that
the InquUlnos love their masters, and I
know, that the masters, are fond of the
men who-work for them. The master
occupies somewhat the position of a
feudal lord, and the men treat him with a
great deal of respect.
Array rivlllslagr Them.
Ths service In tho srmy, which is now
universal, ta having civilising Influence
upon the lower classes. Every young man,
when ho arrives at the age of twenty, U
supposed to spend one year In the military
establishment during which time he Is
whipped Into shape, taught to obey and
made into a soldier. The military system
Is that of Germany, and education la com
bined with tha training. There are German
professors In all the military academies,
and the cadets who aid in handling the
troops are usually well educated. Tho
Inqullino Is broadened by thla. service,
and It tends to make hint leave the farm
for tha city and to engage In labor there.
Another Influence toward civilising and
elevat'ng the Inqullino Is the labor or
ganisations. They are slowly making their
way Into the various countries of South
America. The railway employes are or
ganised and so are the stevedores, as well
aa the 'members of some of the mechan
ical trades. The labor element Is begin
ning to take part In politics, and It has
now two representatives In the Chilean
congress. The departments of police and
ef the state railways are under the civil
service, and positions there are In grent
demand among the common people, espe
cially aa the wagea are high.
.The Chilean policeman receives about
130 a month and one meal a day. He Is
under military training and patrols the
streets with his knapsack on hla back. In
time of war he will probably go Into the
amy. It seems strange to see a policeman
marching up and down the street In the
heat of the afternoon with a great knap
sack on his back.
" Speaking of the police, they have the
custom here, common to all South Amer
ican cities, of whistling every half hour
or so throughout the night They have
shrill whistles, which they blow loud and
long, waking the light sleeper and warn
ing the burglar or thief ss to just where
they are.
Much of . the mercantile business of
Chile isi done by foreigners. The full
blooded Spaniard looks down upon trade,
and he Is content to have the half-breed
and the man from outside, do his mer
chandising for him. The big business Is
mainly in the hands of foreigners, and
some of the lsrgest fortunes of the coun.
try sre held by families with European
names. The Chilean minister to Great
Britain is Augustus Edwards. He owns
the Mercurlo, the leading newspaper of
the country, and has millions In farms
and stocks of one kind and another.
Among other prominent names are the
Fosters, the Walkers snd Rogers. One
of the great patriots and heroes of Chile
was named O'Higglna, another was Coch
rane and another Arluro Pratt, The city
of Valparaiso today la largely European,
and Ita chief business establishments are
English or German. There Is a great
deal of English, Irish and American
blood In soms of the -best families of
Santiago, and the southern part of th
country Is given over to the Germans.
FRAKK O. CARPENTER.
Taklasi Wo Risks.
"Ah." remarked the dootor, as he ex
amined the patient's tongue and felt his
pulse. "I'm glad to find you so. much
better this mornlns Of course, you fol
lowed my prescription closely, eh?"
"Indeed, 1 didn't, doctor," replied the
ex-lnvalld.
"You didn't? And why net?"
"Because If I hsd I should have broken
tny precious neck."
"Broken your neck!" gasped the man
of stethoscopes In amasement "What are
you talking about?"
"I'm talking about your prescription."
sighed the patient; "It blew out of the
window."
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7
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1509 Howard St Douglas 605
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1416 Farnum Street, Omaha, Nebraska "
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WHEN YOU COMB TO
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ROOM RATES
Sissf Room foe m pemm.
l.50.2.00sd2.JOpes.
Dsvbl Roost for two sntou
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Siss le Roosi with both lot aa mraes
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