The state of mind of the Chilean audience was reflected in the daily papers the next morning when full space was given to verbatim reports of the speeches made by the representatives of all the other republics and not even a synopsis was accorded to the speech of the learned Brazilian. The Brazilian delegation took umbrage at this and also at the ovation that was given the Argentine representative whose speech was short, crisp, and filled with expressions of friendship. Like the Mexican delegate, he had appreciated the fact that there were of necessity seventeen other addresses, and that five minutes devoted to cordial greetings was better than fifty minutes of erudite information. A month afterwards when the Brazilian delegation was on its way home, I read in the newspaper reports from Buenos Aires that the Brazilians felt that the Chileans had gone out of their way to make friendly overtures to Argentina, Brazil’s natural rival. But the only things of which they had any cause to complain were brought about by their own unfortunate mistakes and in no wise indicated any desire on Chile’s part to weaken the ties of her long friendship with Brazil.
Another interesting thing in the formal opening
meeting was that although the Peruvian delegate received one of the most enthusiastic and heartiest ovations of any, he took it in stolid silence, making no motion and giving no sign that he heard or understood what was going on. As a matter of fact, he and his colleagues felt out of place. Peruvians hate and dread Chile and feel grievously wronged by her continued occupation of Peru’s southernmost provinces, Tacna and Arica. Consequently, they accepted all the Chilean overtures with very bad grace, feeling that it would have been much more desirable to have had fewer fine words and more kind actions. It was apparent that the Chileans were doing everything in their power to try and patch up the quarrel and let bygones be bygones, but the Peruvians felt that the demonstration lacked the essential quality of sincerity which, of course, could only have been given by a sacrifice of the provinces of Tacna and Arica which Chile had no intention whatever of making. Throughout the meetings the Peruvian delegates held themselves somewhat aloof and took part in the exercises with a certain dignity which showed how little they enjoyed being the recipients of Chilean hospitality. The Chileans were undoubtedly annoyed at the cool reception of their friendly overtures. It is entirely possible that this contributed not a little to Chilean excitement over the incident of La Corona, of which I shall have occasion to speak later on.
The greater part of the time of the Congress, counted by hours, was given over to receptions and teas, breakfasts and dinners, visits to vineyards, public works, and exhibitions, military tournaments, picnics, and balls.
Hardly had we got settled in our hotel before invitations began to pour in, and we soon found that the hospitable Chilenos had made up their minds to overwhelm us with kindnesses from the moment of our arrival until our departure. Never did a city give itself over more heartily and more gracefully to entertaining an international gathering. For three weeks, hardly a day passed that was not marked by elaborate entertainments. Balls, distinguished by elegance and magnificence, were attended by the youth and beauty of the most aristocratic society in South America, clad in the height of fashion and behaving just as society does in other parts of the world. The Club Santiago was repeatedly the scene of banquets whose brilliance would have rather startled those good people in the United States who think of South America as being something like an African jungle.
Most of the outdoor festivals were held at the racetrack where a fine large grandstand, capable of seating ten thousand people, faces a beautiful field and the magnificent snow-capped Andes. Here, on a sunny afternoon, Santiago society met in a battle of flowers for the benefit of charity. The participants, either standing on the terrace in front of the grandstand or driving by in handsomely decorated equipages, were neither noisy nor boisterous and yet entered heartily into a very pretty event.
One evening was devoted to the volunteer firemen of Santiago. Following a parade was a distribution of premiums for bravery and length of service. As there is no paid fire department, the city depends on these volunteers for fire protection, and it has always been fashionable to belong to one of the best companies.
For over three hundred years Santiago has been the home of Spanish families of distinction. Their income has never been so swollen as to tempt them to extravagant display or so small as to drive them to petty pursuits for the sake of gaining a livelihood.