DANCING LA CUECA, THE NATIONAL DANCE.
Señora Cousiño did one good thing for Santiago; she presented to the city beautiful Cousiño Park. It is a large park of several hundred acres, which is the popular playground of the masses. It has cheap cafés, merry-go-rounds and other amusements, and is the nearest approach to a Coney Island that the capital affords. There are a number of stands for dancing where, on a Sunday especially, one may see the Chilean national dance, La Cueca, which is a sort of refined can-can. The couples pair off with handkerchiefs in their hands, and dance face to face, while the musicians sit on benches near-by and thrum guitars, pick mandolins, or play other instruments. Each dancer waves his handkerchief in the air with graceful gestures, and sways around in attitudes which are supposed to show grace and suppleness. A race track has also been constructed in the centre of the park, called the “Club Hippico,” where races are held almost every Sunday afternoon and frequently on holidays. This is the most popular amusement in Chile. Another park, the Quinta Normal, has been provided for the people, and in it is quite an extensive zoological garden. Among the many “strange” and “fierce” animals kept in cages are several species of dogs and cats, which seem very much out of place in such surroundings. A very interesting museum also occupies a pretty site near the entrance. A botanical garden and experiment station is also maintained here, and an exposition building in which agricultural fairs are held each year.
There are a number of very fine public buildings in Santiago. Perhaps the finest is the Palace of Congress, which is a large building of modern classical construction covering an entire square—not differing much from many public buildings that one will find in the United States. I attended a session of the Senate and the proceedings seemed very strange. The members talked at random without even addressing the chair or rising from their seats. In fact the proceedings were the most informal of any legislative body I ever attended. Not infrequently, however, the sessions are very stormy, and the reputation of the Spaniard for excitability is well maintained. The National Library is almost opposite this building, but is not an imposing building, although it contains an interesting and valuable collection of books. La Moneda is the name given to the residence of the President, and it also contains the offices of many of the government departments. It is a large three-story building with quite imposing surroundings. The President is generally attended by a military guard during his drives around the city. Other buildings are the Palace of Justice, in which the highest courts sit, the Army Building, and the Intendency, or City Hall.
At one place in Santiago a beautiful marble monument has been erected on the site of a church that was burned in 1863. Church festivals have always played an important part in the social life of the capital. At the time of the Christmas festivities of that year a gorgeous fête was in progress in the Jesuits’ church, which was known as the Feast of the Virgins. The interior was festooned and decorated everywhere with light gauze, wreaths of paper flowers and other inflammable material. Candles had been attached to these flimsy decorations. The church was crowded with women while high mass was being celebrated by the bishop. Suddenly the hangings caught fire, the burning candles fell among the crowd of worshippers and everyone rushed for the doors. As usual, the doors opened inward, and the crowds, jammed against them, made it impossible for them to be opened. It is claimed that almost three thousand women and girls lost their lives in this terrible holocaust. After the fire the bodies were found packed in a solid mass against the doors. The church was afterwards razed to the ground by order of the government, and this monument erected on the site. Scarcely a leading family in Santiago escaped bereavement, and the Feast of the Virgins has ever since been celebrated with mourning in Chile.
There are many worthy charitable institutions in Santiago. Some of these are municipal institutions and others are church charities. Among these are numerous hospitals for the care of the sick and unfortunate. There is one very large orphan asylum, which cares for many hundreds of unfortunate children—many of them of unknown parentage. The method of reception of these unfortunate, and generally unwelcome, infants is unique. In the rear wall is an opening with a wooden box in it which swings in and out. The mother wishing to get rid of her baby places the little mite in the box and swings it in. The automatic ringing of a bell notifies the nuns inside and the baby is taken charge of by them. No effort is ever made to find the mother, and she is thus enabled to rid herself of her charge. Some moralists would criticize this practice, but it is certainly better than infanticide, which is said to be an almost unknown crime in Chile, where the ratio of illegitimate births is very large.
The Opera House is a municipal institution and is a very fine building. During the season opera is given here several nights each week, and generally by Italian companies. Not only is the building furnished free, but a good subsidy is given the management each year in order to bring good talent here. The seats and boxes are sold by subscription for the season as a guaranty fund and are paid for in advance, although many sell their seats occasionally if there is a demand for them. The audiences are very interesting, for the people dress exceedingly well and are lavish in their wearing of jewels. There is a large foyer in which the people promenade between acts and there are refreshment rooms where all kinds of refreshments are served. A special box is reserved for the President of the republic and the intendente of the city. There is also a mourning box protected by screens, where those in mourning may watch the performance without being themselves seen.
The city of Santiago is a municipality within the province of the same name. A little more democracy has been infused into the government than used to prevail. The city is divided into ten sections or wards. Each of these wards, called circumscripciones, elects three councillors, all the members together constituting the municipal legislative body. They must be citizens of at least five years’ residence in the city, must not have any interest in national or municipal contracts, and must not hold any other public office or commission. The three members from each ward have certain local powers and duties principally in connection with the elections. From its members the council elect three alcaldes, or mayors, fixing the order of precedence among the three, also a secretary and treasurer. The powers and jurisdiction of this body extends to the entire government, subject only to the constitution and the organic act under which the municipality is organized. The principal revenues are derived from a personal tax levied for school purposes, a tax on liquors and tobacco, a license for industries and professions, revenues derived from city property and an annual grant from the national Congress.
A GROUP OF NEWSBOYS, SANTIAGO.
It is in the market-places that one can best study the common people. There are two markets in Santiago, both of them on the bank of the Mapocho. At the newer one one will be sure to find some newsboys plying their trade. “La Union” and “El Mercurio” are the cries of these busy little newsboys, as they flit in and out among the marketers of Santiago. They are barefooted ragamuffins, most of them, but they industriously ply their trade. Their complexions are of different shades, for some of the boys have Indian blood in their veins, which gives them a deeper colouring. I posed two small boys for a picture, but before I could take it a half dozen had crowded into it, making an interesting group. The boys of South America, just like their counterparts in the United States, want to take a part in everything that comes within their range of vision.