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Show V CHILE'S CAPITAL H It . j.iv 'j r- ; - : 1 ! Three Horses Pull the Santiago Cart. PrepnrfMl bv National Cnirraphic Society. Washington. L). C. WNU Service. SANTIAGO, metropolis and capital cap-ital of Chile, is seen to greatest great-est advantage by climbing to the summit of Santa Lucia hill, which rises out of the heart of the city much as the Acropolis is encompassed by Athens. Let us climb up to the pavilion, built perilously on top of the rocks. At our feet lies a community of a half million souls, dwelling for the most part in one- and two-story houses. But for the moment we have no eyes for the beauties of this fair city. To the east rise the mightiest ramparts of the Andes. As the clouds drift over the sun, lights and shadows pursue one another and one sees the majestic mountains moun-tains In many marvelous moods. Morning, noon, and evening they present different aspects; but perhaps per-haps one's favorite memory of them Is when the shades of evening are gathering. A blue haze veils the metropolis as the sun sinks behind be-hind the horizon, and multihued shadows climb higher and higher up the sides of the mountains until finally only the white crests of the loftiest summits are left ia light At length they, too, must surrender surren-der the glory of the sun's light, and one's eyes turn back to the scene below a vast city wrapped in darkness, dark-ness, but glittering with its tens of thousands of night jewels, made to shine by the hydro-electric engineer, engi-neer, who transmutes the melting Andean snows into light. One turns in another direction and sees on the outskirts of the city San Cristobal, a conical mountain springing up from the level plain and towering above Santa Lucia, as the latter rises higher than the city at its feet. The distant ridges that separate the valleys of the Mapocho and Maipo from that of the Aconcagua Acon-cagua and from the coast, add their beauties to this mountain-walled Eden. Striking Architecture of the City. Santiago itself is a city of innumerable in-numerable domes and spires, which join with the few skyscrapers of the downtown district, the imposing railroad stations, and the great arched arcades to give diversity to its skyline. On the city's outskirts are the new hippodrome, perhaps one of the world's most beautiful racing plants; the Cemetery General; Gen-eral; and the famous Parque Cou-sino Cou-sino and the Quinta Normal. Past and present mingle strikingly striking-ly in the capital. Htre rises the tower of the Franciscan monastery from which sounded the bells of the curfew in days colonial, and there the steel-framed buildings of the commercial district. The cloister-constructed cloister-constructed houses, with their open patios, red-tiled roofs, and stuccoed walls, are overshadowed by the brick and marble buildings of the palaces which share the blocks with them and which radiate the architectural architec-tural spirit of France and America. Stretching past the base of Santa Lucia is that magnificent avenue officially known as the Avenida de las Deliclas, but popularly called the Alameda. It is, as its name proclaims, pro-claims, truly the "Avenue of the Delights." Once the Mapocho river ran down a part of its length, but the city planners gave to this stream an artificial channel, and thus converted a river bed into a beautiful thoroughfare. Some one visiting Santiago during the season when the rivers are largely dry, and seeing the numerous numer-ous bridges spanning the canalized section of the Mapocho, remarked that Santiago ought to sell its bridges and buy a river; but in the flood season the necessity for the bridges is obvious. The Mapocho's waters flow through tne city with the rush of a mountain stream, and only a marathon runner could keep pace with a bit of board thrown into in-to the water and carried downstream down-stream by the current. On a charming terrace stands the statue of Pedro de Valdivia, surrounded sur-rounded by flower beds in which the most beautiful blossoms of Chile exude their fragrance to the memory mem-ory of the hero it commemorates. The Inscription tells as that "The valiant Captain of Estremadura, first governor of Chile, in this very spot encamped his band of 150 conquerors, con-querors, December 13, 1540." Beautiful Hanging Fark. It was from the top of Santa Lucia, with its sharp cliffs and steep slopes, thatHuelen-Huala, surrounded surround-ed by a gorgeous retinue of chiefs in full regalia, had been accustomed accus-tomed to issue his decrees to his people before the coming of the Spaniards. Now vanquished, he was forced to abandon his rock- bound citadel and dwell ever after in the valley below. It was not until 1872 that work was begun on transforming this once rugged mass of rock into a magnificent hanging park, for which level Buenos Aires might freely offer a million cattle or a season's garnering of wheat. It was then that Don Benjamin Vicuna Mackenna began its transformation. Public and private munificence alike have shared In its embellishment, embellish-ment, and today it is a mass of luxuriant lux-uriant vines, blossoming trees, and flowers, with here and there glimpses of stairs, roadways, cliffs and walls, towers and battlements, chapels and monuments. Flower beds and fountains ornament the terraces; trees, shrubs, and overhanging over-hanging vines border the driveways and promenades. Here are dancing pavilions, restaurants with picturesque pictur-esque nooks and balconies, and rustic seats for those who wish to enjoy a view of the city, valley, and mountains from such a charming vantage ground. Avenue of the Delights. From Santa Lucia we wander up the Avenue of the Delights and appreciate ap-preciate the enthusiasm of the San-tiaguino San-tiaguino for his capital's major thoroughfare. thor-oughfare. For here one may see not only an imposing array of beautiful beau-tiful statuary, splendid residences, and all that makes a morning stroll delightful, but one may also find a cross-section of Chilean life. The Alameda is 300 feet wide and 4 miles long. It was General O'Hig-gins O'Hig-gins who banished the river to make the city's principal boulevard. Many new buildings border it, including the splendid National library and the famous Club Union. The central cen-tral parkway formerly was adorned with four rows of trees oaks, elms, acacias, and other varieties. In recent re-cent years these have been removed as a military precaution. The Alameda is Chile's "Hall of Fame," not encompassed by four walls, but placed in the capital's most frequented promenade, where the birds sing and the children frolic, frol-ic, and where the stories of sculptured sculp-tured marble and bronze inspire the multitude to patriotism and courage. cour-age. Here is a stately monument in memory of Don Jose de San Martin, the Washington of South American freedom. A few blocks beyond the Alameda, with the business district intervening, inter-vening, is the Plaza de Armas, once the center of the open-air social life of the capital. Even today there are certain evenings of each week when a large proportion of Santiago wanders there to see and to be seen. On one side of the square is the cathedral, on another the post office and government telegraph of-, flees. The remaining two sides are occupied by arcades with picturesque pictur-esque shops. Promenade of Tooth. There are walks around and through the Plaza, and during the evening promenade these are crowded with people on pleasure bent, always moving in two lines. Round and round they go, lovely young girls walking with their duennas, du-ennas, and the handsome young men, in their clothes of latest cut, usually in groups, the members of each line undisguisedly looking over and assessing the members of the other. In spite of the watchful eyes of the mothers who bring their daughters daugh-ters to the promenade, which usually usual-ly takes place on Thursday, Saturday, Satur-day, and Sunday evenings, Cupid seems to find the Plaza a delightful haunt. The cathedral stands on the site which Valdivie appointed for th.? erection of Chile's first church. It contains numerous paintings by old masters; a reclining, life-size figure fig-ure of San Francisco de Xavier, carved from the trunk of a pear tree; a monstrance and altar of silver sil-ver more than 200 years old; and a crystal chandelier which hung in the room where the first Chilean congress met The organ is one of the finest in the world. It came to Chile by accident. The ship which was carrying it to Australia was wrecked in the Strait of Magellan; the organ was salvaged, purchased at a bargain, and placed in the cathedral. Across the city from the Plaza de Armas is the Parque Cousino, the Central park of Santiago. It is about a mile long and half a mile wide, green with eucalyptus, acacias, aca-cias, poplars, magnolias, and myrtle myr-tle and a great variety of shrubs, vines and grasses. Here and there are charming little lakes and lovely love-ly flower beds. In the center is a parade ground, flanked by a grandstand. |