The plaza of Antofagasta, with the barren Coast Mountains in the distance. The clock tower was the gift of English residents on the centenary of Chilean independence.
employees, the pampa looks like a good place to save money, since food is about the only thing he cares to buy in the local stores. Some of the larger coast towns have fairly good stores, but Valparaiso is the nearest real "spending place," and to get there takes four days to a week. The mail-order business, however, is said to thrive here mainly because of these very conditions, with disastrous results to the saving habit.
Large oficinas, with their many hands and the families, may make communities of 2,000 to 3,000 persons. Schools are provided by the government, the teachers getting 150 pesos to 200 pesos per month, to which some companies add 100 pesos or more, in addition to the customary free quarters, heat and water. Priests and physicians make regular visits. Musical and social clubs are organized; bands give open-air concerts two or three times a week, and worse music may be heard in many more favored parts of the world. Football is a favorite sport and there is keen rivalry between teams representing neighboring oficinas. There is the inevitable biograph, a dance hall, annual visits by a circus, a saloon and even a gambling house, for since the men will gamble anyway, it is deemed best to have it done where some control may be exerted over it. Little trouble ever arises, for the resident manager is in some ways a local czar, with the very efficient mounted police of the pampa to assist in keeping order.
It is sometimes claimed that the laborers are exploited outrageously by the companies; that two prices are the rule in the company stores, the higher price always being for the laborers; that buying outside is almost or quite impossible; that they are assessed for medical service which they never need, and so on. It is also pointed out that although provided with houses, the living conditions among the laborers are
