LIFE IN CHILE.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20835, 20 April 1933, Page 5

LIFE IN CHILE.

COMPARISON WITH NEW ZEALAND.

ACTIVITIES OF RED CROSS ORGANISATION.

Aspects of life in Chile were discussed in an interview yesterday by Mr G. P. Brown, who has come to live in Christchurch after . spending 22 years in Chile. Mr Brown acted there as agent for a number of British firms, and was active in the work of the Chilean Red Cross Society, which does the first aid and ambulance work which in New Zealand is performed by the St. John Ambulance Association, as well as the benevolent work of the Red Cross. The extent of Chile's mutton and wool export to Great Britain was not generally realised in New Zealand, said Mr Brown. The large sheep runs were in the far southern portion, by the Straits of Magellan, and some of them were the biggest in the world in respect of the number of sheep carried, although some of the Australian runs had a greater acreage. When discussing British imports of meat from South America most pepole referred only to Argentine beef, forgetting that the largest freezing works for mutton were in southern Chile. The Chilean sheep farmers, however, were at present affected, just as much as the New Zealand producers, by the prevailing low prices for meat and wool. In addition they had suffered by the imposition of the British meat quota.

Like New Zealand. Chile was not greatly different, from New Zealand. The range of climate and scenery was similar, for the southern district by the Straits of Magellan were much like Southland, and were given over to sheep farming, while in the north, by Santiago, the weather conditions and temperatures experienced were almost a parallel with north Auckland, and fruit growing was carried on. Further north still were the nitrate fields, in an almost barren country. While the country was naturally suffering from the world crisis, conditions were made worse by the bad state of the nitrate industry. Formerly Chile had exported on an average 4,000,000 tons of nitrate a year, but last year it exported only 500,000 tons. This decline was largely attributed to the formation of a world combine handling nitrate, but the new Government in Chile had taken over from it the Chilean nitrate fields, and was now making new contracts for export. Chile was less influenced by the United States than some of the other South American countries. British goods had a very good name because of their quality, while American goods had suffered some reverse because of the quantity of "shoddy" material that was sent to Chile during the war years. The chief banking institution was British. In the army and navy British models were followed. The army, which was conscripted, youths serving for 12 or 18 months after reaching the age of 18. had formerly been modelled on German lines, but since the war there had been a complete reorganisation.

Red Cross Organisation. The Red Cross in Chile covered a much wider scope than it did in New Zealand, said Mr Brown, who held the rank of captain in the organisation. It combined the functions carried out elsewhere by the St. John Ambulance Association with the benevolent activities of the Red Cross and similar organisations. In this dual capacity it attended to first-aid calls and removals to the hospitals, provided a free dispensary with doctors in attendance, and also maintained centres for sun and violet ray treatment for the children of parents in poor circumstances. Its women members looked after the visiting side of its benevolent activities. The whole of the service of the members of the society was volunlary, the only paid employees being the mechanics and chauffeurs, who attended to the ambulances. The provi- | si on of centres for violet ray treatment was extra to the service given by the hospitals, but it in no way took clients from the doctors, for admission was only by doctor's prescription, and the persons benefiting would otherwise have to go without treatment altogether. Wide District Served. Mr Brown was concerned with the activities of the Red Cross at Magellanes. in the far south of Chile. Though this city, of 37,000 inhabitants, was far removed from Santiago, the capital, it was there that the Red Cross movement began in Chile in 1903. The centre there served a district with a 200 mile radius, and in the winter months it sometimes took three or four days to get a patient to the town from the outlying parts. It was not unknown for a palient to have to be carried up to seven miles in a stretcher t,o the nearest point from which a motor-ambulance could be used. Persons of every nationality were to be found among the active members of the Red Cross. One group photograph, for example, included an Englishman, a Frenchman, two Spaniards, a German, and two Jugoslavs, as well as Chilians and Argentines. To call the members out when an accident occurred a siren with a distinctive note was sounded, much as for a volunteer fire brigade. This could be heard as far as five miles away, and the rule was that on hearing it active members were obliged, if free, to go immediately to the office of the institution.

A junior Red Cross Society was also very active, and every school had a sub-branch, to which lessons in first aid were given. In addition, the boy scouts combined with the regular Sunday exercises of the senior members. These boys could later, when they had completed their compulsory military service, become full members.