Where to begin? I guess with my recollections of the town.
Where to begin? I guess with my recollections of the town.
The stairway began at the railroad station (at 8000'.) The salaried personnel used the autocarril while miners and families rode the train. The autocarril took 4 hours from Rancagua to Sewell, the train, six. I used to feel sorry for the train passengers going slowly through the tunnels because of the smoke, especially that long one, maybe a mile long?
The staircase in the area of the railroad station was 25-30' long. On the left going up was a two story department store, a yarn/fabric shop, a jewelry/cosmetic store, then above and to the left apartments for salaried (dollars) Chileans just across from the hospital.
To the right of the railroad station were apartment buildings for salaried Chileans (pesos.) There were more shops on the bottom level (a shoe repair, one where you could buy lotto tickets) going to right with the church on behind.
Above these apartments was the Social Club for salaried (pesos) personnel and family. Might this be the Social Club being referred to in the article? I recall going to a few dances as a teen. Above the Social Club was the theatre (but Jamie, I thought we went on Saturday evenings, first to the library to get books and wait inside, peeking through the vents to see when the movie would be over, then in to watch serials, which were people, not cartoons.) We used to sit on the lower level in the back, and I remember getting spat upon occasionally.
Above the theatre, the Guest House where we stayed for several days when we first arrived in July 1946. Off to the left from the Guest House was the wide path that led on up and around the hill into the American camp. You passed the three-story hospital (I remember visiting dad when he had "water on the knee" in a corner room so we could wave to him from the path, visiting one of the maids in a ward, getting my ears pierced by the baby nurse, and picking up medicine from the pharmacy) Past the hospital to the Social Club and on around up into the American camp. At the top of this area were the Bachelor quarters for single mining engineers - not much, rooms for sleeping, dining and living area. They easily got bored - no young women!
All buildings were made of corrugated tin with tin roofs - very noisy, especially during hail storms, hard rains or when the kids threw rocks. Camarotes all over the hill, but they were for families as well as bachelors (as the article implied.) The reason I know this is that I often went with Chela to the grocery store and we had to go by the camarotes. Once we visited a friend of hers. The camarotes were three stories high, with bathrooms and showers at the ends of each level, water faucets and tubs along the veranda in front of some of the apartments. The apartments consisted of a living room, a kitchen/dining area with woodstove, and two bedrooms behind.
There was a lady up there who repaired stockings by reweaving the hosiery - I took lots of pairs to her after I started Santiago College.
Jamie referred to the avalanches. I remember that at least each winter they would come thundering down the opposite hill and bury the railroad tracks and tunnel at the bottom. The miners were then released from the mines to dig the tunnel and tracks out. They looked like ants scurring around down there. Can you imagine the physical labor it took to move all that snow! The miners also shoveled the stairs when we had snow. But before they did we would go out and slide down the steps, and when the stairs were clean, we would slide down the hill (but what a pain to climb back up!) Mom used to get leather put on the seats, knees and elbows of our snowsuits in an effort to make them last longer.
Sewell was a "dry camp", so bootleggers were constantly coming over the hills bringing in booze. In the wintertime you could spot them so easily, because they were dark on the white snow. I used to watch to see if the carabineros met them before they even got into town.
Above the club was a large house for upper management. I just loved that house - it was three stories and it intrigued me. I used to spend the night there with two girls whose bedrooms were on the top floor and we could lie in bed and look out the window over to the mountains.
Beneath the hospital and club was another wide path that led to the bottom of the main stairs in the American camp, the school was on the bottom side, on the edge of town.
The main path led on by the Jarretts - she was a schoolteacher. The Jarretts and the Smiths came to camp shortly after we did. They had been interned by the Japanese in the Phillippines during WWII. The Smiths had a girl about 12 and a boy about 8. They told us some stuff about the internment - when the kids misbehaved they had to kneel bare-legged on rice, and adults had to stand in the sun with their arms in the air. I believed it, whether it was true or not!
Then came the "odd couple" His name was Sandy, I think (Scottish) he was short and very thin, she was taller and very fat. "Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean." Next came the Paynes, and yes, I remember those fancy Christmas Eve dinners, with tia Beverly's best china and crystal, our fancy dresses, etc.
The path then reached the main stairs. At the intersection (?) was a firehose house - do you remember them? They were all over. We used this one alot - as our gathering place, as home for Hide-n-Seek. One of my favorites was to sit inside and someone would move around outside. There were pinholes in the door and the movement created the most interesting shadows inside. Just beyond that was a wider flat area that we used for Kick the Can, Beyond that was the area where we used to slide down the hillside in our "leather-patched" clothes, and it also was the place where the path down the mountain began. We used to walk down to the little river at the bottom, and occasionally swim in the dam. Boy! was that water cold! Sometimes we hiked beyond but when we got out of sight of the camp, we turned around.
Up the stairs - the Casarotos were on the left - they raised chickens in their back yard. On Sunday mornings the maid would come out and wring a neck, and let the headless chicken run around until it fell over. I watched with fascination (and horror) from our kitchen window. I liked going to visit there - Italian food and Lucy was older and nice to have a peer model. Caesar was my age. There was a younger girl but I don't remember her name.
We lived above the Casarotos. Across from us was the Clarks. Mom and Mrs. Clark were so happy that Donna and I had each other to be with. I wasn't. She was 12 years old going on 18 - "boy-crazy" - I was still a child, really. She used me as a excuse to go see her boyfriends.
Above the Clarks were the Drivers. Above them the Kruschamps - JoDee and I were best friends when we were ten - spending a lot of time at each others houses. I was sorry when she left camp. I have a faint recollection where the Haldermans lived - my main memory of them is that whenever you ate there, and Mr. Halderman passed the butter, he invariably lowered the dish so your finger went into the butter. I would get so mad and embarrassed. The Fords further up and beyond - I was also fascinated by that house because the stairs to downstairs were in the middle of the house, instead of from the front porch, where most were. Also there was an office upstairs for Mr. Ford. We kids would be gathered at the firehose house and along would come Mrs. Clark on errands. I remember asking her many times "Where are you going?" and she would answer "Going crazy." To this day I don't know if she was being funny, or annoyed because I asked the question.
My favorite room in our house was the front porch with all the windows, frilly curtains and rattan furniture. The canaries were fun until that winter when we couldn't get any birdfeed for them and they starved to death. I loved to look out the window and see the world go by - you could see far down the valley and across to the other mountain. It was neat. I was coming up the stairs just as Sondra realized her dress was on fire and turned to run into the living room. I ran behind her but mom got to her first and threw her to the floor and rolled her around to get the fire out. What happened to the dinner party? I assume it was cancelled.
I recall all the beautifully handcarved furniture that the carpenter made for mom. As an adult, I appreciate it, probably not then. I used to love it when dad came home from work, and he and mom would have tea and munchies in the living room. We girls were allowed to be in there, but to keep quiet. It was a nice family time.
Until Bonnie and Jamie mentioned it, I hadn't called the rock wall a rock wall, even though I remembed it. Mom had flower boxes along the top for dragonflowers, the pansies were in the circle in the middle of the front yard. There were flowers along the edge of that cement area, as well as flower boxes underneath the windows. We used to lean over the fence with a hose to water a lower area with plants.
The maid's room did have a window, but it was always covered with dark curtains - that's why it appeared "windowless, dug cavelike into the side of the mountain." The bathroom was in the back and dark and moldy and not very pleasant. I loved to go there during rest time. Chela would make us mate on her little stove, using snow from outside. That was so special. I had forgotten the sapaipillas and manchaca syprup - yummy! Do you recall the locked pantry with all the goodies from the States and mom's pot of corned beef?
Note: Sondra's burn occurred the evening my parents were giving a dinner party for some visiting VIP. We were in frilly dresses to come in and say hello and good night. Just before the guests were to arrive, Sondra brushed by a electric wall heater. The ruffles on her dress caught on fire, and as Karen says, my mother caught her and rolled together on the rug to put out the flames. Both my sister and my mother were burned. The doctor who lived next door came at once, but the party did go on as scheduled.
Jamie Taylor Barrett's memories.
Connie Sunde's memories.
Memories of Living in Sewell, Chile.
Assorted Photos.
For much more about Sewell, and Chile, please see Sewell, also known as El Teniente, Chile.