chili-non-carne?

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 12/13/2001 10:24:04 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Mark.Mandel at LHSL.COM writes:

> JOURNALISTS LETTERS
>  DESCRIPTIVE OF
>  TEXAS AND MEXICO.
>     EDITED BY
>  ROBERT H. THOMAS
>  FARMERS' FRIEND PRINT
>  Mechanicburg, Pa.
>  1888
>
>       [...]
>
>  Pg. 18:
>     The _chile-non-carne_, or meat with pepper,
>  <<<
>
>  Hermes help us! I already wince at things like "chili con carne with [or
>  without] meat"... Or is that "non" a typo for "con", Barry?

The Atlantic City Press commented on the fact that the menu at a local prison
included chile "con" carne...

What interests me in Barry's cite is not the obvious typo of "non" for "con"
but the fact that an 1888 book would spell the name of the dish as "chile"
rather than "chili".
(In Spanish "chili" and "chile" are NOT homonyms.  The first has a final
vowel more or less as in English "chilly" but the second has a final vowel
resembling that of English "Sunday/sundae".)

I have found two 19th century sources that refer to the South American
country as "Chili" (and none that use "Chile").  Does anyone have enough data
to say whether these were the usual spellings in 19th Century American
English or were happenstance?

          - Jim Landau

P.S.  "Cuba libra" is part of the Zodiac as seen from Havana?  I had thought
that the name "Cube Libre" for the drink had gone out of fashion when Castro
took over in Cuba, but an Ecuadorian coworker confirms that Barry Popik is
correct that "Cuba Libre" (both the drink and that name for it) are quite
popular in Ecuador.