, 1885-04-19
OUT
HOW LIFE IS ENJOYED AT THE VEN
EzUELAN NEWPORT.

TLW-- Ht

TIL Il the Newport OF Venezuela, the
summer, or rather the winter resort o. the
wealthy and aristocrafic, who flnd the tam
p~erature OF Caracas trying upon their con-
situations, aud seek s~Aa-air, sea-bafhing, and
hirtations under tho palms OF Macnto.
Macuto is around the corner. one might say
around "A point OF rocks and upon a little
peninsula thai stretches out from the beach,
where IL can catch not only all the breezes
that rufiie the Hea, but the winds that come
from the mountains, down a ravine through
which flows u beautiful stream, as cool as
ione IN the Adirondacks
They have no architects IN Spanish Amer
lea; all the residences are built on the same
plan. and the hotels, warehouses. stores, etc,
are constituted exactly like the residences
A mnn's store differs only from his residence
In that it is full Of packing cases instead OF
rocking ohairs, and contains an office desk
instead Of a dining table. SO we found the
hotel at Macuto precisely like the hotel at
Caracas. except 10 was a little cleaner and
furnished a little better table.
The patio or court Is tho most important
part Of tho house. IL is shaded by large
trees, from whose fimhs a canvas is stretched
10 aid them in keeping out the sun.
Here the gentlemen loaf, smoke,
and play cards; here the ladies
vii, embroider, and gossip; here
the dancing takes place in. the evening; here
breakfast and dinner are served, the dishes
washed, the potatoes peeled, and much of
the culinary duty performed, and here the
clothes from tho laundry are hung out TO
dry. In tho center Is a small fountain, from
which the house IS supplied with water. Be-
sides this fountain Is a drain basin, or saver
trap. into which all the slops are poured. 1t
Is a space Of perhaps thirty by fifty feet,
and within that space at one and the same
time you cnn see the cook pairing potatoes or
cucumbors for dinner, picking a chicken, or
something OF that sort; besides him is
a Venezuelan dowager nodding with
a Spanish fan in her lap Il never
saw one with a paper or a book
a little further away Isl belle with midnight
eyes and ruddy lips. flirting with the son Of
some proud hidalgo; at a table near by is
n group Of gentlemen playing cards; a little
way from them Is "a laundress hanging out
the clothes, when into tho group comes the
man chamhermaid with a couple of buckets
Of slop, which he empties into the creyice
under the fountain. Everybody seems to
feel at home, knows what he's going to have
for dinner, and can sec whether the wash
woman has torn ont the button- hole in the
collar band Of his shirt.
This Is all comfortable and agreeable
enough, but IN a country where seven-tenths
Of the area Is not populated, 1t seems rather
unnecessary 10 crowd the houses t1gether so
closely that your can't have a window in
your room. The bedrooms. which are all
open upon this court, are nothing but dark
cells or closets, with no ventilation. except
what comes In at tho door. When the doors
are shut-but they never shut them they
would suffocate If they did-so they hang a
pioce OF mating or a sheet on a cord which
stretches across about two-thirds of the
way from the ground This doesn't
add to the privacy Of the apartment, but
IL promotes comfort immensely. II
the night Is 50 hot that you can
not stay in your room the alternative is to
swing a hammock in the patio, and when
morning comes creep back into your cell so
they can set the tables for breakfast. This
Is the Venezuelan idea of comfort. There
isn't a bed in the whole house; everybody
sleeps on cots. The guests bring their wi
towels and soap, but win Is furnished with
out extra charge, The landlord gives you
y couple OF sheets and a lumpy little pillow
Of wool or fine hay. II you wan a blanket
you must bring it along, but there is very
little danger of needing one.
All this discomfort is endured when a
hotel built upon a modern plan and on the
seashore would be as cool as the best at Nan
tucket almost the whole year round. |
nsked the landlord why he didn't build his
hotel on tho beach, with windows all around,
instead Of back in the town on the narrow
streets. He shrugged his shoulders and re-
piled that most Of his guests preferred 1t as
Il was.
The bathing -arrangemsnts We're quite as
odd. The sharks are so numerous that it Is
dangerous 10 battle In the surf, and nobody
cares to have bis legs nippe1 off, so a semi
circular pen of piling has been erected, at
government expense, reaching about a hun
dred feet into the sea. Through this pfling
the surf beats quite iercely. The pen is
divided in the center by a high wall, one
side being for the ladies and the other for
the gentlemen. At the shoIe end Is a
miniature castle Of stons, likewise divided
into two large ROOM with a row OF benches
around the wall and hooks to hang your
CLOTHES on over them
Everybody battles au natural; bathing
dresses are unknown; you pay 3 cents for a
ticket and 10 cents for a large sheet, which
is used as drapery and as a towel, and then
undress. Tho attendant hands you a sheet
when you are stripped, and concealing your
nakedness with this protection you climb
down the stone stairway, hang your sheet
over the railing, and plunge in. Tn water
Is glorious, warm and salty. SO dense that it
will almost bear you on the surface, and
deep enough to swim and dive. When you
have had enough OF il you climb up the
stairs seizs your sheet, and throw 1t around
you, sitting on the bench until you are dry
enough to resume Youi- clothes
During the day everybody stays indoors
after the bathing hour, which is about 0
o'clock In the morning. The fashionable
get up about s O'Clock in the morning, drink
a cup of coffee. eat "A roll. go to mass aud
then snunter down 10 the bath, returning in
time TO dress for breakfast, which is served
about II O'Clock, the most elaborate meal OF
the day. The menu offers soup, hsh, game,
steak. sweet meats ani wine. Then the poo
Pile loll around till dinner, which comes
after ; o'clock, aud is a repetition Of the
breakfast, except that roasts are served In
stead Of steaks. After dinner everybody
goes 20 tho grand promenade along the
beach. The band plays, the ladies are
gayly dressed, the gentlemen twirl their
canes. admire their own small feet in the
moonlight. and chatter like a lot OF mag.
pies The p~romenading and gossiping Is
kept up until midnight, except twlce n week.
Thursdays and Sundays, when there i
dancing at the hotel or some one of the pri-
vate residences. The season lasts from DC
tober, when tho rainy season ends, until
April, when it begins, but families from
Caracas and other cities seldom remain al
Macuto more than three on -four weeks. The
charge at the hotel is "a per ~day-abou;
s8es in American money.
Pittsburg Chronicle TsIs1 raph: A No. /
shoe on a No. o foot has q tendency to max,
home unhappy.