The Atlanta constitution., 1894-03-06

| goes without saying tnat THIS Is lne IiioSt
civilized and popular portion of the republic.
The pastoral grazing zone. extends
| from the Parma range of mountains to the
| Orinoco and Apure rivers. 1t consists for
! the most part of extensive pampas or prai-
| rieS, similar to those Of southwestern Tex
| as, but where, unlike those of Texas and
Colorado, the pasturage is perennial, and
| great herds of cattle raised at little or
! no expense: and where in a few short years,
the frugal herdsman finds himself in poses
| sion Of a comfortable fortune through the
natural increase of his cattle.
| The forest zone extends from the valley
| of the upper Orinoco TO the northern limits
! of Brazil; and is, for the most part,
unsettled and unexplored country, inhabited
| by native Indians hitherto free from the
| trammels of European civilization and al
| most wholly undisturbed by the intrusons
of the white man. And yet the commercial
| products of this region are considerable,
| consisting of copaiba, serrapeas tonca
beans, vanilla and rich variety of cabinet
| woods and medicinal plants.
| ".
Although high mountains seen in al
| most every direction in Venezuela, there
| ore really but three well defined ranges.
| The first to attract attention is the great
| coast range, extending from the vicinity of
| Lake Maracaybo, on the extreme west. to
the gulf of Paria, on the extreme east, and
attains to it's highest point at Caracas Here
! the noted peaks of la Slla and Naiguatic
reach up through the clouds to a height
| OF 1922 and 9,1S0 feet, respectively, above
| the sea level.
Running parallel with this range, and
| about seventy-five miles south of it, as l
| have said. is the Parma range, which
| forms the southern boundary of the agricul-
| tural zone The highest peaks of this range
! are Pennon, Qinata and Iamora, respec-
| lively S,202, 7,405 and 73i9 feet above the
! sea level
The third range runs nearly at right an
! giles to these two, and is part OF the great
eastern Cordillera of the Andes which
! bends TO the eastward from the great al
taplane of BoGOta, in Colombia. Before
! entering Venezuela, the Cordillera branches
! off into two dizzy ridges; one extending to
! the peninsula of Gaojira, the other inter
! SeCting the coast range near Puerto Ca
| beilo and attaining to it's greatest height,
! nearly 5000 feet, near the classic old city,
! of I'arquisemeto
! The snow limit on all these ranges is about
! 1880 feet in altitude; although in eXcep-
| tiOnally warm seasons, snow and ice diSap-
| pear temporarily at altitude of 1l,500
| feet. At the height of 5000 feet, the climate
| is delightful and vegetation endurant. 1t is
the natural habat OF the best grades of cof-
! fee, and seems equally well adapted to the
! cereals Of the north temperate zone. At
the height of 1900 feet and thence down to
! the sea level, the temperature ranges from
! 78 to 81 degrees. This is the natural home
| of the sugar and tobacco plants, the chooo-
late bean, cocoanut palm and all the va
| rieties Of tropical fruits and tlaVors.
There are but two we'll defined seasons
! in any part of the republic, namely the
wet and the dry" The first named IS
known in the language of the country as
! "enVierno', or winter the second as We
| Tano." or summer; but the differences or
| temperature rarely average more lhan 4
| or degrees at any given locality. Ihe
wet season begins in october ana eiluS
with March, the dry season begins
i'm April and ends in October At no time do
you hear of sun strokes or heart apop!eXV'
! and nobody ever suffers with IfoSt-pllteh
+;4,tr .lAslE.Tl
feet. The havest and the planting season
| are often one and the same, and two ana
! three crops Of vegetables and cereals may
be grown on the same ground within the
| year.
Here. then. is a country in which, like its
| neirhhor republic of Colombia, nature has
| been lavish in her endowments It's natural
| resources are great and varied, ana lls
/ geographical position places it within easy
! reach of the worlds commerce. The seaport5
/ Of both these countries are just across the
! Caribbean only three and four days sah
from our south Atlantic and gulI ports;
Both countries export to us coNee anu
| fruits and dyewOods which we cannot pro-
| duce and we in return export to them the
! products of the north temperate zone Each
| country being thus the natural commercial
| complement of the other, the relations pc
| tween them ought to be closer than What
| they are. Most persons will readily assent
| to this as an abstract proposition. And
yet the fact remains that the bulk OF the
| vegetable trade Of both NeneZuela ana
Colombia still goes to EurOpe--to countries
| three times farther away than our own ana
still more ilely separate in political instl-
| tutions.
At the nations exposition of Venezuela.
| held at Caracas in 1889, there We're exhibited
| 2O7O varieties Of native wood, comprising
about 600 distinct species, and embracing
| q large number specially suited to architect
| ural purposes. These. including many Varle-
/ ties of rosewood and mahogany, have hlth-
| a,.+n n I,uCODe almost
| clusively. Upon the same occasion there
! were displayed nearly 500 species and Narie-
| ties of medicine plants an7 vegetable sub
/ stances, comprising valuable febrtu&es,
/ dinretfcs aromatics. tonCs, aperients. sop
orfics. etc, and these too. We're exported
| to Europe and then re-eNported to lhe
/ United States in manufactured form
! Almost on the very banks of the Peder-
! Males rver-an estuary of the Orino2o open
ing into the gulf Of Para-asphaltum is
| found in ineNhauStible quantities. Experts
/ who have examined 1t say II IS very SuPe-
! rior in quality to the lakes of La Brea IN
! Trinidad And vet we go paying a high
! price for an inferior article, possibly only
/ because we do not know that asphaltum is
not a British monopoly.
Tn the interior of both Venezuela and Col
rhia, people make fence posts of mahogany
and hIv our Georgia pine lumber at SO
and $3Q per 1000 feet. And yet we make
. frewood Of our pine lumber and buy ma
! hogany from Boston Ghe only place Where
/ It is now imported) at from 500 to $l20 per
1000 feet.
one of the purposes. if not the main OBJ
iect, Of our projected Cotton States ard In
| terrational exposition. to be held in Atlanta
next year is, or at least ought to be- the
! correction of this abnormal state OF aUalrs
/ The exposition will afford us faVorahle
opportunity for getting better acquainted
| with the people and products Of the trans
| Caribbean and Central American states ana
| 1t will afford the people of those Interesting
| countries the opportunity for becoming pet
ter acquainted with us and our products.
| This is necessarily the first step to a proht-
| able exchange Of surplus products, ana IL
| will result ultimately i'll the establishment
! of direct and regular trade between our
| south Atlantic and gulf ports and those
! of the Caribbean.
VIII the people Of those countries SEND
exhibits and take an active part in our expo
| sition? Not unless they shall be properly ana
! formally invited to do SO; and not even then
unless we can give them the assurance that
the enterprise is going to be Il success. But
| these are the only conditions Those people
| cherish the most kindly feelings toward us
| They would Ike to visit us and become bet
ter acquainted with home life. they
| are anxious for closer commercial relations
| with rs and will cheerfully Join us, to the