The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-12-21

81
wood MIR lit roofs md, low. chImneys
Ion account az the earthquak es. The cathe.
dtal Of stone has q bu stressed basemen,
lfor safety which gives It a pyramfdal ap.
[pearance. The corner stones, roofs and
beams are norasedd, The houses are bull In
solid blocks and often girded across the
street, IL an architect were to put up q
lstall chimney.sa Keystone arch, or dig q
Isvault, under a hauses he would prpbably sbe
I.mobbed "A simple wooden Intel to doors
lis all that isaperfnftted. m. -s-
I In the house the bed. is always put in The
middle of the honr,. never near "a w. vail,
door or window. and when a slight .tr rem
bling is felt the whole population throngs
| the spacious p]azas. s. Every house has an
earthquake Bel; hung from d T frame IN
the ceiling. The lightly hung bell re-
spends to. the most delicate vibration, the
Lateral push, like tidal wave. When the
bells ring, violently the inhabitants rush
to the streets, fall on their knees and cry,
s"Dios, ten piedad e. and God is generally
.nnercifnl, for, there are scarcely as many
deaths caused by falling walls ina year as
there are by the trolley and surface roads IN
Yet there is scarcely house in Caracas
thataha as not been rebuilt at least a nall
dozen times, and the city is gradually
moving eastward toward the junction OF
the Catucto river with the La Guayra,
where it is comparatively safe. Even as
Lit is. some streets are immune, the San
Martin district particularly So Occasion
ally a house stands for a generation,
while those around it topple and are re-
built and have blood on the hearth
stones. So
+ Under these circumstances the real es-
tate business is lively one, and certain
favored. spots bring fabulous prices ana
rents. There are on the average Sixty
"tremblings" in q year. and six destruct-
live shocks in a century. Three times IN
three hundred, years has the city lily. been
destroyed, and the repairs are: estimated
at a cost Of 100000 annually. :. =
Yet the people go on in an easy, pros
porous way, They have the opera ran,
roads, electric cars and lights, Wine and
cards and old Spanish feuds that survive
tdesnotism. They swear by Bolivar; they
mt him on their notes. and stamps; their
standard Of. values is a coin worth ~
cents, and they call 1t boiivare. 'They
have twenty statues of him In the
CITY: they paint medallion portraits OF
him On their pink and blue and yellow
houses fronting the. plaZas.. He ls&a- te-
sgend, an. allegory, and, some OF the stories
of him are mixed up with those OF Wash
ington, whom they almost defy, 1t is to
be doubted ii. any city in the United
States honors the father Of our country
as does Caracas. His name recurs. IN
statue, tablet, painting, street, plaza.
park. -
Meantime the citizens watch the sels-
mic signs: Low water not preceded by
a, drought--the devil drinks, they, say
.picturesquely-a mist in the afternoon,
haze on the wooded heights. of San Sc
bastana, unusual waves on the ocean
when there is little wind, and low water
in Cura springs They listen for the lit
tie bell, watch the British ships in the
harbor, and say they could 40 without
English calico better than England could
do without coffee and sugar and copper
and gold. And they watch -Crespo. Won
.dering what he will,do next, ready with
their pistols and. knives to march to the
front with him 100000 strong, where
they are we'll aware he had rather be
than in, the yellow house.
To one who has been there it looks not
unlikely that the ultimatum may come
from Venezuela. This would be "a good
time while England is busy In the Medl-
terranean and watching Russian en-
in. Asia, -..--s - :, s,.s