Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1896-02-14
A GLIMPSE OF CARACAS.
WHAT A CORRESPONDENT SAW IN
VENEZUELA'S CAPITAL.
Nearly Everybody Goes Armed
A Well-Managed Hospital-Tiny
Hack HOrses-Tho UDOg BOy.0

n Wei-ManaXeu nOSplCut-AI Iny
Hack Horses-The "Dog Boy"
COMPARATIVELY few of the
men here ever venture into the
street unarmed, writes Cara
cas- correspondent OF the New
York Herald. There are laws pro-
hibiting the carrying Of concealed
weapons, but they are never observed.
One of the professors in the university
here assures me that he is convinced
that every one OF the students who
attends his lectures has revolver in
his hip pocket. Weapons are often
worn as much for ornaments as for
protection or aggression. The cabal'
lero with silver spurs and gay trap
pings who prances about on risky
mule or Peruvian horse is not fully
equipped without brace OF revolvers.
The humber fellows who trudge the
country lanes afoot or on burros'
backs take special pride in the knives
they carry in fancy sheaths at their
waists, and which are equally avail.
able for cutting food or enemies. The
far famed machete is so long that tho
most convenient way to carry 1t Is IN
the hand, 1t is the most terrible
weapon in war and is used for every
possible purpose in times OF peace,
opening virgin forests, cutting down
trees, digging and building.
Human life is held very cheap in
Venezuela, except by the law OF the
land in dealing with murderers. There
is no capital punishment here, and a
man who is caught red-handed IN
crime knows that the heaviest
sentence that could be imposed on
him is ten years Imprisonment. The
worst cases, l am told, are sent to a
prison in the marshy districts near
the western frontier, where the man
who survives his term is phenomenon,
and where two years is as much as
most men can endure. Stabbing and
shooting afffays are very common and
rarely receive more attention tian
half dozen lines in the local Iapers,
in which sympathy is expressed for
the relatives Of tho deceased.
The proportion of Ten that one
sees in the ttreets of Caracas who are
minus an arm or leg is greater by
far than it was in the United States ut
the close of the Civil War. Com.
paratively few of the cripples here
were MANNED in battls during the
revolutions, most OF then having been
!, hurt in private brawls.
The VARGAS hospital, in Caracas, is
large institution, admirably located
on hillside and cxcellcntly managed.
No public building in Venezuela is
complete without statue, and as one
enters the main door of the hospital
one sees in the central patio statue
of Vargas, who was, believe, Presi-
dent of the Republic at the time the
hospital was founded. There are ten
wards for women, all opening ON
long courtyard to the left of the en-
trance, and as many for men on the
other side.
The tiny hack horses OF Caracas are
mainly skin and bones, and the driv-
ers, like their prototypes oil over the
world, show them very little consider.
alton. Besides the little native horses
one sees in the streets many Peruvian
horses, which are one size larger and
are excellent for riding, and big Amer
lean horses in swell carriages. Burros
far outnumber the horses, and mules
are very common.
Teams of oxen are used to haul the
heavy wagons, and cows are driven by
milkmen from door to door with their
calves by their sides. Most OF the
calves have their muzzles ti1d in rags
to prevent them from getting any milk
before all the customers have been
supplied. 1t is also common thing
to see boy driving flock of turkeys
through the main streets, usually in
the direction of the markets. In the
corrals are usually many live animals
that have been brought in from the
country and left for sale-deer and
wild pigs, with bristles like procu-
pines, predominating.
About the market place are kept the
skins of huge snakes and wild animals,
for which fancy prices are asked If they
are in reasonably good condition. The
prettiest fur Is that. of the leopard
tigre they call it here. The tigre is
very ferocious and is dreaded by all
who have occasion to travel. The
puma, which is digniied by the name
OF lion, is far less common, and about
equally dangerous to meet.
! fancy that the supply OF dogs has
always been largo in Caracas, as the
Cathedral here has an odd functionary
called perero, or dog boy. The oflice
dogs bark to the colonial dogs. and tho
present occupant is IN urchin with %
black face, very bright eyes and q
beautiful set oil teeth In the street he
looks like any other little fellow who
does not keep his face particularly |
clean, but in the Cathedral he is quite
imposing in his long gown OF dark pur-
plish blue and his big white collar. He
carries in his hand stout whip, with |
n long, knotted lash, and he walks
about with all the pride of a recruit in
the army carrying gun for the first
time. He is quite expert, and loud
al hnt l.t Ia.