The evening times., 1899-04-08
AMERICAN INTERESTS
ALONG THE ORINOC0
Minister LOOmis Gives an Ac.
count of His Trip.
Useful Information for Shippers
and Manufacturers.
GunbOat Wilmington Making
Strong Impression Wherever
She Goes In Venezuela.

country in Venezuela. has recently for
| warded to the State Department an inter
| esting account of trip taken up the Or
inoco River on the United States steam
ship Wilmington. The paper contains ,
large amount Of information useful t.
American shippers and manufacturers.
| Mr.. Lo0mis says in part:
1.-The Orinoco River is about 20 mile.
wide at its mouth and flows over an i'm
| mense bar, which it took us an hour I,
clear. The muddy waters OF the river pro
| ject many miles seaward and are noticea
| BILE about the time land is sighted. Their,
| are no steering marks or lights OF light
| houses on this coast of Venezuela. The
| river loses half its width about So miles
! above the BOca Grande; and the banks oI
either side. very low throughout the delts
region. are thickly covered with trees ant
plants. The tropical vegetation is sump.
tuousiy beautiful.
Il made a point of stopping wherever
| there were any considerable American in.
terests near the Orinoco The first piact
of this character visited was Manoa, the
seat of the Imataca mines. These come
| out almost to the waters edge at Manoa
| which is situated on the Imataca River
ABOUT HNe HllleS dUCNe COHHueuCt VIII
| the Orinoco. The mines are rich in iron
ore of very desirable quality. and there
| is at this time fight over their possession
in the Venezuelan courts.
An American Concern.
Santa Catalina. an ancient hamlet on
the Santa Catalina River, three miles from
its junction with the Orinoco, is the head
quarters Of the Orinoco. Limited. an Amer
lean company. which has concession from
the Venezuelan government authorizing 1t
| to exploit some 10000 square miles Of ter
ritory in the Orinoco Valley. The COM
pany has erected a large frame building
at Santa Catalina, which il uses as Offices
and living rooms for its officers. Much
work in the way of research and explora-
tion has been accomplished. but no organ
lied efforts at colonization have been
made. The main product from the lands Of
the Orinoco Company at present is balata.
a substitute for rubber. There are great
possibilities for work and wealth on the
concession of the Orinoco Company. and
there is every reason to think the mineral
deposits varied and rich. The soil is ex-
tremely fertile and the climate as agree
able as it is anywhere in this part of the
country. The OrinOco Company has a
capital stock of O.0OO, ,000
THE first town Of consequence at which
We stopped was Barrancas. about halfway
between the mouth of the Orinoco and Ciu-
dad Bolivar. 1t is also near the mouth OF
the Macareo. delta stream which enters
the Gulf Of Paria not a great distance
from the Port of Spain. and which fur
nishes the only practicable inland route
for river steamers from Port OF Spain to
Orinoco. Barrancas is OF some CONNER
cial interest. for the reason that 1t is an
assembling and shipping point for cattle.
most of which are sent to Cuba. This trade
has come into being since the war.
The Gold Mining District.
The Wilmington also stopped at St. Fe-
or eight hours from Barrancas, in the di-
rection of Ciudad Bolivar. This Is the
point of departure from the river for per-
sons bound for the FL Callao gold d-minine
district. 1t is stated that more than s40,-
000. 900 in gold have been shipped from St.
Felix in recent years. There has been for
several years little activity in this region
but there are indications that a revival OF
interest is at hand. and American capital
lists are trying TO get from the Venezuela
government a concession giving them au-
thority to build railroad from st. Felix
to the gold fields. some $50 miles distant.
When this road is built. ii will be one of
he most profitable in South America, for
all the traffic to and from the mines will
have to pass over it, and the region will de-
velop rapidly when it has communication
by rail with the outside world.
AT Guanta, the port for Barcelona,
which is II miles inland, We found the
president of the state awaiting us. He
was entertained on the Wilmington. and
one of the Colt automatic guns was fired
for his diversion. This gun. firing some
500 shots a minute, produced a vivid i'm
preston here. as it did elsewhere. made
a point of having this gun fired any time
there were any army officials on board
and the result is that an order has been
sent to the United States for several of
them. This is the first order for artillery
that has been sent to the United States
by the Venezuelan government for a very
long time; indeed, there is no record of any
other.
AT Guanta. / saw a train load of coal
brought from the mines. Is miles distant.
These are the mines lately leased from
the government by an Italian syndicate.
This coal was recently tested by an Ital-
ian man-of-war and reported upon favora-
bly,. The harbor Of Guanta is a vast one,
and there are 30 feet of water at the pier
These points. taken in connection with
the large supply of fairly good coal at
hand, may make il important in a naval
sense.
The Wilmington's Visit.
''The visit of the Wilmington made
strong and agreeable impression wherever
she went in Venezuela. The splendid con-
dition and appearance of the men and the
boat never failed to call forth praise from
those who saw them. As a result of the
trip. l think it will be found that Ameri-
can prestige has been substantially aug
mented and the idea OF American power
and resources, vitalized by the war. enor-
mously deepened and widened. Practical
results are coming, too. in the way-of in
creased commerce with the United States;
and II our merchants and manufacturers
will take advantage of the favorable con-
ditions that have been created for them,
they ought to profit very largely.
Navigation has benefited by the trip of
the Wilmington up the Orinoco, FOR the
reason that a correct and comprehensive
running chart Of the river from the bar
on Barima Point to Ciudad Bolivar was
made under the direction of Commander
Todd. by Lieut.. F. Carter, the navigating
ofIicer OF the Wilmington.
The extensive works and plant Of the
New York and Bermudez (Asphalt) Com
pany, situated on the San Juan River. one
Of the Orinoco delta streams, we could
not visit, owing to lack Of time and ade-
quate charts. No charts Of this stream
have been made. and there is pressing
need of them.
fThe New York and Bermudez Company
is an important American corporation.
am informed by its managing director that
it is sadly hampered in many ways, end its