The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-23
THE ASPHALT EMBROGLIO
A Statement Presented by tie
Warner-Quinlan Company.
Rival Claims TO the Ownership of
the sIrcIicidnd" Concession Lnid
Before the state Depsrtment-The
Rights of the Trust Not Infringed
by the Act of President Castro.

| regard to the Venezuelan controversy has
been called and the threatened conflict
over the deposits in the Department of
Sucre will doubtless be avoided Ex-Sen-
ator Frank Hiscock and Representative
NJ E. Driscoll. representing the Warner
Quinlan Company. the rival OF the Asphalt
Trust in Venezue'a.i appeared before Sec
rotary Hay and Solicitor Penfeld at the
State Department yesterday and submit
ted a length statement answering the
charges made by the trust and setting
forth the other side of the case
The trust has commended that it was be-
! ing dispossessed of its holdings by execu-
tive decree of President Castro and that
| an adjudication of the matter had been
denied, and sought the aid of this Govern
| ment. which has been given to protect 1t
in the enjoyment of it's monopoly The
State Department instructed Minister
Loomis to request an adjudication of the
matter III the courts, and an agreement
has now been reached whereby this will
f, be done. II has been made plain to this
| Government that the reports of revolution
/ in Venezuela growing out of the contro-
yersy and emanating from trust sources
were unwarranted, and the department
| has decided not to send any additional
I warships there.
Senator Hiscock and Representative
| Driscoll filed with the State Department a
| lengthy statement showing the alleged
! right of the WarnerQuinlan Company to
work the "Felicidad" property. The state
ment declares that on January Z. 1897.
{, Antonio Bianchi, Antonio Chervoni.
Jose Francisco Michel. acting for them
/ selves and Mateo GuerTo Marcano citi-
Zens OF Venezuela, presented to the Civil
! Court OF the Municipal Union Of the Dis
trict Of Benetiz, in the State Of Sucre.
! Venezuela, in the care of which was the
! Register of Mines petition whereby
they sought to obtain the right to explore
/ tract of about 300 hectares of land stu
/ ated on the eastern side of the place called
! the Valley OF Usirina. Immediate to one of
| the channels formed by the Gulf of Paria.
! known as Majaguel, and to obtain the
/ maximum time allowed by law to explore
| the said land
| Continuing, the statement narrates the
history OF the concession and then de-
clares that 1.-The owners OF the definitive
| tide gave to Dr. Arturo Ayala a power of
attorney to sell and convey the said lands
I and mine, and on May %, 1900, Dr. Ayala.
in accordance with the power Of attorney
| duly conveyed to Patrick r. Qunlan. of
/ Syracuse, y. Y. for a consideration OF
I
| Antonio Bianchi, Antonio Chervoni. Jose
Francisco Michel. and Mateo Guerro
! Marcano in and to the lands described in
| the iefinitive title.
1T is important to notice. in connection
! with this purchase, that Mr. H. W. Bean.
! the attorney who now represents the New
| York ard Bermudez Company, was at the
! time of the purchase by Quinian, employed
! by him for the purpose OF examining the
! title to Fellcidad and reported that the
| title WIS valid. The New York and Ber-
mudez Company, corporation aiming to
establish a monopoly in the asphalt prod
ucts Of Venezuela. and realizing that the
! purchase by Quinlan placed him in po-
/ sition where he might eventually become
a competitor Immediately made an effort
| to have the grant to Quialan's gransors
declared invalid ard Q1inlan dispossessed
on the ground substantially that the New
| York and Bermudez Company held the
de1nitive title to the said lands on which
| was situated the mine Feicidad since 1885,
THE claim that the Felicidad conces-
sion falls within the boundaries of the
| concession of December I. 1888. to the New
York and Berfnudez Company, is also
without foundation
1.-THE defnitiye title, which the New
York and Bermudez Company obtained at
that time. shows that its mine lays in
the jurisdiction of the Parish Of Union,
Town of Guariquen. and the Cumana Sec
ton of the State of DermudeZ, at dis
lance OF twenty kilometres to the south
east of the town of Guariquen, as appears
by the instrument itself Numerous sur
veys have been made by the parties in
terested for the purpose of locating the
concession of the New York ard Bermu-
dez Company and the concession OF Felici-
dad and all of them show the latter
to be distant from the town of Guariquen
In. agfa 1iStn n
but ten kilometres, SO that the concession
of the New York and Bermudez COMPANY
which was not to begin until point TWEEN
ty kilometres southeast of GGariquen was
reached must necessarily be distance of
substantially ten kilometres beyond Fell
icidad
THE claim is made that the distance
of twenty kilometres from Guariquen to
the north line OF the concession is to he
measured not in straight line as implied
by the defnitiye title. but along the line
of a meandering forest path which it is
claimed once existed.
Not only is this claim at variance with
the language of the definitive title to this
concession. which if it had meant that the
measurement of the twenty kilometres
should be other than in a straight line
would have SO provided. but even II we
should assume il TO be SO and the meas
urement was made along the line where
the meandering path is clalneu Dy line
New York and BermudeZ Company to have.
run. the distance TO Felicidad would not
be materially increased and the ncrtherly
line of the New York and Bermudez Com
pany's concession would still be $50
metres south of Felicidad.
I'VE desire to point out the absurdity
of attempting to locate the line claimed
by the New York and Bermudez Company
by allowing an engineer in the employ.
ment of that company to run crooked
line. which he characterizes as a mean
dering path without the slightest evil
dence of the existence OF such path. J
solely for the purpose OF using up and &C
counting for the distance of twenty kilo-
metres at which its concession was sit
uated in such way that it would bring |
Felicidad within the distance.
1T is also Important to notice that Fe-
Iicidad is a separate lake from the one !
which the New York and Bermudez Com |
pany is now working. and that LakesFe-
licidad Is distant one ard one-haH kiio- |
metres from the point where the New |
York and Bermudez Company are con- |
Quoting mining operations. and that Fe-
licidad is separated from the lake on |
which those operations are conducted by |
a long ridge OF land, with the exceptions |
of space of about fifty metres where the |
land is lower and the asphalt overfiows |
from the two bodies and comes into con- |
tact Both bodies % asphalt are indie |
pendent of each other and each has its |
own subterranean source OF supply.
In conclusion We say that in this con- [
tention the New York and Bemudez Com
pany, through it's agents, has made rep
reservations that the Venezuelan Govern
I.ra rsTla