The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-02-02
TROUBLE WITH VENEZUELA


, Continued from Tenth Page)
5 uncivilized Indians. The regular army
OF Venezuela consists of thirty six hun
dred men, with a militia which in time
OF civil war has put as many as sixty
thousand men into the field So far al
navy is concerned, Venezuela has
only three small steamers and two sail.
ing vessels, with three or four small
river gunboats. Furthermore, it has
been only four years since the United
States interviewed on behalf of Venez-
uela In its dispute over the question OF
boundary with Great Britain and Sc
cured the appointment of an arbitration
commission, by the decision of which
several hundred square miles of valua-
BILE territory, including some rich gold
mines and the country to the south of
the mouth of the Orinoco river were
saved to the smaller state.
The asphalt lake, for the possession
of which the rival American companies
are fighting, lies between range of
mountains and the shore of one of the
outlets Of the northern delta Of the ORR
noco river, near the bay of Paria. The
lake is mile and half in length by a
mile In width, and comprises more than
one thousand acres Of sWampy land
Most of the surface of the so-called
lake is covered with a rank growth Of
grass and shrubs, rising to a height Of
eight or ten feet and interspersed with
tall palm trees. The pitch or asphalt
UNI does not lie in an unbroken surface,
as on the Trinidad lakes, but bubbles
up, as if from springs. The pitch, how
ever underlies most of the surface in
Guided in the lake, and has depth va
rying from two to ten feet. In the cen
ter of the lake is patch of about seven
acres, which is free from vegetation,
and in which the pitch is so soft that
ii cannot be walked on. The whole
surface of the lake is so low that dur
ing the spring floods it is entirely COW
cred by water. The pitch is dug out Of
the lake by native labor, and carried to
a convenient place near a seaport,
where it Is refined. The raw asphalt is
put into huge kettles and slowly heated
from above until the whole mass is
brought to a liquid condition. The pro-
cess of heating drives off the water and
gas with which the raw pitch is iilled
while the heavy impurities sink to the
bottom of the kettle. The pure asphalt
tum can then be poured off.
| The chief Importance of this Venez-
uelan lake is due to the fact that it is
one Of the few deposits of considerable
size on this continent which are not
controlled by the asphalt trust. A con-
cession covering the lake was granted
to a small rival company, and a few
months later trouble began. The ease
with which a rebellion may be started
in Venezuela is said to be remarkable
The country is full of revolutionary
leaders, who only need some financial
backing to start one of the periodical
outbreaks which have prevailed in Ven
ezuela ever since it cast off the yoke of
Spain. 1t is also stated that President
Castro and his followers We're sadly dis
appointed In their hopes of finding some
methods Of increasing their private for
tunes after they took charge OF the
government. The country was in its
chronic state of impoverishment, and
the only available means of raising a
considerable amount of revenue seemed
to be that of revoking the concession of |
the company which had control of the |
asphalt lake and disposing of 1t to an
other concern. Between the revolution !
airy and regular leaders, it will be seen
that people holding concessions are \
likely to be caught.
Asphalt has been known from pre-
historic times Some forms of 1t were
used as building material in ancient
Babylon, and others were used in the
preparation of mummies. During the
middle ages it dropped almost from
sight. In 1712 a Swiss physician dis
covered large beds of it in the Alps,
and succeeded in reviving the use of 1t
as building material 1t is said that
the value of asphalt for paving pur-
poses was discovered by accident while
the crude asphalt was being hauled
from the deposits where it was dug.
Pieces of the asphalt dropped from the
carts and were gradually ground into
he roadbed by the feet Of the men and
horses. 1t was noticed that such roads 4
soon presented a hard and resisting
surface, and the idea of using asphalt
IN other roads was developed. 1t was
lot largely used, however, until 1882,
md within the last twenty-five years
{ has made its greatest progress. The
mount Of asphalt pavement now in use
n the United States is said to be suffi (
lent to cover street twenty-six feet
vide for distance Of 1,750 miles.
There are three leading theories as to I
low asphalt is formed One is that it s
S the product of chemical action taking I
,lace at great depths below the surface S
If the earth Once formed in this way 6
he asphalt is supposed to be forced to /
he surface together with steam and S
water Another theory holds that as Q
halt is produced by the partial decay g
f vegetable matter which has oeen q
uried in strata near to the surface of {
he earth. The most widely accepted q
1ea is that the natural heat of the c
arth, aided by the great pressure, dis t
Ills asphalt from coal and certain s
filing up deep crevices and o
increasing the pressure I'M a
i it becomes sufficient to burst the n
trata which lie about ft.-Chicago b
$
MILFORD. II