The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-06-09
'p.elal corres,oneence Of The sunday Republic.

Special Correspondence OF The Sunday Republic.
Caracas Venezuela. May 2.-Venezuela
Is the land of unrest. and Caracas Is Its
capital.
In the room adjoining mine on the left.
at the Gran Hotel. is a German agent who
has the contract for supplying the Govern
ment with 1i.000 Mauser rifles. 4.2Vo.Oo0 car
tridges and numerous mountain batteries.
In the room adjoining mine on, the right
Is an Italian Count. or something of the
| sort, who is seeking reimbursement for var
ious goods. chattels and cattle taken By
Castro's ~conauering evolutionary army.
Thus FL Presidente is paying for a past
revolution on one hand. and preparing for
a future revolution on the other.
All day long the cavalry bootheels OF
brightly uniformed Adtutant Generals and
Chiefs Of Artillery stamp across the stone
paved court to the room Of the contractor
Of arms.
All day long I ran hear the Mausers click
and the breechlocks of the donkey batteries
go bur-r-r and sna-a-p as the mechanism
is tested and explained.
All day long the Italian Count sits In his
room seeing attorneys and making out his
bill for Castro to pay. II he figures It as
successfully as the hotel clerk downstairs.
1t is evident the customs duties at La
Guayra must be increased or FL Presidente
will have to mortgage some Of his Mausers
or donkey batteries.
I speak of this because II was my first i'm
preston Of. Caracas. and II went home. But
1t was only here that such serious things
were limited at. Thu soldiers standing guard
at the barracks were the only other solemn
things in Caracas. Little nutbrown men
In heavy blue fatigue uniforms. erect ~
sappilngs. each looking every ounce a SOL
der. these seemed the only ones In the city
to whom life was not a joke.
Town Built In . Crater.
Caracas stands in an old volcanic crater.
so that the inhabitants constantly live over
the crack o. doom. Now and then an earth
quake shakes most Of the town to pieces.
mains half the Inhabitants and scares the
other half to death. But that is soon for
gotten. Why take fear seriously except
when 1t is upon you? is an old Venezuelan
proverb. The walls Of "Miserecola! Misere-
cola!' were heard during the last earth
quake at the American Legation. nearly
three miles away. But In a week all was
forgotten. Baccarat was going. The cognao
glasses were climbing. The crowds parading
the Plaza Bolivar. where all Caracas goes
when the bands play. and life had resumed
its gladstone sway.
TIL streets are parched now. and the
plants In the courts Of the one-story houses
droop and wither. The foliage on the trees
is as brown as the trees Of the North after
an autumn frost. There has been no rain
49, @SA IS IA ~
for nine months. The mountains that sur
round the city like the rim of a gigantic
cup are bare Of foliage. Their sides are as
red as blood. Red earth. red rocks every
where. When the clouds float over in the
afternoon they reflect the color. and all
day long have the golden hue Of a tropical
sunset.
Hence 1t is now called Caracas the Gold
en-.
The people take their pleasures lightly.
No opera troupe ever visits South America
without coming to Caracas. President Cas-
tro's purse Is open. They are feted and
wined at his palace, Miraiores. All vene-
zuela goes to the opera. The scene 10 beau
tiful In the extreme. The costumes Of the
women are dazzling. their diamonds are
bewildering. You will see such a display as
one might expect to look upon In the West
ern Continent only at Mrs. Astor's ball. In
Caracas everybody has diamonds and
everybody wears them. This may be be-
cause they are cheap. The duty Is only $3.50
q pound.
Lavish Entertainers.
Polite. friendly. open-handed. a newcomer
finds a pleasant welcome from Caracas folk.
The Venezuelan may have no money in
bank. but he has money to entertain his
friends. At the last ball at Afirafores there
was champagne to put out fires with. and
champagne is IS q bottle In Caracas. 1t was
at least q $4,000 ball.
At the entertainments given by the old
families you will find a society as culti-
waited and as refined as anywhere in the
world. Tn ladies are almost without ex-
ception good looking. One might say they
were without exception beautiful. Men and
women dapce well. far more gracefully
than In the United States.
During the day the streets are rowded.
Long trains Of little gray donkeys. bearing
on their backs burdens done up In rawhide.
Jingle through the streets. some bound for
the market. others laden with merchandise
bound for the far on Andes. Troops from
the barracks and raw recruits are drilling
In the open space Of North Cathedral
street. Whatever may happen. the Presi-
dent will be ready for It. Some say he has
q dream Of empire. and Intends to conquer
Colombia. Some say he Is merely seeking
to keep peace with the bayonet IN ms own
country. You will hear a new rumor OF q |
each day. only next day 10 have
your informant whisper TO you ne 10 sorry
he was mistaken: not yet. not YET.
Men With Nothing 10 Do. |
The sidewalks and open spaces IN the cen- :
trail part OF the city each AFTERNOON aIe
literally filled with Idle men q Doys.