Evening star., 1901-08-31
Caracas the Mountain Capital of a
Republic.
CASTRO THE PRESENT DICTATOR
Land Held in Reserve for Future
Of the World. 4.
A REM X X A b l. E BRlDG L
from Diary Of a staff Correspondent.

La GudNTd. ' GncZuela. lnere Is no real
harbor, although breakwater which
juts out from a point on the coast pro-
vides small space of comparatively calm
water. Inside were u German steamer and
the I. S S. Lancaster The town was q
straggling g-Iooking affair of yellow houses
stretched along the shore and rising ground
Immediately behind. Almost Immediately
back of the town the mountains spring up
to an extreme height On one of the hills
at the rear is an ancent-looking fort ana
on another is a more modern battery.
The railroad up to Caracas from the sea
coast is one of the most remarkable In the
world. 1t winds here and there up the
mountain overhanging precpices with or
ten only foot of free space between the
train and fall of several thousand feet.
On straight line La Guayra is only SIX
miles from Caracas. BY rail the distance Is
twenty-four miles. The gauge of the road is
three feet and the cars are comfortable.
In the twenty-fOur miles the grade rises
g. 1O5 feet In many places the grade Is as
much as 4o5 per cent. The bulidlng OF
this road was a splendid piece OF engineer
ing work 1t, in a general way, was bullt
to- follow on the line of the old mule paths
and in places the rails seem to hang TO the
sides of the mountains with scarcely any
support During the building landslides
Were frequent and much of the road had
to be rebuilt again and again with all
its difficulties and its seeming dangers IN
operation ii is Il remarkable thlhS bHat
there has never been an accident on the
line There are eight tunnels to traverse
before the train reaches Caracas. Inc rpdu
was built by an English company ana mas
been a financial success.
As the train winds back and forth up the
mountain remarkable and striking scenic
panorama is unveiled. 1t is not beautllul
panorama. but it is one that remains long
in the memory. because of the innate
strength of the scene. The hills are barren
of vegetation and absolutely treeless Inc
soil shades off into half dozen colors,
ranging through the reds, the blacks ana
the grays. Desolation is probably the
word that best describes the scenery.
Lourdes Shrines.
At Maiquetia. about half way up TO
Caracas is situated one of the many exist
ing sanctuaries of our Lady of Lourdes,
and we passed many of the pilgrims on
their way to the shrine. bottle of the
marvellous water had been brought over
and located at this church, and every year
there is a pilgrimage of thousands of peo-
pie from all parts of Venezuela TO the
place. In Caracas it was found that TINS
pilgrimage to MalQuetla was taxing a. Soou
deal of money down the side of the noun
tain which it thought should have
been directed into the capital of the coun-
try and a LOUrdes shrine, with little big
ger bottle of water than the one at Mai
quetia. was set up at Caracas. The Caracas
water either on account of its newness or
because of some inherent failing. possibly
on account Of dilution. has never become
popular. however and the stream of pill
grims each year passes by Caracas and
winds its way down the side of the noun
tain to Maiquetia. ON the 9TH or tl's
month 2unD pilgrims from all parts Of the
republic walked down from Caracas. ON
our way up We passed train load after train
load coming down by rail. Those who
walk down are said to be much more bc1e-
tod lnV- no "a Tar IN
that -hiS j. not on account Of the humility
shown by walking. but because the exer-
else under the tTOpic sun in climbing down
the mountain is good for rheumatism
City Of Caracas.
Caracas has 11O,UO Inhabitants, is we'll
supplied with tramways, telephones, eicc-
trio lights and gas. Its streets are narrow
and generally wretchedly paved. There are
a few. and a very few. flag pavements.
Outside of the city the roads are of the
worst description. Nothing that goes on
wheels could hang together on the roads
few miles out of Caracas The small and
patient burro carries all the goods that
go over these roads. In the city there are
a number of public squares, in one of which
stands Il rather fine equestrian statue of
Bolivar, and in another a statue of WASH
ingtOn. The eXteriors of the city houses
are all on the same pattern and extremely
unintereSting. They consist simply of me
plain yellow wall broken by doors and
windows with jUtting bars. Through the
doors glimpses can be obtained of interior
courts and gardens. showing that the in
side. in the of the Caracas house, is
much superior To the outside.
The public buildings have an appearance
of being rather ShOpworn and tawdry. In
side of them are a few good pictures. In
the national pantheon Bolivar is buried.
The capitol building has one fine room, al
though the out-Of-repair air pervades this
apartment also. The dome is decorated
!, E,- l,s,t 10. but fl.
selated wood floor is very much out of re-
pair. 1t is in this room the foreign min
listers are received. and according to
counts the reception is a very elaborate af-
fair. All the dignitaries of the state were
present at the time Minister Loomis
received, two regiments of soldiers were
paraded and the national band
hand. As Loomis drove up the soldiers Of
the two regiments presented arms the
band played The Star Spangled Banner"
and as soon he could make himself
heard the president of the republic made
his speech Loomis made a speech. after
which he was escorted out, the band play
ing the Venezuelan national air and under
an escort of cavalry was taken back to his
home and delivered right side up with care
The shops in Caracas are not imposing
and are filled with cheap foreign goods.
Germany has nearly all of the trade of the
country and manages almost exclusively
its commerce. They also own the railroad
to Porto Cabello. The Germans have come
into the country and have stayed there
INcN nave established commercial houses,
end from time to time, the older mem
berS of the firm have gone home. they have
sent their younger sons out to keep up the
establishments. They have loaned money
on crops and on lands and have secured
large concessions of property and of mining
privileges. BY their presence on the ground
and by their business forethought and en-
terpriSe they have secured the control Of
the business OF the land A German COM
pany is now negotiating for the control of
tract Of land on which are SO,OOO head of
cattle. Ii is the intent OF this company 20
supply meat To all the West Indies and to
establish in this connection a big canning
factory. Another German negotiation is
under way for the control of a great coal
mine close TO the Venezuelan coast from
which II is said that Germany will practi-
cally acquire a coalng station in South
American waters There is great deal of coal
here. but far 1t has been found to be fun
of sulphur and practically unusable as a
fuel. as the sulphur quickly burns out the
furnaces and boilers In which IL Is used.
The native coal is not used on the railroads.
the coal for that purpose being brought
from England. The people themselves in
their domestic arrangements use charcoal.
In making this fuel they have almost alb
solutely destroyed the large and valuable
forests which formerly surrounded Caracas.
They have burned immense tracts Of ma
hosany and other valuable timbers TO make
"a charcoal hos haar th,,,