Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-10-04
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~A~A @ THE MOUNTAIN
CAkANAC, CAPITAL OF VENEZUELA
nrstno Center OF Wealth and Luxury, Only Six
DAYS Journey from New York,
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, Johnnie Bull and Uncle Samuel. Be-
| tween the mountain spires. streams in
Vulnerable trlckle down, watering the
valleys far below, while four consider
| able rivers traverse the plains Of Car
acas, like the four rivers that watercd
the Garden Of Eden. as the Venezuc-
| lans, who are excessively proud of their
capital are sure to tell you. At first
you feel sense OF captivity, being APP
parently shut IN on every hand by in
accessible peaks and Andean SHOWS
| which no human foot has trodden; but
! e you 20 up 10 the top Of u hill called
| Calvarlo Spanish for Calyery9 you
| VIII see two roads leading out Of the
valley, which the Indians traversed
| centuries before the advent of Don
| Diego de Lasad0, with his following OF
greedy Spanlards-to say nothing Of the
| railway, which energies from a black
hole In the nearest mountain, The
! rough, uneven ridges that environ the
| cup-like valley are dark with forests
to the horizon, their foothills bright
with emerald grass, and lower slopes
! covered with cocoanut and orange
! groves, pale yellow sugar cane and dark
green coffee bushes. The city lies at
| your feet 300 feet bel0w-acres and acres
Of red-tlled roofs, broken by 10 great
squares or plaZas, the towers Of the
| splendid cathedral, the dome Of the
great opera house the Pantheon, and
the spires of a score Of churches; while
through a gap i'm the mountains you get
| a glimpse Of the Caribbean, only six
miles away as the crow flies, looking
| like mill-pond and It's fleets like
painted ships upon a painted ocean
The Caracas Of today. founded more
than three centuries ago, has about
III 900 inhabitants. who, one and all, to
a man, woman and child, boast of II as
the Paris Of South America II Is not
only the capital of the great republic
| Of Venezuela, the residence of the pres
idcnt and all the high officials and for
elgn ministers, the formost city OF the
country in wealth and political inllu-
ence, but 10 all intents and purposes
Caracas, with Its six outlying parish
es. forming the federal district, IS Ven
ezuea-the rest OF the republic being
merely subsidiary 20 II. The city Is
| laid out with the precision of checker
board, It's 40 odd streets which run due
east and west, crossed by as many more
going north and south forming
met could make them. A few Of them
are tolerably well paved with wide ce-
ment sidewalks, but most Of them
with their rough sharp cobble stones,
| broken in many places would make eX-
celent paths for penitentes, If painful
progress Is the end desired. The sys-
| tenn OF nomenclature Of these streets,
and the numbering Of the houses, Is
easy-after you get used To II. Taking
as center the intersection OF the
Streets where the tower OF the cathe-
dral stands, the street running north
| from that point TO the national pan
| theon is called Ayenlda Norte-"North
/ Aevnue" From the same starting
| point. going south TO the Guaira river.
| runs Avenide Sur-"South Avenue"
| Those running east and west from the
cathedral tower-one TO the Central
Railway station, the other TO the old high
/ road that leads down TO the sea, are
| respectively Avenida Este and Aven"
/ ida Oeste. Fast and West avenues,
The streets parallel 10 these are num-
! bered--even numbers to the westward
and odd numbers TO the eastward, such
as Gala (street) Norte |. Gale Sur l.
Gale Este 3. Gale Oeste 10. etc. The
houses are also numbered-eyen num-
hers on one side and odd numbers OPP
posite. Besides the streets, there are
several important alleys devoted
to traffic and three messages y
named Pasaje Llnares," "Pasaje del
Centenarlo." and "Pasaie' de Alta
! gracia," One would think that with