New-York tribune., 1902-09-05
BRIGHTER FOR CASTRO.
THE VENEZUELAN REVOLUTION LOSING
GROUND.

i-a-aoas Aug 77-D,ring the last fortnight the
Venezuelan revolution has lost time ana ground
The insure ctfon was q short time ago III uHo4s-
puted possession OF Carupano. Cumana- barcelona
and C=utrta that is to say. all the eastern coast
OF Venezuela. bat owing 10 the ihap!I.sV ana
skill of General Velutinl. Corsican o! eAtaordl-
NV f7,-ey47gsroa i7-ge commercial port has
been WTested from them.
General castro is ~ san Casimtro. his vanguard
being At Camatagua He is awaiting reinforce
Tnents. in order to attack the reVoIuuoh!s's VINO
are at present at Alta Gracla De Orltueo- MS
army. which is estimated Al hte thouSaio men Is
we'll armed and disciplined castro AR leu-
tenant, General LeopoIdo Batsta' is at Nllla De
Gura with tw0 thousand men- End GthSfdI AfHHGo
has an army of three H. ousand men Inassed on te
frontier of the State Of IruJlho- toucn are the
available forces OF the government he 'ioops %
the revolution ar. nuCh scattered General Matos
the revolutionary leader has during tho last two
months been inactive At Haraza. awaiting the ar
rival of his five million cartloses' "H1cI ieath
him slowly To those uhacquaInted with Nefezuela
it NAV seem strange that it requires SO long 10
r,obiIiza IN army but it is both natural and in
evItahIe Roads do not exist. the rain fails IN tor
rents. and the mules. which are the only means OF
transport, sink up to their ShoulueIS III lAe nud'
and as each mule carries only two thousand car
tridges that is to say, four boxes OF hVe hundred
corrri-uoz e,c7 if Is necessary to employ twenty
five hundred mules to transport hVe inlIlon car
lridges OF the revoutonists But 10 ma this num-
ber of mules in country ruined by four years Of
revolution only very Nlt'SN''' SN' e(4i4iOSS
impossihIe The revolutlonists have. moreover. been
Obliged to construct bridges, and that without
adeduate tools or engineers In word, IN spite Of
the towns which they occupy and the thousands
of. men whom they have under arms, they are so
scattered that # not Il negligible quantity they
very 6iffcuIt 70 get al Inc reVolutlonlsts were
DANGEROUS before the government went out 20 at
tack them but their abtlty to attack the
government has become pIoblemdtCaL II IS no
longer a local war which they will De constrained
TO carry on but invasion,
This does not mean that the revolution VIII lose
now in a position defend himself He viii,
nevertheless have much TO do to emerge from the
stryIggIa Victorious because the utOni5tS. in
eddiTfGn to Matoss army, have about three thou
sand men at Alta Gracia under the orders of Do
rnineo Monaeas Rolando and PenalOza Generals
Luciano Mendoza. Riena and Soiagni are near Bar
ou;sirneto and Duaca. The envrons Of Valencia
are overrun with revOutionists Los Teques is also
in their power, and fourteen hundred are lodged
in the mountains between Caracas and La GUayra-
Nevertheless the government lives. commands,
makes itse,F obeyed and is feared which proves
that il is not yet cTUshed
great battle is expected to take place within
Orftuco or between Aragutta and Santa Lucia.
valley BY which the revolUtiontsts will probably
aft9rpt 10 pass IN order to reach Caracas.
From a financial point of view President Castro
has regained mis- lost prestige through the arrival
az the million hovars (coinS worth about 20 cents)
phfa This sum has enabled him TO face certain
pressing engagements and to prove to his ad-
verssries that he has found in the coming OF
silver ever with % pei. cent profit certain legal
resources which viii avoid the necessity of having
recourse to forced loans,