The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-10-06

A1lAA ~AAAN NEuEEuEAaA AELOE5E HUH Bolivar to BlancO, hung upon it's ghastly white walls. This PaIacio Federal coy- CTS little more than two acres of ground and is a close rival to the capi- tOl at Washington. II Is in the Grecian style of architecture and one of the most elegant structures in all South America. Besides the various branches of the government mentioned it also contains the supreme court, the de- partments of war and interior, and
 maRy minor government offices. Thg great building occupies the Old-time site of the largest and richest convent Df the country. whose massive walls did not suffer a fracture in the destruc tive earthquake of 1872, which shook down most of the city. Dictator Guz- man Blanco banished the nuns and | monks to parts unknown and pulled | down the time-honored cloisters to
 make way for secular improvements. From the salon you may look out upon the fine statue of George Washington
 upon it's lofty pedistaI. standing with
 hand outstretched as if in perpetual
 benediction; while a little farther to the l left, in the flowery plaza fronting the NAoeA <1IAld HID " CAlUN IOuSEs Eo called in imitation of our white house), you see the splendid equestrian statue of Bolivar, the Washington of the Southern continent
 On the fifth of July-the National In- | dependence day, corresponding to our | glorious Fourth" there are great dO- ing in every city, town and hamlet of 1 Venezuela, for the people are intensely patriotic. The day is ushered in by salvos of artillery and the tri-color of | the Republic waves from every house. | top. Crowds of well-dressed chattering people line the streets; bands of music, | booming cannon and clamoring bells
 keep up incessant din, and fire works ! that safety-valve of South Americans when surcharged with emotion, are let
 off in every quarter, all day long as well
 as by night. There are orations in the legislative and municipal chambers;
 processions, headed by the chief and foreign ministers, go to the churches where solemn mass Is said: and after
 sunset all the houses are illuminated 1 the poorest huts-contributing their
 quota to the general brilliancy by hang l ing out tinyo lamps. At midday 1t is 1 the custom for the popuace to march en masse out to suburban common
 known as Estede Zemora, where a
 ''banquete popular" Corresponding to
 our barbecue) is held. At ? D. m.
 the President and his lady drive out in
 a coach and four, without riders and
 pestillions, escorted by infantry and proceeded by children scattering flow
 CTS in the roadway, amid cheers of the
 multitude and shouts of viva el gran Crespe, or whoever the President may
 be, though the populace may be ready
 to murder him the next day. On these occasions the Presidents wife is ex- pected to dress in white satin, even to
 her slippers. and to wear al the gems
 she owns or can borrow. Her appear
 ance on the Eatado Zamora is the sig nal for lighting the bonf1res under the
 oxen, which have previously been kill 1 ed and suspended on poles for the bar
 becue; and soon the odor of carne asada, (roast beef), fills the air. The l people seat themselves in groups on the 1 ground: and when the burnt offering to | hunger and patriotism Is ready, chunks are cut off and distributed-tO be eaten. | not la fourchetto, but "by hand as it
 were. Then more speeches are made:
 which for spread-eagle grandeloquence
 eclipse any Fourth of July oratory ever l heard in Yankee land; and in the pur pie twilight of the tropics the tired but
 happy people wind their way back to 1 the town-in triumphal procession. A couple of hours for resting and dining;
 and the city is again brilliantly illum- l mated and everybody hastena to the
 Plaza Bolivar where bands play like
 mad" and rockets shoot skyward until 1 10 o'clock when grand ball begins in ! the "palacio." Around the outside of l the plaza runs fOot-rath with trees and wire ropes, passed from branch to | branch, sustain myriads of Chinese
 l,1 terms and wards upon yards of the
 omnpresent tri-color-red blue and vel
 low; while the towering height of the
 environing sierra. locking iet-black In
 the glare of light, forms a magnificent
 back ground for the pyrotechnic dis
 play.
 | This Plaza Bolivar, which occupies the exact center of Caracas, is neat little garden of trees and flowers. in-
 closed within an iron fence. It contains
 several graceful bronze candelabra for
 gas and the handsomest statue in
 South America-that erected by Guz-
 man Blanco in honor of Bolivar, who
 filled one world with his benefits and all worlds with his fame" One whole side of the plaza is occupied by the Casa Amarilla-a rather gaudy, two
 stCried. shop-worn looking affair, hay ing only a dozen rooms, including a magnificent state dining room, four of- ficial parlors, servants quarters. etc.
 Being too small to contain the large
 families which most Venezuelan presi- GortS are blessed with. it is now days
 used for little but the giving of official dinners and state banquets, swell re-
 captions being held at stated intervals
 in its carlo-s.
 After all this guadincss of color. it is
 a relief to turn to the dim old univer-
 sity. which occupies whole square and has two oatiOs. or inner court yards,
 filled with shrubs, flowers and statuary.
 Its Sacade is Of the Gothic order, with
 stained glass windows. The remodeled
 building was one of the largest con-
 vents in all South America, and when the monks were banshed, many years