The Republican journal., 1902-10-09


ties next time and TOOK and one-half and
+, was well. haven't been bothered with diar :
: rhuea since"
DR.. Pierce's Pellets cure biliousness.
caded satin. The long windows are
draped with red and yellow silk and
bear the enezuelan courtof-arms. ex-
quisitely embroidered in a variety of
gay colors. Official balls and recep-
tons are held in this gorgeous room.
and it serves also as the national pic
ture gallery, having the portraits of
about sixty Venezuelan heroes. from
Bolivar to Blanco, hung upon its ghast-
ly white walls, This palacio federal
covers little more than two acres of
ground and is a close rival to the cap
itol at Washington 1t is in the Gre
elan 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
HfNi ttiASllto VI W tl anu lHltIlOI, ana
many minor government offices The
great building occupies the old-time
site OF the largest and richest convent
of the country, whose massive walls
did not suffer a fracture in the destruc-
tive earthquake of lel2. which shook
down most OF the city. Dictator Gu2-
/ - nd
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
on It's lofty pedestal. standing with
hand outstrttched as if III perpetual
benedietlon While a little farther to
the lett, III the toWery plaza fronting
the CASA Amarillo - yellow House,
so called in imitation Of oar White
House, You see the splendid equestrian
statue of Bolivar, the Washington of
the Southern continent.
On the fifth of July-the National
Independence Day, corresponding to
our glorious Fourth, there are great
doings i'll every city town and hamlet
of Venezuela, for the people are i'll
tenseIy patriotic The day is ushered
III by salvos OF artillery and the til
color OF the Republic waves from every
house-top. Crowds OF Well-dressed,
chatterng people line the streets;
bands of music, booming cannon and
clamoring bells keep up lncessant din,
and tire-Works-that satety-valve of
south Americans when surcharged
with emotion, are let off in every quar-
ter, all day long as well as by night
There are orations i'll the legislative
and municipal chambers; professions,
headed by the chief officials and for
elgn ministers go to the churches
where solemn mass is said; and after
sunset all the houses are Illuminated
the poorest huts contributing their
quota to the general brilliancy by hang
ing out tiny lamps. At midday it
is the custom for the populace to
march ell masse out to suburban
common known as EStade camera,
where a ''banquete pcplaur,' cor
responding to our barbecue is held.
At two P. Nj. the President and his lady
drive out in coach and four. without
riders and poStillions, escorted by in
fantry and preceded by children seat
tering flowers in the roadway, amid
cheers of the multitude and shouts of
Visa ell gran Crespo, 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 expected to dress in white satin,
even to her slippers, and to wear all the
gems she owns OF can borrow. Her APP
pearance on the Eatado Zamora is the
signal for Lighting the bonfires under
the oxen, which have previously been
killed and suspended on poles for the
barbecue; and soon the odor of carne
asada, roast beef fills the air. The peo-
pie seat themselves in groups on the
ground; and when the burnt offering to
hunger and patriotism is ready chunks
are cut off and distributed-to be eaten,
not la foirchette, but ''by hand,' as it
were. Then more speeches are made,
which for spread-eagle grandiloquence
eclipse any Fourth of July ratory ever
heard in Yankeeland: and in the pur-
pie twilight of the tropics the tired but
happy people wend their way back to
the town in triumphal procession. A
side of the plaza runs foot-path lined
with trees, and wire ropes, passed from
branch to branch, sustain myriads of
Chinese lanterns and yards upon yards
of the omnipresent tri-color, red, blue
and yellow; while the towering height
of the environing sierra, looking jet
black in the glare of light, forms a mag