The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1903-01-01
Venezuela and
Her Troubles

The Venezuelans have SO many trou
bles that it is a relief to turn to the
more pleasing aspects of their daily
life.
Despite their fondness for revolution
which possibly Is due to abuse Of
power by some Of their presidents-the
Venezuelans are the most courteous
people that can be imagined. Impo-
likeness is objectionable. The clerk
with whom you deal over his counter
expresses his wish that you may live
long and prosper and thanks you CRATE
fully for giving him the pleasure of
showing his goods, whether you pur-
chase anything or not. When a gen
tleman meets lady, be she his sweet
heart or his grandmother, he always
says he "is lying at her feet" and he
would rather be shot than be guilty Of
passing before her. They are not the
semibarbarians which some people in
the northern continent suppose. They
have accomplishments which ought to
make the rest of America ashamed.
Usually they are able to speak three
or four languages, have refined taste
in art and music, and, while they lack
ingenuity and usually do things in the
hardest way, they are nevertheless pos
sessed of the keenest perceptive fac
ulties and almost seem to read your
thoughts 1t is not difficult to make
known your wants even if you cannot
understand word of their language.
They do not allow smoking in the
street cars and public places, as in
Mexico and Havana. and, although it
is the privilege of the masculine gen.
der TO stare at the feminine with all
the eyes they have, the men are never
rude and beg the pardon of beggar
when they refuse to give him aims.
They always put the locks upon the
wrong door and wrong side up. When
they build a house, it seems as if they
studied the most difficult mode of con-
str4lction. They erect solid walls first
and then chisel out places for the TIM
berS to rest upon. There are no stoves
or chimneyS, and charcoal is the only
fuel Gas is produced at $3.50 per
which costs $50 q ton. There is no glass
in the windows, but Il grating of iron
bars keeps out intruders. and heavy
wooden shutters keep out the air and
light Such blinds as are common in
North America would be the most ad-
mirable protection in this country. but
no one has ever introduced them, and
the people will continue to sweter be-
hind solid shutters until the end Of
time.
The rooms Of houses are not plaStered,
but the ioists are all exposed. The
nuors are Of tile, and gaudy paper is
pasted upon the walls of cement and
stone. In the court of every house are
the most beautiful flowers Tuberoses
grow in great trees, and the oleander Is
as common as the lilac in New Eng
land. The parks look like the bOtan-
ical gardens of the north and in the
evening are always thronged with gen.
tlemen and ladies until a late hour.
The police regulations are very strict.
The other day child was kidnapped in
Caracas by a man in a hack. Every
coach driver in the city was thrown in
to prison, and not wheel was turned
until the child was recovered. Drunken
men are never seen in the streets. To
become intoxicated is to invite yourself
to work ten or twenty days in the chain
gang, and to see the way in which pris
oners are treated is an inducement to
be temperate.