The Indianapolis journal., 1904-02-14


swarthy, keen-eyed Venezuelan,
IsxSi whose face plainly showed his In
dian blood, took d tall. beautiful
American woman out on to the piazza to
enjoy the cool tropic night after the heat
brightly about social trifes, but the man
did not listen. His thoughts were far away.
Suddenly he broke in upon her talk.
''Do you see that starr" he asked point
ing TO one of the fixed stars which twinkled
brightly in the soft. velvety sky. THAT
is my star. When that star falls 1 shall
fall Not before"
The man was Cipriano Castro, President
of Venezuela. The woman was Mrs Her
bert Bowen. wife of the American minister
to Venezuela.
At that time England. Germany and Italy
were blockading Venezuelas coasts and
threatening to land troops and seize the
custom houses. Three-fourths of the coun-
try was in the hands of the revolutionists,
who sought TO over throw Castro. Colom-
bia was preparing TO help them by invad-
ing Venezuela from the west Nine men
out of every ten in Caracas cursed Castro,
under their breath, as the evil genius of
his country. 1t seemed impossible that he
could remain in power another month, so
thick were the troubles and perils which
surrounded him.
Castro did not worry. Like Napoleon, he
believed in his star. He told people that
he was going to be another Napoleon-of
whom, by the way, he is always fond OF
reading and talking.
Like Napoleon" he once said to the
writer, when he was Castro's guest at La
frrs- .
he repeated. evidently pleased by the
phrase, Il am the Man of Destiny for this
part of the world. Does not my career show
that?'
No wonder Castro. the conqueror. thinks
himself another Nopoleon, and believes in
his star; he has never known defeat. Fight
ing, time after time, against enormous odds,
READS LIKE ROMANCE.
Life in some of the South American repub-
lies make fiction seem gray and dull. What
could be more fantastic than for a peasant,
a mere muleteer living ''at the back of
beyond in the Andes, TO throw down his
whip and his hoe. and say to his mates:
Come along, boys! I'm sick of this. I'm
going to be President and you shall be
generals and cabinet Minister'S
That is precisely what Cipriano Castro
did, and he carried out his promise. For a
parallel. one must go back to Tamerlane,
cOnqueror.
The story of that dash from the Andes to
Caracas, as the writer has heard ii from
Castro himself and from the men who were
with him, is thrilling.
With a mere handful of men-twenty.
thirty, perhaps sixty-he started a local
revolution. Defeating with ease bodies of
troops outnumbering his own by ten to one,
he captured here village and there a town,
until large slice of the republic was in his
hands. and the government at Caracas be-
a l.
ton.
While that government frittered away
time in the Latin-American way, Castro fol-
lowed his star without heSitating q moment.
Like all good generals, he appreciates the
value of time; he does not believe in ma
mana" when there is work to be done. His
army grew like a SNOWFALL rolling down
hill with each new victory, and before the
government had made up it's mind what
to do he was within striking distance OF
Caracas.
At that critical moment he fell from his
horse and broke his leg, but the accident
did not tame his fiery spirit From his sick
bed he directed his troops; from his sick
bed he bought over the general commanding
the government army. The President
Senor Andrade, fed the country, and Cas-
tro, suffering agonies from a badly-set frac-
ture, but indOmitable as ever, was carried
into Caracas on a stretcher at the head
of his victorious army. And so he made
himself President.
To-day Castro rules with a rod of iron
He is the only man who counts in Vene-
zuela, because of his immense self-confi-
dence, his energy, and his dash. The last
mentioned quality is the most valuable OF
all in a Latin-American country. Bravery
is a common attribute among the Vene.
zuelans, bnt the Anglo-SaxOn quality OF
| dash is rarely found south of Texas.
The revolutionist generals We're always
waiting for reinforcements or more am
munition; they were always going to dc
something ''manana." Meanwhile, Castro
| laboring under immense disadvantages
| fighting against desperate odds, did some
thing to-day, until eventually he crushed
| them.
The writer asked Castro once: ''How was
| 1t that you conquered in that great five-day
| battle at La Victoria, the turning point OF
| the revolution? BY all the rules of wal
| you ought to have been easily beaten"
SECOND REASON ENOUGH.
| Il won," replied Castro. smiling sardon
ically. because the God of Battles fought
upon my side. and because my opponent.
We're damned fools"
He paused a moment, thinking about tn,
battle, and went on: II never could hav,
won if my enemies had possessed the leas
military ability. They outnumbered my
troops more than three to one. and they
| were much better supplied with ammuni
| tlOn than l was
Look at this map for a moment. This /.
| where / was, holding a very strong position
| If they bad placed a small body OF troop:
| here. and a second here, and a third here
| they would have surrounded me: and theI
| their main body could have marched on anC
| taken Caracas without opposition
Instead of doing that. they wasted thei
| energy and their men by making a lot o
| stupid frontal attacks on my strong posi-
tion. They fired away all their ammunition
| uselessly, and then, when my fresh supplies
| came. 1 simply led my men right at thei
| center, and there was nothing for them L
do but 10 retreat as quickly as they could
| Do you wonder that l hold them cheaply
that L am confident OF my ability TO crusl
| them, or any others like them?"
| But Castro's officers say that the battl
| was won through his courage and general
ship not through the folly of the othe
side.
| When all seemed blacklist. when his mel
| were falling all around him like ninepins
| and defeat was imminent. Castro caught NJ
! a rifle and dashed from the trenches up tn
mountain side toward the heart Of the enc
| mys position, yelling 10 his men TO follow
him. The shock of that wild charge wa
! irresistible. Scores of men were shot down
| but with Castro leading none could tUrl
| back He was the first man in the enemy
| trenches, raging among their gunners lik
| a Viking OF old. The position was cap
| tured aud the battle won by sheer fore
of his magnetic courage.
CastrO's power rests upon his strengtl
| OF character and the loyalty OF his friends
| not upon any star. Former Presidents o
| Venezuela have fallen through the treach
| cry of men whom they trusted and places
| In high positions. Castro has surrounds
| himself by his fellow Andinos-men whom
he has known from boyhood, men who wer