The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-09-07

AiIan norman, who went away a wreck
early in the year, is back from the vene-
Zueian coast a new man, and brings a
scripful OF tales about 1.-THE General" as
that blusterous brigand. Castro, likes to
call himself. He did not go to Caracas
put borrowed the purser's coat and the
Doctors uniform cap and took in La
Guayra. which he styles "a squalid little
MOLE the fishing Is good there. He tried
to persuade the captain to hitch the
steam derrick to George Gould's old
yacht. which now constitutes the navy OF
venezuela, hoist her on board and sail
OF with her, but the captain, being an
Englishman, couldn't see the Joke, and
there was nothing doing.
Il am sorry ! did not do II on my own
account" says Forman. for | am sure
couple of Yankee school boys could cap
ture the Venezuelan navy with bean shoot
ers.
THE General cherishes an unquenchable
affection for a certain brand of English
ale. The lock laborers in La Guayra
went on strike, ships were unable to dis
charge cargoes, trade was at a standstill.
Castro was appealed to. He replied: L
am no despot; l am president of a re-
public of free men. and nothing could in
duce me to interfere with the God-given
right of noble citizens who elected me to
strike II they see fit A few days passed
and the presidential stock of ale was get
ting low. A Royal Mail steamer was due
next day with consignment for The
telephoned from the palace to the port
wardens at La Guayra: Have every dock
laborer at work by noon; any man who
refuses to go to work, shoot him. The
strike was ended and the ale was landed"
me Kaiser sent a warship on a tour
or polfteness among the Central and South
American republics. The admiral was or
dered to stop off wherever there was
2-cent president and offer him Willes
love. All went merry as a marriage
bell until the admiral struck Venezuela.
Castro was not to be seen. He has
habit Of disappearing for days at a time
in congenial feminine company, tanking
up. The kaiser's representative hung
around the palace for six hours and let
loose some vigorous German remarks.
Finally Castro doomed up. The admiral
ventured to express his annoyance. No
body asked you to come exclaimed Cas-
tro; Il don't want to see you anyhow, and
don't give a damn for your greetings.
Get! and the admiral got.
Capitalists obtained a concession to
supply Caracas with electric light, troll
plant. wired the city and got ready to
do business. But nobody rode on their
trolleys. cobwebs formed on their tele-
phone instruments, and the people seemed
to prefer darkness rather than light. Then
The General stepped in. He mildly re-
buked the company for letting its business
get into such a mess. pointed out that it
had forfeited its franchise, and offered
to take over the plant at price that
would just about cover its value as old
junk. The capitalists, seeing no alterna-
tive. accepted his offer-and it was a per-
sonal offer; no municipal ownership.
10, Immediately after the transfer every
body began to take trolley rides, people
held long conversations over the phone.
and the electric lights made Caracas look
like the Great White Way on New Years
eve. The original concessionaires cast
hints about the price to The General.
IL
pose / was going to pay you that money
Preposterous, / took that money and put
1t into the development of the plant in
order to save you from lasting disgrace.