Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-24
yards. AS far as known. this iron region
covers an area of about forty miles
Great Mineral Riches.

yards AS far as known this iron region
covers an area of about forty miles.
Great Mineral Riches.
After careful exploration. Il is the con-
viction of competent engineers that 100
miles south of the Orinoco river there
lies great expanse of territory. thou
sands OF square miles in extent much Of
which Is known % contain iron. gold cop
per and other valuable minerals Over
sixty gold mines have been discovered in
various parts of Venezuela. which. from
1865 up 10 1908, have yielded a total out
| put OF considerably more than 500. 900 900.
AS regards asphalt, there are no less than
SIX known deposits. the richest being the
Pedernales asphalt in the vicinity of the
Gulf of Paria. and the Maracaibo asnhalt
situated on the shores of the lake of the
same name The PedernaleS deposit. ia
exceptionally pure. and can be refined for
any purpose In manufa ctures and the arts
Brown coal of quite good quality IS free
ly found In the valleys Of the streams
flowing into the Gulf of Maracaibo. Sui
phur deposits, far superior 20 the Siciliaa
| product. and SO per cent pure have been
| found on some of the mountain slopes of
Venezuela. Rich salt mines were discov-
| cred as early as 1899 by the Spanish con-
querors. and since 1874 the Venezuelan
government has derived from them a rev.
enue of from s., 900. 0oa to 1000. 600
Although only slight fraction of the
territory of Venezuela has been properly
explored. a large variety of minerals and
| valuable precious and building stones
have already been found there and there
| is no doubt that they VIII prove a source
of immense wealth when regions now in
accessible shall have been reached by
railways and improved steam navigation.
Concerning the forests of the republic.
| it suffices t9 state that they contain 500
| varieties of woods. many extremely hard
and almost indestructible. while not a few
are very valuable for rope making, wick
er work. dyeing and tanning. Fruits and
medicinal plants also exist in abundance.
Coffee an Important Product.
Coffee is, at present commercially the
most important product of Venezuela. In
1904-1905 the total exports represented a
value of Sc, 100000. cocoa following next.
with $2.500,o00. and rubber third. with
81, 500, 600
| The total international commerce of
Venezuela amounted in 1905 to s24676. 900.
divided into sS,67s.OO0 imports and slS,-
100000 exports. The commercial TRANSACT
tions of Europe represented by Great
Britain. Germany. France, the Neither
lands. Spain and Italy. form two-thirds Of
the total volume of Venezuelan foreign
commerce, while those of the United
States constitute only one-third. This
American national pride. and can ha rdly
be satisfactorily explained on the score
of strained relations. since. according to a
circular recently issued by the interna-
tional bureau of the American republics,
the twenty Latin-American republics:
from Mexico down to the Argentine Re-
public and Chile. bought, in 1905. from
other nations than the United States
1912 600. but from the United States
only $eoo o7o, 500.
= Thus. from a commercial standpoint. the
position of the United States commercially
with Venezuela is ii is with the rest
is enjoying the majority of the plums.
although natural advantages are greatly
on the side of the United States. one
| example of which it will suffice to men
ton the fine Imataca iron mines near the
Orinoco which are only 1000 miles from
Baltimore or New York. while the mines
of Bilbao. Spain. or those of Sweden are
from 1000 to 5000 miles from said ports.