The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-23

four cruisers at Curacao, forty miles from the venezuiean coast line. ready to take hostile action against Prest- dent Castro's government in the event of his refusal to grant the Dutch de- mands by November 1. The battleship Jacob won Heemsherk and the cruisers Geiderland and Friesland are now at Curacao. The cruisers Holland and Utrecht are on the high seas crossing battleship De Ruyter is soon to sal from Holland.
 The Dutch fleet of six ships which wiJI be ip the Caribbean Sea by Mo- venlber Is not an Imposing array of naval strength as such things so among the great powers. but it will be sufficient to give the Venezuelan gov ernment pause. The Dutch ships are small and their armament Is not heaVy' --the Heemskerk has two new eight inch guns in turrets and the De Ruy- ter has two old nine-inch guns,-but according to British naval experts no navy in the world Is more efficient in proportion to it's size. The Gelderland and the Friesland are said to De the finest specimens of naval architecture afioat in ships of their class. The Heemskerk is bran-new, having been in commission but five months. and IS a ship of the most modern type m every respect but one,--that is In sixe.
 srhe Dutch ships leave the harbor at Curacao every few days for practice cruise or for target shooting among the neighboring islands. AS the ven ezulean coast is in sight on clear uayS the ships are always seen by Vene]u elan fishermen, who scurry back 10 send run,ors flying to Caracas that the Dutch are coming" The Nenezueian government pays no attenuon these rumors, and, aparently, pays haed to the fact that such unwonted activity in target practice py Ou'S shins means preparation for war. An the Dutch ships are equippeu with wireless teIegraphy. There ID also A wireless station at Paramaripo in Dutch Guiana, not far south Of the Venezuelan border on the east Cura- cao has not had wireless, having oeen connected with American and Eusope by cable. Work on new Mireless station in one of the forts at .,.s., WIles tad was begun since the ultimatum was sent to venesuela and Is being pushed so rapidly that the station VIII be completed by October Sl'
 Tn case of war or a blockade, tne Dutch ships will be in communication with each other. and all Of them VIII be connected with the home govern ment at The Hague, by wireless 10 Curacao and cable from there 70 Eu' l rope. ized the Dutch will have landing force of 1900 marines to which may be added the strength of the garrison at willemstad, which has been in- creased from 800 Co 1000 within the past few weeks. A whole battalion or Dutch soldiers equipped to be sent 70 Java in the Dutch Indies was diverted to Curacao at the last mtnute' ana for the first time. one can see Dotn the Dutch East Indies and the Dutcn West India uniforms on the streets of willemstad. In adition to these regular forces, the9e is the curacao militia. the '1gchutteri1i," or society Of sharp- shooters" This organization has about 900 active members. put there are more than 5000 men In the colony who have belonged to 1t at one time or another, and who have some thing of military training. There are about 5000 men in Curacao capable or bearing arms and every one of them would jump at the chance to volunteer for an invasion of Venezula, so bitter ly do they hate President Castro. the man who has taken the food from their children's mouths.
 Altogether, 1t is possible for the Dutch to organize @ land force of F. 200 regulars and 5000 volunteers wtth- in a few weeks and without calling on the royal army in Europe for any more men than are already in the West In- dies. While very few persons believe that the Dutch will attempt an inva- sion, or anything beyond a blockade. 1t is evident that they are preparing for any eventuality.
 While everything in Curacao points toward activity In preparing for war, one looks in vain for such indications in Caracas. There arc an astonishing number of rumors floating wildly about, but they circulate mostly among the upper classes. Most of the people are too hungry too care about interna- tional complications, even if they knew such complications existed. But they do not know. The so-called newspa- pers of Caracas are completely under the control of the government, and the only news they have printed about the Dutch situation has been contained m editorial praising the superior wisdom of General Castro in dealing with the foreign world.
 The VenezuIean navy is hardly worthy of the name. and will not count for anything in a contest with the Dutch. It's chief vessel Is the Restau- rador, formerly George Goulds yacht AtaIanta, which Is armed with few small guns. It Is hardly above the revenue cutter class. Another Vene- zuelan man -ofwar was formerly tug boat in use in the Delaware river at Philadelphia. It was taken to Ven- ezuela to be used as tow boat on Lake Maracaibo, but the company own ing 1t went into bankruptcy and the government took the boat. It has been doing revenue cutter service.
 For any defense against the guns Of the Dutch fleet. Castro must depend unon the forts which guard his prtn- cipal sea ports. La Guayra, the port of Caracas, is the most important in A strategic sense. Leaving aside some Spanish forts, three or four hundred years old, and their obsolete cannon, La Guayra depends for safety upon two forts of modern construction. One of these is placed high on the clin Of the town, is painted bright yellow is clearly distinguished at ten miles distance. and seems to be designed as A target. It Is armed with two nine inch coast defense guns of modern type. |. nlaced at the waters edge near the sea wall which forms the port harbor. If is apparently of heavy concrete con struction and is armed with two ten inch Krupp guns. There are many stories about these forts which are told to prove that they are wholly in- adeouate. It Is said that the con crete Is really very light. that the guns are not placed upon proper foundation and that If they were to be fired, the fort would be destroyed