The Dickinson press., 1909-06-05
cAsTRo's COUNTRY

Ruler. Continuation of
the Phelan Letters
AS daylight waned on the evening Of
February 3rd, we were well out Of
Colon harbor headed northeast in. the
Caribbean Sea for Venezuela.
One must look at a good map to realize
that Colon lies nearly two hundred
miles west of New York, while Panama
lies slightly east of Colon. and. crossing
the Isthmus of Panama by the canal,
the course lies south southeast. while
La Guayra, Venezuela, lies almost
directly east of Colon about six hundred
miles, but eight hundred and fifty miles
by sea, making SO hours or more of
journey.
We arrived at La Guayra the morning
Of February 6 and the quarantine and
other port officers were in evidence, but,
bless m soul, the best sight to be seen
were some bright-looking young fellows
who were officers Of the American
DISPATCH boat Dolphin. which was an
chored in the harbor and had been there
since about Christmas time pending the
revolution and the political ex tinctio1
of Castro. This town is a collection of
very ordinary looking homes and inlhabi-
tants with about as progressive an air
as that possessed by a jackass.
We landed by the small boats and
boarded the coaches on a quaint narrow
gauge railroad that winds like a cork
screw for twenty-three and one. half
miles to an elevation of 8, los feet
to reach Caracas. the capital, which is
3.o1S feet above sea level and only six
miles directly from La Guayra. Small
tank engines of English make haul the
trains Of three cars and the road is so
constructed that. as it winds saround
the heads of the canons. it descends ION
n side and ascends on the other,
making a safe proposition in mountain
climbing, having an average grade of
3.75 per cent.
Caracas is an attractive city. Of 90, 600
people, including s:the federal dist ct.
A trolley line is in operation; rrpaved
streets and things like that. There was
evidence of arrested development and
hard times resulting from Case.o,s
antaeonism to foreign commerce.: and
people were hopeful Of better thisEs
under the new administration. lhI..the
dining room Of the hotel, Where we, 'ae
an elaborate lunch, there hung a pictIne
Of the signing of the American ::declara-
ton Of independence: ssThoash::this seat
of government was founded in 1857,
Simon Bolivar and the history and
things he created largely predominated.-
We returned own--the--mountain to
La Guayra and the boat at .4..p...m.
though more than half the...passenges
remained over night to take a twelve-
hours journey by railroad the followimt
day to Puerto Capello: A,--bulI fgnt
that evening enlivened the experience
of those who cared for that kind-.of1
sport. -
The ride down the mountain to Ea
Guayra was even more novel than the.
ascent. In places. n could look down,
z, ZOO feet into the valleys and canon
below as we glided smoothly up and
down and around the corners Of the
mountainous points.
. We remained on the Oceana in;..the
harbor that night and. the Ocea1a's
officers entertained the American naval
officers of the Dolphin at dinner A
look at our officers and men. in saeh a,
place convinces one that they are built
for business.
Sunday morning we pulled out,,'sof--La
Guayra and sailed back directly west
for seventy miles to PuertG .Cal,ello.
| where we landed and awaited the arrival
of the land excursion. l. asked one of
the party his real judgment on the
twelve hours railroad trip and he told
me he was like the man who had five
children and wouldn't take a million
dollars apiece but he wouldn't give a
durn cent for another one.
Cabello. founded in 1855, is an
ancient town and looks the part. We
wandered about its streets and loitered
in the plaza for two or three hours on
the quiet Sunday afternoon. The air
was soothing and restful and we were
in much better shape when returning
Continued on page 81
METHODIST CHURCH
A. the Meth0dist church Sunday. June