The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1919-10-02

the picturesque cities OF the
Spanish main. yet there Is a
nourishing colony of these oriental.
IN Ven zIeia. hailing from northern
Africa and Asia Minor They main
tain among their foreign surroundings
all the customs Of their brethren In the
Old World except that Of plural mar.
riage. on which institution the Vene-
zuelnn government has put It's foot.
1t L. n strange thing 20 walk along
one Of the main business streets. say.
OF Curucus. essentially Spanish In
every respect" says a writer IN the
New York Times. as quoted Ia the Lit
erary Digest ~and suddenly see along
side spanish names OF merchants
strange Oriental inscriptions. such as
Abu Amad Ben Sid. Chnlnla. Benntnr.
One might easily imagine ones self in
the bazaars Of Tangier or Damascus"
They are an interesting lot these
Iurcos.' as the Nenezuelans call
them. irrespective OF whether they
came from Turkish territory or not.
They will not work under a boss"
aud so all OF them are IN business for
themselves. mostly as peddlers or
small shopkeepers: and all OF them
make money hand over fist. Not only
do they take In the coin. but they also
save u. and Il Is no uncommon thing
for an humble peddler 20 come into n
bank. plank down 10000 IN gold and
ask for a receipt and check book.
They don't like banks and therefore
keep their money at home until the
amount becomes 50 large that they
fear for It's safety. And they VIII. I'M
der no circumstances. mix" with the
native population.
Live Their Lives Apart
These Arabs and Moors and Turks
live a lie entirely apart from the
Venezuelan community. Whereas. II a
Venezuelan has half IA million dollars.
he Il known all over the country and
pointed out as one OF the leading men
In the community. a "TurcO" In Cara
cas-. the Venezuelan capital. may have
that amount. or nearly as much. and
live so entirely % himself that scarce
ly anybody In the city can even tell
you where he dwells. There are "Tur-
COS" with big accounts In the leading
banks OF Caracas who are still living
In the wretched novels they occupied
when they first reached Venezuela.
with ten or fifteen OF their race packed
into the same house. several In a
room. And when they return 20 north
ern Africa or Asia Minor they often 20
back as they came. IN the steerage,
crowded In with hundreds OF other
Passengers. though the purser OF the
q.
keeping thousands OF their dollars
which they have earned by years OF
hard work In Venezuela.
The ~Turcos" never accept n Job.
They want 10 be their own bosses first.
last and all the time. They began by
going 20 some old-establlshed firm In
Venezuela. asking a credit OF s. 20 $40.
and taking out a basket OF triukets and
dry goods 20 sell from house 10 house
In the capital or some OF the lesser
cities and towns. They start out
shortly after dawn and work until
dark Their cry OF "Compre. mer-
cnante" (''Buy, customary. IN a
strange. Oriental singsong. Is well
known all over Venezuela.
Prosper and Grow Rich.
Gradually. "a they prosper-and they
almost invariably do-they get more
credit from the big firms and eventu-
ally open a little shop. a mere hole
in-the-wall." where there Is scarcely
room for a person 20 turn around. |
They put IN n stock OF dry goods. |
trinkets. novelties and the like. or per |
haps the lighter kind OF hardware. |
Then they get rich Their money null |
tiplies In ways that strike the vene- |
xueians. who are inclined 20 take life |
easy. as miraculous.
The quitting whistle means nothing |
10 '-Turco." lie viii start little rat |
hole OF n shop near the market place |
In Caracas. for instance. and open mp
at dawn In order 10 catch the sellers
OF vegetables and fruits. who come /
into the market from the villages |.