The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-01-30
PEOPLE associate the idea
II of Arabs, Moors or Turks with
3 the picturesque cities of the
Snanish main vet there is y

IL of Arabs, MOOrS or Turks with
3 the picturesque cities of the
Spanish main, yet there is
f1ourishing colony of these orientals
in Venezuela, 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- I
Zuelan government has put its foot. !
ut is a strange thing to walk along
one of the main business streets. say, +
of Caracas, essentially Spanish in
every respect" says a writer in the !
New York Times, as quoted in the Lit
erary Digest, "and suddenly see along
side Spanish names of merchants
strange Oriental inscriptions, such as
Abu Amad, Ben Sid, Chalala, Benarar.
One might easily imagine ones self in
the bazaars of Tangier or Damascus"
They are an interesting lot, these
'Turcos" as the Vcnezueans call
them, irrespective Of whether they
came from Turkish territory or not.
They will not work under q boss,
and so all of them are in business for
themselves, mostly as peddlers Or
!, small shopkeepers; ana all Of them
make money hand over fist. Not only
do they take in the coin but they also
save it, and it is no uncommon thing
for an humble peddler TO come into Il
bank plank down $4,000 in gold and
ask for a receipt and a check book.
They don't like banks and therefore
keep their money at home until the
amount becomes so large that they
fear for its safety. And they will, I'M
der no circumstances, mix" with the
native population.
Live Their Lives Apart.
These Arabs and Moors and Turks
live life entirely apart from the
Venezuelan community. Whereas, if n
Venezuelan has half million dollars.
he is known all over the country and
pointed out as one of the leading men
in the community, "Turco" in Cara
cas-, the Venezuelan capital, may have
that amount, or nearly as much, and
live so entirely to himself that scarce
~ anybody in the city can even tell
you where he dwelIs. 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 q
room. And when they return to north
ern Africa or Asia Minor they often :,
back as they came, in the steerage
crowded in with hundreds of Other
passengers, though the purser of thu
steamer may have locked up for safe
keeping thousands of their dollar
which they have earned by years o
hard work in Venezuela.
The "Turcos" never accept a job
They want to be their own bosses first
last and all the time. They began b.
going TO some old-established firm il
Venezuela, asking credit OF s. to S1C
and taking out a basket of trinkets an
dry goods to sell from house to hous
in the capital or some of the Jesse
;. cities and towns. They start on
D. shortly after dawn and work unit
y dark. Their cry of "Compre, me-
4 cnante" CBuy. customary, in
strange, Oriental singsong, is we
known all over Venezuela.
Prosper and Grow Rich.
Gradually, as they prosper--and the
almost invariably do-they get MOI
i credit from the big firms and EVENT.
r ally open little shop, mere ''hol
in-the-wall," where there is scarce1
room for q person to turn aroun
NJ They put in a stock of dry good
- trinkets, novelties and the like, or pc
y. haps the lighter kind of hardwar
i Then they get rich. Their money MT
tiplies in ways that strike the Ven
zuelans, who are inclined to take Ii
l easy, as miraculous.
The quitting whistle means nothil
\ to "Turco." He will start little re
4 hole of shop near the market pla
\ in Caracas, for instance, and open !
Il at dawn in order to catch the selle
4 Of vegetables and fruits, who cor