The Cordova daily times., 1920-05-11
"Turco" Shop in Caracas.

T@ EW PEOPLE associate the idea N of Arabs, Moors or Turks with
 the picturesque cities of the
 Spanish main, yet there is a dOurishing 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 rfage, on which institution the Vene- zuelan government has put it's foot. "1t is a strange thing to walk along one of the main business streets, say, of Caracas, essentially Spanish in every respect" says a writer ill 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, Benatar. One might easily imagine Ones self in the bazaars of Tangier or Damascus" !" They are an interesting lot, these ''TurcOs," as the Venezuelans call them, irrespective of whether they came from Turkish territory or not. They will not work under "boss," and 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 dc they take in the coin, but they also save it. and it is no uncommon thing for an humble peddler to come into a bank, plank down $20OOO 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, un- der no circumstances, "mix" with the native population.
 Live Their Lives Apart.
 These Arabs and MO6rs and Turks live a life entirely apart from the Venezuelan community. Whereas, if a Venezuelan has half a million dollars, he is known all over the country and pointed out as one of the leading men in the community, "Turc0" in Cara cas, the Venezuelan capital may have that amount, or nearly as much, and live so entirely to himself that scarce Iy anybody in the city can even tell you where he dWels. 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 to north ern Africa or Asia Minor they often go back as they came, in the steerage, crowded in with hundreds of other passengers, though the purser of the steamer may have locked up for safe keeping thousands of their dollars which they have earned by years of 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 by going to some Old-established firm in Venezuela, asking a credit of $5 to $1O, and taking out basket of trinkets and dry goods to sell from house to 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- chante" ('Buy, customer'O, in a strange, Oriental singsong, is we'll known all over Venezuela.
 Prosper and Grow Rich.
 Gradually, as they pr0sper-and they almost invariably dO-they get more credit from the big firms and eventu- ally open a little shop, mere 'hole- in-the-Wall," where there is scarcely room for a person to turn around. They put in a stock of dry goods, trinkets, novelties and the like, or per- haps the lighter kind of hardware. Then they get rich. Their money mul- tiplies in ways that strike the Vene- zuelans, who are inclined to take life easy, as miraculous.
 The quitting whistle means nothing to a 'Turco." He will start little rat hole of shop near the market place in Caracas, for instance, and open up at dawn In order to catch the sellers of vegetables and fruits, who come into the market from the villages