Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 235, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1919 — "TURCOS" of VENEZUELA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

"TURCOS" of VENEZUELA

FEW PEOPLE associate the idea of Arabs, Moors or Turks with the picturesque cities of the Spanish inain^-yet—there—is a flourishing colony of these orientals in Venezuela, hailing front northern Africa and Asia Minor. They raaintain among their foreign surroundtagsaTi the eustoms“of'ttieirT> refit reh in 1 the Old'World except that of plural marriage, on which lusUtuliou’ tlieVenezuelan government has put its foot. “It 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 Literary Digest, “and suddenly see alongside Spanish names, of merchants strange Oriental inscriptions, such as/ Abu Amad, Ben Sid, Chalala, Beuatar. One might easily imagine one’s self in the bazaars of Tangier or Damascus.” They are an interesting lot, these “Turcos,” as the call them, irrespective of whether they came from Turkish territory or not. They will not work‘under a “boss,” and so all of them are in business for themselves, mostly as peddlers or sm all sbopkeepers; and a 1 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 a bank, plank down $20,000 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, under no circumstances, “mix” with the native population. Live Their Lives Apart. These Arabs and Moors 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, a “Turco" in Carathat amount, or nearly as much, and ly anybody in the city can even tell you where he dwells. There are “Turcos” with big accounts in the leading banks of Caracas who are still living in the wretched hovVls 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 northern 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 safekeeping thousands of their dollars which they have earned by years of hard work in Venezuela; The “Turcos# never accept a job. They want so 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 $lO, and taking out a basket of trinkets and dry goods to sell from house to house in the capital or some of the leaser cities and- towns. They start out shortly after dawn and work until dark. Their cry of “Compre, merchante” (“Buy. customer”), in a strange, Oriental singsong, is well known all over Venezuela. Prosper and Grow Rich. Gradually, rfs they prosper—and they almost invariably do —they*'get more credit from the big firms and eventually open a little shop, a mere “hole-in-the-wall,” wviere there is scarcely room for a person to turp around. They put in a stock of dry goods, trinkets, novelties and the like, or perhaps the lighter kind*?* of hardware. Then they get rich.--Their money multiplies in ways that strike the Venezuelans, who are inclined to take life easy, as miraculous. The quitting whistle means nothing to a “Turco.” He will start a little rathole of a 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

round about, and the sellers of fish who cross the mountains from the seacoast in the small honrs and reachCaracas at sunrise. —He-will—remain open dong after the--shops of the Venezuelans are closed and their proprietors thinking of theaters and dinner parlies; As a general rule, when a “Turco” has act■ umul at ed a sufli cie n t an i < >nn t of money, he will close up sfiop, pack up his belongings and return to his native land, where the means acquired in the western world enable him to live in “grand style,” according to the standards prevailing in jthe home town. Once In a while, however, one of the little shopkeepers will decide to remain in South America and “branch out.” As a result some of the most important shops in Venezuela are owned by “Turcos.” Further: The “Turcos.” who run these big shops natura Hy need employees to he! p them, but the employees are never “Turcos,” for, as I said, these people insist on being their own bosses. So the. strange anomaly is presented of these keen competitors of the Venezuelan merchants being served by Venezuelarr employees. Customerscnterrng several of the principal dry .goods shops of Caracas will find behind the counter a young Venezuelan clerk, who will obligingly hand down goods from the shelves, while, tucked away in a dark cubby-hole, barely ' visible from the front of the shop. Is a swarthy “Turco” proprietor bent over his ledger, trying to figure out how soon he can return to Mount Lebanon and cut a swath among home-folk. Observe Mohammedan Forms. “Turcos” are born traders and shun other forms of business. Their idea of a line of endeavor worth-while is one where they have to take no chances; hence they never speculate, not even so much as to extend credit .to their customers, practically all their transactions their oriental ways, it seems. hurry to the quarters where they , live —in Caracas they are packed together in one of the worst sections of the city—and take up a mode of living which is not a bit different from that of their kin along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. At sunset the Mohammedans among them prostrate themselves toward Mecca and recite the prayers enjoined upon them by the prophet. X)ld Moors, oriental to the finger tips, in spite of their occidental garb, sit at the doors of Span-ish-American hovels and chatter in Arabic, quite as* if they Nvere in Fez or Algiers. Nowand then a feud, started at home before they emigrated, bursts out in the Arabic purlieus of some Venezuelan city, and then newspaper readers running over the police news see a wonderful collection of names, Abu this*hnd Mohammed that, all run in for disturbing., the peace. Once one of these feuds took on the proportions of a regular Tong war of New York’s Chinatown, and resulted in half a dozen murders before the passions aroused in northern Africa could be calmed down in Venezuela. There have been some amusing incidents connected with the rise of the “Turcos” in Venezuela. For one thing, they throw dignity to the winds and, there, too, they get under the skins o? the Venezuelans, who, like everybody of the Spanish race, are nothing if not dignified.—While the native merchant, however humble, will stay inside his shop and wait upon his customers with grave courtesy, the “Turco,” as like Jis , not," will stand at the door and urge passers-by with an engaging smile to enter and look over his wares.

“Turco" Shop in Caracas.