Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1901 — Page 6

POSSIBLE TROUBLE IN VENEZUELA

Trouble between the United States and the little Central American state of Venezuela is possible as the result of a quarrel between rival asphalt companies, who have Conflicting claims to the great Bermudez asphalt lake located on the shores of the Orinoco riv«r. Both of the asphalt concerns are United States corporations, one o£,them being the National Asphalt company, commonly known as the asphalt trust. It is even '‘charged that the trust has had a hand in encouraging the rebellion in Venezuela which is now in progress. The leader of the rebellion la Celestino Peraza,"qsrho until recently was the secretary ofrthe present president of the republic, General Castro. General Castro himself came into power as the result of a successful rebellion which resulted .In the overthrow of the government headed by President And rade. Since Castro took control of the government in the latter part of 1899 he has successfully suppressed at least two rebellions, so that he knows what he has to deal with.

Leader of the trouble. Ceiestino Peraze. the leader of the present rebellion, began his outbreak in the country along the Orinoco river in the last days of December, 1900. A force of 2,500 men was immediately sent against him by President Castro,

Glimpse of an Asphalt Lake, result they are said to •be about to seize the arms and other property belonging to the New York and Bermudez Asphalt •company at the Bermudez pitch lake, while the regular government, under President Castro, has seized a couple of steamers belonging to a steamboat company owned in the United States. In order to protect the property of citizens of this country from being confiscated in this way the United States warship Scorpion has been ordered to leave the harbor ,of La Guayra and run up the Orinoco river, and it is reported that the government at Washington stands ready to send the north Atlantic squadron with a force of marines down from Pensacola, Fla., to Venezuela if the, situation does not improve.

Venezuela's Chiefs Seaport. La Guayra is the chief seaport of Venezuela and the gateway to Caracas, the capital of the republic. At La Guayra the mountains overhang the •water, rising to a height of 8,000 feet. They are-visible at sea seventy miles away. Caracas, is distant only ten miles, but iMs reached by one of the most tortuous pieces of railroad 'building in the world. The journey by rail from the seaport to the capital covers a distance of seventy miles. The climate of Caracas is mild and pleasant, which explains why large cities of tropical America are usually situated Borne distance from the coast. Caracas Is 3,000 feet above the sea level, and the temperature averages 71 degrees above zero ajl the year round. L,iKe Absurd “Prospect. Some idea of the absurdity of a serioub war between the United States and

THE WHITE SQUADRON IN THE HARBOR OF LA GUAYRA

Asphalt in History.

Asphalt has been known from prehistoric times. Some forms of it were used as building material in ancient ■ Babylon, and others were used in the preparation of mummies. During the middle ages it' dropped almost from sight. In 1712 a Swiss physician discovered large beds of it in the Alps and succeeded in reviving the use of It as building material. It is said that the value of asphalt for paving purposes was discovvered by accident

Venezuela may be gathered from the statement that the Central American country, which has an area five times as large as that of the state of Michigan, has a total population of only 2,320,000, somewhat less than that of Michigan, of which number nearly onefourth are uncivilized Indians. The regular army of Venezuela consists of 3,600 men, with a militia which In time of civil war has put as many as 60,000 men into the field. So far as a navy Is concerned, Venezuela has only three small steamers and two sailing vessels, with three or four small river gunboats. Furthermore, it has been only four years since the United States Intervened on behalf of Venezuela in Its dispute over the question of boundary with Great Britain and secured the appointment of an arbitration commission, by the decision of which several hundred square miles of valuable territory,. Including some rich gold mines and the country to the south of the mouth of the Orinoco river, were saved to the smaller state.

Che "Bone of Contention. The asphalt lake, for the possession of which the rival American companies are fighting, lies between a range of mountains and the shore of one of the outlets of the northern delta of the Orinoco river, near the bay of Paria. The lake is a mile and a half in length by a mile in width and comprises more than 1,000 acres of swampy land. Most of the surface of the so-called lake Is covered with a rank growth of grasses and shrubs rising to a height of eight or ten feet and interspersed with tall palm trees. The pitch or asphaltum lie in an unbroken surface, as on the Trinidad lakes, but bubbles up, as if from springs. The pitch' however,- underlies most of the surface included in the lake and has a depth varying from two to ten feet. In the center of the lake is a patch of about seven acres which is free from vegetation and in which the pitch is so soft that it cannot be walked on. The whole surface of the lake is so low that during the spring floods it is entirely covered by water. The pitch is dug out of the lake by ’native labor and carted to a convenient place near a seaport, where it is refined. The raw asphalt Is put into huge kettles and slowly heated from above until the whole mass is brought to a liquid condition. The process of heating drives off the water and gas with which the raw

and several small e ng a g ements have taken place between the rival forces. Now it appears the rebels are running low on powder and munitio n s of war in general. As a

A VENEZUELAN MAN-OF-WAR. pitch is filled, while the heavy impurities sink to the bottom of the kettle; The pure asphaltum can then be poured off. Mr. and Mrs. T. B. Fitzgerald of Danville, Va., have deeded their place on the north bank of the Dan river, worth $20,000,t0 the Danville Orphanage as a permanent home. The late Chief Justice Faircloth of North Carolina bequeathed $20,000 to the Baptist Female University of Raleigh. .

while the crude asphalt was being hauled from the deposits where it was dug. Pieces of the asphalt dropped from the carts and were gradually ground into the Eroadbed by the feet of the men and horses. It was noticed that such roads soon presented a hard and resisting surface, and the idea of using Asphalt on other roads was developed. It was not largely used, however, until 1832, and within the last 25 years it has made its greatest progress.

PROF. ELISHA GRAY

Boston began the new century in the field of science by announcing the Invention of a system of sigaling under water which is as interesting In its way as Marconi’s wireless telegraphy and which has as wide a range of possibility. The system, which is the discovery of Arthur J. Mundy of Boston, is based on the use of water as a medium for conveying sounds for long distances, as Marconi uses ether. By Its use It has already been proven that a vessel can be warned of her approach to the coast when at least 12 miles off, in storm or calm, while the approach of one vessel to another can easily be detected at the same distance.

This much is beyond question. A number of prominent men have seen the system operated, among them Henry M. Whitney, the well-known capitalist; Wallace C. Sabine, professor of physics at Harvard university; Commander Arthur P. Nazro, U. S. N., inspector of the lighthouse district embracing the Massachusetts coast; A. P. Barton, master of the United States steamer Mayflower, and Capt. Edward Baker of the coastwise steamer H. F. Dimock, and all are enthusiastic In their praise of the new invention.

'Possibilities of Indention. The possibilities of the invention In war operations have already been pointed out to the inventors by a naval man. The approach of a submarine boat to a cruiser or battleship can be detected several miles off and her value Is thus largely discounted, for by means of the apparatus employed in the system the direction from which the destroyer comes is indicated, and the ship on the surface can easily run away or fight. By the assistance of this system one warship can hear the

INTERIOR VIEW OF THE SEA BELL SHOWING MACHINE USED IN SIGNALING UNDER WATER.

approach of another in thick weather or at night and communicate with each other. The problem of picking up the sound from the depths of the sea is another story. The inventors have devised a great variety of receivers—pneumatic, electrical and mechanical—and have carefully tested them. To Hear the Sounds. The simplest method on board ship id to go below in the hold as close to the keel as possible, without any apparatus whatever, and listen. At a mile or more the sound of the bell can be distinctly heard. Placing one end of a wooden rod against the skin of the ship, the other end being against the ear, the sound is heard at a great distance. A common tin ear trumpet,such as Is used by a deaf person, screwed on the end of a piece of gas pipe, the mouth of the trumpet being sealed by a thin diaphram and submerged six feet under water, enable’s the observer at the open upper end of the pipe to hear the submerged bell three miles. For greater distances the inventors have constructed an electrical receiver. The submerged end of this receiver may be lowered over the side of a ship or attached to it ofi either side of the bow, under the wateT line, like a pair of ears. The submerged portion is connected by an ordinary telephone receiver, which may be carried to any part of the ship—say, the pilot house the navigator can listen for the bell. Prof, felisha Gray has devised an improvement for the electrical receiver, by which a large gong will be rung in the pilot house or elsewhere in the ship whenever the submerged bell is rung. That is to say, the gong rings sympathetically, following the bell stroke by stroke, there being no con-

SCIENCE PROVIDES A DEFENSE AGAINST SUBMARING ATTACK

nection other than the sciUnd waves In the water. Thus a bell may be submerged at some dangerous point and a vessel coming within two or three miles of it will be automatically warned. Ships are often lost by getting out of their course, but this apparatus will he on the lookout and sound an alarm when necessary. Mr. Mundy has invented a very remarkable method for ascertaining the position of a ship by simply noting the interval of time which elapses between the sounds from two or more bells. This method is termed "Acoustic Triangulation.” It is proposed to use either or both methods for locating the ship’s position.

Messages May Be Sent. Intelligent messages may be sent back and forth, either between ships or between ships and the shore. Again, vessels may avoid collision by notifying each other of their approach and their course. Again, lightships can communicate with the shore by merely anchoring a submerged receiver near the lightship, which, being equipped with a submerged bell, can announce the arrival of incoming vessels. This is a problem which has bothered the government, owing to the difficulty of attaching a telegraph cable to a ship swinging around a mooring. The electrical receiver can be used for detecting the approach of a submarine torpedo boat, the noise of which can be plainly heard at a distance of several miles, the sound being intensified by the fact that the submerged boat must transmit all its vibrations to the water. Even small steam tugs on the surface can be heard at a distance of two miles, the click of their machinery being distinctly audible. As the receiver will tell the di-

rection whence the sounds proceed the warship thus attacked will not have much greater advantage than at present, except that the crew would get time to say their prayers after learning of the destroyer’s approach. It is proposed to establish a practical working station Outside of Boston harbor, so that vessels may learn by practical use the great value of this invention. When this demonstration has been made there can be no doubt that it will come into general use and be adopted by all the governments in the world having navigable waters. In the proposed experiments the bell will be lowered In the water on the South Boston side of the harbor and rung, the sound traveling across the harbor through the water, being picked up by the receiver and connected with a long distance telephone, and people in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Cincinnati, St. Louis and other places will be permitted to hear the bell.

Two Royal Marriages.

Labouchere’s London Truth notes as a new departure that neither Prince Henry, who is to marry Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, nor the Duke of Calabria, who is to marry the Princess of the Asturias, is to have a civil list allowance. Fortunately, the allowance is not needed in either case, as the royal brides are amply able to supply their future husbands with all the spending money they need. Queen Wilhelmina inherited the great fortune of the late Prince Henry of the Netherlands, which, with Dutch thrift, has been invested so that it yields a large income. With that, her own civil list, and the use of palaces and other crown estates and domains, she is in a position to endow her prince in a

ARTHUR J. MUNDY

sumptuous manner, and as the affair is one of true love rather than diplomacy on her part It is naturally to be expected that she will be generous in her allowance. The country will endow the heir apparent, but she will have to provide for the other children if she has any. The Princess of the Asturias Is also eligible, so far as money Is concerned. There Is a fund attached to her principality which brings her 200,000 pesetas a year, about $40,000, which she will enjoy until the king, now 14, marries and has an heir. Besides this she has estates and some perquisites. The queen grandmother is opposed to the match, likewise the Cortes, but Queen Christina has interposed in behalf of the princess, and as the latter is uncontrollably in love there will be a wedding in spite of the grandmother and the Cortes.

Lesson in Economies.

The freight rates on iron and steel shipped from Pittsburg to New York have been reduced from 18 cents to 13 cents per hundred pounds. The rates to Chicago have been reduced from 18 to 15 cents. This ia no voluntary decrease on the part of the roads. It has been extorted from them by Mr. Carnegie, who threatened them with the loss of business. This is a threat to which, when railroads see it can be carried out, they will generally yield, no matter if they are more thoroughly combined than the Eastern roads are now. The Carnegie company intends to build extensive works at Conneaut, O. It owns the railroad over which it transports to Pittsburg from that point more than 4,000,000 tons of iron ore a year. At present the cars which carry that ore run back empty to Conneaut

When blast furnaces and a tube and pipe plant are erected there the cars will have return loads of coal, coke, and limestone. Nor is this the only advantage. A great part of the steel tubes made in the United States are exported. The Carnegie company, with a plant on Lake Erie, will not have to. pay railroad freight to get its products to European markets. It will be able to send them direct by water six months in the year. It will enjoy lower freight rates than the National Tube company,the great combine with which it intends to compete. The products of the Carnegie company made at its Confleaut plant can be shipped to Chicago by water as well as to Europe. It is altogether for the interest of the company, therefore, if freight rates out of Pittsburg are excessive, to manufacture all it can on Lake Erie and to add nothing to or to lessen its output at Pittsburg. The Irish episcopate has furnished of late a group of names that have made their mark in the literary world —Alexander, Graves, Trench. Archbishop Alexander has just produced a new volume of verse and now a near relation of the late Archbishop Trench of Dublin —Herbert Trench—is to publish, under the title of “Deirdre Wed,” a first volume of poems, which hare already become the subject of highly favorable report Senator Chandler was late In reaching the capitol the other day and was informed by a sarcastic newspaper man that an executive session had Just closed. “What was done in the secret Bession?” asked the senator. "I really would like to tell you,” was the reply, “but you senators are so leaky that I'm afraid to.”

Horticultural Obaarrmtlona, _ Something should be done by reputable nurserymen to prevent the sale of orchard trees not true to name. One man mentions, in an exchange, that he ordered a large number of winter varieties of apple trees, and among them only ten summer varieties. When the trees came Into bearing he found that he had 225 trees of summer varieties. This is very discouraging to the planter of orchards, and it re-acts on the nurseries. If the farmers were sure always of getting the trees they buy, they would plant far more extensively than they do at the present time. • • * A western fruit grower tells a new plan for stopping the formation of wood in the fall. He deals with prune trees principally. He says: “The scheme was to twist the limbs so as to break the wood and not crack the bark or break the limb off —so as to check Its growth and not let it bleed. This, Mr. Porter says, would permit the limbs to grow In thickness and not in length. This was done In August I note the effect and believe it would be beneficial for all trees that grow so tall and spindling to twist them back in season so as to permit the wood to mature and the body to grow before the winter sets in. This treatment is not expensive and the effect can be noticed by anyone trying it. Last season I tried It on a few trees and the effect was marvelous. I can now go and cut just below the twist and give the top a perfect bell shape, being careful to twist them properly." • • • The people that advocate the planting of apple trees along the roadside are very philanthropic—by proxy. They are willing that farmers and other men interested in the growing of fruit should purchase trees at their own expense and set them out to grow fruit for the public. But we know in what manner such philanthropy is'repaid. As soon as the trees get large enough to blossom the limbs are broken off by whoever comes along, for the sake of having the bloom-laden branches in the home for a few brief hours. What is left of the tree ultimately bears fruit that is picked before ripe by some man who is afraid if he leaves 4 some other man will get it. The public, in such cases, ruthlessly plunders and destroys. The man that has set out the trees can haraly be expected to go to the further expense of putting a guard over them. Moreover, fruit trees set by the wayside are, in this country, almost invariably sat in sod, and are uncared for in the respect of cultivation. The farmer cannot afford to spend precious time cultivating trees that are to bear fruit for others, nor can he afford to spread around them manure that he needs on his fields. Altogether the idea of setting out fruit trees by the roadside is not one that appeals to the men that understand all the circumstances of the situation.

Range Horses tn Wyoming. J. B. Sparks of Greenriver, Wyo., in discussing Wyoming range horses, is quoted as saying: “I cannot say how the supply is cast of Wyoming, but in that state as well as Utah, Oregon, Idaho and Washington I find fewer animals than last year. You see, when buyers come out to the ranges, as they are doing now, they clean out about everything in sight from the ranchman, make a contract for the whole business, colts, mares and stallions, with the result that some of the smaller owners haven’t got enough horses left to run an automobile; in other words, have sold everything. They ore generally stocking up again from the big ranches, hut nevertheless the drain is heavy, and I think is in excess of the breeding. The range gras r is not extra at present, but horses and sheep are both in good condition. In Idaho I think they have had more rain, and a better season, on the whole, for live stock than they have had for years.” Wild Hones of Nevada. About three years ago the legislature of Nevada passed a law legalizing the indiscriminate slaughtering of the wild horses on the ranges. It is estimated since the passage of that measure upwards of 6,000 horses have been destroyed as burdensome cumbers of the grazing districts. Now that the demand for range horses is in excess of the supply, the owners are bewailing the loss of a quarter of a million dollars, which at current prices the horses would have brought if rounded up. The range horse industry is doomed, and the unexpected demand comes as a salvage to the ranchmen so. the closing out of the residue of the herds.

How Mach to Provide.

In preparing for church suppers and similar entertainments, the following estimate of the amount of provisions required, may be useful. A writer in the New York Tribune is our authority: For fifty guests, the chicken salad will require five medium sized chickens and twelve heads of celery; 100 sandwiches, 1% pounds of coffee and three pints of cream, two gallons of ice cream, two molds of jelly and five loaves of cake will be needed. If escalloped oysters are on the menu, one gallon of oysters, 2 pounds of crackers and 1 pound of butter will be wanted for them. With sandwiches five dozen biscuits and 2% pounds of butter will be sufficient; U pounds of boiled ham with 2 pounds of butter will be an ample allowance for 100 minced ham sandwiches. A preventive of frostbitten plants that will be a timely hint before many weeks have passed is secured by sinking one flower pot inside another. A plant thus guarded will stand a much lower temperature than one in a single pot The gloomiest mountain doesn’t cast a shadow on both sffies at once.

Mrs Frances M.Anderson

MISS FRANCES Al. ANDERSON, daughter of HON. JUDGE ANDERSON, of Virginia, is at present in Washington, D. C., as Corresponding Secretary of the Higher Educational League, of that city. Cured of la grippe by Peruna.

MISS FRANCES M. ANDERSON, Corresponding Secretary of the Higher Educational League, writes from the“Astoria,"Washington, D. C., the following: % “About two months ago I was taken very HI with la grippe and was obliged to go to bed. I took three bottles of Peruna with very beneficial results,. and was able to leave my bed in a week and regained my usual strength very soon. “I have nothing but praise for Peruna, and recommend It to those similarly afflicted whenever / can.” — Frances M. Anderson. - ■ La grippe is, strictly speaking, epidemic catarrh—that is to say, a variety of acute catarrh which is so contagious and runs a course more or le»3 definite, the same as scarlet fever, whooping cough, etc. During the acute stages of la grippe it is not a very } fatal disease, but the condition in which it leaves the system has caused the death of a countless number. Indeed nearly every person who has had la grippe within the last three years finds himself more or leas deranged by the pernicious effects of this disease. The majority of those who have escaped death find life scarcely worth living. If this vast multitude of people could only know with what certainty and promptness Peruna would relieve them Of all the bad effects which la grippe has brought upon them, what an untold amount of suffering would be averted! Thousands have already heard how quickly this remedy will cure in these cases and have been saved; but tens of thousands have not yet heard, and conThe business of the head is to form a good heart, and not merely to rule an evil one, as is generally imagined. —Sir A. Helps. BToek, in Holland, is famed as the "neatest” town in the world.

ABSOLUTE SECURITY. Genuine Carter’s Little Liver Pills. Mutt Bear Signature of 6m Pac-Simile Wrapper Below. | Terr naan nl mm mmmr La DT rb , cl roß Ruueu. LAItl uvo rei DIZZINESS. MPimX FM iIUMMESS. Vfb FBI TQRPiB LIVER. B Pi lls' muutipatis*. Im Jr Fta SALLDV SOL gii— JrHTiECMinmm -CURE SICK HEADACHE.

tinue to suffer cn, dropping Into the grave one by one. Peruna cures catarrh in all stage* and varieties, whether acute or chronic, and is therefore the most effective remedy ever devised for removing all the derangements which follows la grippe. Samuel M. York writes from Union GrQve, Ala., the following letter: Dear Sir—“ Last week I was taken with la grippe and catarrhal deafness. I wrote you for advice and followed your directions. After taking two bottles of Peruna I found myself well of la grippe, and my hearing was fully restored. My health is better than It has been in five yet-rs. “My wife improved In health very much after taking Peruna.” —Samuel M. York. Mi9s Caroline J. Kahl, Otlsoo, In 4„ writes as follows: “Three years I had la grippe and pulmonary trouble. / was ve>y sick. / bad hemorrhages of the lungs nearly every day for a year and three bottles of your Peruna cured me. The doctor said / bad consumption. /am now la better health than I have been for many yean. “I highly recommend Peruna to all my neighbors and friends. Peruna ia my favorite medicine. I shall alwayn have Peruna in the house.” —Miss Caroline J. KahL If you do not derive prompt and satisfactory results from the use of Poruna, write at once to Dr. Hartman, giving a full statement of your eaaa and he will be pleased to give you big valuable advice gratis. Address Dr. Hartman. President oi The Hartman Sanitarium, Columbus, O.

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