Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1901 — POSSIBLE TROUBLE IN VENEZUELA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

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,

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

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

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

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. .

THE WHITE SQUADRON IN THE HARBOR OF LA GUAYRA