Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1903 — AMERICAN SHIP TURNED BACK. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AMERICAN SHIP TURNED BACK.

Steamer Caracas Not Allowed to Land Its at tHe Port of La Guayrar-Venezuelan Shipping Ca.ptvired by the Allies—Correspondent Tells of Conditions of Life in the South American Republic—People of Sam Juan, Porto Rico,' Welcome Admiral Dewey.

A merchant ship owned by citizens •f the United States was sent away from the port of La Quayra, Venezuela, and with half its cargo still aboard had to go to Willemstad, Curacoa, to land the goods. The vessel, the Caracas of the Red “D” line, first was given permission to enter and discharge its cargo, but later was ordered out to sea for the night, and then was notified that it would not be allowed to re-enter to complete the landing of cargo. Apparently there are serious differences of opinion among the allies, as the driving away of the United States vessel after once being admitted was the result of conflicting orders. First the British commander agreed to the entry of the Caracas and then the Italian commander forbade it admission. Later the captain was notified he would be allowed to disembark his cargo on condition that he would leave before nightfall, returning under the same terms the next day. These conditions were accepted, and with one-third of its cargo still aboard the Caracas put out Then came the notice that the vessel must not return. Lieut Commander Diehl at four o'clock In the afternoon endeavored to

obtain from the commanders of the foreign warships an extension of a few hours In the time given the Caracas to remain at Its dock in order that It might finish unloading. His request to this end was refused and he did not Insist. The commanders of the blockading warships explained that they were acting on the orders of the British admiral and that the orders given to permit the Caracas to discharge more than the mail had oeen given to satisfy Commander Diehl. The Caracas consequently left its berth at La Guayra at 6 o’clock, when it had landed not more than two-thirds of Its cargo. The rule made by the allies that steamers reaching La Guayra before Dec. 30 were to be allowed to enter port and discharge their cargoes during the day, but were not to be allowed to take cargo on board, created general dissatisfaction at that port ▲s there Is no export duty on goods ■hipped from Venezuela, the ruling does not aifect the government Only the ship workers are affected. The German warship which passed La Guayra towing two large schooners was the Panther. It captured the vessels near Maracaibo. The Bausan and the Tribune captured the following prizes: The schooner Castor, loaded with ■alt, from Araya. The schooner Maria Lqisa, with cargo of cocoa, from Caronero. The sloop Joseflta Carmin de Vega, loaded with a general cargo, from Caronero. ▲ blockade of the Venezuelan ports of Puerto Cabello and Maracaibo has boon declared officially. The German admiral Is at Willemstad, Curacao. The Germans continue to cut the mainmasts of Venezuelan vessels and

then set them free. The Venezuelan Insurgents are increasing in numbers and the revolt against Castro is gaining strength. WILL APPOINT A BOARD. Plan of President Roosevelt to Settle the Dispute. It Is understood that the President’s plan as arbitrator in the Venezuelan dispute is to appoint a board of arbitrators. He would not confine this important undertaking to any one man, nor does he feel able himself to spare the vast amount of time necessary for an examination in detail of each of the many claims that would be presented against Venezuela. Necessarily the President’s own board would include some members of a high order of legal talent, as well as others thoroughly versed in the practice of international law. It Is said that the crucial point to go before the arbitration board is the famous “Calvo doctrine.’’ This doctrine, which was laid down by the greatest of LatinAmerican international lawyers, and for many years has been regarded as beyond question by all the Latin-Amer-lean republics, denies the right of any nation to intervene diplomatically in

oehalf of one of Its subjects where the courts of the country are open to his application for justice. WELCOME TO ADMIRAL DEWEY. People of San Juan, Porto Rico, Cheer American Sailor. The reception to Admiral Dewey on his arrival at San Juan, Porto Rico, was a tremendous success. The parade which he led with the naval officers was an imposing spectacle. There ■was an Immense crowd of spectators. Later there was an official reception at the pttlace. The admiral and Gov. Hunt received the various officials and citizens generally, who greeted them enthusiastically. The admiral expressed himself as highly pleased with his reception. The governor gave a ball in honor of the admiraL IN THE CITY OF CARACAS. The Home Life and Surroundings of the Venezuelans. The exteriors of Venezuelan houses are almost exactly alike, so much so that it is a wonder a man in bis cups ever finds his home. Until you are inside the inner door you have no way of knowing whether you are to see splendor or squalor, whether there is to be one little dirty patio, with slovenly women and numerous naked children, or a beautiful, spacious potlo, with gardens and trees beyond, with furniture from Europe and inmates beautiful in face, figure and attiremenL In Caracas there 1b no fashionable quarter, the poor and the rich dwell side by side; but since the house wall or the garden wall separates the two, and since there are no front porches to sit upon, it matters little who your neighbors are. The general arrangement of Vena-

zuelan houses Is alike. The front door opens into an outer vestibule, its length being the width of the front door, or rooms. At its end a second door opens into the patio. Everything goes in and out this doorcallers, grocers, servants and often even the burros. Some of the finest have back gates and doors, but tsie ordinary house has no alleyways. An American cannot but be astonished, as' she sits in the drawing room visiting, to hear the feet of a burro clatter along the patio, down the few steps, posibly through the kitchen, into the back patio or into the corral, its quarters. She does not object though, for next to the sweet-tempered children and pretty women, she likes the burro best of anything in Venezuela. He is so grave, so graceful, so industrious and so self-respecting. The patio is usually oblong or square. The centre may be a real garden, with shrubs, trees, vines and flowers, or It may be cemented or tiled, having its plants in pots. In either of these cases there are usually fountains, gold fish, orchids, birds and sometimes monkeys. The roof projects over part of the patio, making a porch and here the family really lives.

The drawing room or parlor run's the full length of the house, exclusive of the vestibule. The windows have iron bars outside and wooden blinds inside. They need no glass windows and have none, except occasionally one of the panels of the blinds may be glass. The bedrooms and dining room are on each side of the patio, the kitchen and servants’ quarters back. This arrangement is sometimes varied by having the dinfng room back and a second patio between that and the kitchen and servants’ quarters. The floors are of cement, covered with hardwood, but more oftener with rugs or matting or oilcloth. Few rooms are carpeted all over. Most of the larger houses of Venezuela have water works and electric lights. Few have sewerage and plumbing. Caracas has plumbing and sewers from the houses, but the creeks serve for the general sewerage. Under ordinary circumstances this would not be well but the hills are at such angles that the fall is two ways and the sewerage is good. The sudden showers send the water down the mountainside, flushing the creeks so that Caracas is one of the most healthy cities in the world. Generally speaking, the houses in Venezuela have but one story and no cellars. The best houses are constructed with two brick walls, one foot and a half or a two-foot space filled with cement. Other houses have walls of cqment or cement stone. These walls are made by filling wooden molds with cement until it sufficiently hardens to hold its weight The molds are then removed and placed on top, refilled with cement, and so on to completion. Small houses, especially those in the country, are constructed by erecting two rows of poles, some six to

eighteen Inches apart, the spaas between being filled with stones or clay. Outside the poles, wet natural clay Is plastered on and smoothed with a board. The sun dries this to hardness, but In wet weather It often becomes spongy. The houses of the poor and many fences are made of large bricks of wet clay, dried In the sun, but not burned. Small cabins in the country are built by sticking poles into the ground and nailing to these clapboards roughly made from the outer wood of the royal palm tree. This class of houses is too cheap and poor to warrant an expensive roof, and they are generally thatched. In the wooded part of the country the leaves of the palm are tied in bunches and bound on the roof frame in layers. These bunches are about two feet thick and lap each other just as our shingles do. Where wood is not plentiful and palms are not to be had the roof is thatched with bunches of young wild cane. The palms and cane are tied on to the pole rafters by means of a long vine of the nature of our grape stems, called bajucca. This grows from fifty to one hundred feet in length, varying in thickness from rope to twine. It is so strong that

lumbermen use it to fasten their logs together in booms, boatmen to tie their boats and divers to tether their burros. It is very flexible and can be tied in any kind of knots. Many of the mannerisms of Venezuela women remind one of the southern women, while in other ways they are like women in the most conservative parts of Europe. No woman of respectability goes upon the streets alone in the evening in Caracas, and young unmarried women never go alone at any time and under any circumstances; further, they are seldom left in the houses alone. Married women can go about in the daytime with discretion, but they are very apt to go in pairs or groups. Young women never see young men alone, and they usually do their visiting and love-making through the iron bars of the windows. American tin enters into the construction of some small huts In Venezuela. Few Americans realize how the peon prizes our tin can. He utilizes it for purposes we would never think he could. Cans, great and small, are flattened out and used for siding and roofing, being held in place by cane or vines. If there was money to paint this tin, it would last a long time; as it is it soon rusts. The partition walls of the beet houses are built like the outside ones. The roof has first round sticks of lignum vitae for rafters and the interstices are filled in with cane held in place by wire. This is covered with cement and red tile, laid in cement, covers all. This tile roof is used on all houses alike (except, of course, the little huts referred to) so that when one stands on Calvario in Car racas or any hillside near any town, one sees masses of red tile, the only variance in color being due to age, the old ones being moss-grown.

TYPE OF VENEZUELAN TROOPS AND TWO NOTED AMERICANS WHO HAVE FIGURED IN THE WAR NEWS.