II I II II I I I
Trouble betwee~n the United States
and the little Central American state of
Venezuela is possible as the result of
a quarrel betwveu rival asphalt com-
panies, who have conflicting claims
to the great Bermudez asphalt lake lo-
cated on the shores of the Orinoco riv-
er. Both of the asphalt concerns are
United States corlmrationsj one of them
,being the National Asp..~/t company,
commonly known as the asphalt trust.
It is even charged that the trust has
had a hand In encouraging the rebel-
lion in Venezuela which is now in
progress. The leader of the rebellion
is" Celestino Peraza, who until recently
was the secretary of the present pres-
ident of the republic, General Castro.
General Castro himself came into
power Ss the result of a successful
rebellion which resulted in the over-
throw of the government headed by
President And rade. Since Castro took
control of the government in the latter
part of 1899 he has successfully sup-
pressed at least two rebellions, so that
he knows what he has to deal with.
Leader of the ~rouble.
Celestino ~eraze, 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 ri-
g a gements
have taken
place be-
tween the
rival forces,
Now it ap-
pears t h e
re,bole are
running low
on powder
a n d muni-
tions of
war in gen-
eral. 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 regu-
lar 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.
TJenezuela'z Chic3c Seaport.
La Guayra is the chief seaport of
Venezuela andthe gateway to Caracas,
the capital of the republic. At ~a
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 it is reached by one of the
most tortuous pieces of railroad build-
ing in the world. The Journey by rail
from the seaport to the capital covers
a distance of seventy miles. The cli-
mate of Caracas is mild and pleasant,
which explains why la~g~ cities of
tropical Amertca are usually situated
some distance from the coast. Caracas
is 3,000 feet above the sea level, and
the temperature averages 71 degrees
above zero all the year round.
r-oo~,r Lil(e Absurd ~Pro~pec~t.
Some idea of the absurdity of a. seri-
ous war between the United States and
A VII~W OF TH~ HARBOR OF LA GUAYRA.
Venezuela may 'be gathered from the
statement that the Central American
country, which has an area five times
WE t")')'O M~,KE A ~TORLD.
We two make home of any place we go;
Wa two find Joy In any kind of weather;
Dr If the earth is clothed in bloom or
SIIOW.
tf summer days invite, or bleak winds
blow,
"What matters it if we two are to-
gether?
We two, we two, we make our world,
our weather.
W'e two make banquets of the plainest
fare;
In every cup we find the thrill of
our pleasure.
We hide with wreaths the furrowed brow
of care
And win to smiles the set lips of de-
spair.
For us life always moves with lifting
measure;
We two, we two, we make our world,
our pleasure.
Wo two find youth renewed with every
dawn;
Each day holds something of an un-
known glory,
as large as that of the state of Michl- We waste no though~ on grief or plea~-
gas, has a total population of only ure gone;
2-n^ ^^~ _ ..... 1._. ,~__ .~.__ .~.~. ^~ tricked out ltke hope time leads us on
,~U OUU /~UI,LI~WJ,~I,P,, 1~ I.JJL4:tZJ. ta.,la~ vJ. ,
' ' n alia on.
Michigan of which nur~ber nearly o e- t And thrum n s ha V new sons
, s U on hi r .......
fourth are uncivilized Indians. The[ or story. -
regular army of Venezuela consists ofI We t~r~,' wo two. we find the paths of
3,600 men, with a militia which in time I " "
of civil war has put as many as 60,000 ~ We ,two make heaven here on this little
men into the field. So far as a navy is I w:arth:
....... r - ] ao not need to wait for realms eter-
concerneu, venezuela has only tn co. nal
small ,steamers and two sailing ves-
sels, 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 boun-
dary with Great Britain and secured
the appointment of an arbitration com-
mission, by the decision of which sev-
eral 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.
I~he ~one Of Confenflon.
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 Parta.
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
does, not lie in an unbroken surface, as
on the Trinidad lakes, but bubbles up,
as if from springs. The pitch, how-
ever, underlies most of the surface in-
cluded 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 vegeta-
tion and in Which the pitch is so soft
that it cannot be walked on. The whole
surface of the lake is so low that dur-
ing the spring floods it is entirely cov-
ered 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 impuri-
ties sink to the bottom of the kettle.
The pure asphaltum can then be
poured off.
m
Mr. and Mrs. T. B. Fitzgerald of
Danville, Va., have deeded their place
on the north bank of the Dan river,
worth $20,000,to the Danville Orphan-
age as a permanent home.
The late Chief Justice Falrcloth of
North Carolina bequeathed $20,000 to
the Baptist Fqmale University of Ra-
leigh.
Asphalt has been known from pro- ] while the crude asphalt wa~ be£n3
• historic times. Some forms of it were] hauled from the deposits where it w~
used as building material in ancient dug. Pieces 'of the asphalt dr(>p~ d
'Babylon, and others were used in the from the carts and were gradualS..
preparation of mummies. During the ].ground into the roadbed by the feet el
middle ages tt dropped almost from ]. the men and horses. It was not~ce~
eight. In 1712 a Swiss physician dis- that such roads soon presented a hard
covered large beds of it in the Alp¢ and reaistlag surface, and the idea of
and s~ceeded Ln reviving the use of using asphalt on other roads was .de-
it as building material, It is said that veloped. It was not largely used, how-
the value of a~phalt for paving put- ever, until 1832, and Within the last 25
~ w~s dlscovvered by accident years it has made Its greatest progres&
We know the use of tears, know sorrow's
worth.
And pain for us:is always love's rebirth.
Our paths lead closely by the paths
supernal;
We two, we two. we live in love eter-
nal.
The Mysterious Correspondent,
BY F. B. EMBREE.
(Copyright, 1900: Daily Story Pub. Co.)
Dulcinea Weber was romantic. Per-
haps Fate or her mother had intended
her to be so when she was christened.
At any rate it were as if the sturdy
wommon sense of her patronymic was
at war with the sentimental dreams
she may have inherited from the love-
lorn heroine, whose fate Mrs. Weber
had been obliged to leave hanging in
the balance while she attended to the
debut of her small daughter into the
world.
Dulcinea had a lover. Two in fact,
but only one of whose existence her
fond parents knew. And in their es-
timation this one was quite enough.
For once, true love promised to run
on well-oiled wheels if only Dulcinea
would consent.
'lhere were times when Dulcinea
was quite sure she loved John Dare,
and she would rehearse in private how
she would throw herself into his arms
after a passionate declaration on his
')art. in which he had declared him-
self ready to die for her, and sob out
her long-repressed heart.
After the scene Dulclnea would care-
fully arrange her tumbled hair, shake
her head at her
cheeks, which the
pillow, that was
ob.liged to stand
for John, always
unduly heated, aria
go down into the
kitchen to prepare
some dainty for
Papa Weber's con-
sumption. So com-
mon sense had the
last word.
One day there
Threw herself into appeared in the
his arms. paper an adver-
tisement which put
~n idea into Dulcinea's mind, upon
'~htcb she acted promptly. The next
day in the Personal column appeared
me following: "A young lady, whose
.ire stagnated in commonplace circum-
stances desires a correspondent of ex-
alted views. Object, soul-culture."
There was but one answer, or, to
put it in Dulcinea's words, "Out of all
the world, my soul-mate heard the
call. To others it was as if I had not
spoken."
Dulcinea held no more rehearsals
with her pillow. Her soul, dissolved
In ecstasy, became fluid at the point
of her pen. At last she was under-
stood.
"I must tell you," she wrote to Lu-
cian (both had concealed surname),
"when my uncon-
scious soul took its
fateful leap into
the unknown, I
had a lover to
whom, weary with
an inane existence,
I was about to
yiel~ I shudder
when I think of
my miraculous es-
cape! In that purs
frien& o,~D which I
know Tin1 hold for "My eoul-mate hear~
me, you will us- the call."
derstand. The youth of whom 1
speak is the choice of my parents,
who, dearly as I love them, I may con-
fide to you, have not the soul-aspira-
tions that make up your existence and
mine. l~Ie is, like them, plebeian in
~name and soul. You, I know, believe
'as I, in Fate--the p.ower that christ-
ened" us both with beautiful, soulful
names, and called him, John. Oh!
my dear soul-mate, I feel the inward
drawing of my sensitive soul, and lay
aside mY poor, feeble pen to commune
in sol rude with you. The soul whose
earthJ ~ name is
"Duleinea."
To waich came the reply:
• "MY Fated Soul-Mate:~At the hour
you laid aside your pen, my fettered
soul did break its bonds, and flew to
thee, sweet soul! Yet did my body
rebel eo that a great fever of lmpa-
tienc~ has possessed me ever since.
"Alas!" sweet as has been our soul-
co~munlon, I fear my spirit is not as
ethereal as thine, oh, my beloved~
Forgive me, sweet, I know our aou!s
have often pledged platonic friend-
ship, and that no word of" love, so
much more earthly than soul-commun-
ion,-shall pass between us; but did we
not forget that we ar$ doOmed to live
some three-score years and ten
where fuN, boundin~ human life has
conquered, or at least leads, the spirit?
"I)~lave~!t, I tremble while I write.
I [ II I ~__ I
Fo.~ {he first time since our twin souls
met and knew their afl2nity, I feel no
responsive thrill as I write. Send your
soul to mine this evening, or I will
perish in st~spense. And to convince
my still timid soul of bliss, consent
to see ~e in bodily preseuce, where
you will. Yours in body and soul,
"Lucian."
Dulcinea wept over a spiritual fall,
but Miss Weber secretly rejoiced. Still
Dulcinea prevailed
in surrounding tl~e
meeting with mys-
tery and darkness.
The hour was mid-
night, and Goe-
the's monument
the t~ysting-place!
Lucian had readi-
ly agreed, only
that
Hannah should
accompany her to
"John," she gasped• the spot, as a pro-
faction against tkose whosespiritual
perceptions were darkened:
Dulcinea was in a transport of
faith. "I am tempted," she wrote, "to
put out my eyes, in order to show you
my trust in the spiritual perception
that first led our souls together. It
was the lack of all with which our
soul-communions have made me sen-
sible, that led me to turn away from
the prosaic lover of whom I told you."
The fateful night had come. The
moon swam dizzily through clouds
that tried in vain to separate the corn-
musings of earth and sky. "Just as,"
mused Dulcinea, "worldly circum-
stance sought to keep Lucian's soul
from mine."
A step sounded near. "So often
have I heard it by spirit-sense, it has
acquired familiarity," she thought,
dreamily.
Then Miss Weber hastily told Han-
nah to retire to the other side of the
monument. Dulcinea faced her lover.
"John!" she gasped--and the old
despised tableau was enacted--with
variations.
Three months later the marriage li-
cense clerk published the name~ of
John Lucian Dare and Dulcinea Mary
Weber, but the middle names of both
contracting parties had been assumed
independently of the bapU, smal rite.
A CAT'S GRIEF.
B|a Tom Cat Dying of Broken Heart
for a I~abl)it.
For love of a rabbit, "Tom," a big
cat owned by R. H. Jones of 30 Archer
street, is dying of a broken heart, says
the Denver Republican. Mourning for
his cc.apanion and playmate who died
two weeks ago, the ,big cat is wasting
into a sha,dow and refuses to be com-
forted. The rabbit came into the yard
one day nearly a year ago and got ac-
quainted with the cat. The friendship
sprung into an intimacy so close that
the two animals became inseparable
companions. They slept in the same
bed and partook of their meals out of
the same bowl. There was never over
half a dozen yards separated them.
They played together continually, and
once when Mr. Jonqs brought home
another rabbit they chased it out of the
~ard and a kitten received similar
treatment. Neighbors of Mr. Jon~es
frequently called to watch the two
strange playmates, and often some one
fond o~ animals came from a distant
part of the city on the same errand.
Several times Mr. Jones tried the ex-.
perlment of separatiug the two com-
panions, but every time each raised
such a rumpus and moped to such an
extent that they were soon brought to-
ge~her. Their reuniting was the occa-
sion of romping about the yard and
various manifestations of friendship.
Two weeks ago the rabbit died. It was
buried out in the yard, and since then
the cat has given unmistakable signs
of bereavement. He has walked sor-
rowfully around the yard. and for an
hour at a time has laid down in the
house. Then he would get up and walk
all over the house and around the yard
as if looking for his old playmate. As
the days passed it was observed that
the cat freque]atly left hts food un-
touched. He has grown thin, and Mr.
Jones declares that the cat is dying of
a broken heart.
Argentine Wants Japanese Farmers.
A novel experiment in colonizing Is
about to be made in the Argentine Re-
public. It has been found that the
French, German and English immi-
grants for the most part have selected
the cities and large centres of popula,
tton for their residence. In these
places they have got control of many
industries and take a leading share
in the commerce of the country. The
Italians have been engaged heavily in
river navigation, while the stream of
Irish, which used to supply the de-
mands for agricultural labor, filled up
the ship yards and supplied the labor
of the docks, flows no more. Some
French, Swiss and German peasants
have founded agricultural colonies, and
in certain places the Russians and
Poles form the bulk of the rural pop-
ulation. But the Argentine govern-
ment has decided that none of these
nations supplies, in sufficient numbers,
a rural population for the development
of the country, and have decided to im-
port Japanese farmers. A great con-
cession has been given in the province
of Formosa for the first colon~ and
arrangements have been made to bring
over 20,000 Japanese farmers and set-
tle them there.--New York Press.
Low Verdict for AffeetloeL
If one may eazely Ju'age from a ver-
dict Just returned by a Jury in VaN
parolee, Ind., the citizens of that town
put an unprecedentedly low estimate
on the value oP a wife's affections. Dr.
Claude. H. Thompson of Athens, 0.,
~ed Mauries Lowensteine of Valpa,
raise for winning away the love and
regard of Mrs. ThompsOn. The doctor
sued for $15,000, the verdict was for
$10, and ovary woman in ValParaiso is
furtoma
I P II I
, m II I I I IIIIII I I II
I i
11)¢ WOrld ReVOlVeS...
Ill II I I
~qn Old ~lace of Wor~/>~,
The history of American Methodism
is the most marvelous fact in the re-
ligious history of the nineteenth cen-
tury. The first church of the century
was erected at Marietta, 0., in 1801,
built entirsly of Iogs and affording the
very poorest kind of accommodation,
but, nevertheless, faithfully attended
by the Ohio pioneers, who traveled
a-horse many miles to this crude little
cabin, wherein they" worshiped while
fellow members took turn about in
FIR~r M. ~.. CHURCH rN 0I~O,
guarding the entrance against attacYc.
Tha old cabin is yet standing, although
in a baxlly decaying condition. The
Methodists are considering the propo-
sition to erect a memorial church on
the site. The matter will be officially
brough~ before the next state confer-
ence.
2)i~hone~rj/ i~ ~preadin~:~
Is kleptomania a new type of univer-
sal pestilence? Sanitary science has
sterilized incursions of cholera. The
black death and related types of old-
time plague have been denied admit-
lance to the cleanly western world.
But while the health of the human
race is better than formerly all the
around, is morality, especially as
to the meum and tuum, is apparently
getting worse.
At a governor's installation at a
state capital last week the city was
infested with thugs and genteel thieves
who tore'women's costly coats from
their backs, snatched jewels from ears
everything else in sight and invaded
private homes as well as public par-
lors in successful search of ~booty. Lar-
ceny upon social occasions has become
so common at even private~ receptions
that, despite detectives in evening
dress and police in t~niform.~h~tesses
and guests alike dread a throng even
under the most beguiling circum-
stances. A wave of theft a~ppears to be
over the world. Thou shalt not st~fl
is a lost commandment. Yet the Jails
are fuII of thieves and the courts show
reawakened zeal in punishing offenses
against property.
.$'c~e #~# S#quoio~s.
T]~ere are now two measures before
Congress providinz for the preserva-
tion of the sequoias iu California. One
places a restrictive tax upon lumber
manufactured from .the big trees, and
the other is a pro~oslUon to Incorpo-
rate ia the aundry civil bill an appro-
priation for the ~ of the whole
Calaveras grove f~om R. B. Whlteside,
an easter~ speculator, into whoso
hands it has come, ~ as to include it
in the Yosemlte N~.ti~mal Park. In
the meantime,, according to the San
Francisco Chz~le,. Whiteslde has
gone to Washington- to ~emand an ex-
orbitant price far the grove, threaten-
ing in case lt~ la n~t paid to set up.
sawmlll~ a~ d~at~oy the trees. It is
ot opinion that the fairest thing fo:
Oongre~m to do is to proceed arbitrarily
against the property, as was done
in the case of tlm private forest claims
located, withJa the boundaries of the
Yosemite National Park, l~y declarivg
the sequoia gre~v.es a public reserva-
tion. This in any event would be
fairer and less likely to establish a
dangerous precedent than ta put a reo
strietive tax upon the lumber. If White-
side proposes to hold up congress by
demanding a~ exorbitant price upon
penalty of destroying the grove, con-
gress would be justified in taking the
course pointed out.
t
Alexander T. Brown of Syracuse,
who placed h~s private launch at the
disposal of the Syracuse university
crew last year, has promised' to pro-
and fingers, picked purses freely and sent a launch to the universi:tT navy.
[ Pr nce.r . Want. a tl .eband. [
Like his brother, the l~rlnce of I had one unmarried daughter. Like all
Wales, the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg three of her sisters, this Princess has
Victoria in her
name, after their
grandmother, the
queen of England.
The rest of her
name is Beatrice
Leopoidine, and
she is usua:Ily spo-
ken of as Princess
Beatrice of Saxe-
Coburg. Hitherto
Prindess Beatrice
has been lost in the
swarm of young
grandchildren ano
great grandchildren
of the queen, but
now she i~ to be
heard from, for
she will be 17 next
April, and her im-
perious mother,
daughter of many
czars, thinks it is
time to arrange for
the' young girl's
marriage. Mother
and daughter are
now going over to
England to see the
queen af that coun-
try and to afford
her' majesty the
lVee~ delight of
making anotl~e~
match. They will
remain in England
PRINCESS BEATI~ICE. - several weeks.
Firzt Girl ~Jrezz~n~er "" ~OY.'"
Miss Dottle Hammond of Denver, a
pretty young woman of 16, is one of
the few messenger "boys" in the coun-
try. She Is regularly employed to car-
ry messag~ by the Western Union
Telegraph company from its stock-
yards office in that city. She is so
prompt and speedy in the delivery and
collection of telegrama that there is
talk of replacing the usual messenger
boys in Denver with girls of equal en-
ergy and promptnesa While perform-
iD4g her regular dutles,. Miss .Hammond
has. learned to receive and~ send rues-
ages, and she is soon to be promoted t@
a regular position as operator. She has
served as a messenger for more than a
year, and declarm that she can see no
reason why ~Irls cannot do the work
as well, if not better, than the boys
usually eml~Ioyed. Far one thing, as
Miss Hammond points out, the ~lr~ts
do not-smoke eiprettes.
~)ep~rfm~t o_~ F~uc~eon."
There is a commi~toner of educa-
tion at the heart of one of the bureaus
of the interior department. It is his
duty to collect statistics and factS
showing the condition and progress of
education in the several states and
territories, and to diffuse among the
people information about school sys-
tems and ~hethods of teaching, so as
to promote the cause of education
throughout the country. The commis-
sioner is aided in his labors of diffu-
Men by a chief clerk, a compiler, and a
statixtician. Among them they collect
data and get out yearly reports which
may serve in a degree to promote the
cause of education. Senator Hans-
hrough has introduced a bill to expand
the bureau into a department an~ the
eo~mi~loner into a secretary.
/
To i~.eep ~ur$lar~ Out.
Here is a little arrangement for use
as a burglar alarm which is complete
in itself and needs no batteries or
wires to. ol~erate, it. It ~nslsts of a cir-
cular base plate~ upon which is mount-
ed a gong, an~ a spring-actuated es-
capement and clockwork mechanism of
any convenient form. From one edge
of the base p~eet two sharp prongs,
which rest on the floor, while on the
opposite side there is a sliding spindle,
also s~arpened to a point. To put the
I
BURGLAR ALARM DOOR LOCK.
alarm in position the pair of prongs
are driven into the floor a short dis-
tance by a blow of the device itself.
Then the tip of the spindle ~s placed
against the bottom of the door, lnclin-
lng the alarm at about the angle
shown. As the spindle is controlled by
a spring, a push on the door drives it
in a short distance and releases the bel~
mechanism, at the'san~ time effectual-
ly locking the ~Rl~r ~t41~:~t ftl~thel'
movement,
