| OCR Text |
Show " rT -- rm.r--.'r- "r EXPERIEritE " MR. PICKARD'S ' , - - X Hi' "y ., " '. tvnrwfft ' yrrr f""v f mw ydccik ' L-- tz,.' ' 1 .. THE PROVOHERALD v I . '."' " . "" ' -- ' 7 "71 - - jT Bold i(AN .THETrail f .m .. .. 41.. , ..!.k ,iur ine 1J191 inns; fiviiwuu , t'rr'v -- I rr--r r-- rr T. ii rr, : y -- " 1 I I I I 1 . bit of VenezutUn history which na never eerore oen ioiq ana not to be found In any of the. standard historical works on t" it replete with" Venexuela, thrilling situation embodied In the capture of Caracas by'.AmJ. y iifton4t -- jueeme ersr Wn its the bandits were stealing along the secret tnnuntain nath Caracas, the J.ble bodied lnhabi--J- t tants of the city took positions of defense along the main thor. "Oghfare tp the c pt of Venezuela. The desperadoes were discovered by an Infirm old man who attempted to resist their Invasion witfi true patriotic In- Stmtt. It was fSCV 4n- nutriuiuC .. -er him.v-Th- e Caracas traitor who guided Preston over the secret path was harmed before Js - ' 4- t 4" k f Hy ft W1 the at Mr m city?a entired,iCneeJa Oracaslootlng and way.- - fi " - I I 1 MSS - wV 11' 'V ; 'fii v-- V . ' its-,- . SWI' JW'7 v--u took photographs of the smugglers-the- n inhabiting the mountain wilds. These photographs are reproduced .herewith. These same hold forth fn the mountains.; Smugglers, by prey. rmiggfertrt Jjnfl jupunthe.. Venezuelan government, caused the rupture between Holland and Venezuela, which "trouble is said to have been the cause f the flight of Castro and his subsequent expulsion from most pdrts'on this side of ttie wprld in the southern hemisphere. - m ly cladwomen 1 mum- m ?,v ,.x y 111- ;''- - - i - i n c '4i si ' u jhvi i wfp.,-i5'Wflnu- ' to traitors, the bagt" he had sold f his city:belng tied to his teet-."Cerjain of the people of La - Guayra had warned Caracas, of the landing of the English- men, and the entire fighting force of the city, led hy the Gonzalez . and . Alcaldes,-Garci- a Francisco Reball'edo, torched foe. , EwtH. Zout - ! '- il-r- - - . whoere.iergetlwtHrngthrfaninj''astt - 1a'-su- -- -- . - - o he- - hap-hazar- d ' md . g "Tes said. Agablto, couraglngtY. "that Is ljp ..f.M Ji' en- - the f W: . end of the climbing. An-nthpr ranw of hills nnta . otr the Uew of f rom. there, but the ; way- -is all down hill," cum So- - we robbed orange tree and scram- bled.Qfl wilh. renewed vigor. That white house, when we did reach itr was a Joy. r?lAlLUnAfl' building hTnow 111 " the" order pi -- the-- l w.UU(,u almost incredible, the Turk railroad fever and- is not only projecting, but. acliialliAanBUuiaiagaua-t- 8a e r 13 most important railroad lines in the old J t world. Its object, is to connect the political capital of Islam with the holy places "which Moslem is expected to isit at - least 1 every. once during his lifetime. As the Moslems; number-- f to" 280,000,000, the annual pilgtiuinge from all parts of the Mahoraraedan world in of jnormous proportions. That front India and the eaet is provided for by steamship lines, but it is now oner special lnducen;,.-ntto Us people in. Asia Minor. Syria, Palestine j T1 K"'t'1 Af to make- the sacred pilgrimages - - ZJ'i&JBvnteM i.nojle to Jleaa. r..rj JLlz:- .i - tatton1 ffUBT t u!isrft-r;fiiTT3i- . i ' tho-matte- r j was com so Spanthe easy, paratively iards stationed themselves on that highway, laying several ambushes. placed cleverly Meanwhile Preston and "his men had quietly walked Into-th- e city, without opposition. No. .that isn't quite true, for so Andres de Leaes- left behind on- been ma had ; " account of his advanced age. the but undismayed, Desperate, donned eallaTit o"Id cavalier his armor, mounted his horseM co.uched his lance and single. j fr afff1" Glsfsc. - yJU-UCaS-- - rQr . 'rT r ..'... . 1 n ' . .handed disputed the entrance of the English into the city. 'Don't hurt him,: ciied Pres- - ton, 'He's too brave to die." - " - - -- -- - Don Alonso chrgedth and, fell mortally Oalya .rambling conglomwounded. ; Zim.7"I eration of adob ronma the" "city looted "'Preston and swarming' with Indian men, women ''thoroughly and the Spaniards K returned to find him safely and children, it was a ha' fortined in. some' or "their pubven of rest for our wear' lic buildings.- - A week later ied bodies. ., i he-- marched -- out unmolested, Vre want some--co- ol ". recros3ed the mountains and . drink, quickly, said the doctor. set sail with all the treasure of Caracas. The name of Don"1 A "Beer, brandy or wine?" Alonso. de .Ledesma Is still h- -asked the swarthy, handsome young matron, who honored by the few remaining Y . seemed to be the head aaeient Spanish families In of the establishment. Venezuela, but there is no statue of him in Caracas." "Beer.". "I'm serryrfcuc-we-liavRested and refreshed, we no beer the trail and now came " JThen some brandy in our disappointment. great ' water." Agapito's memory had played "Not a drop of brandy left in the house. l?ut we can ' II t him falseT'and the mountain serve you with fine Muscatel." range that still rose hundreds So Muscatel It was perforce,land-surprisingly-goo" of feet in front xt us must be too. A full quart soon vanished, and the doctor . crossed before the descent benearly fell over a thousand-foo- t precipice In the front yard when the gan. We walled bitterly, but . Prlce Wfls named three reals, or 30 toiled on through a-- dense Jun-gl- e That confirmed the suspicious that had been of tall trees, thick shrub--ber- y rising in our iiunas. me place must be a nest of smugglers, and it and interlacing vines. took on an added air of romance We must needs photoJust as the sun reached the graph all, the. inhabitants,' from the lanky youth with the zenith we really came to the d wuaxie-iuaQin- g DabIe8-anto tne . naked Bnotgun top, some S,000 feet above the ;iZ the mournful donkeyrand then "sought" out a shady spot sea, and the downward, slide where tha doctor might relate the tale of Amory Preston's remarkable feat." brought other" sets of muscles Into play." Soon there .were hints "It was in June, 1595," he began. "The Englihwere doing unpleasant through the' forest.'' and suddenly, as we rounded an enormous rock, all the to tne spanisn wherever they mings them, on sea or ana. ana glorious valley of Caracas opened out before our dazzled eyes. ." . . .V . wu,u."uu r, Pen nor camera ca'flldousticeJoJhatmagniflcent sight Miles orjair uuu.ng uuuuc xne vanooean wun several vessels and some 500 bold buccaneers Approaching" Gtiayra, it occurreOohitn that" there must " garden land in varied shades of green, glistening .streams, a great city with be considerable plunder on Caracas If only-hhills, lay two could get to it. So he landed, white buildings roofed withered tiles and with; grove-toprrechaSed the Inhabitants of ta Guayra up 4nto "the mountains and moved alonz thousand teerbelow us. all bathed In soft sunlight rand .for a background: to Gualcamaento.. There he caught a Spaniard, Vtllalpando by hame1 who were.ihj8:aouthern mounUins with fle promtsedrtorrff ag rof gold, toleaJllie English over the mountains to Cara- - and brown slooes. - We gazed longTn silence, fancying with reason that from cas bylhe shortest trail.'- The difficult climb was made in th niht ovr thl sight of that erv noint Preston and hi buccaneers had caught their-firs- t route we are traveling, and in the early dawn the buccaneers saw their Caracas. The riant tree beneath which w6 stood might well be the one oa whfclsthe" traitor guide Was"hanged.;- prize lying below them in its -- But- five hundred - I' V, if OH - 4fl - e . I- 'Jt F . d, cents-American- vi la e 'tgeBfefallfceTdrilCT religious motive.'a'political end to be gained.-- was-begun. of - The--port- to t?f the-roadh- ns- far-ctmipl-et' Salih'the" Bajdad3a3he;PriTaiJ and .cabinet ministers, who meet in Constantinople and, so far as cam be learned, do nothing but object to every report made by the engineers and suggest tunnels when follow the caravan route, which the line could " . has been in use for a thousand years. . ." lla.. The ehgiheertiiiraimcuitier Me: serious,"" but by " no-me- " insurmountable, and are not to .be compared with Upse "of Jhe Tulon "Paciiic. The Caifa from tleraVwlth a mighty sweep down to the sea, while the chains of mountains In Moalnnust be traversed by j the aid of loops, tunnels nd trldges7TT)amascus the level is 2,000 feet above the sea, and varies frbia that to 3,000 feet at the highest jSoint south. Great difflcultles are presented by thafortlon of the line from Constan-tinopl- e to Damascps, for the clant Tanees--f rom the Can- cbhsus and Armenia extend through Asia Minor almost to .the Aegean and Mediterranean. So it Ts believed that at some joints en this part bt'ths lTnd the.'foaahed" wilt nuo'tfr V heifhtf800ft Seeral huhdrcds of mileit of this part are now actually underconstructlon, tunnels are bored, viaducts and bridges are "run between important towns. Jhere are now eempleted lines from Constantinople to' Angora, from Smyrna far into the i'Uayet of onieh," and these portions will be feeders of the main line., Work On the line is greatly expedited by the .labors of a division of the Turkish Jarmy; It being difficult to secure labor In the "country to be traversed, particularly in northern Arabia, whe'te the Bedouins are few and -- unendurably lazy. The; Turkish soldiers themselves are not partlcu-l- a rly energe ficT b ut, strange to Bay, this eery tee la much desired, notionly from the fact that the soldier-workmaare actualll raid, nfcith most of ' the Turkish aruiy Is n JHIX CEIUNO AND -- BE-- DIVA.- - A ans line-jdesce- . of pashas, beys 'tt'eTjdOT'ieTe as-we- ll road is under construction to Medina, while surveys have ' been made, from Medina to Mecca and the Red sea. ." The route is to pass east of Jerusalem and tha Dead-searp- ir thf tlglrlgfias of STia7Ioa and nofChern'Sratl t, sheep-killin- d, is fronxr Damascus IlFrom "Constant!- nople the lines underojLstrucUonJ!run directly" tfoutht. west to" Aleppo, with side branches to Smyrna and a projected line will lead, by way : : L' "protectors of the holy places." The Turkish government 'is always harassed by its creditors,,: The moment a piaster comes into the treasury, afl tie creditors make a gratf.for it. so the question' of financing'' the enterprise became one o prime Importance, for no 'money no road. In this dilemma the wily Turk hit upon a happy expedient. The. sultan ilssued an irade commanding that every Moslem family which fcaciinced a sheepTcr, the feast of Bairani should bring in the. skin to the nearest government official, end these fckir.s should be sold for the benefit of the rond. As every Turk dees the act at Eairam. it was figured out that after the officials had stolen all they could with- - not, but their term of, military service Is reduced one-thirto nay nothing of spiritual advantages promised by he sultan. - German and French engineers do the plan.-- . nlng, foreign workmen are engaged for the bridges, tunnels and. viaducts,.!. while the soldiersEare employed for - The sultan la the nominal Jhaa f iha Mniiom irnrM But as the holyi places. Mecca, Medina and'several oth- ersr are ifia land --distant from the center of theem-Tire'- s pollticarinilueiice, the, ruling officials In' those cities hare, for hundreds of years, been soma have thrown oft entirely the Turkish bond and actually 'jiiaintalned" their independence. Then, again, pilgrims ftom Syria, who attempt to travel br the cara-- ' van routes throni-- h Arahiy fptrapa and Rlnng thaRaA- wsndorlnir gea. have lone been sublcct to nillace-bv-th- e tribes of Bedouins. A railroad through this country with wouid brlngaU north.' fortified station it wm'mMA'nlldef yeaJ.. 'rather ' than short-Intervals.- d out detection there would 6tlll.be 70,000,000 francs. In addition, contributions would be juade by the faithful, and thatnally' thfrToaditsetfas construction- p gressed, ought to bring in a revenue, increasing year by year, and so, trusting to faith and sheep aklns the work to Santa Fe.N. Strand froni Constantinople! Mecca la approximately that from New Tork. to Prescott Ariz. The Turk, therefore, who has always been regarded aa slow going, must be conceded to-- have more industry aDdJrsiMeJl nrngnltuTe of the enterprise, it Is that old world distances are "not jw. r. ary to f.iA. :.s tirtritcod in the new world. The scale of the iai j 1i uKuauy tiiiK-l- .biiiul.ler, so We s6inetluiea'"get'.'the id a tLit the United States is th$ largest country on the becITrrJe" ft looks largest on the, map, .A better cot: i l ion of the Turkish inirtortaking will be' gained " a cen- - ' y t!. knowledge' that, ;talui:g Constantinople-'aster. I'sris will be on the edge cf a circle with a radius kilometers (about 2.-milesj, while. ..Mecca, wdJ it 2M(t i.CO V.'m. beyond.; the; edge "of. ihiit. circle. l In other' i" nxifec the distance fiara;;; f '" Tlnfttpr. ' C ...'.L-.ov- ! t Paris ia tboutthat li'om. Kew York T. y z&f'gsg J -- -- Morson By Capt. S W-J9V- ' Building Railroads ofSheepsMns Ellis D. . 'gold for which "royaOoadXwhich aea-bath- R warning waalaken.ior- - ranted.the btteeftneersould cross by thg tag In the brawling stream above Macuto. ."Oh, yes, that Is by way of La Guayra. ': There is too longer a direct path from here." but wff have heard of the trail of the buccaneers " "Direct to Caracas over the mountains?" said the little old keeper of the who has buried six wives and ch declares he is looking Torlhe seventh,- "Certainly there a route, but it isn't much used, now, and you are sure to lose your way." - ;; ""Why; of course," eried Don Antonio, our host of the Casino !'S3B&9W de Macuto. "It is easily done; but you had better take a guide mm fi nn iiiq utj will UU. TIoW much will you charge (uj;.' ncic the tenors, Agapito?" . . 7 .. "Five dollars promptly replied the young peon." A general burst of laughter reduced his price to 12.00, and the bargain was struck. At four o'clock next morning we had a cup,of coffee, pacfed our luggage, coaelBting of one pocketcomb,"and sailed forth in the wakeflf Agapito. "Pretty-littlMacuto. ber head itWhe lap of the mountain and her feet laved by the surf, lay deep in slumber, but- the lights of a score of fishing v oiHus iwintuea on ine .sea, uie;.lowa once was a favorite resort of thewell-to-dpeople of Caracasbut sow counts her. guests by-tdozen, for- sne iver has recovered from te, aestrucUon and terror caused by the earth-- ' quaite or im. Our guide's course at the start seemed so that the doctor inquired somewhat anxiously III he was lamillar with the- - route. "Yes, indeed." was the reply. "I spent seven months on this mountain not long ago. as me of the revolutionists led by Gen. Matos, so I know all Its trails." , , ' So we scrambled oil in the darkness unprotesting. Above js loomed the mighty bulk of El Picaeho, form ing, with hia hrothet peak to the east La " Sllla. and the connecting heights, the range of Gallpan over which we must and steep and twistlng--"us- ed pass, Thu path was rough only by the ' -- ' , goats," said I. t "I am one,", replied the"doctor, grimly, i Half an hour of clambering and we struck a better defined trail. "This is the path taken by, donkeys," explained' Agapito. "I am one of those, also," muttered the Wedicine Man. "And to think that Amory Preston, led a band of armored and armed men by this trail to Caracas in the night! It Jpnli" had breath enough J'd tell you about It, "tut wait until we reach a resting place." ". Higher and higher by devious;ways we went and gradually the stars faded out,, the bright hued birds began to whistle and sing all about us and the richness of the tropical foliage through which we were pushing" was revealed. Then a shaft of sunlight found its way through a cleft in thevmountain range and struck El Picaeho full on his rocky head. Facing about on a projecting corner of the path.' we had spread before ua'the vast panorania of Caribbean sea and Venezuelan shore line: Still the lights of the Ashing boats twinkled faintly nd hundreds of pelicans were busily gathering thelrx share of the spoil of thV waters. ' Skimming" over the waves, they would wheel suddenly, .poise tbemselveji, straighten ont-tdespend like a falling arrow, ihen "settle on the surface and calmly glup down the unfortunate fish, that seldom escaped the swift plunjge. We were still sheltered from the sun's rays, the breeze was cool and Agnpito moved at. a leisurely, gait --but our hearts- pumped hard nd our knees became wobbly. By ten o'clock ttre spurts ot climbing were shorter than the periods of rest and even an army of the trail was excuse enough for ten minutes of relaxation. At a hut perched on a Jut- tlnf rock we encountered an aged peon leading' goat, and there ensued an nntmnttxl dinriiastnii of th routW twpeti Atnnltn Nrnv. moot0 n the mistress of the'house. As esUr5tl"guIde swerved far to the west down through a beautiful ravine, seemingly undoing the climbing of an' hour, and again upward on what was supposed to be a better trail. Nanny and her owner followed, but the, little beast looked so; disgusted with our low progress that we let her pass ahead, and saw her no more- Passing through the tiny village of San Jose with its garden patches terraced on steep hillsides, we caught sight of a white house that seemed to be at the top of things, so far as our route was concerned.- ,- -- I "Preston had a treeas , n m s .'"of AiVMAMlwI - a to Caracas?" said the dusky, scant! ants-crossin- I I . ILAU over the mountains WT' fnurdr - - hejd While In Caracas, visiting Cipriano Castro, who was thenpres- i wi iwin.fcHi.iii, ivi f . riunniu yjuuu iui luno m mc c l unit who were familiar with this unrecorded inyaolon. Mr. Pickard was x . - WinWVi.ft aai& -- Ai I MadamebeganL JIThe. most tedidus phase Of the course' in voice culture is learning to breathe. 'I shall test you now, free of charge, andfc if you do well, we , may be able to shorten that portion." .. Girl's Peyes."" HoTe'leapeinforthFTbung .' "I took lessons in that out home,! she replied. "But madanie sniiTed. " . , The Young Girt was startled; she area ventured to hesitate. "Yes, yes. On your deck, k is my own melhod and--been Indorsed mostemlsentthroat and luhg e Now.""' Madame speclaliBts.'"' SO. Relax "Lie down,' has iijr-th- " yonr-tnuscles.""- ,J5Siif'ea..n bJi.JKhitflapetulrom .tha,:nIana-andJa- rfl It Into strips, one of which she handed to the Young -CTrir rhaw i hie " cho cniii "iinfil vnn htiva niaiia i into" just such a spitball as you used. to make In school. Then fill- - your lungs to their, greatest capacity,- - form -your Jtpsas it: to whistle and, with all ' your strength, , plow ceillngward." . , Visibly startled, but visibly still more Impressed, the Young Girl did as she was bidden and blew the spit-.- . " 7 ball about sit feet. into 'the air.--.- - - ; Madame nodded approtai. "Not at all bad," she conceded. "I think we can materially curtail this portion the course," The Young Girl was scrambling to her feet . "When when will Itjbe completed T" she asked "Just as soon as you can hit the ceiling." said madame. of. . |
