VENEZUELA. 



VERMONT. 



757 



was traversed in four minntes and fifty sec- 

 onds; whereas the final race at Vincennes 

 over a level course of three thousand six hun- 

 dred metres twenty yards short of two miles 

 was accomplished in nine minutes and ten 

 seconds. But at these races prizes are not 

 given for speed alone ; they are also accorded 

 to those who occupy the longest time in travers- 

 ing a specified distance, a far more difficult 

 performance than accomplishing a mile in a few- 

 minutes, because, when going at a snail's pace, 

 it is almost impossible to preserve the proper 

 balance, and horse and rider are usually both 

 capsized. In a contest of this character at 

 Vincennes, over a course of some one hundred 

 and sixty yards in length, out of six experi- 

 enced amateurs who started, only one succeeded 

 in reaching the goal. 



There are match races for all distances from 

 one mile to one hundred. A couple of ama- 

 teurs, making a tour through a part of France, 

 challenged each other as to which could per- 

 form the greatest distance within four-and- 

 twenty hours. One went eighty-seven miles, 

 and then gave out, and the other one hundred 

 and twenty-five miles. Also a party of nine 

 left Rouen in the morning and arrived in Paris 

 in time for dinner the same evening, having 

 traversed the distance of eighty-five miles at a 

 rate of speed averaging between ten and eleven 

 miles an hour. 



In this country, owing to the lateness of the 

 season at which velocipedes were introduced, 

 there was no out-door racing during the year. 



VENEZUELA, a republic in South Ameri- 

 ca. President, at the beginning of the year, 

 Marshal Juan Crisostomo Falcon (since March 

 18, 1865) ; after the successful revolution of Au- 

 gust, 1868, General Jose" Tadeo Monagas, who 

 died November 18, 1868. Area, 368,235 square 

 miles ; .population, in 1858, about 1,565,000. 

 Insurrectionary movements against the admin- 

 istration of President Falcon were going on at 

 the beginning of the year 1868. General M. 

 A. Rojas, at the head of the revolutionary 

 troops, approached Caracas and threatened 

 an attack. He was induced to accept the 

 treaty of Antimano, May 10th, which gave 

 him the command-in-chief of the army, and 

 retained General Bruzual at the head of the 

 government until such time as Congress should 

 meet for an election of President. Bruzual 

 collected troops at Caracas, and committing 

 such acts as forfeited the treaty of Antimano, 

 the army abandoned M. A. Rojas, and recog- 

 nized General Rufo Rojas as their chief. 



General Monagas, late President of the re- 

 public, and one of the heroes of its independ- 

 ence, formed an army in the eastern States 

 about 2,500 strong, and issued a proclamation 

 declaring that he had no other personal aspira- 

 tion than that the last days of his life should be 

 spent in behalf of the liberty of his country and 

 its institutions, in upholding the rights of its 

 citizens, and the constitution such as it is, and 

 to free them from the power of despotic and 



arbitrary chiefs. Caracas was taken after a 

 fearful battle, June 26th, and a new ministry 

 created by General Monagas, one of their num- 

 ber, elected by themselves, acting as President 

 until the next meeting of Congress. The ad- 

 herents of Falcon concentrated at Puerto Ca- 

 bello, which surrendered to Monagas on the 

 15th of August. The only place of importance 

 which still held out against Monagas was Ma- 

 racaibo, which did not surrender until Octo- 

 ber. On the 4th of October the election of a 

 President took place, whieh resulted in the 

 election of General Jose" Tadeo Monagas. The 

 new President died on the 18th of Novem- 

 ber. A new provisional President would be 

 elected by Congress ; in the mean while, Gen- 

 eral Pulgar acted as President. 



A large grant of land has been made to Dr. 

 H. M. Price, and others, as representatives of 

 the chartered American, English, and Vene- 

 zuela Trading and Commercial Company, with 

 a view to secure the colonization of all vacant 

 lands in the State of Guayana, and the district of 

 Amazonas. The terms of the concession, which 

 are set forth in a volume issued by the com- 

 pany, are highly favorable the company is to 

 enjoy the exclusive right to all mineral and 

 vegetable products found on the land, and 

 various privileges in the shape of exemption 

 from import and export duties, by which salt, 

 iron, machinery, etc., can be taken in free, 

 and cotton and tobacco exported; the com- 

 pany will likewise have the right to establish 

 factories, and construct the necessary railroads, 

 telegraphs, and canals, while the immigrants 

 are to be secured perfect freedom of religion, 

 of press, and of speech, and to possess the right 

 of being represented in Congress, according to 

 the census, which is to be taken every five years. 



VERMONT. This State has well sustained 

 its character for enterprise and general good 

 order during the past year. The amount of 

 money spent in carrying on the government 

 was $682,993.95, while $709,548.96 were re- 

 ceived into the public Treasury. The State 

 set out at the beginning of the fiscal year, in 

 September, 1867, with a balance in the Treas- 

 ury of $44,813.48, and closed the year in Sep- 

 tember, 1868, with a balance of $71,368.48. 

 The balance still unadjusted on the war claim 

 of the State against the Federal Government 

 amounts to $207,222.23. The present funded 

 indebtedness of Vermont is $1,168,000, which 

 shows a reduction during the year of $230,000. 

 The aggregate indebtedness of all the towns 

 and cities in the State is $1,999,198, nearly 

 one-half of which exists in the two counties of 

 Bennington and Windsor. 



The State expends about $500,000 for the 

 support of her free public schools, which are 

 attended by fifty thousand children, while the 

 whole number of children in the State, of 

 school age, is 76,000. At the University of 

 Vermont, and State Agricultural College, not 

 more than 175 students have been in attend- 

 ance during the past year, and the number of 



