A WONDERFUL PRESIDENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 207, 22 August 1908, Page 4

A WONDERFUL PRESIDENT.

Presidnet Castro, of Venezuela, who has once more come into conflict wilh the TJnited States Government', is one of the most remarkable personalities in contemporary 'history. He has been called the Napoleon of South America, and, indeed, he has much in his nature that reminds one of " the little corporal." His self-assurance is sublime, and he has the greatest contempt for all ihe powers in Europe. Venezuela is, to him, the only country worth considering in the world, and he has recently expressed the opinion that it will be unconquerable as long as he lives. During tlie Russo-Japanese war, he was discussing the merits of the opposing ,r----mies with a friend. The latter was enthusiastic in his praises of the soldiers of the Mikado. "Bah!" exclaimed Castro, "Think of the thousands of men they had and the time they were at it. Wlhy, I could have taken Port Arthur in three days with five hundred Venezuelans!"

The President's mode of life is xs remarkable as his self-assurance. Sometimes he will disappear from his capital for days together, and no one will have .the least idea of his whereabouts until he turns up again smiling, as if nothing had happened. His hospitality is unbounded, and he often invites casual passers-by to his house and treats them to aiiiproinplu balls and parties. Dimming is his favourite pastime, and it is related that an American official on :c called upon him with some important documents, and found him in the middle of the day surrounded by numeroK guests and dancing oiit'husiastyallv. " When will the President have finished this dance?" asked the official sarcastically of one of Castro's ministers. The latter threw up his hands in despair. " Don't -ask me," he replied, " the President has been at it every day fßr th-: hist five days."

President Castro lives in what is probably the most remarkable dwellingplace of any modern -ruler. It stasis within a park at Caracas, and is built almost entirely of steel. The outer walls are covered with a kind of soft stone; so, to look at, there is nothing peculiar about the place; but it is said to be the strongest house in the worU, and it will resist the heaviest gun fire. The idea of a steel "palace" occurred to the President after he had had experience of one or two earthquakes. One night he was awakened by an earth tremor, and in his fright he jumped out of a window and broke his leg. Aftir that, lie decided that bricks and mortar were not safe, hence the reason for his I metal abode.