The following table shows the current prices of the cement pipe:

The quantities manufactured depend upon the demands of new road and sewer work. On an average, 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) of pipe is manufactured annually.

PLUMBING FIXTURES.

United States manufacturers furnish most of the sanitary fixtures and piping imported into Venezuela. This condition also obtained before the present European war. Fixtures from most of the leading manufacturers in the United States have been used, and the trade and the owners express satisfaction with their completeness and good appearance.

It is estimated by those who sell sanitary fixtures in Caracas that Venezuela imports from $10,000 to $15,000 worth of plumbing fixtures, piping, and accessories per annum. Each year, with the renovation of old houses and the construction of new ones, more of the modern appliances are being installed. The local dealers, including some of the oldest and best-established hardware concerns, may be counted on to develop the sale of this class of material; it is important, however, to keep in touch with all of them.

PAVING MATERIALS.

Four kinds of pavements are used in Caracas: Concrete; compressed asphalt blocks; blue limestone; and the old pavement formed of small river stones consisting generally of gneiss, quartz, and chalk rock without angles. The details of these pavements follow:

(1) Concrete pavement.—This is the kind that is now used in Caracas and with which the greater part of the city is already provided. It consists of two layers of concrete, the lower one 10 to 12 centimeters (3.94 to 4.72 inches) thick and the upper one 7 centimeters (2.76 inches) thick.

The concrete of the lower layer consists of cement and ordinary gravel in the proportion of 1 to 10; that of the upper layer, or wearing surface, consists of cement, sand, and crushed stone in the proportion of 1:21:31.

24

N

One square meter (1.196 square yards) of pavement consumes the following materials: Fractions of a barrel of cement, each barrel weighing 180 kilos (396.83 pounds)-Lower layer, 0.096; upper layer, 0.14; total, 0.236. Gravel-Lower layer, 0.12 cubic meter (0.092 cubic yard). Sand-Upper layer, 0.044 cubic meter (0.034 cubic yard). Crushed stone-Upper layer, 0.061 cubic meter (0.047 cubic yard).

One barrel of cement, of 180 kilos, is accordingly sufficient for constructing four square meters (4.78 square yards) of the concrete pavement.

The convexity of the street surface is one-fiftieth of its width, which may be increased to one-fortieth in streets with small inclines. The cost of the pavement is from 9 to 10 bolivares ($1.74 to $1.93) per square meter, or $1.45 to $1.61 per square yard.

(2) Pavement of compressed asphalt blocks. This pavement was laid in 1891 in the principal streets of Caracas and has been almost totally replaced by concrete pavement. Only very few areas of it remain. This pavement gave good results, but was somewhat expensive. The following is the price per square meter (1.196 square yards):

U.S.

Bolivares. currency.

Cost of 33 blocks in New York..

Ocean freight to La Guaira (by sailing vessels).

Railroad freight, La Guaira to Caracas (50 per cent rebate).
Cartage in Caracas to final destination.

Laying, sand, etc.

Total cost of 1 square meter.

The above cost per square meter is equivalent to $5.62 per square yard.

(3) Pavement of blue limestone. This pavement is used in streets with heavy grades. The stones are worked by hand, and generally come from the quarries located along the line of the Central Railroad of Venezuela. The cost of this pavement per square meter is as follows: Stones (25 pieces), 16 bolivares ($3.09); laying, etc., 5.50 bolivares ($1.06); total cost, 21.50 bolivares ($4.15) per square meter, or $3.47 per square yard.

(4) Pavement of small stones.-The cost per square meter of this pavement is from 2 to 3 bolivares ($0.38 to $0.58), or $0.32 to $0.48 per square yard. This pavement forms an unequal surface, suffers greatly by the action of running water, and needs constant repair. Concrete pavement has gradually been substituted for this type.

EXPLOSIVES.

The importation and storage of explosives is under the control of the Government. Private concerns are permitted to import the supplies they need and store them with the Government for use later, from time to time, as required for the execution of contract work. The table on the next page shows the amount of dynamite, powder, caps, and fuse imported into Venezuela from 1912 to 1915.

The explosives purchased by the Department of Public Works during 1915 were as follows: Dynamite-Imported from United States, 6,000 pounds; bought from the Canadian-Venezuelan Ore Co., 8,060 pounds; total, 14,060 pounds. Caps-Imported from United States, 6,000 caps; bought from the Canadian-Venezuelan Ore Co., 6,600 caps; total, 12,600 caps. Powder-Imported from United States, 600 kegs (15,000 pounds). Fuse-Imported from United States, 40,000 feet.

The quantity of nitroglycerine contained in the dynamite has varied from 20 to 50 per cent.

The explosive gelatine dynamite in 1915 cost the Government $0.34 per pound; gelatine grade, $0.27; 20 per cent stump, $0.23; 25 per cent common, $0.251; black powder, $2.49 per keg of 25 pounds.

CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY, INSTRUMENTS, AND TOOLS.

, CONTRACTORS MACHINERY.

Apart from the road work being done by the Government, in which a limited amount of modern machinery is employed, contractors' machinery has not been used to any marked extent in the execution of building contract work. A few of the better architects and engineers have begun to use concrete mixers, and .the use of these machines is increasing. Some of the other machinery and equipment that should find a market in Venezuela are: Windmills, portable boilers, rock crushers, carts, wagons, industrial railways, woodworking machinery, and all those appliances that find application in mines, water-power developments, or the erection of industrial plants.

The machines employed by the Government in the construction and maintenance of the roads are as follows:

Road rollers, weighing 10 tons, from Aveling & Porter, Rochester, England; cost of each machine in Venezuela, £671 ($3,265).

Stone crushers, imported from the United States.

Split log drags, also from the United States, for maintenance of roads having earth surface.

For providing drinking water and for raising underground wells, the Public Works Department has recently purchased the following machines:

One plant of centrifugal steam pumps, from Ruston, Proctor & Co. (Ltd.), Lincoln, England; destination, aqueduct of Carora; cost at Puerto Cabello, £1,033 ($5,027). Four steam drills, "Star" make, for drilling tubular wells.

For public works in general:

Diaphragm pumps, imported from the United States.

Hot-air pumps, system Recco, imported from the United States.

Motor trucks and automobiles, for public-works employees.

Galvanometers and rheostats, "Dupont," for firing drills simultaneously.

Compression stone drills, mounted on wheels, and other machinery of minor importance, for the various service branches of the department.

INSTRUMENTS AND SMALL TOOLS FOR ARTISANS AND LABORERS.

The following table shows the quantity and value of the instruments and small tools for artisans and laborers imported from 1912 to 1915, inclusive:

ENGINEERING AND SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS.

There are no concerns in Venezuela that undertake to carry a line of instruments for engineers. Formerly one firm in Caracas carried a few standard instruments but the demand was so small, it is claimed, that the stock was discontinued. At present the engineers and the Department of Public Works send directly to the United States and Europe or order through special firms in Caracas such instruments as they may require.

Interested firms in the United States desiring to negotiate with reliable engineers in regard to placing an agency for engineering instruments may do well to write to any of the three Caracas engineers who are mentioned in the list referred to on page 56.

IV. COMMERCIAL PRACTICES AND REQUIREMENTS.

METHODS OF ENTERING THE MARKET.

Much of the merchandise sold in Venezuela reaches the local retail merchants in the smaller cities and outlying sections of the country through the old-established concerns in the larger cities, who have stores and carry stocks for reshipment; also through manufacturers' agents and some of the New York commission houses.

The established merchants or jobbing houses usually make their purchases in the United States through the commission houses, who

pay cash to the manufacturer, attend to all details of shipping, and collect from the Venezuelan merchant from 2 to 3 per cent for the service, in addition to interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum in open account for such extension of credit as is granted. The Venezuelan merchant in turn grants his customers credit for from 6 to 9 months, usually, in accordance with the returns from crops in the particular section where the goods are sold. It often takes as long as three months for the goods to reach the retail consumer by pack train, hence the further necessity of granting credit to the latter..

The manufacturers' agents resident in the principal cities have salesmen and travelers who sell to the small merchants in their own cities and in the smaller places in Venezuela. The extension of credit to their customers is investigated and assumed by New York commission houses, on the same terms as are indicted above. The manufacturer generally receives payment in cash from the New York commission house, and the agent receives his compensation from the manufacturer, for whom he usually acts as sole representative in a certain territory. Apart from rendering such service to the jobbing concerns and the manufacturers' agents, New York commission houses frequently do a direct merchandising business, making sales direct to the retailer, granting him credit and the facilities of their New York offices for the proper dispatch of the goods to destination. For this service charges are made similar to those for serving the merchant and the manufacturer's agent.

The advantage to the manufacturer is twofold. He is relieved of the necessity of extending credit and of executing the shipping papers, which must be made out with the utmost precision in order to avoid delay and costly complications in clearing the shipments at the ports of entry in Venezuela.

IMPORTANCE OF THE SOCIAL AND PERSONAL ELEMENT.

Sales representatives visiting Venezuela should have a practical knowledge of the Spanish language; this is indispensable in dealing with local merchants. The customs and manners that prevail in Venezuela should be carefully studied. In normal times the merchants have been visited by European travelers, who have sometimes remained in the country considerable periods, becoming acquainted purely from a social standpoint before taking up the question of business. In one case a European house sent a man to the capital who remained there several weeks, becoming acquainted socially (through the clubs) with the merchants, who at the beginning had not the least knowledge of the ultimate purpose of the acquaintance. This man, it is reported, sold several hundred thousand dollars' worth of merchandise before leaving Venezuela.

A little time spent in becoming acquainted is a good investment. In Venezuela, as in other Latin-American countries, the personal element is an important factor in business relations.

LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES.

Manufacturers have in some instances appointed local representatives who are thoroughly acquainted with the merchants of the country and whose qualifications include a knowledge of the lines