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an Italian or a Turk: he is now a citizen of the United States, and as such he is entitled to the United States protection." My claim was then reduced by the Mixt Commission to $33,000. And it lies with its respective documents at the Claims Department in Washington since 1868.
I left Venezuela in December of that year for New York. In 1870 I presented a project to the Mayor of that city, Mr. Hall, for the purpose of organizing the Metropolitan bands with forty musicians for the Police Department and forty for the Fire Department, thus forming a body of eighty musicians for grand occasions. The project was approved with a great enthusiasm, and the Mayor thanked me for it in the warmest terms. The next day the "New York-Herald" published a lengthy article on the subject, congratulating the Mayor for having [appraised?] a scheme which was reflecting a great credit on the City for its artistic ornaments. The Mayor and the most prominent citizens made an appeal to the State Legislature for its approval, as it was necessary. When the project was about to be considered at Albany, the celebrated [Tweed?] robbery came to light,