Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, April 08, 1900, Page 15, Image 30

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    April S, HK)0.
Carpenter's Letter
(Continued from Fourteenth l'ngo.)
thatched huts upon piles, nnd in the fields
hero and thoro women wero working.
mat, said air. Van Demon. "Is a aainnlo
oTtho greater part or this Island. It In made
up or rice ana cocoanuts, with sugar plan
tations scattered here and there through It.
The soli Is exceedingly rich, and It produces
enormously."
Ciir-o anil Km I m.
"How about fruits, lieutenant?" ea!d I.
"I uollevo almost any kind of troplcnl fruit
will grow, but none nro cultivated. Wo havo
bananas which grow wild, nnd a fruit
which tho people cnll tho narnnga, hut
which Is not an orange. It is of tho shape
and eclor of tho orange, but Is about twice
as Inrgo as tho grape fruit or shaddock
which wo havo In our homo ninrkots. Wo
havo also bread fruit, but no oranges co far
ns I know. There nro coffea plantations in
Antique, but they do not raise enough to
niako cofTeo figure largely ns one of the ex
ports from tho island. Heforo tho war about
$1,D00,000 wortli of stuff was exported from
Hollo annually. Tho province of Caplz pro
duced half this amount, nnd Antique still
less. Thero Is considerable tibacco raised
and somo Indigo, na well as cacao, or chojo
late, and hemp. I believe the land to bo
exceedingly rich and doubt not It could bo
nado to yield many times ns much as It
does."
"How about tho mountains?"
"Wo passed through them cn our marsh
across the Island. They nro generally
wooded nnd nro supposed to bo unlnhabltcl
on account of tho malaria, except by naktd
nomadic savages. Tho mountains are gen
erally nbotit 2,000 or 3,000 feet high, al
though In places they rlso from -1,000 to fi.OOO
foot. Mount Uacloy Is said to be r,67.- fet
In altltudo and tho mountain Nnngtud G.720
feet, cr higher than Mount Washington."
"Do you hear of any gold being discov
ered In tho mountains?" I asked.
"Yes, I hear of It, but I really have no
posltlvo knowledge about It," was tho reply.
"Thero Is black Band In every stream you
cross and tho Spaniards claimed that thoro
was gold In tho sands of tho Cababaya In
tho provlnco of Caplz. It Is said there are
quicksilver deposits In tho samo provlnco
nnd that copper exists in Antique. Theas
matters will havo to bo settled by the pros
pector and by tho government geologists.
Just now wo havo our hands full in trying
to keep tho people quiet. I can only say
that tho land looks remarkably rich and
that It can bo cultivated high up in tho
mountnlns. The climiato Is, as far as I havo
seen, not unhealthful, but tho people are
ml-clvlllzed nnd hard to control."
DiHtrlet if tlx- Vt.iayiniN.
This military district Is that of tho
Vlsayun Islands. It embraces tho larger
Islanda of tho mlddlo of tho archipelago
lying between Luzon on tho north and th,e
Mohammedan Islands of Mindanao and Sulu
on tho south. It embraces somo of tho
richest and most thickly populated paits of
OMAHA ILLTSTItATKl) 1U3K.
15
and It was due to his vigilance that tho In
surgents wero prevented from uprising and
burning the I'hlllppluo capital. For months
nfter tho occupation ho slept In his clothes.
Thero were rumors of uprisings nlmost ev
ery day, but to most of them General Hughes
paid no attention. He merely kept his eyes
open and said nothing. At last one day ho
doubled his guards nnd ordered that the
troops bo kept in readiness for trouble. He
had noticed that tho Filipinos were taking
their women and children out of Manila.
They wero leaving at tho rato of hundred)
a day and their departure was to be followed
by nn uprising and tho nttemptod massacre
of tho foreigners. Tho Increnso of force,
howover, prevented the Insurrection and
thus saved tho city.
When General Hughes enmo here tho na
tives burned tho town upon leaving It. They
said that the most of the buildings In It be
longed to Chinese and tho Kngllsh and Mint
their destruction would not hurt tho natives,
who live chlcily In tho suburban villages of
Molo nnd Harrow. They, therefore, soaked
tho principal houses with coal oil and llghtod
them. They burned all of tho best build
ings, Including tho industrial school and
other public structures, ho that today Hollo
is largely made up of ruins.
After tho general took !ossesslon there
wero more rumors of Insurrections nnd the
murder of foreigners. Ho paid no attention,
but one day his native clerk naked for nn
afternoon off, that ho might take his family
out of the city. The general thought that
might mean business nnd he had the town
searched for concealed weapons. Ho found
that tho natives had hundreds of knives con
cealed In their houses and that they had
planned to unlto with n band of Tagalo?,
who wero to operato from the outside, nn 1
nt a concerted signal to rise, set tho city on
lire and murder the foreigners.
Tho discovery of the plot prevented Its
being carried out and shortly nfter th'a
Gcnoral Hughes attacked 1,100 of tho Ta
galos outsldo tho town nnd defeated them
Ho has now cleared tho Island of organized
resistance, but he tells mo it will be months
boforo Mio banditti can bo cleared out, as
they will probably toko to tho mountains.
They Itellcvo in Iti-jun.
In talking of tho situation, General Hughes
said:
"I bellovo a great deal of harm Is being
done by tho people of tho United States dis
cussing the ndvlsabllity of leaving the
Islands. Ail wuch reports are published over
here, nnd they havo led the people to be
lieve that tho Americans will eventually give
up tho struggle. They hud been assured
that coqgrcss, as soon as It met, would stop
the war nnd withdraw tho troops, and have
been told Mint Mr. Uryan had advised that
this should bo done. You will bo surprised
to know that some of them can quote
Hrynn's speeches nnd enn name others of the
anti-expansionists. Drynn has been pic
tured as almost equal to tho president In
power. They linvo been given only one side
of the case, and this has como from the
ww: .
HOW THKY FARM IN PAN AY
tho Philippines, and a number of largo
islanda which aro noted for their products
of sugar, Kemp and for their posslb lilies
In tho way of coal nnd other minerals.
Cebu, ior Instance, Is a groat homp-ralslng
region, Samnr produces sugar, rlco nnd cif
feo. Nogros, which I can seo from Hollo,
has somo of tho best sugar plantations, and
tho Islnnd of Bohol Is noted for Its pearl
fisheries. Theso Islands aro populated by
a different pcoplo from tho Tagalos, who
aro tho rebels of Luzon, known as the
Vlsayans. They havo a different langungo
nnd customs, but In most of tho Islands they
havo united with tho Tagalos to oppose our
troops. They aro not as aggressive us
tho Tagalos, but aro qulto as vicious In
many of their ways nnd nro of about tho
samo grado of Intelligence nnd civilization,
both of which I should say aro decidedly
tpw. noth peoplo aro naturally untrust
worthy, and tho greatest caro has to bo
taken to guard against surprises. Tho
Islands, while thero nro no largo armies
upon thero, nro ovorywhero overrun with
brigands and banditti, nnd thero nro parts
of thorn which havo not yet been subdued.
Garrisons will havo to bo furnished for tho
chief towns nnd tho principal roads should
bo patrolled by mounted cavalry to nllow
tlu people to work their Holds nnd to mako
them feel safe.
General H. 1 Hughes, who Is In charge of
tho VlBuynns,. Is well fitted for tho position.
He had a good chance to study tho Filipino
character when ho was provost marshal of
tho city of Manila. Ho took Uiat placo an
soon ns the city was occupied by our troops
Filipino newspapers, which aro saying
nothing favtrablo of tho army of tho Amerl
cans."
I'nllt for CitlKfiiNhip.
"What do you think of tho peoplo hero,
gonnrnl, ns posslblo Amorlcnn citizens?" I
asked.
"Tlioy may mako Americans somo day,
but It will bo a long time before they will
bo able to govern themselves according to
our Ideas of citizenship. We shnll havo to
put our best licks on tho next generation,
nnd by education nnd example wo niny teach
them American Ideas nnd persnnnl and po
lit leal morality nnd honor. As It Is their
training hns been In tho policy of tho Span
lards as to such mntters. Thoy hollove
It right and proper for officials to receive
bribes, and thoy expect to pay them. I
havo Just had troublo with a notary whom
I appointed. Ho has charged tho Kngllsh
bank hero $50 for protesting n note. Thoy
havo reported It and I havo cut his charge
down to $15, which Is less than nllowed by
tho Spnnlsh lnw. It Is so with overy class
of business. All tho officials have been ac
customed to mnklng all thoy could out of
their offices, nnd I don't seo how tho nbuses
enn ho remedied. If wo had somo American
officials, young men and honest men, who
could como out hero prepared to remain for
twenty years or so on tho asnurnnco that
thoy would bo retained In ofTlco wo might
bo nblo to do something In tho way of re
form by and by, but ns it In tho situation Is
rather discouraging."
FRANK G. CARl'KNTKR.
KB
Group of Students of Boyles Commercial and Shorthand College, taken at the noon
hour in the Court of the Bee Building.
The Spring Summer Months i College
School will continue in session throughout the spring and summer months without vaca
tion. Students may therefore enter at any time and continue their studies without interruption
until the same are completed. Advertising matter furnished on application.
JU'SBA great Light
JU-SE-J saving in gas bills
U' SI?Ar great many advantages
Try one and see.
Sold EvRywR. Prce 50 1
MONHEIT
LE)ING CHIROPODIST AND
COMPLEXIONIST.
Treats nil ullmolltn of feet,
both Indies mid uelitlemen.
Iridic' tialrilicMHliiL', liulr
goods nnd toilet preparations.
Treatments of sculp, face,
hands or feet; best equip
ped establishment in ulty.
I lair shampooed and dress
ed, IITk!. Alnnli lire, &0o. Corns
removed by new Klee-tllc
Method, Sic. All work an
tiseptic and painless.
IfSIH I'll rim in Slrccl.
Telephono 2333,
Jumping
to Extremes
is wluit we aro doing with
o u r lOlectrical GoodH.
Tho ono oxtronio is tho
superior quality tho
othor is tho low price.
Wo doubt ii" you can
duplicate our lOloctrical
Apparatus anywhere.
That is, quality andpriee
considered.
You like the best: Wo
delight t o supply i t.
Therefore, it pays us to
give you what vou want.
Isn't that logical?
Don't bo afraid togive
us your trade.
Western
Electrical Company,
I.HO Hntwinl SI ret-1,
MI Ml , i;ilU SK A.
Put Us Down
In your memorandum book us the
bent laundry in town, and you'll hit
It exactly Kcuil your laundry to us,
and you II tliiink your xtars for the
moment in which you mw this iuI
our laundry troubles will bo over.
Chicago Steam Laundry
imioiii- aon. ai i x, mti, s,