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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1904)
1 THE ILLUSTRATED BEE. (lurch 20, 190t The Illustrated Bnn. Fubllshed Weekly ny The Hee Publishing Company, Bee Building, Omaha, Neb. Vriee, 6c Per Copy-Per Year. $2.00 Entered nt the Omaha Postofllce as Second Class Mail Matter. Fop Advertising Bates Address Publisher. Communications relating to photographs or articles for publication should be ad OrobHed, "Editor Illustrated Bee. Omaha." Pen and Picture Pointers HOM th day Balboa looked dnwn from the top of a little hill and viewed the Purine, the dream of the navigator lins been to cross the Isthmus of Pitnnmu through a canal. Plans were laid for thin enter prise before PInrro had completed the conquest of Peru, and every age from that time until now him wen someone at work on the problem. It in likely that no slm ilar urea under the sun has been no ( lowly examined by engineers and experts of all orts as has that bit of ground that sep arates the two (K'enns nnd Joins the two Americas. It Is now to be severed. Uncle Bam has set about the tank, unit thin Is the best possible assurance that It will be ac complished. American capital and energy, bucked with the experience of all others who have had a try nt the big Job, will certainly ttccomplliih the work, and before the end of another decade ocean commerce will have a now route lUid the mission of Christopher Columbus, a westward passage to the Indies, will have been llnilly ac complished. John Grimes Walker, who Is president of the commission to whom the work of con structing the canal has been entrusted, Is a rear admiral of the United States navy, retired. He was born In New Hampshire In 1X35, and was appointed to the Naval academy from Iowa In IS50, when but 15 years of age. lie was graduated In his twenty-Ural year, and two years later was made a master and the next day after a lieutenant. During the civil war be was In blockading service and with the MiHauvtippl squadron, and promotion came fast to him, o that ho was a commander ut the close of the rebellion. In 1S77 ho was made a captain. In It 9 a commodore, and In 189t tie was retired as u rear admiral. In the time he was connected Willi the navy he saw much active service. being engaged In the operations that led to the fall of New Orleans and later the capture of Vlcks burg, finally taking part In the engage ments Is'fore Wilmington, N. C. After the war he was engaged as secretary of the lighthouse board, and then as secretary of the bureau of navigation, was in command of the evolutions of 1K'-'J3, and was va riously In command of the European sta tion, the South Atlantic and the North At lantic stations. In 1SW lie was sent to com mand the luclflc station, with especial In structions to maintain peace and good order in the Hawaiian Islunds. Alter bis retire ment he served as clialrnuin of the light house board, and as chairman of the com mission to locate a deep water harbor in southern California. From this latter billet he was given the commission he now holds, president of the Isthmian Canal Commis sion. Since 1(99 ho hns been In charge of the government's preliminary work toward the canal construction, and now he has charge nf the active campaign, which will oon commence. On Tuesday of next week the commis sion, with Rear Admiral Walker at Its bend, will sail for the Isthmus, and the wurk will Ite glveit Its official start. Many Of the problems encountered by the French In their efforts to build the canal will be obviated by the American commission, which has the benefit of the experience of the failure. For example. Admiral Walker baa determined that no general contract shall be let for the construction of the canal, but the work will le done in sec tions. This will avoid many of the vexatious experiences and delays incident to the execution of a contract with one firm, which Is In turn forced to sublet larg portions of the work. It is the desire of t lie commission that no delay shall tilirJer the commencement, and to this end plans are already being shaped. Many firms already have tools and material on the ground, the legacy of the French fail ure, and such of these as sre capable of undertaking contracts will be given preference In the government awards. The question of labor la the one that Is being given the most serious consideration, for, owing to the peculiarities of the climate. It Is very difficult to get men who can stand up under the toll. Heretofore Jamaica negroes have provwi the best able to withstand the effects of the climate, but they have also proven unreliable In other directions. It has been suggested thit moat of tha work will be done eventually by coolies, but this Is a matter of detail that will be adjusted In time. It Is enough for the present to know that nothing but the merest preliminaries si a n da la the way of lginnlng the real Work of construction. The Japan - ASHINGTON, March 17.-(8peclol w Correspondence.) The question of shipping between the Philippines and Japan and the Philippines and the United Statea has come In Tor considerable discussion at this ses slon of congress. The prosperity of the Philippine islands is In a very groat meas ure dependent upon the shipping facilities of Its Inter-Inland trade nnd whatever measure encourages or depresses that cur rying trade to a like degiee will build up or tear down the agricultural and com mercial Interests of the ialunds. The discussion of the so-called Fryo shipping bill, which alms to place the car rying trade between the Philippine Islands and the United States exclusively In the bands of American ships has made but little reference to the inter-island trade of the Philippines and there upparontly ex ists a great want of Information concern ing its present condition and needs. Unless some action Is taken by congress, the American coastwise laws will be auto mnticully extended over the Inter-Island trade of the Philippines after July 1 next, and yet If the Frye bill passes this Inter Island trade will be opened to the ships of the world, subject only to such regula tions as the Philippine commission may prescribe. There in one peculiar feature about the provisions of the Frye bill. Under It Philippine ships are prohibited from participating In the carrying trade between the United 8tates and the Philippines, for the red son that, as the inhabitants of the Philippines are not "cltlsen of the United States," so the ships of the Philip pines having a Philippine registry are not ships of the United States, and an this trade In confined to "vessols of the United States." the people of the Philippines will ho preveented from participating In the carrying trade of their own products be tween their own ports and those of the United States. I-ast summer while in the Philippine Islands I had an opportunity to travel on, I think, every style of boat used In the archloelngo, from the electric-lighted regular liner of the Companlc Marltlma to the dugout banka and blnta of the Morns of Lake Llanao In Mindanao. I had an opportunity of discussing the application of shipping laws to the Philippine inter Island trade, not only with the government officials but with John T. Macleod, the head of the Companle Marltlma. and the captains and officers of the Philippine boats, most of whom are either Spaniards or Filipinos. Mr. Macleod informed me that should no legislation be enncted by thin congress, all vessels now engaged In the Interlsland trade of the Philippine would come tinder the provisions of the American coastwise laws and this would practically kill the shipping Interests of the Philippines, for even If the Phlllppne ships are construed to be American ships for the purpose of Interlsland trade In the Philippines," yet their officers being either Spaniards or Filipinos, are not, according to the definition of congreas, "American" and so could not command and take charge of theno boats. It la absolutely Impossible, he said, to get a sufficient number of Americana to take the places of these Spanish and Philip pine trained seamen, and even If 'we could It would tie unsafe because the Philip pine archipelago Is hut very imperfectly charted and the safety of our vessels de pends upon the knowledge acquired by life-long service of our officers. And again. Domestic Science For Women B mjinmnu April i ine University I of Chicago will have for Its I a.t .1 I .t- a ik .. ... wvuicn luurnu a vcnooi or do mestic science. The curriculum will include hygiene, domestic ?r1 economy, the science of foodstuffs nnd the theory of cooking and the laboratory method of teaching will be employed. Some may think such a course of Instruction beneath the dignity of a university, but dignity Is not the only object of a univer sity, and practical utility Is certainly an object entitled to some consideration. Inasmuch as the division of labor be tween the sexes, domestic work necessa rily falls to women, it is generally assumed that they have a special gift for It and are all adepts in It. The fact is, bow ever, even In this department of labor they are deficient and not one of them in a thousand possesses such a theoretical nnd scientific acquaintance with household operations as Is necessary to carry them on with a high degree vt efficiency. In the department of hygiene, for In stance, women are constitutionally opposed to light and air. Thi more enthuslHstle they become In housekeeping the more bent they are In keplng out the sunlight. As to Ventilation, If u room Is well alrd In the morning they cannot understand whv any more air should be let Into It during the day, although it may be occu pied by a dosen persons. All that women know about domestic science at the present day they have Warned from their mothers, and that Is not. much. Their mothers do not know much, to begin with, nnd the daughters are to-j busy, first at school and afterward la Philippine Shipping Trade It would lie unfair to these officers, most of whom are Spaniards or Filipinos, and have accepted the sovereignty of the United States, for under this law they would lio unable longer to continue In their pro fession. Mr. Macleod then went on to discuss tho necessity of establishing a system of Intcrisland coastwise lines whereby the coasting trade of the Philippines should be confined to vessels having a Philippine registry and to vessels of the United States. A Phlllppplne registry, . he said, should bo granted only to those vessels which on the first of July next are actu ally engaged In this interlsland trade and to vessels built and owned either In the Philippine islands or the United States. It is not fair to ullow the North German Lloyd steamers with their Chinese crews, nor the regular Australian liners, with the steamers owned by the Chinese, with their low-priced crews, to participate In this trade to our detriment, when they pay no taxes other than their license and we have to pay heavy taxes. The same principle should be applied to the Philip pine interlsland trade as is applied to tho American coastwise trade. As the Ameri can coastwise trade is for the Americans, no the Philippine coastwise trade should be for the Filipinos. I had an excellent opportunty to see ves sels of the coastwise trade in the trip from Manila down through tho Vlsayan group to Jolo and clear to the east side of the great tsland of Mindanao and return, oc cupying nearly six weeks. Our boat, the Butujuan, had In her captain as brave a Spaniard as ever sailed the sea and a fair representative of what the old Spanish mariners may have been. For his bravery during two desperate encounters with the Moros on the south side of Mindanao he had been decorated by the king of Spain. He had taken Philippine and Spanish ves sels into practically every port on the European continent and Into the American ports of Boston, New York. Philadelphia and Galveston, and yet under our policy in the Philippines this man Is now allowed a master's Jicense only for the Philippine Islands and nowhere else, and after the first of July next he will be unable to command any vessel at alL Ills first offi cer, a young man, had taken a vrs?cl to Brunswick, Oa., with a cargo of lumber and yet he could not obtain a first officer's paper except for use In the Philippines. He. too. will be out of a Job after July next. Their only remedy is to renounce their allegiance to the United States and return to Spain or else come to the Urlted States snd In some way under some law not yet passed (for there is no way for Filipinos to be naturalized and there men in the eyes of the law are Filipinos) he come naturalised citizens of the United States, In which case they will then be entitled to American papers. These men could not understand why the United 8tutes would not give them the same pa pers that they nad obtained from Spain and I had great difficulty In persuading them that the United States was In rea'lty a friend to the Philippines and the Fili pinos when It came to shipping matters. The crew of this vessel was all Filipino and Indeed the crews of all the Philippine vessels are Filipinos, for they make the finest kind of sailors, being natural sea dogs. No one ever heard of a Filipino drowning. The number of men employed as sailors and fishermen In the Islands Is estimated society, to learn what little their mothers could teach them. If they could only get well grounded In the subject and become thoroughly Interested In It at school there would be a possibility that they might be come, some time or other, competent to guide a household. The coeds at the university ought to de vote themselves heart and soul to this course of domestic w-lence, as It has a more direct hearing on their future use fulness and happiness than any other branch of study. One of the commonest causes of marital unhappiness Is the In efficiency of the wife as a housekeeper. Perhups It would lie lietter to put It con versely and siy that the greatest security for happiness in the married life Is the skill and efficiency of the wife In domestic science. Personal charms may win a man's affections, hut It takes good house keeping to hold them. The Chronicle does not pretend to the gifts of prophecy, but It ventures the pre. diet lun that the young woman who takes the highest honors in this new school of domestic science will receive the first offer of marriage and have the happiest mar ried life of all the members of her class. Chicugo Chronicle. Low Value on That "Of course. It's cheaper to live In the east. The further west you go the higher the values become, and " "Not on your life!" Interrupted the trav eling man. "No?" Just give me an Instance where the value la not high." "I say not ou your life." nt between 300,000 and 400,000, and thin nunv ber, when taken In connection with the great number of stevedores, will account for the occupation of a very large propor tion of the mule population of the islands. The comforts which a Spanish boat af fords are not such as would induce many Europeans to take the trip. The cabins nre prnall and stuffy, overrun with small red ants and all conveniences and comforts conspicuous by their absence. Moat of the passengers sleep on deck and all meals are served there, weather permitting. The fond, which Is Spanish, differs so entirely from that on the American boats that white people, especially foreigners and Americans, unused to the fare, almost starve to death when on one of these trips. A cup of coffee and a roll at 7 o'clock Is the breakfast. Dinner, or lunch, at It o'clock, consists of soup, several kinds of tlsh, meat, usually kid and chicken pre pared In three or four different styles. Con trary to my expectations, I found but little pepper or garlic used In the cooking. Everything, however is swimming in oil, and vegetables are always cooked along with the meats. Wine and coffee are the two drinks, wnter being but sparingly used, unless mixed with the wine. The quantity of wine consumed Is comparatively small. Dinner at 6 o'clock is a repetition of the noon meal, only more elaborate, after which liquors are served. While on this trip I saw the North German Lloyd steam ers stop In for large cargoes of cattle and hemp from the small ports In south Min danao, to be delivered at Hollo nnd Manila. Regular Australian liners stop at Jolo and Zamboanga and Hollo, taking coastwise cargoes for Manila, while enroute to Hons Kong, Chinese boats from Hong Kong to Hollo and Cebu and then to Manila and back to Hong Kong, carrying the hemp and sugar from the two lower ports to Manila, and yet none of these boats paid any taxes except a temporary license fee. . In discussing the question with the mer chants as well as with the ship owners I found that for freight business, and the coustwise freight consists principally of hemp, copra, rice and supplies, there are enough boats In the Philippine lnter-island trade today. As for the passenger trade a more rapid service Is necessary, but s nca American occupation the facilities with which people can get around the blinds would have decreased but for the fact that the government transports and coastni.se boats are allowed to carry passengers when necessary. In Spanish times the Spanish government paid a mall subsidy which made the passenger service between the large ,iorts In the Philippines very good and most of the Spanish government freight was carried on commercial steam ers, but the Philippine government pays nothing for the carrying of mall; the army transpo-ts and Philippine government coast guard boats are mail boats nnd In addition they handle all army and Philippine gov ernment freight. All Phillipplne commer cial steamers are required to carry the mall for nothing, while at the same time' they handle little or no government freight. It Is claimed by those Interested In the shipping business that if the govtrrment paid for a regular mail line and proh'bitei the passenger traffic on government bonis, the passenger and freight facilities would be very much Increased and improved. The passage of the Hale bill through tha senate, which provides that government freight shall lie carried only In vessels of the United States, If it becomes a law, la going to have a disastrous effect upon the government business in the Philippine Islands, for the reason that the government has a number of foreign boats chartered for the carrying of government frelsht. These boats are nil ofttcered and manned by foreigners. Two boats In particular I recall, one the Borneo, a small boat with English snd Scotch officers and a Lascar crew. The boot has an English reglFtr. Another one Is the Doctor Hans Jcrecscn, facetiously known as the "Krag Jnrgenscn." It Is a Norwegtnn freighter with a Nor wegian captain nnd a mixed crew of I Os cars, Chinese nnd Filipinos, having a speed of nine knots an hour, for which the gov ernment pays $190 per day. As Phi lupine vessels are not "vessels of the United States," none of the vessels owned or built In the Philippine islands can be chartered by the government for the earning of this frripht nnd It will bo reeessnVy to bring boats from America, with American offi care and crews to replace those now In ue by the government. According to the Bureau of Insular Af fairs, the numlwr of boats engaged In the Philippine lnter-island traffic Is over 4,m 0. having p. tonnage In round numbers of 144, tjns. and of that number onlv twenty-two vessels were built In the Uulted Stales ami 3.847 were built In the Philippines, ith the exception of the twenty-two A mere in built bonis none of this great fleet can iar tlolpate la the carrying of government freight. Unless congressional action is taken, one of two things win hapren. Either the law must be Ignored, or else all these vessels will have to obtain Amer lean masters and officers, which being im poarthle. they will lie driven out of com niasloa ALONZO H. STEWART.
