The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1898-08-25
THE PHILIPPINES,
A GOOD PEN PICTURE,
Only Known Since May.
(Facts and Fiction.

(Facts and Fiction.)
Until the cables brought the news
OF Dewey's victory at Manila our peo
pie had shown no further interest il
the Philippine islands than that which
respect for good standing in th'
school room had inspired during child
hood days. Previous to the battle o
Manila it is doubtful if one out of ter
of our adult population could have
named the ocean in which these is
lands are located, and it is equally
doubtful If more than that they are in
the Pacific ocean. But on that mem
orable Sunday morning of May l
while giving the world a lesson ir
modern naval warfare, Commodore
Dewey killed two birds with one stone
and gave his countrymen a lesson ir
lnsular geography. The victory al
Manila created lively interest ir
the islands. We had hazarded the
fortunes of war, and these islands had
fallen to us as the victor's spoils. Tt
hold them as such became the imme
diate policy of our people, and like 6
boy with his fret knife we have sci
about to learn what they are good for
The Philippine islands are located
in the Pacific ocean, less than SOC
miles southeast of China. The group
contains nearly l 400 islands with an
estimated area of lis, ,528 square miles
being an area equal to more than the
combined areas of the states of Maine
Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut
Massachusetts,, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, Vermont, Maryland and West
Virginia. They are all mountainous,
but the highest peaks do not exceed
5000 feet. This characteristic as
well as the elevation OF the coral reefs
into raised beaches, aud the number
of sea shells found upon the ridges,
lead to the belief that most of the Is
lands have been .heayed from below
the sea-level within comparatively re-
cent times. Volcanic forces have had
powerful effect throughout the islands,
and several volcanoes continue their
activity with, at times, destructive re-
suits. Luzon, the largest island of the
group and on~which Manila, the capi-
tai of the group, is located, Is famous
TOR its burning volcano, known as
Monte Cagua, which discharges great
quantities of smoke perpetually. In
the southern part Of the Island is the
volcano Taal, which has the dlstinc-
ton of being the lowest volcano IL
the world.
While these islands have the DIS
tlnctlon Of being among the richest
and most important In the PACIFIC
ocean, we know but little about them
and less about the natives. The dis
coyery and conquest Of the Philip
pines are subjects of stirring interest,
both bloody and romantic. The first
European to sight their shores was
Ferdinand Magellan, who landed at
March IL, 1924. This was on
his famous tour as the first navigator
to reach the East Indies by sailing
westward. Having learned that he
had accomplished this purpose, Magel-
Ian addressed himself to the task OF
making conquest for Spain. He ac-
cordingly took possession of every is
land he visited id the name of the king
of Spain and planted the cross as
symbol of it's conquest and annexation.
When he reached the island
of Zebu he convinced the king OF the
island that it would be to his advan-
tage to accept Christianity and Span
;sh protectorate He next convinced
him that having become q Christian
it was his duty to subjugate the sur
rounding islands and bring them un-
der one rule. An attack on the other
islands by the combined forces OF Ma
gellan lost his life and his men were re-
pulsed with heavy loss. No further at
tempt to conquer the remaining Is
lands was made at the time.
The survivors OF the Magellan expe-
dition who finally reached SPAN
spread the most glowing reports OF the
wealth that might be obtained by traf-
fic with the natives OF the oriental
islands. These reports melted Portu-
puese navigators to extend their ex-
plorations and conquests to the islands
much to the jealous regret OF the
Spaniards. Finally, upon the acces-
sion of Philip II. to the throne Of
Spain. he decided to destroy ali Portu
guese interests in the Philippines, and
to enter upon the conquest OF the Is
lands for the "glory OF God and the
gain OF Spanish interests" Accord
ingly, Spanish expedition set sail II
1864, and the following year reached
the Philippines. The natives receiv'
ed the spaniards with manifestation!