Evening journal., 1898-07-15
WITH DEWEY'S FLEET
Queer Customs Of the Natives
of the Philippines.
ODD sUPERsTITIOEs ABOUND
THE INHABITANTS BELIEVE IN
WITCHES, WHO ARE SUPPOSED
TO EXERCISE GREAT INFLU-
ENCE OVER AFFAIRS.

WllNtito, WltO AuNN oOI IOoEb
TO EXERCISE GREAT 1NFLU-
ENCE OVER AFFAIRS.
The special correspondent Of the
Medical News with Admiral Dewey of
Manila sends that journal some inter
esting news, from which the following
extracts are taken
Horrible stories are told about the
treatment by the natives OF Spaniards
who fell into their. hands at that time.
Many Of the monks were slaughtered,
some of them being dIsmembered a
limb a day, while others were burned
alive. 1t is clear that our proposed al !
lies will have to be very gingerly dealt |
with, for they are ignorant and super
stitious and have proved themselves as
cruel as their Spanish masters.
"a physician who has spent many
years in these islands gave me an in
teresting account OF some OF the super
stitions Of the natives. They believe in
witches and in evil spirits, and some Of
the means taken to exercise these de-
mons are violent in the extreme.
For example, evil spirits are be-
lieved to hover about waiting to snatch
the soul Of the unborn infant. When
the child thus bewitched is born, it Is
placed on a pillow in an open door or
window so that the air may facilitateI
the escape of the bad spirits, which are
exercised by burning three tapers on
the face Of the child, one on each
cheek and the other on the chin. Some
times the youngster receives three
burns, but the cermony generally goes
OFF without accident, The priests do all
they can to discourage these practices,
but their efforts are of little avail.
THE natives who are converted to
Christianity change their evil spirits
for good ones and believe that an angel
instead of a witch assists at the birth
OF every infant and follows ii through
life. Some sort Of supernatural guar
dian they insist on having so the
priests encourage the belief in the an
gel. When anything is stolen a witch
is called upon to find 1t, and no more
wonderful stories are told of the dis
ooyeries of st. Anthony than the na-
tiyes tell of the witches aptness in de-
tecting robbers.
BELIEVE IN WITCHES.
Anyone having much to do with the
various primitive races is surprised at
the similarity between their supersti-
tions and traditions. The incantations
OF the natives of India and Asia are
paralleled in the Philippines, and the
witches are said to hold sabbat here as
well as elsewhere. The belief that GER
tain sounds have power over non-hu-
man presences seems to be universal,
and the invocatiOns used by the Phil
ippine Islanders are said to be pre-
served in secret manuscripts, as are
those Of the peoples above mentioned.
Another parallel Is found in the ira
dition in regard to the formation OF
these islands. The natives, who, OF
course. originally knew nothing OF the
outside world, say that ages ago a
giant bore the earth on his shoulders,
but after a while he got so tired that he
dropped it into the sea, wherein it sank
so deep that only the mountains were
above water, these mountains being
the islands they inhabit. The giant is,
OF course, the same as the Atlas OF
Greek mythology
QUACK DOCTORS PLENTY.
There is a greater proportion OF
quack doctors in the Philippines than
in America, and the Chinese disciples
OF Esculapius have great influence
They generally use only vegetable
medicaments, and in the cure Of trOpi-
cal diseases these solemn-looking
Orientals have better success than
their European rivals. They have a
wonderful cure for the itch and other
skin diseases so common among the
islanders. On previous visit to Manila
made the acquaintance Of one Oi
these Chinese doctors, and learned
something Of his method of treating
certain diseases.
Though he had been TO Europe, hC
apparently knew nothing of surgery
and his remedies were very simple
quinine, opium, mercury arsenic and
some mysterious Chinese drug, the
name of which have forgotten, being
his principal curative agents / under.
stood that he never used leeches, al.
though they are very plentiful
throughout the islands. He claimed tC
have an infallible cure for pulmonary
tuberculosis, which is very common
here, and he was held in high esteem
by his fellOw-practitioners on account
Of the many wonderful cures that h,
had effected.
'As a rule the native women ar,
very cleanly, many of them taking ex.
quieite care Of their persons. The
younger ones are pretty and coquett
ish; they do not wear corsets, and il
their native costume look very supple
feminine and picturesque.
COSTLY TO WED.
Getting married is rather an expen
sive luxury here. as the government
demands a tax for, almQSk>everything
from carrying on business 70 cutting
down a tree. The tax on an ordinary
carriage amounts to a sum equal to 81.