The Winslow mail., 1898-11-19
In PHILIPPINE FIELDS
Business Opportunities for Enter
prising Americans.
An Unlimited Market for Our Prod
ucts VIII Be Opened Up as Soon
as the war Troubles
Are over,

As soon as we have given the people
of the Philippines roads and railways
they Will want thousand and one
things which we can supply. The mar
ket for American goods on the islands
would be unlimited if only there were
transportation facilities. At present
there is no getting about at ali during
SIX months in the year, and the only
railway is from Manila to Dagupin, 123
miles II length. Material for more
railroads will be needed, including To-
comotiye engines, and machinery of
ever so many kinds will be in demand
befoFe long these people will be order
ing sewing machines and typewriters,
and telephone ard telegraph lines will
connect all parts Of Luzon.
hardware, tools and cutlery will be
N great demand, and weaving rnachin-
cry also. The Filipinos are wonderful,
Weavers, but their looms are Of most
primitive pattern. They will want to
puy lots Of fine cotton fabrics, such a
musllas and lawns, though they make
plenty of coarse kinds for themselves.
AND then there is petroleum, which is
belng substituted for cocoanut Gil
everywhere in the far east for lighting
houses and streets, Hitherto all
through that part of the world cocoa
nut oil has been the chief illuminant.
lhe nut of the cocoa palm, in the con-
clifton in which we see it, is considered
only good for oil. The meat" is
scooped cut of it and boiled in pan,
and the oil rising to the top is skinned
OF. When fresh it is rich and sweet.
and is used for cooking and for dress
ing the hair, but il short time it be-
comes rancid and is fit only fer light
ing.
The philippines, when developed by
Yankee enterprise, will return q rich
harvest to fortune-see ekers. Their
mineral resources are unlimited. 1t
is predicted by experts that the islands
are destined to offer one Of the rich
est gold fields in the world. rivaling
South Africa and Alaska. The placers
ard quartz deposits are exceedingly
rich. Gold has been produced by the
natives from time immemorial and
was an article of commerce with them
before the Spaniards discovered the
archipelago. They still procure it by
the same primitive method which they
have employed for cen nturies-washing
the auriferous gravel in wooden bowls,
The quartz they break with hammers
and then grind it in rude mills, wash
ing it afterward as they do the gravel
and losing three-fourths OF the yellow
metal present. One reason why the
gold deposits have been so little de-
veloped is that they exist chiefly in
noun ntainous and inaccessible locali-
ties, sometimes occupied by savages
and independent tribes which have
never submitted to Spanish rule. In
copper the islands are enormously
rich, and in iron likewise. There are
extensive beds of coal which have not
yielded high quality of that material
up to date merely because only the
surface outcroppings have been mined.
The most important agricultural
product that we shall get from the
Philippines is the famous Manila hemp
"a kind Of fiber that cannot be pro-
duced, of the same quality, anywhere
else III the world. 1t is used in this
country for rope, cordage and binding
twine, and in the last three months
of 1897 no less than 138,792 bales of it
were exported to the United States
from the archipelago. The plant that
produces It is species of banana, with
a non-adible fruit. Other things that
come to US from the islands are cigars,
tobacco, copra, precious woods, pearl
shells, indigo and coffee. Among the
woods are ebony, ironwood and log
wood.
The tobacco Of the Philippines finds
only small market in this country,
though Manila cheroots are as famous
aad as highly appreciated in the far
east as is the Havana product among
western nations. 1t is recorded that
in 1897 the islands exported the enor-
nous quantity of 70,0o0,0C0 pounds of
The nicotine leaf and 57,000,000 cigars.
We took only 2,285,00O of the cigars
and none OF the leaf tobacco; S1,670.c0O
of the cigars went to China and Japan,
and 80 per cent. of the tobacco to Eu-
rope. 1t is quite wonderful, by the
way, to consider the fact that Luzon
is as big as New York state and Massa-
chusetts put together, while Mindanao
is nearly as Iarge.-Chicago Inter
Ocean.