The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-14
% hroniClc.

Fsom the San Francisco chronicle.
The aggregate area of the 1900 odd
islands constituting the Philippine
group is about the same as that of
California; but the population of the
islands is said to number seven or
eight millians. The principal island,
Luzon, exceeds Cuba in area by $4,000
miles, and contains over twice the
population. In this population two
hundred tribes, indigenous and mixed,
are said to be represented. such are
the negritos, who were the aborigines;
about five thousand Spanish-born, and
few hundred English, Americans and
Germans a considerable body of Span
ish mestizos, the offspring of Spanish
fathers and native mothers; several
hundred thousand Chinese and Chinese
mestizos--that is to say, the offspring
of Chinese fathers and native mothers;
but the great bulk of the inhabitants
are Malays, who conquered the islands
long before the 'Spaniards landed, and
resisted fiercely. but ineffeCtually, the
European invasion. They were orig
inally mild. gentle, kind and hOspit-
able people, but centuries of cruel OPP
preston have generated among them
a warrior class which has learned to
outdo the Spaniards in feroCity. In the
rebellions of 1872 and 1895 they made
no secret of their purpose to grant no
quarter.
They were originally Mahometans,
and the Spanish invaders dealt with
them as their co-religionists did with
the Moors in Spain. Steadfast adher-
ents to the Moslem Creeds were eXter-
minated, and the work was so thor
oughly done that there is not a mosque
left on any of the islands.
TROPICAL FEATURES.
The region is Congenial for the de-
Velopment of passion The whole Phil
ippine group is of volcanic origin; one
of the greatest active volcanoes in the
world, MayOn, is within sight Of Man
liza. Earthquakes are frequent, and
they are so terrible that mems bones
are said to shake. Sir John Browning
said: They overturn mountains, they
fill up valleys, they desolate plains,
they open passages from the sea into
the interior. and from the lakes into
the sea-" The earthquakes of Japan
are gentle tremors i'm comparison
As If volcanic eruptiOns and earth
quakeS did not suffice to keep up pOpu-
lar excitement, nature selected the
Philippine group to be a cradle of ty-
phoons. Navigators sailing the China
Sea hardly dare lift their eyes from the
barometer to talk or eat or sleep so
long as they are in the latitude of
Quyon. In the old days many a brave
galleOn on her homeward voyage, such
as the one which Bret Harte described
as slowly drifting athwart the setting
sun, was crushed to atoms in the
whrlwind before she lost sight Of
Mayon.
PLEASTRE-LOVING PEOPLE.
Yet the people quickly as these ter
rifying phenomena of nature make
their blood course through their veins,
are pleasure-l loving and lazy. Every
village has its band and at the first
scrape of the violin all hands gather in
the piazza to dance. But the orchestra
will he deserted in a twinkling if the
word goes around that there is a cock
ing main. Every town has it's pit. At
At Manila the audience numbers thou
sands, and the government revenue
from the tax on mains amounts to
hundreds of thousands. However poor
a native Of Lu2on may bc-many of
them live on $3j a year-hc always
manages to Keep a lighting bird; it is
recorded that ON the occasion of fires
ard earthquakes the head of the house
hold has been seen flying to place Of
refuge with his precious bird under his
arm, and leaving his wife and children
To take their chances in the disaster
PRONE TO PLOTS.
The eXCitable race is prone to plot
ana conspiracy. In July 1896, a broth
erhood of Malays and Chinese was
formed to overthrow the government
Each member on being sworn made Il
blood compact" From cut in the
arm or leg the blood was drawn. and
with this blood the name of the member
was inscribed on the roll of the Kau-
punan. The plot was betrayed. The
authorities laid hands on the ring-lead-
crs, ana before New Years the prisons
At Manila contained 4,3I7 persons, many
of whom afterWard met their fate at
the hands OF a firing party.
But the spirit of rebellion was not
Quelled. \ petition was signed by five
thousand natives. Malays and half
breeds, and was addressed to the
Mikado of Japan, begging him to an
mex the islands. Japan had acquired
Formusa, as one Of the results of the
Chinese war, and from the southern
most cape of Formosa to the northern
most cape of LuZOn the distance is not
great. Commenting on the petition, a
japanese newspaper which was sup
posed to be inspired observed: THE
revolt in Manila is really a consequence
To some extent of the rising power of
Japan i'm Pacific waters. Having ac-
quired Formosa and become ambitious
of a territorial and commercial em-
pire, the eyes Of the japanese have
lately been directed toward the next
islands on the south. The weakness of
Spain is regarded as the opportunity
of Japan"
1t is remembered by some who met
General Grant on his return from Asia
that that faT-seeing statesman pre-
dicted the acquisition by Japan of all
the islands lying off the Chinese coast