St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-08-17

land tney dld. Meanwhile the storm
increased. The whole coast was abroil.
The frigates had the palsy. They
danced like epileptics. But over the
boom of the waters was the boom of
the guns. Through those waters an
other detachment was sent, second,
third. Spaniards, natives, the ele-
ments even joined to repulse them.
Yet still the guns persisted. In the
bastion breech was made. Through
the crumbled walls the English poured,
and presently Manila had fallen. 1t is
related that the Spaniards fought like
fiends, that many of them refused
quarter, and that rather than surren-
der 300 of them drowned themselves in
the sea. The ransom which Manila
paid was $4,000000 That was dirt
cheap and would be tripled to-day
Golfers Weekly.
General Merrtts Fad Job.
In the history of this nation no
American has ever been honored with
a mission like that assigned to Gen.
Merritt and none has ever entered
upon more difficult task. 1t is hard
enough to deal with homogeneous
race of civilized men, but the 100000
people awaiting the advent of Gen.
Merritt are as badly mixed as any
equally large body of people on earth.
The native element predominates,
though, like the Spaniards, the Chinese
have acquired very substantial foot
hold, and the two widely varying races
have largely intermingled their blood
with that of the native inhabitants.
The mestizos, or mixed races, great
ly outnumber the Spanards and exert
decided influence in the islands.
The great majority of the merchants
and landed proprietors are the de-
scendants of Spanish fathers and ma
tive mothers. Although quite exclu
sive, the best Spanish society admits
mestizo women in large numbers to
it's circles. Most of the subordinate
officers of the government belong to
this class.
AS rule the male natives are
good-natured, superstitious and lazy
set, but the women manifest much in
dustry and are said to be as virtuous
as any set of women on earth. The de-
scendants of Chinese and native wom-
en- are much more industrious and en-
terprising than the natives of the
pure blood.
When he has conquered the Philip
pines Gen. Merritt will find himself in
difficult position and much knowl-
edge and great tact will be required to
manage the heterogeneous mass of
people, varying from Malay pirates to
accomplished English business men.
A radically new system of government
will have to be introduced, that at
present in vogue being at least CEN
fury behind the times.
Spain sent the sword to the West
Indies and held the natives in subjec-
ton by brute force. She adopted
different course with the Philippines.
In lieu of soldiers she sent priests and
priests converted thousands of the
natives to Christianity and have in the
past controlled them better than a
large standing army could have done.
Often has Spain, when in sad financial
straits, appealed to her eastern pos
sessions for extra money, and never in
vain, the devoted priests always man.
aging to raise and forward the sums
demanded.
1t is veritable empire that Gen.
Merritt goes to take possession of in
the name of the American people. The
islands number about 1,40O and con-
tain about 100000 square miles. a ter
ritory equal to nearly three-fourths of
the entire German empire. To conquer
and establish authority in such a vast,
widely-scattered territory is in itself
no trifling task. particularly when it
is remembered that some of the is
lands have never been fully explored
much less civilized.
The country must be classed as hilly
and mountainous, one peak rising to
height of 10000 feet, while five are
over 5000 feet above the sea level. The
entire country, from sea to sea, in
Guiding hills and mountains, is covered
with dense semitropical vegetation,
the Philippines occupying about the
same latitude as Cuba. There are
three distinct seasons-cold from No
vember to March, hot from March to
June and wet from July to October.
Terrific thunderstorms occur in Nav
and June. Coal abounds in immense
deposits, the veins, many of them on
the coast, running from ten to twenty
feet in thickness. Iron ore. the equal
of that found in Sweden, exists in great
abundance, as also do deposits of cop
per. None of these have ever been de-
veloped to any considerable extent.
Gold exists in all the islands and ex-
perts declare that millions could easily
be taken out.
Animal life is very generally diff
fused; everything on earth that walks,
runs. flies or swims inhabiting these
islands, The fora is remarkable. there
being 4,479 distinct species of flowers.
The products include almost every
kind of fruit and grain, coffee, sugar,
tea, rice, potatoes, European vegeta-
bles hundred kinds of bamboo and
the famous Manila hemp that has be-
come such a necessity in American
manufactures. A difficult task has
been laid out for Gen. Merritt. but
| rich empire awaits bis euhiao+;on