The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-05-08
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

IIlE TlIILIFFllNE ISLANDS
The movement on the Philippines threat
ems directly Spanish sovereignty on tn,
other side OF thu world and Eiay result il
dcpriving Spain OF the last remnants 6
her Eastern empire. The Spanish domin
ions in the Pacific consist of the Philppin,
group, the Caroline islands and a few scat.
tered clusters lying in the vicinity OF beth
Designated by various names. none of tEess
groups of ISLANDS are Of any Importance
politically or commercially. save the Philip
pines, but the value Of these to the Spanish
crown is SO great as TO make all the more
remarkable the foShardiness Of Spain in
power which is able in a few days 10 sweep
the Spanish navy from the seas.
The Philippine islands have belonged to
Spain ever since their conquest in 1865,
which was effected by a fleet bearing an
armed force from the western coast OF
Mexico. The Spaniards did not accomplish
their conquest without difficulty, for al
though the natives were poorly armed,
having only the weapons common to savage
peoples throughout the world. they made a
stout resistance and all the military
strength and strategy of the Spaniards were
needed in order TO subdue them Tho is
lahders have since shown, by oft repeated
Indeed, almost continuous-insuriect
their objection to Spanish rule. and between
1000 and the instruction OF the present
year it is said there has hardly been de-
cade in which Spanish troops have not been
called upon to pacify. in Cuban fashion, on
or another of the disturbed provinces.
The Philippine group lies so completely
off the usual line of travel that, save In
general way. little is known of it or its peo-
pie. Eoys and girls at school learn the
nann of the cluster of islands and because
these appear on the maps as mere dots IL
gard them as of no Importance. and soon
forget them AMI their location, SO that
among ren and women Of the present the
| question, Where are the Philippine islands.
| is often heard, but not often answered The
| last remaining Spanish possession in the
| East Indies comprises over 1900 islands in
the Philippine group alone. the greater
| number however. being mere dots or lslete,
inhabited only by q few families.
| Tie most southern Of the Philippines lies
| 4 degrees north OF the equator the most
| northern Il degrees, so that the islands
cover very considerable portion of terri
| tory, nearly 1900 miles fom north to south
and half this distance from east to west.
insignificant as most are in point of size.
| the leading islands are of very respectable
dimensions. Mindora and its accompany
| ing islands have an area of 5000 square
| miles; Palawan, 5000; Samar 5000; Panay,
4500 Negroes. 1900; Leyte. 5000 Cebu ana
Pohol, each 1900; Masbate. 1200-the total
area of the entire group being 10000
square miles, or about equal in extent to
that of Missouri and Arkansas combined.
|
The islands, like most others In that
quarter of the world, are all OF volcanic
origin and each has mountain range as a
backbone generally terminating with
volcano at each end of the island, with two
or three in the middle for good measure.
Most of the volcanoes are lofty, but sit
uated as they are, almost under the
equator snow seldom appears on the sum-
mits of the highest mountains, although
| the uplands of all Of the islands have
| temperate climate, and during the summer
are much frequented by the better classes
OF the population. Rivers Of any consider
| able size are of course, few, but small
| streams are very numerous, for there are
| two rainy seasons, and when it rains on
| the Philippines it rains in earnest, a pre-
| cipitation of eight inches in twenty-four
| hours having been observed on more than
one occasion. Such delugcs as this might
be expected to wash all the arabic soil into
| the sea, and, in fact this process of de-
mutation is constantly going on, but as the
crust Of the earth is in volcanic regions in
a process of upheaval the damage done by
| the rain Is counteracted by the gradual
| uplifting Of the islands from the deep.
| They are, in fact, constantly growing in
| size very slowly but appreciably for stone
wharfs that were constructed by the Span
yards in the Sixteenth century are now
| half mile from the shore, and there are
| other evidences of the upheaval process
torrld heat prevails all the year round
| The mean annual temperature of Manila
| is about 30 degrees, which indicates that
| in summer the thermometer stands above
| lco regularly every day, and hugs the
| century mark pretty closely during the
| night Even in what is facetously called
the winter season temperature of 65 to 50
degrees prevails, so that a Philippine win
| ter would be deemed a tolerably warm |
| American summer The heat Is rendered al |
| most uncomfortable by the moisture in the |
atmosphere, for day and night, from years |
end to years end, the air Is almost sat- |
urated; the perspiraton of the body does |
| not dry, but stands in large drops. which |
tall off on the slightest movement
The group is rendered valuable nos
session from the fertility of the soil and
the variety and abundance of its products.
Despite the fact that the natives work only
uhuer the most urgent provocation. and
then only for SO long a time as may he
necessary to satisfy their simple wants.
me plantations of the island produce an
immense wealth. The government reports
OF 1919 the latest available declared the
exports OF the islands to be s32,0)o00l
whlle the imports We're S2S, OO0, 900, chiefly
~ ot,I 'ioe, ~, hour vine dry goods, petroleum
|
manufactures, sugar coffee tobacco loaf
cigars ana indigo. How greatly the amount
ol exports might be increased under :,
proper form of government witch did nat
lax me energy and almost the life out D
;a LeupIe can not he conjsctured, bit it !
Is certain that with proper encouro ger,ont ,
iihs philippine islanders would become an I
INDUSTRIOUS and wealthy people |
me population of the Philippines is prob
amy the worst mixed of any crOup n, |
n |