The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-12-30
GEORGE HEINEMANN DESCRIBES
THE PHILIPPINES.
An Interesting Letter describing the
Resources and Conditions of the Far
East American Possessions.

c. H. Dlckey of Haiku has received
the following very interesting letter
from Captain George Heinemann, Ma
Mia:
You have of course seen that the L.
S. transport Morgan City went down
to Davy Jones locker in the Island Sea
of Japan l was on her at the time,
having signed as ships quartermaster.
was on duty as lookout" on the fore
castle head at the time she was wreck
ed.
While we were at sea, Brig. Gen. Otis
gave orders to close all ports on the
different islands, and consequently all
traffic stopped, causing great hardships
to the shipping firms and the mer-
chants. l suppose it was found to be a
necessary measure in order to cut off
supplies to the rebels. The result of
this state of affairs is that jobs are now
nearly unobtainable. l have had a lit
tie to do so far, and intend to hang
on" if 1 can till the ports are opened,
peace declared and traffic again resum-
! ed.
never saw a finer, more fertile and
inviting land in my life. Immense
| plains, we'll watered in every direction,
! becoming undulating and gently rising
| nearer the foothills, mountains covered
! with primeVal forests, immense rice
! fields, lots of rivers deep enough for wa
! ter transportation; even up on the high
er levels an abundance of water it is
| in fact a sleeping personificatiOn of I'M
told riches, only waiting for the magic
wand of American capital and Amer
| lean enterprise to touch it-and it will
| rise, come to active life and surpass any
thing the world has seen. l have seen
Jamaica THE Pearl of the Antilles"
have seen Hawaii, the Paradise of the
Pacific" but this will and does surpass
! them all-it will be the Gem of the
Orient" Everything is here, soil, wa
ter, suitable climate, abundance of food,
| facilities for transportation (cattle and
horses), unlimited supply of building
materials, especially for laborers' quar-
tiers, etc, (bamboo and native hard
woods), a large lake, surrounded by
tillable land, communicating with the
safe, fine and immense harbor by the
Pasig river, deep enough for large
steamers, and above all, a large popuia-
ton, just such as is needed on planta-
tions. In fact, it seems to me the sup
ply is unlimited, and cheap. On Negros
island the pay used to be about So. OC
Mexican ($2 so gold) per month ano
found, and hire on Luzon about the
same. The only difference, as far as
have been able to find out is, that or
Luzon the laborers were not paid any
cash until returns came in from the
harvest, and then they got a certain
percentage, in the meantime drawing
rations from the plantation store
charged to the individual laborer, ant
deducted on the basis of 30 per cent
off of his percentage. The Filipino:
seem to be good laborers, and they arr
very intelligent.
They may be treacherous-but I thinl
that that is more due to the treatmen
they have been subjected to under tn
Spanish rule, than to anything else
and if they see that they are justly
treated, receive their pay in cash ant
their religious belief not interfere'
with, they will. | feel sure, be homes
!, and industrious. They are in grea
measure devOut Catholics, and the reg
ular Catholic clergy has great poWe
over them. The friars, on the othe
hand, are most cordially hated by ey
erybody. The large Macobebe tribe i
very friendly to the Americans.
OF cultivation. in the true sense o
the word, one sees very little. The ric
Z fields of course are we'll kept but out
side of that part of agriculture. IN
e surface has barely been scratched
have not been able to see any suEa
= mills, but Judging from the appearance
of the product, they must be most PR
mtiVe. l have seen large carSoes trof
the interior, arrive here consisting q
. very fine grained sugar, dirty Iooklhe
! and nut up in earthenWare pots. eac
. holding about so to 100 lbs. These pot
have q hole in the bottom for the escap
of the syrup or mOlasses. and all O
them have the appearance OF haNin
been i'm the fire or as if the sugar
cooked right in them. There is a rein
cry here. but now closed, and all on
sugar is now imported from Hongkons
The sugar, mentioned above is not Or!
it is sticky and unfit for use.
d Coffee is said to grow i'm profusiol
but as a scale infested the trees, tn
Spaniards mostly gave up cultiVatin
90 it, and, as they use very little c
that beverage themselves, they did No
n seem to care. What there is of cotfe
4 though, is of an excellent quality, abou
n the same as a first class Java.
! OF course, spices bananas, fruit, etc
grow to perfection, and as 20
know, hemp. IN fact, the Manila hem
is at the present time the most i'm
portant article of export and brings Ell
OrmOuS returns.
/, The sugar cane / have seen here
juicy and quite large. The distance be
tween the joints about as on the Ia
\ hama cane, and the diameter about !
y inches, sometimes only one inc
through.
BY the way. would it be possible I
solve the labor problem of Hawaii b
importing labor from here?