The record-union., 1899-12-24


There are very few Filipinos here, the
hammedan religion, and worse class
of people would be hard to find. In
the villages a few miles from Jolo the
people are savages and totally uncivil-
lied.
There are very many different tribes
of people in this group of islands, and
each tribe has it's own lingo. They are
of all shades of color, from the mulatto
to the darkest African. Some of them
have straight black hair, while others
have curly hair like the negro. They
are treacherous and cruel. They sit
around on their launches like frogs,
and eat with their fingers. They feed
themselves like monkeys, chew like
monkeys. scratch like monkeys and in
fact act like monkeys. They wear very
peculiar clothes, tight fitting like an ac-
robat wears. A person wonders how
in the deuce they get into them, until
the buttons are seen at the bottom. The
men never take their clothes off, going
in swimming and sleeping with them
on They do not wear any shoes at all.
The women wear nothing but smiles,
and the children run about the streets
as naked as the day they were born.
They would steal the eyes out of a dead
man.
! Last week went on visit to a small
village about two miles from here and
such sights as l saw Natives, dogs,
chickens and water buffaloes all living
IN the same shack. Dirty! why a pig
is clean compared with them Their
teeth are very black from the constant
use of cocoanut oil. They sell their
children, the Chinese buying most of
the girls, paying from $40 to $50 in
Mexican money for good, fat, healthy
girl. l was offered a good looking one
for 500, but told the hombre l was
not thinking of matrimony just at
present.
The women that have been married
once have brass ring around the left
wrist, an excellent idea The grass
widows cannot palm themselves off as
maidens over here. They all carry large
knives, about the size of a small boy.
They have no more gratitude than a
snake, and are ignorant as pigs They
| do not know the days of the week, nor
when they were born. In looks they
resemble a cross between a Georgia
negro and Digger Indian. with the
of cleanliness the Digger Indian would
! win.
| Jolo is the largest island of the Sulu
/ group The surface is of a rolling ma
| ture, some of the mountains being very
] large, but, unlike the mountains of the
/ States, they are covered with yegeta-
ton to the very tops and are cAltivat-
ed by the Moros, who, with a crooked
limb Of a tree for a pillow and the &C.
centric looking land sometimes going)
caribou, or water buffalo, for motive
power, cultivate small patches of
ground to vegetables and fruits of vari-
Gus sorts. They also raise small auan-
titles of rice, nutmegS coffee and cocoa.
The Chinese carry on most of the
business, and as a depraved and ras-
cally people they even discount their
almond-eyed brethren in the States,
L believe, when the North Pole is dis
covered, Chinese will be found there.
Everything is very cheap here Fruit.
! such as bananas, are % cents a bunch:
Mexican pineapples, l cent in Mexican
money; oranges, 3 cents a dozen; green
corn, 200 ears for 40 cents; sweet DO
tatoes, 20 cents for 80 pounds: so
pounds of fish, 81; large chickens. Is
cents each small, 10 cents; eggs. 1
cent A chicken can be bought cooked
in any style for 80 cents Monkeys
bring from 10 cents up, according to
/ character; parrots. 10 to 20 cents;
cigars, from to 4 cents; 100 cigarettes
for cents; lemonade, 1 cent a glass.
whisky, from l cent glass up.
There have been but three deaths
since we arrived here. Isn't that re-
markable, out of 800 men? We have
been here about three months Two
were caused by liquor Whisky. the
use OF which in cold climates may per-
maps be excused, is in tropical climates.
very harmful in its effects upon the
system. The whisky and gin here is of
the rankest kind
We use Spanish, Mexican, Chinese
and japanese money. For one of our
dollars we receive two of the above
and for one of our one-cent pieces we
get two native. 1t does not make any
difference if the money is full of holes
1t Is, as the natives say, "mucha
bueno. Everything goes here.
The night preceding the entrance of
His Royal Majesty, the Sultan. about
nifty dflapidated specimens of females
IN company with the Sultan's son-in-
law, came into town, and souatting
themselves down on a long strip of
mating, which was laid for their ar
commodation on the public street. they
started up mournful dirge, having
neither time nor tune to it. They kept
1t up until the commanding officer sent
word, in language more forceful than
polite, for them to desist
The next day we received orders Tn
fall out for dress parade, as His ROYAL
dlghness was about to enter the CITY.
After falling in line we marched to the
main gate of the city, where we await
ed his arrival and having heard of his
wanderful wealthsand many armed men
We're in expectation of witnessing an
imposing spectacle on his entrance to
the town. But imagine our surprise to
see a struggling line of horsemen an
preaching. followed by about one score
of foot soldiers The Sultan was mount
ed on an old horse that had seen better
days, creeping along as if it was walk
ing on crutches. As soon as he en-
tered the gate the order, Present
| arms" was given, the band at the same
time palying .See the Conquering Hero
Comes The old fool did not know
what to make of it. He could not sign
his name to the treaty. His body guard
consisted in all of about thirty-five ma
tives- Those on horseback, as well as
those on foot. were armed with
varied collection of weapons from pois-
on-pointed spears to huge knives