Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-08-11

TAGALO INFRINGEMENT, OUTSIDE.
line. 40 miles away. General Lawtop
was also pushing the insurrectos des-
perately, here in Manila the horse races
of the season took place as usual The
regulation track, the grand stand, the
drinking bar tricked out with American
! flags, were all there, familiar to cur
sight as patent medicine advertise
| ments. A native band, fortunately
considerable distance away, made al
legged music. Spanish ladies. few well
dressed. and all cf them bare headed in
the pretty Manila fashion. sat in the
seats of the grand stand as in the old
days. flashing their dark eyes hither
and thither and flirting silly little fans.
But the prettiest women and those most
handsomely dressed are Americans, al
ways Americans. Hatchet faced jockeys
in the same old red, yellow and purple
satin togs that have seen better days
darted in and out upon the scene and
urged the stumpy little heather ponies
of the islands to the top of their speed,
which, at risk of laming themselves for
life or bursting blood vessel, they can
bring up to 2:14 or 2:16. People would
go on just the same at the crack of
doom, after they got used to it. And
why not There "mucho boom boom.
here horse racing.
Each letter write l say to myself,
"Let us hope fervently that peace will
descend in blessing on the Philippines
ere this reaches my readers. Each
week meantime new regiments arrive
from the mighty States There are near
40, 900 American soldiers here now.
Almost every morning men in blue and
brown, fully accoutered for fight, their
dog tents slung across their backs, their
rifles upon their shoulders, battalion
after battalion. swing through the town
with the long, free step of the soldier
and the white man, marching to the
field, to victory or DEATH and victory in
any case. Sometimes it will be pack
train of colossal mules from the States,
with dashing western cowboy soldiers
rounding the creatures up and guiding
them i'll the way they should go, the
boys whooping it up and yelling mer-
rily as if they were on their own great
plains. The very sight of those big
mules, here where nearly everything is
stunted and dried up and "ornery'' look
ing, does the American eye good. Even
the commissioners whom Aguinaldo
sent to sue for peace with General Otis
were of that same witheled up. inferior
little cut
Two talents the natives here possess,
and only two, so far as 1 can see. They
have quick ear for music and the
initiative faculty in this direction re-
markably developed. A good Tagalo
musician can pick out upon his mandolin
any air that may be hummed or whis
tied to him. and he remembers it after
ward and can play ii One original
Tagalo composition | have heard that
is spirited and musical 1t is the
"Aguinaldo March, " said to have been
made all out of his own head by that |
leaders, secretary. 1t is the rallying |
note of the rebel host, from head man
to water carrier The Filipinos in Ma
Mia play and whistle the march to |
themselves, but are shy of letting it be
ueftlu ny buC auISIlCdliS, ullleSS tutF |
are especially persuaded. We.ought to
have this march in the United States.
1t would be an acquisition to military
bands
The other Tagalo talent is the highly
developed ability to weave by hand tex
tile fabrics whatever may be put to-
gether by twining and crossing threads
fiber. bark and canes, such as baskets
mats, fences and huts In this work
the practice of ages has made them as
skillful as a beaver in building its dam
or bird in weaving its nest. This skill
crops out at one point where it was
hardly to have been looked for. With
the materials at their hand, Aguinaldo's
natives are probably the cleverest con-
structors of intrenchments in the world
The pictures illustrate. The Tagalo
soldier drives n double row of stakes into
the ground The rows are foot or more
apart The native then weaves in and
out among them strips Of bamboo, tiil
be makes a double fence, hard to get
through as the bottom of cane seat
chair. Between the rows he fills earth
in, and the thing is done 1t is as high
as the Tagalo's head, breast high for