The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-04-01


Island of Luzon that has yet been
lout in report made to the navy depart
ment by Paymaster w. B. Wilcox and
.Caaet r. L. Sargent, officers of Dewey's
fleet. Being granted leaves of absence
Hast October, Paymaster Wilcox and
fCadet Sargent chose to employ their
leisure time in making an exploration OF
1.-THE interior of the Island of Luzon, about
which little was known by the American
officers. At the outset they were warned
Philippine forces without the permission
of Aguinaldo. Upon application to this
leader at Malolas, his headquarters, he
first required formal sanction of their
request by Admiral Dewey, Gen. Otis
or Gen. Macarthur. and later when this
was produced declined altogether to issue
"a passport, although he assured tine off.
GERS that they we're free to proceed with
out molestation from his forces. Accord
tngly a start was made on October 5,
with five servants, eight horses and be-
tween 300 and 400 pounds of baggage, in
GLIDING camp outfit, two rifles and q
shotgun, with ammunition and a camera.
The officers were ununiformed. ..-,. sss
At Bayambang, where they took horse
Uloy uloL TWO AHerlCdIlS, WHO 4du DSeH
turned back to Manila because they had
no passports from Aguinaldo. A squad of
Philippine soldiers was at the station,
but through the influence of an English
resident Wilcox and Sargent were enabled
to proceed toward Rosales, the next
town on their route. They say: -
From Rosales to Humingan, and thence
to San Jose. we went on foot much of the
distance. The pack horses were unable t"
carry their loads, and we were forced to
engage natives to relieve them. Labor was
cheap. The men could usually be en-
gagged for day for So in silver, or less
than 10 cents in gold, a man. We travelled
slowly over this distance, the labor or
walking through the mud, freuehtly over
our knees, being excessive. The horses
grew poor rapidly and we were forced to
husband their strength. We could seldom
find food for them at night. One servant
became i'll, and was left at a village. The
rest of the party retained -theireiea4eh,.
with the exception of occasional cases of
diarrhoea. Our food consisted OF bacon
and hardtack which we had brought with
us, and chickens and rice, which we OBJ
tanned from the natives.
"Throughout this part Of the Province
of Nueva Icaja almost the only form of
agriculture encouraged by the natives Is
rice-growing. A little sugar Is also raised.
The land Is rich, and we encountered no
barren or unfertile spots. The fields at
this season are several inches deep IN
water. There was no timber OF value
along the direct line of our routes, but In
the hills along the river Ango forests ant.
practically no CATTLE though there arc a
great number of buffalo, which are Of ex-
IRENE utility The principal labor Of the
natives at this season is the threshing of
rice. This Is done primitivey with a
mortar made of section Of a log of hard
wood and pestle, a hard club, from four
RI five foot nd ho% c;x ir11, ~,
diameter, at each end. ".
lin the villages of Humingan and Lupao
there are few Spanish prisoners-priests,
soldiers and civil officials. We have seen
repreSen tatives Of each Of these three
classes in these towns. We could detect
no signs of ill-treatment nor undue restric-
ton. On the contrary, they appeared to
possess the freedom of the towns in which
they lived.
'"The presidente local and other local Of
fcials are native Filipinos. Most of them
have received a certain amount of educa-
tion at religious schools in Manila. They
are Intelligent and extremely eager to
learn news from the outside world. Their
knowledge of modern history and geo.
Eraphy is extremely limited and their ig-
[norance of current events is surprising.
We brought them their first definite in
formation with regard to Cuba and to
their present status. One or two of them
had heard of the congress at Paris, but
no one had any idea as to it's object, nor
las to it's relation to themselves They
were we'll grounded on only three points
THE obstruction of the Spanish squadron
Pin Manila harbor, the surrender of Manila,
land the declaration of the Philippine gov
iernment at MaloloS of the independence
Iof the islands and the establishment of a
republican form of government with Ag-
'uinaldo as president. Even on these points
the details they had received were mac
,curate. .u ~. $F.5 #G
The American officers were received
coolly by the Philippine military officers
at Carranglan, owing to their lack of
passports, but were permitted to proceed
after drying their moldy baggage, in the
face of the predictions that they; had
worse rivers to cross and other. obstacles
as we'll. It was plainly impossible for
them to accomplish their journey In the
months leave they had taken, SO they
mailed back letters asking extension until
Nov. 20. e.-s %r Isl +. nj &EgssSz
Leaving Carranglan, the presidente local
insisted upon their taking a guard Of
twelve soldiers, with a sergeant, ITO pro-
tect us against the Igolotes, or sawages.
that are said to infest the hills between
this town and Aritao.
''tOe the timber which we have seen, the
most valuable on the island is the
.mulawe, so called in both Spanish and
Tegla This is tall. straight tree. with
few branches. The bark Is light color,
but the wood is dark and close grained,
and resists water and weather. 1t is much
used for boats and for the floors and ex-
posed uprights of houses. There is also
much bamboo some of which has been
curt. The heavier trees are as yet I'M
molested. We saw no signs Of sawages
nor of poisonous snakes, against which
we had been warned by the natives of the
district. In going from Carrang an to
AriIao we went from the Province of
Nueva Icaja to that of Nueva Vizcaya