The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1899-01-13

mountain line of railroad for ascent ant
short level line to connect with tn,
Manila -Dagupan line would take pas
sengers from Manila in about twelv,
hours to this desirable retreat
The provinces of Union Zambales
Pangasinan and Bulacan largely pro
duce tobacco, sugar, rice, etc. The
Angat mountains, Bulacan and Boso
boso, only few miles from Manila
produce iron ore yielding upward of II
per cent of pure metal. These mines
have been worked but little Some iron
ore from Angat is stated to have pro.
duced 80 per cent of pure metal The
latter exists in large quantities, only re-
1uiring capital and enterprise to devel-
op large production. Lead, silver,
gold and coal are to be found in many
parts of Luzon. Hemp, sugar and cof-
fee are also produced, the first two in
large quantities.
"MindOra, close to Manila, is occu-
pied by Europeans only in small spots.
and is covered, as are many parts of
Luzon, wife valuable timber from the
waters edge to the mountain top The
variety of hard and other woods num-
bers about seventy of known good
woods. Valuable but undeveloped coal
beds exist in HalcOm, the highest noun
tain in the group
'ROmblose is rich in marbles, covered
with cocoanut trees and only partially
explored. The islands Of Tublas, Mar
bate, Burias and Marinduque, etc, are
good timber producers, and also DOS
sess excellent pasture lands. The large
ana fertil; island of Panay produces su-
gar, rice and sapan wood in abundance.
and there are indications of petroleum
and coal in some places. Owing to a
lack of roads, it is next to impossible to
bring the produce to the shipping port.
llollo, unless at an eXOrbitant and pro-
hlbitive cost his island and it's neigh
Dor, NegrOs, are most promising fields
for railways, the port of Iloilo bidding
fair to be the principal exporting center
OF the archipelago at no distant date.
In 1850 Negros and 1loilo exported
about 600 tons of sugar. In 1897 the
production was close to 200. 900 tons.
Rapid communication would increasa
the yield four-fold in short time.
'Cebu, Leyte, Samar and Bohol pro-
duce sugar, hemp, maize and tobacco.
Excellent cattle are also raised. Cebu
is full of coal. In the mountain sine at
Uling, the outcroppings indicate the
existence of millions of tons. A couple
OF millions of tons could be extracted
with very little mining This is the
largest coal bed thus far discovered.
and with fifteen miles of railway the
mineral can be put down in the port
OF Cebu at a cost of rather under than
over five shillings per ton. The coal is
OF good steaming quality. The local
steamer owners have found it to be
fully as good as the best Japan lump
With an abundance Of cheap labor, coal
anc iron within easy reach. many en-
terisrises, having the raw material on
the spot, could be at once proceeded
with, such as rOpewalks, sugar refin-
cries cement and brick works, docks,
wharves, -eclamations, port improve
ments, dredging etc, for which there
IS an unlimited field all over the group.
Many of the above indus ries give
handsome returns in HoEg Kong and
elsewhere, even after the payment of
freight and charges on the raw material
imported from Manila Java. Japan,
etc. The island of Mindanao is practi-
cally unexplored and unconquered.
with the exception Of a fringe around
the coast 1t is timbered from waters
edge to mountain top, and produces
hemp; gold and coal mines abound all
OF which are unworked"