Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1899-08-24
A FILIPINO ON THE PHILIPPINES
Ramon Reeves Lala Writes of the Peo-
pie of His Own Country.

49, ~ VIZ oASuotAOh III TIC
has led most eventful life since he
left his birthplace in Manila more than
twenty years ago and started out to ac-
quire an education. His sources of
instruction would open the eyes of
most of the undergraduates of Ameri-
can colleges. First he went to Hong
kong to school. Then he took course
at Singapore, in the Straits settle
ments. After that he spent twelve
years in London in st. Johns college
and then took three years in the
Neufchatel university, Switzerland.
One value of such training is that it
necessarily gives to the student speech
in many tongues. Mr.. Lala is a fluent
English scholar and speaks half the
languages of the European continent
and the far east. He contributes to
the Saturday Evening Post of Phila-
delphia the following interesting
article on the people of the Philip
pines:
In the 600 habitable Islands that
form the Philippine group there are no
less than thirty distinct tribes, each
having its own chronological dlstinc-
tions, its own dialect and traditions
and its own tribal government.
The most civilized and most numer-
Gus of these tribes are the Tagalos, the
Visayans and the Moros of Sulu. The
Tagalos inhabit Luzon and are by far
the most advanced of AN the Filipinos.
They have been under the influence of
Spain for more than three centuries
and have developed civilization-half
Oriental, half European-thati in many
respects is truly admirable. The
early Spanish missionaries frtm
Mexico were of great benefit to them.
They introduced the use of maize ard
wheat and taught the natives how to
cultivate the cereals. From them also
the Tagalos learned the art of weav-
ing, and now in nearly every hut in
LuZon one will find a bamboo loom,
upon which are woven fabrics of cot
ton, silk, hemp, bambo and pima, the
fiber of the pineapple leaf, beauti-
full and durable native fabric
The Tagalos have become the rep
resentative Filipinos, though they
form but small part of the native
population. Aguinaldo, Antonio
Luna, Mabini, Buencamino, Palermo
and the other insurgent leaders belong
to this tribe. The upper classes of the
Tagalos, among whom are many
wealthy, able and distinguished men,
are almost without exception in favor
of a protectorate, or annexation.
The Tagalos, the most civilized of
all the Filipino tribes, show what our
people are capable Of Among them
are to be found all the refinement of a
luxurious civilization. We have hun
dreds of doctors, lawyers and other
professional men, educated in the best
universities OF Europe We have
poets, artists and musicians, who have
excited the admiration of travellers and
the wonder of other peoples. We have
our large planters, our progressive
business men and our great merchants.
OF the wild denizens of the mountain
Businesses of Luzon very little is
known. The weapons of these savages
are extremely crude and useless when
employed against modern arms.
Aguinaldo's placing of body of Igor
rotes armed with bows and arrows, at
the head of forlorn hope against the
destructive front of the American
artillery was a ghastly joke that made
the nations laugh-one, however, that
the Igorrotes will not seen forget.
The Igorrotes are a people of great
natural force. They are of Malay and
negro origin, and are purer and fiercer
than the Tagalos, who are a mixture of
Hindu, Malay, Chinese and Japanese.
The Igorrotes inhabit northern Luzon
far mountains and the wild jungles
where for centuries they have re-
sisted every attempt TO subdue them.
The Igorrotes are copper-colored and
most of them wear their hair long.
Their shoulders are powerful and their
limbs, as rule, are large and muscu-
lar. They have high cheek bones
fiat noses and thick lips. They live in
small, primitive huts and cultivate
sugar-cane, rice and sweet potatoes
In some places they practice poly
gamy; murder is OF frequent occur
renee and their family feuds are bit
ter and deadly. They are great cat
tie thieves and are a source of per-
fIetual annoyance to the domesticated
natives in the valleys. They will be a
standing menace to American progress
in the regions Occupied by them and,
if they persevere in tn ctr refusal to be
civilized, they will have to be exter-
minated; but believe this harsh alter
native will not be found necessary.
In the northwestern part of Luzon
are the wild Gaddanes, who are also a
strong native race. They wear their
hair down to their shoulders and pre-
sent fine physical appearance. They
are armed with long. sharp spears, but
some carry bows and arrows which
they use with remarkable effect.
The Gaddanes are great tuft-hunters
and always take the sealps Of their
enemies who fall in battle A young
mans standing in his community is
measured by the number of scalps in
his possession. If he desires to win a
girl, he presents her father win a