Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-07-21
THOSE "SAVAGE" FILlPINOS.

The imperialistic press of this country has
had a great deal to say about the Ignorant,
savage Fiipinos, who care not capable of
governing themselves" To show that they
are not such ignorant savages, we quote part of
a letter received by Miss Sue Lacy, of this city,
from her cousin Frank Campbell, of NewYoik,
who is soldier in the Philippines:
81 am going to describe the 'derosito' to
you. l went in and made thorough investi-
CATION, and l think it one of the most wonder
full pieces of engineering that exists to-day.
Gas l said, it is a reservor-but such res
ervoir. l do not know how to begin to de-
scribe it.
"You drive up lovely road from the city,
and come to place that looks like big park,
enclosed by stone wall twelve fifteen feet
high, and with a large barrack building form
ing part of the front wall. Having pull
(you must have that, you are admitted to the
grounds, and find yourself in-well as said,
what appears to be a curious kind CT park,
You hear mighty ioar of waters, and, being
of an inquisitve nature, Set out to find the
source of it (the roar, not the water as that is
impractcable). At first, you only see lot of
cages setting on stone pedestals, and if you
have been out with the boys the previous even
ing, you may possibly imagine that you see
green elephants with red spots on their wing
feathers, or sky-blue hamingoes III the cages.
On closer examination, however, you find the
said cages to be abolutely empty, the only pc
culiarity of them being that each pedestal is
simply low wall, enclosing hole in the
ground of the depth Of which you can form no
idea, as the cage Islands you off, so far you
can see only about 20 feet down the hole, al
though these same holes are ten by twenty feet.
Well, YOU wonder and then wonder, and
count. You find these are about 1000 Cages
then you listen some more to the roar of the
waters, and then you wonder again.
Just at this stage, you (beiug III Manila,
where all the ladies smolse) will light a cigar
cite, and then walk on.
Hello what is this p? "Well, l declare ~
A flight of steps, descending apparently, into
the very bowels of the earth.
But you are determined to see It out. Rou start
down the steps, ueSCeHu dpoul ioilN iSN'i a''N'
halt on a stone landing at the bottom You
wait moment for your eyes to become accus-
toned to the semi darkness, and then the
whole as we'll as the 'hoe' of the Manila
deposito is an open secret with YOU.
You look straight ahead-water; you look tc
the right-water; you look to the eft--water
Observation-Disclosures oceans of it . Clear and
cold-thirty feet deep-eighty rods long and
nearly as wide Your cage covered holes adj
nit enough light for you to see Il all, and there
YOU are. Imagine some thirty or forty acres O.
water, all under the absolute control OF man
at that distance beneath the surface of the earth
1t is wonderful, tell you.
OF course need not explain to you how the
whole thing is merely a network of arches
bewn out of the solid stone, and that the roar
ing YOU heard was a twenty-four inch pipe dis
charging its wealth OF 'aqua pura' from th'
pumping station, some four miles farther from
the city.
The deposito is on ground--or rather II
grouud-at a sufficient height above the city t
olive them water in the tallest buildings, an'
that is thought to lie enough in this beniShte'
country-yet do not know whether shoule
call it benighted or not after seeing this won
derful deposto.