Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-05-05

q roof and floor being without walls of
any kind and having only posts az the
corners 10 support the roof These peo-
pie 20 almost naked. A man who has
/ Just returned from a trip among them
says that the men he saw wore squares
OF cloth suspended from o string around
their waists, and women wore skirts
which were not more than q foot long.
The women had brass rings ON their
angles and wrists. The men were armed
with bows and arrows and spears. The
weapons We're poisoned, the poison COM
Ing from a tree which grows In the
mountains.
The Mindayas are a strange people
who live In the eastern part Of this
/ island, not far from Matt We have
recently established O garrison at that
point and we shortly hope % get some
thing concerning them. They have fair
skins and look not unlike Europeans.
Ia addition 10 these there are many
other tribes some OF whom such as the
Bacobos. Atlas Guyangas and Taga-
coles are notorious for having human
sacrifices Many OF the savages are
| head hunters and all are supposed TO
| be unfrendly 20 the whites AS 10 this,
| however. nothing certain can be known
until explorations can be made such
of the soldiers as have gone into the
mountains have not been molested, and
the probability IS that II the people
are kindly treated there Will be little
trouble with them
The problem of handling them and
the Moros is q most serious one. especl-
ally the Moros. This, so far has been
most admirably done by Gen, Bates, but
whether the policy viii hold good Is
yet to be seen. I find the Moros
most interesting people. There are In
the neighb0rhood OF two hundred thou
sand Of them on this island. They have
villages everywhere along the coast and
about the lakes OF the interior There
are large numbers Of them about Fam
boanga, and ] see them everywhere.
They are semi-savages, but their
civilization. history and character is
such that I win have to devote one or
more special letters TO describing them.
They have caused the Spaniards trouble
for centuries. and until now have stead
lily resisted any union Of either religion
or government with the whites
A ROYAL Principally.
In this letter I should like TO give
some idea OF the resources OF Mindanao,
| for. as I have said ! consider It one Of
the most important parts of our posses
slons. 1 have spoken OF the timber.
| The best OF the hardwOods OF the archi-
peiago are to be found here. The noun
tains are covered with trees. In travel
| ing along the east and south coast you
/ see wooded hills rising one above the
| other, extending on and on until they
| lose themselves In the clouds, which In
| this latitude always hang low. The
/ woods are mahogany, rosewood. ebony
and many other varieties Here az
| Zamboanga the buildings occupied by
| our troops are floored with mahogany.
| The soldiers stamp with their heavy
boots over boards which would make
! piano tops. and ! rode my horse today
| across the canal over a wooden bridge
| which, with the proper machinery.
might have been turned into a $50 din
ner table. AT the headquarters yester-
/ day put my feet on a rosewood iloor
! under the mahogany table OF Col.
/ Petit and this morning took ride In
/ "a dugout, fifty feet long, gouged out OF
q log which, I'm the United States
| would have been turned into walking
/ sticks worth a dollar apiece, Rose
/ wood Is I'm fact the oak Of MindanaO
| aud mahogany Is as common as pine
Is In Wisconsin.
THE sPANIARDs SAVED THE TIM
Der.
The question as 20 why the Spaniards
! did not develop the timber resources
! OF the Islands is often asked The rea-
! son probably Is that they thought that
| they could make more by taxing for
! eigners who attempted % do co. They
/ put the taxes too high, however, ana lu
! this way prevented development. They
/ had rigid forestry laws. The lumber
: had 10 be handled in a certain way
The logs must be cut just &c. ana there
were 50 many fees and restrictions that
every big lumber company which at
tempted 20 operate failed. Today there
| ere many men looking into the Lumber
| interests and eventually saw mills viii
be established There are a few mills
here now, but most OF the saving and
planning is done by hand Those who
bring the mills should remember that
the wood is very hard and that the
circular saws which we commonly use
win not cut A. The saws which are
found 90 work best are those which 70
up and down, and band saws, or ganl
saws. would probably work.
corn tNr, PcAr NrrNUg