The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1900-12-27
ISLAND OF PANAY.
Visit of National Tribune's Cor
respondent to Staid Old IlOiIO.
ILouo, ISLE OF PASAY, Oct. 81.

1t was a beautiful day, following a
week of typhoOn weather, when we
not under water, looked fresh and green
and the town, including the great number
of stone foundations, where the buildings
were burned by the insurgents when our
forces landed, were interesting if not at
tractiye. Many new buildings are being
erected, and, as often happens in towns
after destructive fires, the new llOilo will
undoubtedly far surpass the old.
After a parting meal on the Venus,
taken at the dock, Lieut.. Merriam and
myself got our belongings into caro-
covered with an arched canopy of bamboo
mating, not drawn by a carabao, but by
a patient on resembling the Dos Ameri-
cana, and started to the Washington Ho-
TEL which had been recommended as the
best. The Teniente took the sidewalk
while i walked behind the cart, endeav-
Oring to keep my eye on Il bag of Amer
lean coin which at starting had been
placed as the uppermost piece of baggage
in full view. but which the hOmbre who
acted as footman and who had sprawled
over the top of the load, managed, by
taking advantage of each jolt, to work
down to the very bottom; so that, had he
been n prestidigitator, it might have dis
appeared altogether.
ILoILo AN ANCIENT CAPITAL.
~ udIlNe lO"H Is DtlltNeu u udNt betU
here prior to the landing of Legaspi and
his followers in 1919; though Oton, a
town seven miles west on the coast, was
settled much earlier by the Spaniards,
and was, in fact, the first capital of Pa
nay, having a charter of special char
acter from Spain.
As near as can be determined, the name,
Iloilo, is formed from doubling the Wis
ayan word ''ilon," meaning a nose. The
point of land extending to the east on
which Fort Santiago is located veers TO
the south, and the point formed by the
river veers TO the north. the shore be-
tween them receding; and, in fact, con-
cavity Of swamp extended at one time
many rods back from the channel, thus
forming two long points or noses. One
can easily conceive how, even before a
fishing village. was established here, Ma
lay .boatmen would naturally refer TO the
place as the two noses, or lloilo.
As it was the location and the oppor-
tunity il afforded for fishing and trade, as
well as safety from, storms for the praos
that once piled these waters, which caused
the original settlement, so like many an
other town situated nearly on level with
sea or lake, as locations become valuable
watery wastes have been filled in, and
the town has attained prominence in the
Philippines second only to Manila as
commercial center.
Inc OTlSlHdl &Adldy settlers ulu HOlu-
ing toward filling in Such work would.
in fact, have hindered if not prevented
the very purpose of their settlement. They
built their dwellings upon stakes driven
into the mud of the lagoon and submerged
shores of river and channel that they
might have opportunity to fish, TO battle
and swim. to man their boats-tO have
abundant water and sewage privileges at
the same time. With a snug thatch
above the water, rice, cocoanuts and ba-
nanas on the near shore, and q prao at
anchor, the Malay was as independent as
q prince. But times have changed. In
dependence begets sloth, especially in the
tropics; and as the population multiplied,
interior settlements became necessities.
and the nature of the sea pirate changed
accordingly. Panay was accredited by
the Spanish authorities as having a pop
ulation of 676,991, chiefly Visayan, with
q few Negritos in the mountains. Some
American officers, who have traversed a
part of the island, think this number too
high, but when | asked DR.. +. A. Z. Dis
ney, who has lived in the interior of Ca
piz, he said:
II have seen nearly that number come
out of the interior Of single nipa
thatch." a... -it-
Every wealthy Filipino, he says, has
his own kin and relatives by marriage to
support. This the Doctor considers a seri-
GUS drawback to marriage with a Fill
Pine.
As commercial town noilo is prac-