The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1900-03-01


DIR. George f. Becker. the govern
ment geologist sent TO the philippines
In his report expresses the opinion liia'
the ape-like the creature termed tue
missing link'-may have had It's earn
est haunts In those isles of the sea. al
a time when. not less than 3Oo'oou
wears ago, they we're connected Win
the mainland OF Asia by sort OF iaho
bridge. via Borneo. In this opinion IL
Rocker comedies with the late ITO
fessor Marsh of Yale University VIM
EXPRESSED the belief that the Phiilp-
pines were among the earliest loe'iii-
ties inhabited by the human species
even If the latter did not actually starr
there. The time may have been ooo'ooo
years ago. but science always Wlshes
to be conservative.
There are excellent reasons, however
for believing that homo sapiens-the
true human being, as distinguishes
from the typical ape-existed on 'he
island of Luzon. or In that immeuia'e
neighborhood. in the epoch called the
pllocene. along toward the end oil the
tertiary period. which ended about
POO. 900 years ago with the great Ice
age. 1T
DIR. Becker surmises that the black
dvarfs ~ I.uzon and other Islands OF
the group. known as Negritos' are aetu-
ally descended from the primitive hu-
man stock in question. These blaek
pIgnies. now nearly extinct are as
tonishingly monkeyllke in aspect Inc
sounds they utter in lieu or language
resemble the short and sharp shrieks OF
animals. Apparently they are not as
family related TO the certain savages
discovered IN the Interior of Borneo not
exceeding four feet In stature, whose
wrinkled skins are covered win mar
aud who sleep In caves or IN trees aho
live on mice and such other small hiaih-
mails as they can eaten.
All through the larger island groups
NJ the southwest Pacific are found
more or less differentiated tribes OF
monkeylke dwarfs. They have been
wined ont entirely on all but the Iarg-
est islands. such as LuZon and MID
danao where they still survive in small
numbers In the mountainous Interior.
Among them are certain aborigines OF
Sumatra, whose bodies are covered all
over withssofi. dark hair and who wear
no clothing. have no language OF their
own and learn with the utmost difficult
ty TO pronounce a few Malay words.
These plgmy peoples. according to
the belief of DR.. Becker and Prof..
Marsh. are descended directly from the
original stock of the so-called missing
link"
Now. this missing link is no theory,
some scientists say. That he and his
kinda whole tribe, constituting new
and improved species-did actually ex-
list has been proved by the discovery
In Java. not very far from the Philip
pines, of fossil specimen. There were
the upper part of a skull, molar tooth
and a left thigh bone, all completely
fossilized
Certainly the creature In question was
not human, but in size, brain power
and erect posture approached much
near to man than any other animal
hitherto known. The capacity of his
skull seems to have been about two
thirds that of the average human be-
ing. From generation to generation
they improved, physically and mental
~. Their arms grew shorter their legs
longer and their brain pans bigger, I'M
Ill at length the type represented by
the bones dug mp in central Java-the
pithecanthropus ercctus. or upright
monkey man. as scientists have named
the anmal-was evolved. Here at last
was the destined ancestor of the mon
keyllke Negritos of Luzon.
The land bridge to Asia, by way of
Borneo, afforded facilities for travel
and for the spread of the newly devel-
oped species of anthropoid, who, though
truly human, was pure beast-a mon
key with a bigger brain.-New York
Herald