The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1901-07-20
FROM THE
PHILIPPINES.

J Walter f. Campbell, hospital
corps, U. S. A., has written the
following interesting letter from
Baliang. P. l., to a friend in Bay
st. Louis, who has privileged The
Echo it's publication, as, follows:
| delayed in writing You until |
had seen more of the Philippine
Islands and its people.
! find the place very pleasant
and the natives interesting. Hop
ing you are we'll, will now try
to describe the place to the best
OF my ability. Luzon, the island
where / am stationed, is for the
most part mountainous, being in
torsected in its whole length by an
elevated ridge, from which other
ridges discrge and spread over
Che entire island. The height Of
the mountains are from 1000 to
1000 feet above sea level, and be-
ing situated near the coast can be
piaIuly seen NJ sea.
In and around Manila the scene.
ry is lovely, with the lofty noun
tains rising almost abruptly from
the water, the green and wooded
slopes of the rolling hills, and the
sparkling waters of the Manila
Bay forming perfect panorama.
The natives are chiefly of the
Malay race. Physically consid-
cred the Malays are rather below
the ordinary height, and with re-
markably small wrists and ankles;
the face round, the mouth large,
teeth fine, jaw square, and promi-
nent check bones. The nose il
small and short but not fiat; the
eyes black, hair long, coarse and
shiny and of a deep black and the
complexion tawny. They prac-
tlce agriculture; their products
arc chiefly tobacco, rice, cocoa
nuts, bananas and q few oranges.
but tobacco is the staple, every
native raises it. Cigars that sell
for five cents apiece in the States
can be bought in this country 80
cents per hundred, cigarettes 25
to 100 for 5 cents, and everything
else that is grown here sells in
same proportion. Imported goods
are very high.
Men, women and children smoke
but so far have not mastered the
art OF chewing tobacco, but in
stead chew.a narcotic masticatory
called betal. not only for chewing
but for dying the death black and
lmparting deep red to the lips- =
colors regarded as a mark of beau
ty and distinction, especially by
the females, who, on reaching the
marriageablc age, use the nut ex-
tcnslvely "a sure sign of man
wanted.
Ontbe island alone are over two
hundred varieties of wood in black
and white ebony-eight species of
mahogony, cedars, etc. With all
the timber sawmills are unknown.
The logs are worked into timber.
with old-fashioned whip saws.
The logs are stood on one end and
the boards are ripped off one at
the time by two of the natives
BY working hard they can saw one
hundred feet day. Most of their
houses are made of baboo. | have
seen a number of large houses in
which not n single nail was used, i,
the structure being woven togeth-
er in a peculiar but substantial
manner. The natives claim to be
Christians. The Sabbath day is
not generally observed except as
a day of frolic and cock fighting,
for which chickens are raised to a
great extent.
A Filipino Funeral. The bet
ter class of natives have u rough
box made, and the corpse put in
to it and sometimes kept for two
or three days. When they are
ready to bury it two or four men
put it on their shoulders and pro-
ceed to the church, from there to
the cemetery. The people pay by
the year for their burial lot or
tomb. If they fail to pay their
bones are taken to the bone pile,
Il place where the bones of poor
people are deposited. There was
a large bone pile when | first came
out here, but the Americans have
buried them. When poor ma
tive dies he is wrapped in a piece
of mating and carried off. In
about half an hour the mourners
will follow the corpse. If their
brass band is with them, first can
be seen the bass drum and the
rest come struggling along from
fifteen to thirty feet apart.
E Dclofe coming. to the Philip
pines | read in the newspa pers the
war was over. am not going to
deny that statement, but since my
arrival here / have read the three
English Manila daily newspapers
and could not call to mind sin
gle issue up to few weeks ago in
which fighting between the insur-
gents and Americans were not
going on, An order was issued
from the Department Command
CT, forbidding any soldier going
one hundred yards from camp
without his gun. The natives are
always on the alert and the SOL
diers can afford to take no
chances. When VIC go to fune-
raj our gun must hang by our
side; if we 60 to church .Gf there
is one to go toy we must go pre-
pared to shoot as well as to pray.
1t seems strange to see the organ
ist shift his gun to a convenient