Evening star., 1901-04-30

one for girls each seeming to vie with the
OF her in the amount of noise made by the
bright little rats inside. as they repeat
aloud and in concert page after page or
the cateChsm. English is also taught, and
! have heard these native children sing
America for all the world like our boys
and girls in the United States. and with
remarkable charm. for they are very mu-
sical people and fond of singing. The great
harp is a favorite instrument, and the ma
tive women sing quaint sweet songs to this
accompaniment. with sometimes Just a
touch of sadness that lends an additional
charm to their music, All of the village
stores and many of the wayside houses are
provided with little ''tiendas.' or booths,
where refreshments are sold by native
girls who invite the passers-by to sit for
while and drink vino or tuba, and
take a little "dulce. fruit, for which a
few pennies are charged.
Comfortable Country Houses.
Country houses are often large and COM
Portable, with plenty of ventilation and
wide yerandas. They contain an upper and
a lower story. Sometimes they are built of
smooth boards sawed out by hand. The
roofs are usually Of nipa thatch. The
lower floor is used for store rooms and
granaries the upper floor alone being used
for living purposes. Broad flights of stairs
lead up to the verandas and great open
windows eight ten feet wide reveal the
interior. The roofs are very steep and
high, giving the houses much the appear
ance of Swiss chalets. Pet turkeys strut
about the houseyard and game roosters,
with magnificent plumage, crow Justify In
anticipation of the morrows victory, while
saucy- red and green parrots or yellow
crested white cockatOoS scream at every
passer-by from cages of bamboo; and like
as not some handsome Filipino girl. with
dark hair tumbling in disorder over her
bare shoulders, smiles coquettishly she
raises her WondrouS eyes from her needle
a q q
on the veranda, quite conscious of the ad-
miring glances cast her way as the Amer
lcanos go riding BY
A few miles out of town the Santa Maria
road strikes abruptly into the foothills of
the mountains of PalOmbato, that eternally
oyershadow this peaceful land. Several
expeditions have been made into these
mountains by our troops and the way has
been found to be almost impossible. In
the depths of these mountain ranges the
men only made about thirty miles In
five days. They experienced many thrill
ing adventures, often having to scale
dangerous precipices by means of ropes.
Game OF all kinds was found and our peo-
pie lived on venison and wild boar When
well broiled over a camp fire this meat
was found to be delicious.
After the Spanish left Zamboanga there
was d revolution. The local 'presidente
Senior Alvarez, was forced to flee for his
life, and Isidoro Midel succeeded to power
He had the support Of Datto Mandi and
the Moros. Shortly after this revolution
the town of Zamboanga was voluntarily
surrendered to the American commander
of the United States ship Castine; so that
when General Bates came to Zamboanga to
make that place his headquarters with the
3lst United States Volunteer Infantry the
revolution was an accomplished fact
Presidente MideI.
Isidoro Midel, the 'presidente" Of Fam
boanga is a man about forty years of age
of slight build and medium height, whose
features and manner denote man who
would not readily abandon any cause he
might decide to espouse. He is Filipino,
born in Tetuan. a town adjacent to Zam-
boanga. He was 'jefe local. of Tetuan
prior TO his election to his present office
and 'gobernadorcillo," or mayor, under
the Spanish administration. His men shot
and killed Milanio Calixto, the insurgent
chief, at Tetuan. under preteXt Of turning
out the guard in his honor. .Calixto was a
young artillery officer sent to Zamboanga
from Luzon. He was an insurgent heart
and soul, and to his intelligence was due
whatever power Aguinaldo possessed in
this locality. The insurgent leadership was
in the hands of Vicente Alvarez, then