The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-11-19

The teachers who went Bog the Thorn
rs to the Philippines were by no means
81 peaceful as they seemed. The gene
tlemen and ladies of the expedition had
supplied themselves pretty fairly with
weapons. a list was made sometime
after their arrival and the result ss
published in Manila paper showed
twelve shotguns. tveny-one rifles, "a
hundred and nmety-siN revolyers and
upward of twenty thousand rounds Of
ammunition. AS remarked by The pa
per this Is more than the American
army had fired off in the six months
previously.
The paper makes merry over the cir
cumstanCe and gives some conspicuous
instances of well armed teachers as
follows:
"F. Van Mugs, from Virginia is a
regular portable arsenal. Van comes
from the South and is evidently pre-
pared TO defend his honor as a South
ern gentleman. sah Van must have
thought that himself and his honor
would need a lot OF defending, for he
brought a rifle and two hundred and
fifty rounds of rifle ammunition, shot
gun and two hundred cartridges. and
a revolver and a hundred and fifty pis-
tol cartridges Warlike FilipinOs will
do well to steer clear of Van
wv. w. ROdWell comes from Iowa.
He is division superintendent Of educa-
lion for the district along the railroad
i'm Northern LuzOn. Mr.. ROdwell evil
IDENTIFY thought that his district would
be on the firing line. He only brought
a Winchester rife and three hundred
cartridges, "A shotgun with seVenty-fiye
shells, and a pistol with forty cart
ridges. This, however may be enough
10 enable him to protect himself and
Family. Mrs, ROdwell is along, and she
can use the shotgun if they are hard
pressed, Rod will look out for himself
Mrs. S. s. McVay also comes from
Iowa. She brought two pistols, not
withstanding the fact that she is mar
ried and Mr.. McVay is along.
IF. ID. Sawyer Of Maine, brought
two rifles and two revolvers. There is
an old saw which says, Don't monkey
with the buzzsaW.' In this case ii VIII
hardly be safe 70 monkey with the
Sawyer either. J. NJ. Gambill has a
rifle. two pistols, and eight hundred
rounds Of ammunition. II is safe TO
Gambill that he will be able TO hold
the fort for awhile. +. y. Adams has
a rife, a shotgun, and pistol II viii
be Adam foxy hombre who takes him
by surprise. ID. J. -. Myers has a
Colts revolver with ffty-fve hundred
cartridges. 1t viii take ad-Myer-able
nerve TO go up against that PROPOSE
ton"
OF course the situation lends itself to
humor. It is and must be amusing to
the Iooker-on TO see those who have
gone out to teach the arts Of peace,
prepare themselves with the means Of
war. But there might be much said
in excuse or defense. At the same time
this armed attitude is not the one in
which some Of the greatest Of teachers
have gone forth into greater wilds than
those Of the Philippines. The trouble
with the teachers who went to the
Philippines is that they in a large ma
iority had no sense Of perspective.
However the arms question may pos
sibIy be explained from a totally differ
ent standpoint. There was a consider
able percentage Of those who went to
the Philippines as teachers, who never
meant to carry out their contracts.
They used the government free passage
as a means of reaching a new Eldora-
do. They had heard that there were
large gold deposits in Mindanao, and
that other minerals were to be obtain
ed. As soon as they should be able to
look around them, they intended to
quit teaching and go prospecting. 1t
is among this class that the arms were
doubtless found After few of them
have been prospecting for a while their
arms will most probably be owned by
Filipinos, or by some Of the wilder ma
tive tribes Of the interior
The incident has served to enliven
the Manila papers, and they assuredly
needed it. But the chances are that
the incident will not close without some
tragedy to throw the comic element in
TO relief.