Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-25
RICHES OF MINDORO
ACTIVE TRADE WITH ISLAND
SINCE OPENING OF PORTS.
Deposits of Gold, Silver and Coal-Wild
Tribesmen Dig Precious
Metal.
Mindoro Correspondence Manila Times.

Mindoro Correspondence Manila Times.
Since the opening of the ports of the Is
| land of Mindoro vessels of all descriptions
drop anchor at the various ports and trade
with the natives, something that could not
be done under military rule during the in
surrection. Mindoro Spanish for gold mine).
although UNEMPLOYED, has already produced
enough of lis wealth to satisfy even the
most incredulous that it is the most wealthy
island in the archipelago. Its wealth can
not be measured by past discoveries for
its natural resources, still unknown. are
far greater than what white men have seen.
Mountains of Mineral
In the mountains can be found all sorts
| of minerals, including gold and silver the
| tribesmen displaying much of the valuable
| metals in crude form. Large deposits of
| coal exist in different parts of the island,
| some of these having been worked by the
Spanards, the largest one known being
! near Bulalacao, located in the southern
| part of the island, about three miles from
| the SeaShore, and reached by bancas that
| ascend the river.
| Since the departure of the Spaniards the
| coal mines as all other pursuits. have
| manned in total idleness. The natives of
| Bulalacao and others living in the suburbs
| depend wholly on the coal mines for their
| fuel which they obtain for no other cost
than their labor. Apparently there is no
| owner of these coal deposits, as the ma
| tives themselves regard them as being pub
| lie property, which, under the Spanish re-
| gfme. belonged to any man who chose to
| help himself, provided he paid a certain
! percentage to the government officials. The
| Spanish government depended entirely on
! the Bulalacao natives for its coal supply.
Plenty of Oil.
While I was staying in the pueblo Saba
a ed into
one afternoon and gave the information
| that fifteen miles away the whole country
was ablaZe, green grass burning as readily
as dry wood: that all the natives on seeing
this became alarmed and were fleeing from
| the country. On hearing this l, in COM
pany with a detachment of constabuary,
went to the spot and soon discovered that
| the fire had been caused by some one drop
ping a match on the grass at point where
oil was making its escape from the earth
The fire was finally extinguished. which
was followed by strong odor of escaping
oil. Wells have since been sunk that now
burn nightly. No doubt exists in my mind
but that OIL is so plentiful on that island
| that from it the oil supply of these islands
can be derived.
Much Valuable Timber.
All the large forests are covered with
variety of the most valuable wood, includ-
| ing such as ebony, banava, bateculing,
bolsaguin, camagon, ipil, molave, man.
hachapoe pindales, nara and rosewood,
besides a large variety of other valuable
woods. Some of the trees are quite large;
one near the town of Mansalay has a cir
conference of 125 feet at the trunk, and
requires twenty natives to encrcle it, At
that place much timber has been cut in
past years. Among the other valuable
trees is to be found the ilang-ilang, which
produces the well-known perfume of that
name This tree is to be found anywhere in
Mindoro Then of equal value is the Balete
or caoutchouc (rubber) tree, equal to that of
India. The tree is quite tall, many reach
ing 300 feet. At Pinamaayan. which is
the home of Juan Morente, the eX-insur-
gent governor of Mindoro, many of the
1ang-ilang trees can be found.
Pearling Grounds.
At several places along the coast the ma
tives are engaged in pearl fishing; but as
their method employed is most crude, they
meet with poor success, although they man.
age to gather enough to make business pay.
If more modern methods were employed in
gathering the pearls fortune could be
made in a comparatively short time. The
best known pearl grounds are at Calavite
Point, where all the townspeople earn their
livelihood by diving for the valuable little
gems produced by the sea.
The soil is of the very best, producing as
fine tobacco, rice and sugar cane as grow
found in abundance everywhere. Few peo-
pie have titles to the land they claim to
own, apparently they being squatters who
settled on land belonging to the Spanish
government and not being disturbed have
remained there until this day. Among the
best known landowners having a title is
Senior 1sidro Santos, the owner of vast
estate. Then it is said that the friars are
in possession of titles to prove ownership
of land, but thus far their claims have not
been pressed.
Non-Christian Tribes
The population of the island, counting
only those living in towns or barrios, num-
Der about twenty thousand, while the noun
tain tribes, which include the Batanes and
the Maguianes, number about fifty-fv thou
sand. Those tribes are non-Christisns, and
live in state of nakedness. Both tribes
are very friendly and hospitable, and be-
meath their uncovered shacks having no
sides, any traveller can find shelter; while
they will furnish him with the best eata-
bles obtainable in the place, they believe
that nothing is too good for a stranger.
Many of the tribeSmen visit the different
pueblos and trade their gold dust and sill
yer ore for any articles which strike their
fancy. However, they rarely accept coin
in payment, preferring to trade for any
thing else. At Mangoren / met the chief of
a mountain village, located some twenty
miles away, who visited the pueblo for the
sole purpose of asking the commanding off,
Ger. who was an officer of the Both Infantry,
if there was anything that his tribe could
do for the Americans. After he had been
informed as to what was expected of him
and his people, and given some good adj
vice, he departed for the mountain village,
seemingly a happy man.
Domestic and Wild Animals
In the mountains to be found wild
animals of several species, while in the VAL
leys roam some ten thousand head of wild
cattle and horses. The cattle and horses
come from the stock farm of the friars,
who before the insurrection against the
Spaniards owned vast estates in Mindoro-
in fact, they owned the whole country
either legally or illegally claiming the land.