Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-03-05
THE FILIPINO'S CUNNING
PATIENT SKILL AND REAL ART IN
NATIVE KNIVES.

bong's" Curve n Scabbard is Designed.
Filipino ingenuity and character are
revealed at the National Museum at
Washington in q new collection OF
hunting and fishing implements, head
gear, musical Instruments and weap-
ons of warfare
The natives of the Philippine group
have developed to a very high degree
the use of rattan, bamboo, vegetable
fibre and palm leaves in the manufac-
ture of dozens of miscellaneous arti-
cles. Rattan is pleated and woven
into hats, arrow Quivers, scabbards for
swords and knives, and umbrellas.
Eamboo is fashioned into telescope
Sshing rods, water and wine bottles,
covers for the swords Of executioners
md blowpipes. Palm leaves are shaped
into score of designs-into dippers,
waterproof hats, torches and other ar
tcles. The native has apparently
/ound in the vegetable growths OF his
lwelling place material to supply all
his demands except the need for iron.
Possibly the most prominent feature
Of the collection is group of half
dozen "talabongs," or headsman's
Yxes They are huge knives, three
feet long or more, curved like scimi-
tar reversed In order the better to
ytrike the unfortunate victims neck
this curve is irregular-wide at the two
ends and acute in the middle. 1t is
impossible, of course, to slide such an
eccentric curve into a scabbard, but
Ge Philippine headsmen have over
come that difficulty easily. Two pieces
If bamboo, shaped like the scimitar
and fiat on the side nearest the blade,
have been joined together along one
edge with a fiber which is little elias
tic. Separating these two slabs of
wood the swordsman can slip his blade
into it from one side and from the end.
The fiber at the outside joint holds The
bamboo closely to the knife, open only
at one end.
Among the army officers this need
for knife fitted to mans neck has
not been allowed to interfere with
sense of design. Their swords, or
"campalongs," are regular, graceful
arc of a circle. One such sword, ap-
parently made from thick saw
brought to the islands by a trading
ship, is chased and inlaid with silver
and has a mahogany handle. Inc
workman who engraved the blade evi-
IDENTIFY worked long to carve the handle
into a shape singularly like that OF the
swords used among the Saracen tribes.
At the curve in the hilt Spanish coins
have been sunk until flush with the
surface. The handle is decorated with
q fringe of hair dyed red or maroon.
Another knife is little and curved
back toward the wrist when held III
the closed fist. This is intended for a
swift blow at the stomach, and then,
when the enemy has doubled over, to
complete the attack with stab in the
back. Many of the knives are decor
ated with horn or silver handles. and
one terminates in an ivory tusk. Near
ly all of these short knives are curved
into the form of a kris, and look like
highly ornamented bread knives.
An umbrella in the collection is a
work of art, but it is suspected of CHI
nese origin. Palm leaves have been
ana tlllllhtu bIeiA 'i'NJ N'N'N
gether for an outer covering, as smooth
and firm as heavy paper. This was
then applied to a frame of split BAN
boo in the fashion of the ordinary Chi
nese or japanese parasol. Inside the
frame has been decorated with rattan
split into slender strands ana woven
about the umbrella ribs. The Whoie
was then given tone of deep red and
the outside vanished to make it imper-
yious to water. Everything used IN the
construction of the umbrella is vegeta-
BILE, even the fasteninSs ut the ends OF
the ribs and the little rivets used IN
the frame.
The Filipino blowpipe will disappoint
those whose ideas of such weapons
have been obtained from the geogra-
phies of fifteen years ago or more. 1t
is not ten feet long or two inches IN
diameter. On the contrary, 1t Is Il
most inoffensive instrument, about
three-ouarters of an inch thick and
only a yard long 1t is merely an en-
iarged putty blower, of the sort pos
Eessed by the American boy. Ihe ma
terjal use in its manufacture is sec
ton of bamboo, with the openings
carefully rounded. For darts the ma
tive shapes little arrows of split bam-
boo, and winds about the barb end a
little ball of cotton to fill the tube ana
offer the greatest possible resistance
to the air.
Nothing could more fully meet the
old atlas idea of South Sea Islanders
than the bamboo wine bottle which
rests alongside the blowpipe.. 1t Is
about a foot long. four or five inches
in diameter and would hold possibly
half gallon. Holes have been bored
in the fibre at the end, and strip Of
rattan fastened into them for a sling
strap. The last item of its equipment
is n round wooden cork, which is fast
ened to the 'bottle" by rattan.
The musical instruments are
equipped with vegetable strings. One
of them is much like the guitar OF the