The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-24
THUS FILIPINOS KEEP COOL.
THE HOT WEATHER PROBLEM
As 1T rs SOLVED IN MANILA.
Wonderful Cloths Woven by tho Natives
out Of Pineapple Fibre and Other
Materials--vast Labor OF the Weaver
Low PSces Before Americans Came.

TO how many men and women has this
hot spell brought the wish, familiar with
every summer. that they might dress for it
In the suitable fashions employed by those
who dwell where hot weather is the rule
and still be conventional
In Manila, for instance. it is the hottest
part of the year Just now The sun puts
In a little more than twelve hours a day
trying to burn things and people up. He
succeeds fairly we'll with vegetation, but
the human animal out there has learned
how to protect himself. and goes along
about his business In reasonable comfort,
I with only now and then cry for the break
I ing of the rains
As usual, even in such places, 1t Is tho
native who has reached the greatest de-
yelopment In the art of suitable dressing to
meet weather conditions, and, also as
usual. he employs the materials Furnished
by the country for the making of his cloth
ing, or rather she does it, for the only
part the men have in the process is wearing
the garments after the women have made
them
There is no joke about this, either 1t
does not refer to the necklace and anklet
style of costume affected by some Of the
ladies' Of Port Said or the belt of grass
sometimes still seen in the Hawaiian islands.
1t means proper clothing. such as the
wealthy and influential people of the islands
wear
Once in a while you will see a gown made
of the "a nle material here in New York,
but unless it has been brought from Manila
by the wearer. or sent to her by some friend
from the Philippines, she has paid for it,
at one of the very few stores where such
cloth is occasionally on sale, price that
those who live on SO, 500 year cannot afford
The commonest materials Of the gowns
worn by the Filipinas are algodon. sinamay
pima and just. Algodon is just plain cotton,
1t grows wild in some parts of the Philip
pines. and is cultivated to small extent
in several of the provinces of Luzon.
The women spin and weave from 1t a coarse
cloth which is much used in making the
commoner garments
Sinamsy. just and pima are the distinctive
cloths of the Philippines. and they are az
remarkable for their beauty and fneness
as for their extreme lightness and durability.
Pima, as it's name implies, is made from the
fibre of the leaf of the pineapple plant.
Sinamay is woven from the fine fibres
taken from the tender edges OF the leaf
stalks of the tree from which hemp Is made.
just call it "hoosy"-is u CT inese fila
ment viii III is not prepared II the p ip-
pines although it is used there very ex-
tensively. None of the Fiipinos seems
to know the plant from which it is taken
It is much like the fibre from which the
celebrated grass linen Of Canton is made,
and is very bright, as we'll as at the same
time strong and durable
Snamay and pima are woven plain, but
just is dyed in many colors and mixed in
weaving with different coiored silk 80 that
the variety OF patterns and shades is in
finite.
Pima is the least durable OF all the Philip
pine cloths. and in the finer makes 1t is
the most beautiful. The preparation Of
II Is very laborious and slow, with the re-
suit that 1t is the most expensive.
Sinamay Is the cheapest and most dura-
BILE. In San Fernando street in Manila,
Just across the Weyler Bridge from the
Binondo Church, there is block in which
there are forty or fifty little tiendas, or
shops, the keepers OF which are all women
who deal in these cloths. There. when
the Americans took Mlnila, the finest
Melissa just. the best that is woven in the
Philippines, could be had for so or 90 cents
Mexican a vara. or Spanish yard, which
is a little less than the English yard.
Sinamay was something less, a bolt OF
TWENTY-FIVE varas of the very best costing
from s. to 50 Mexican, or about 81 human
money. Pima ranged from 90 cents to $3.50
a yard, depending on the quality.
There is wider range in the quality OF
piha than in that Of just and the name OF
the weaver stands for more, for it is only
in the best and most substantial houses
that the finest quality Of pima can be made,
because in such houses the drafts are re-
duced to minimum, the slightest breeze
being sufficient to scatter and tangle
the gauzy fbres and seriously disturb the
weaver.
pima she has long. tedious task ahead OF
her. Pineapple plants are specially grown
for this purpose. They are not permitted
to bear fruit, with the result that the leaves
are longer and tougher than in the fruit
bearing plants.
The fbres run lensthwise through the
leaf and lie along the dark green upper
side Just under the hard, shiny skin. AS
the least damage to the fibre would render
it useless. great care must be taken ID
stripping it from the leaf.
The leaves are cut only as they are to be
stripped, and as it takes long time to pre-
finished in day Men stripping hemp
for the cordage market use an old smooth
bladed knife, but the Filipino stripping
piha cannot do that because Of the danger
Of discoloring the delicate fibre.
She uses any old piece OF broken crockery
or plate The edge must be sharp enough
TO take on the pulp Of the leaf and yet not
so sharp as to injure in the slightest way
the little shell that covers the fibre
When the leaf has been trimmed OF the
spines along the edges and the tip cut
of so as to make the fibres OF nearly
even length. the Filipino sits down on the
ground and takes one end of the leaf between
strong toes. The other end she holds in
one hand, while with the free hand she
scrapes away the pulp with the broken
china scraper.
She begins on the under side OF the leai.
where most of the pulp lies When that Is
scraped clean she can usually break the
hard upper shell of the leaf and pun the