The Indianapolis journal., 1903-07-26

hand Then. owing TO the prevalence of
cholera in the island. and not caring to
take any chances, / requested that the feast
be omitted. Piang came down to our launch
and found US at luncheon. He was accom-
panied by his war secretary, his high
priest and a numerous retinue of followers.
MOUNTAIN TRIBESMEN
'',rhe Tirurays. the mountain tribesmen
here on Mindanao, are much inferior to the
regular Moros, physically. mentally and
morally. a few are quite bright and good
statesmen for their peculiar wares. The
more see of the Moro, however, the more
7 believe that they are far superior TO the
Filpinos in every respect. The Filipino is
full of meanness and treachery. Many
Filipinos, of course, owing to better oppor-
tunities on the Island of Luzon. have more
education than the Moro A large number
of the latter. however, of the big men. read
and write Arabic, know the value of money
and are good traders. The Moro, l believe,
is much more susceptible to American civili-
zation and viii make greater strides toward
citizenship than the Filipino. because, as a
race. they have naturally more virility,
stamina and usually better morals.
"The business of the island here is car
ried on chiefly by Chinos with Moro and
Filipino wives. There are some Filipino and
Moro traders; the latter principally women.
The stores are small and the proprietors
have not much capital.
MY Moro interpreter is justice of the
peace. l have a provost marshal and a
provost court. All the police and laborers,
the Board of Health and merchants are
under my control There are no saloons
here. There are three liquor dealers. how
ever. but there is no sale of liquor by the
drink, and permission for all sales. importa-
tions and expectations must be signed by
me or by my order. There was a club
organized in one of the dealers houses some
time ago. but ne abused the privileges given
him by allowing all sorts of people 10 fire.
quent the rooms, and so 1 had to close him
up. There will be no more clubs.
SATISFACTION AND NUISANCE.
"It is a satisfaction to be the boss of all
you survey, but it is also something of a
nuisance. L have to settle many family
troubles, tribal disputes, look after runaway
slaves, see that the taxes are collected and
keep the peace. When on the street my
hands are kept wigwagging all the time
acknowledging the salutes from all the
classes of people. 1t is very tiresome but
is quite necessary to show these courtesies
TO everybody.
1.-The ants and mosquitoes are great pests
the year round. The mosquitoes catch one
at all times, coming and going, when rest
| ing or on the move, and one cannot sit and
read at any time with comfort. The ants
literally destroy everything. There are few
kinds of wood, when seasoned that are toe
| hard for them, but they eat up boxes
papers and houses. 1 am in one of the
largest and, suppose, the best house il
| the place. The door and window frames
and portion of the framework that sup.
ports the house above the ground are al
honeycombed by these boring ants. They
! get over and into everything, too. The
| house is much weakened and good shake
would be liable to tumble it-and earth
quakes are not infrequent here-so that
may have the house down about my heat
at any time