Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-01-14

ing nils, dotted with copses and small
forests of fruit bearing trees. Birds
and butterflies are every where. and at
night the mangoes are alive with fire.
! Mes and great foX-bats. The grass is
covered with a network of well-worn
trails, and at all hours you meet Mr..
and Mrs. Moro, jogging along on little
shaggy horses or big sleepy carabaos.
The Moro is a great lover of brilliant
colors. His turban may be purple. his
tight jacket of yellow, and his close
trousers of green, with wide red sash
added as browning touch. His lady,
II wealthy, wears the same tight jacket
and baggy trousers, or if poor, simply
the "jabul." which is a FELLOWSHIP sort
OF thing worn any way that strikes the
fancy, and is skirt or sunbonnet at
will.
The men are walking arsenals. Into
their sashes are stuck the ugly, SER
pentine krises, barongs, daggers. and
sometimes the long, heavy campilan.
or executioner's. sword. Newcomers
are apt to smile at the gaudy dress and
| fierce appearance of these people, but
men who have met Moros in the course
of the days, work waste no smiles.
Fighting for the Fun of 1t.
The Moro is a fighting man through
| and through, and lives in conformity
to the good old customs which were so
dear to knights-errant. Every boy
grows up expecting death by cold
steel, and regarding the prspect with
little emotion, less probably than you
and | feel at thought of our allotted
pneumonia or appendicitis. Courts as
we know them do not exist, each datto
! rendering Solomonic justice to his fol-
lowers. When two men from different
| towns disagree, the dispute is usually
| quickly and very permanently settled.
Fighting in anger is not ALL They
occasionally fight for the fun of the
thing. In at least one case, an Ameri-
can has seen this. He was friend of
several dattos, and went out to a fes-
| tival in a remote village. After much
music and dancing two men, armed
with krises, shields and brass coat
armour, stepped out and fought till
one of them was killed, to the great de-
! light of the assembled merrymakers.
And it's not SO long ago that a datto
proposed to the commander of our
| forces in Jolo that each pick a thous-
and men, and match them in a little
valley not far from town, where the
guests could sit at their ease and
watch the combat This datto was a
friend to Americans, and proposed the
thing in a sincere way, merely as a
piece of sport "for love" as the phrase
is.
With hundred thousand such fierce
! and reckless children to hold in check
the poor young sultan of Jolo must
have had many an uneasy hour since
he signed his treaty with General
Bates in the summer of '99, when he
recognized the sovereignty of the
United States, and agreed to preserve
peace with us. Though as / have said
the sultan has little or no military or
civil power he is the leader OF the
faith for all the Philippines, and as
such his influence in the Jolo Archi-
pelago is strong. He appears to have
acted in good faith, too, for until the
, other day, when General Wood was
; obliged to kill a number of Moros in
| the interior of the island, we have real
| ly had no trouble with the people OF
! the Jolo group. The few hostilities
have been with criminals, and had nc
| racial or religious significance
Moro is Frank at Least.
The Moro, indeed, has many good
even attractive qualities He is a
| savage, Malay and a Mohammedan
rolled into one. so of course he is a
bundle of prejudices, superstitions AMI
suspicion. He is very proud and sensi.
tive. especially in regard TO his per.
sonal dignity and his religion. Any
| fancied hurt to these meets with fierce
! and undying resentment. And while
these people have no written laws OF
/ form of government, custom is strong
as law and is religiously followed. As
a general thing q Moro in whose house
I, you have eaten and slept can be trust
! ed completely. If he must become
your enemy later, he will tell you so
fairly. The Moro knows none of that
milling treachery in which the Christ
j ian Filipino is such an adept
These customs of his, the right OF
personal revenge in certain cazes, the
ri~ht to hold slaves. are very jealousy
guarded and as we attempt modffica
ton. there will doubtless be friction
row and then. But a Moro is open &c
! reason, and will be counselled and
~uided by any man IN whom he has
/ implicit confidence. There is but one
way to gain confidence. that is by
showing that You know neither fear
( talsehood. nor favor, and that you have
THE POWER, as well as the intent to dc
exactly as YOU say.
Memories Of "Papa."
! Jolo is still full of memories o.
J papa" Papa was the Spanish Gen
sral Arolas. one Of those few happy
men who have been permitted to smile
derisively at Fate. He left the town O.