The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1904-12-09
THE PHILIPPINES FROM
A SOLDIERS STANDPOINT.
The Various Tribes, Their
Customs and Habits.
OCCUPATION and Products of the
~ Most Intelligent
Tribes.

"A utScriptlpn OF the InllipplHes,i ts
Inhabitants and tneir customs, IL not
an uncommon thing but II will bear
repetition when written by one who
has lived among our "litUe broSn
brothers" for a period Of nearly three
years, ard whom AZ date of writing Is
still among them Again. it MAJ b.
=. of Interest when it Is known that IN,
writer is a soldier, for as a soldier
pers ~ has more opportunity 10 OBJ
serve and study the peculisrilieS nj
the numerous ttib.s With which his
duty brings him In contact ttau
have been afforded the average civil
ian.
The idea Is prevalent that The 10
habitauts Of the archipelago are iden-
tically the same In features and GUS
toms, that they tre all one race Of
people. with common dialect. On
the contrary, there are over fifty large
tribes, with as little resemblance be-
tween some OF them as there Is be
tween the l. quimarx and the African
negro.
There are about sixty different dia-
!Sects--even the people Of the Tag alog
race have different modes OF speech
when tn ose OF the extreme northern
part of Luzon converse with those OF
the southern provinces.
History advances the theory thai,
the sborigiuese of the islands were
produced by the Malay, lndonesisn
and nomadic Tartar tribes, the deg rec
of assimilation of the causing the
features aud chnracte ristics that are
observed among the tribes to-day
The truth OF this assertion cannot be
doubted, for study OF the natl yes
will reveal which blood predomi-
mates. For example, the TagaloP
a. shows a mixture Of Chipecse and Ma
lay, the Moros the Malay and Indon-
esiau, the Negritos pure Indouesian.
and SO on. A description Of the is
lands Is necessary to make this article
complete. so we will set aside the de-
linsatlon of the people Tor the more
pleasant topic.
To begin with, there are over l, 500
islands. The largest and most I'm
portant are Luzon. on which Manila
Is situated; Mindsuso. the land of the
Moros; Samar. Palswau, Pansy. Min
doro. Leyte, Negros. Cebu, Bal. and
Masbat-. They are all more or less
OF volcanic origin, evidences OF which
ar: still seen. and esTthqut kes are
frequent. Luzon. the largest island (,
IS land OF verdure and abundaut
vegetation. and is deemed by far the
healthest of the group.
Its more largely populated than
the rest, especially in the vicinity OF
Mania aud is the home Of the Tsga-
log. "In the days of the empire" the
operations OF the American troops
were COB fined there, a it was Their
the seat OF the Philippine dictator
ship. 1t Is here that the finest qaali-
ty of hemp Is manufactured from a
specie OF the banana plant.
The principal agricultural products
. are rice. tobacco. sugar care, coffee
and all kinds of tropical fruits. to the
raising of which the soil is admirably
adopted. Industrious Chinese farmers
are cultivating American vegetables
with remarkable success, and corn
fields cen be seen almost everywhere.
A fine specimen of the Irish potato
can be grown, too, but sweet potatoes
lack the taste aud flavor OF those
grown in the United States. The
Filipinos use the most primitive
methods of agriculture. and there is
no doubt but what the American
n farmer, with his advanced ideas, could
make a veritab,e Garden of Eden out
OF the islands. He has every advan-
tage In his favor-rich soil, frequent
rains and q good temperature-and
even when the dry season Is In force
the lands can be very easily irrig ated.
Americans are coming over here in
great numbers. and American cap
ital will be interested In developing
the land. The Standard Oil Compa-
ny has preceded oil others In estab'
fishing an agency. and In the heart
OF Manila, on the Pasig river. oil
tanks loom up in gigantic proper