Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-03
FISHING FOR PEARLS
Profitable Industry Of the
Su!u Islanders.
PROVINCIAL METHODS
NATIVES DIVE 100 FEET WITH
OUT APPARATUS.
Oyster Beds Are Protected by the Gov
ernment-An Interesting
Legend.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS


spects to the Tagalogs, who constitute the
great majority Of the population OF Manila
and Luzon. and are the people we mean
when we refer to Filipinos. The Moros are
said to have more character and stability.
but they have never had chance to show
what is In them, and 1t will be an interest
Ing problem for ethnologists and socloio-
gists to watch their development under
liberal government and the educational
privileges the Yankees have introduced in
the southern islands of the Philippine
archipelago.
You can see fair samples of the Moros at
the St Louis exposition, for about 200 rep
resentatives of that race are there as an
object lesson for the information and edti-
cation of the American people, and / am
told that the exhibit is not only interesting
but accurate and quite true to life 1t Is
certainly true that the inhabitants of the
Sulu Islands are much more interesting in
their personality than the Filipinos of Luz
zon and the others of the northern group
They are more cheerful, active and gay.
They are fond of bright colors and dress
with greater taste and originality. The wo-
men wear trousers similar to those Of the
Chinese, very baggy and hanging around
the heels: the bodice is tight with close
fitting sleeves. To protect the head from
the sun they wear a sort of scarf or man.
tilla of cotton or silk called ''jabul,' and
1t usually hangs over their shoulders.
They have a passion for jewelry, and load
their wrists, ankles, fingers and ears with
quantities of rings and pendants. Their
features and manners are more attractive
than those of the Tagalogs
The men wear tights of bright colors
striped silks cottons, often with rows of
large buttons along the seams; they have
waistcoats buttoning up to the throat, jack
cts similar to those worn by italian peas
ants and turbans. The men. as we'll as the
women. wear quantities of jewelry.
Moros Are Muscular.
The Moros will average considerably
greater in stature than the Tagalogs. and
many of them are of superb physical de-
velopment. They are muscular, agile and
enduring for running, swim
ming, jumping and other athletic sports
They endure suffering with extraordinary
patience and stoicism, but when reused to
passion are uncomfortable. They have keen
perceptions a sense of humor and retentive
memories, and their experience with the
Spaniards and the Chinese has made them
suspicious and distrustful. They are sober
in their habits loyal to their friends and
masters kind to their wives and children
and generous and hospitabe to strangers.
They Will engage In fighting, pleasure and
sports with the greatest energy, but are in
dolent when 1t comes to doing anything use
full, and consider work fit only for slaves
They are habitual liars, but are not mali
cious; they are always ready to promise
anything answer questions in the manner
which they think will be most gratifying to
the inquirer, regardless of the truth and
will always give a pleasant cheerful &C
count of everything they are responsible for
without reference to the facts No matter
what happens they put on brave face and
tell a plausible story. Persons who employ
them can never trust their reports. A mans
house may have been burned down and his
family massacred, but his Moro servant will
come up smiling and tell him that all is
we'll and happy.
They have many useful arts and are skill
full as mechanics. Their fighting weapons
domestic utensils, coats of mail and orna-
ments are made with skill and taste and it
Is not considered degrading to manufacture
weapons, and to engage in labor connected
with warfare Is considered honora BILE. They
are excellent sailors, and navigate the seas
In their junks with great skill. Few of them
have regular occupations, but thew turn
their hand skillfully to anything that Is re-
quired of them by their dattos or masters.
Their most profitable occupations are pearl
fishing and sailing.
Tons of Pearls
Oyster pearls are found everywhere
among the southern islands, and thousands
OF tons of mother of pearl shells are ship
ped to France, &c, many and the United
States for button making, knife handles
and other useful and ornamental purposes.
The shells are worth SIS a ton for the best
quality, while the poorer grades sell down
as low as So and 81. The trade is handled
by Chinese mlddlemen, and Singapore Is
the chief market. The prices received for
the shells will pay good wages and fair
profit, while the pearls that are often found
in them windfall. The fishermen
use the most primitive methods. diving into
the sea from their boats and bringing up
the shells with their hands often from
depth of seventy-fve and hundred feet.
They can hold their breath for a remarka-
bly, long time under water, and are among
the best swimmers in the world.
Most of their oyster beds have been work.
ed for centuries, and many of the pearls
worn by the Indian princes and the man
darins of China have come from the Phil
ippine waters. But the FISHERMEN cannot
do anything IN deep water, hence the beds
there have never been touched Companies
are now being organized to work them and
with the proper sort of dredges a few
boats can furnish enough shells to supply
ALL the button factories in the world, while
the chances of finding pearls or course, m
crease with the number of shells opened
The shells of the Sulu Islands are superior
to those found elsewhere in the East Indies
and bring higher prices.
No ATTEMPT has ever been made to cult
waite pearls by inserting little particles of
alabaster and other seeds in the shells of
live oysters. A pearl, you know, Is an
excrescence made by the specialization of
saliva from the glands of an oyster when
irritated by a foreign substance in the shell
grain of sand or a particle of stone is
usually the foundation for natural pearl.
The growth is very slow, the saliva re-
Monopoly Demanded.
The governments of the other East India
colonies regulate pearl fishing and have in
troduced scientific methods, which must be
done here sooner or later. General Wood
has recently taken the first step in order to
prevent disturbances by the natives, who
claim the exclusive right of fishing, which
they say was inherited from their fore
fathers The organization of companies to
engage In pearl fishing with dredges and
hosting machines caused the Sultan of
Sulu to appeal to General Wood for pro-
lection, and he gave the history of the in
dustry in the following quaint language:
II beg to inform my father. the civil gov
ernor as you want to know about the
mother of pearl she'll why 1t Is the right of
all the Sulu people, above all my own
right this is the reason:
THE forefathers of the Sulu people used
to take the mother-of-pearl shell from the
downs because the mother-of-pearl shell
belonged to the downs. and they took them
to eat the oyster with other food; Of the
shell they made plates and saucers to put
the food on. and the pearls they used to
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