The Van Buren press., 1904-07-30
FISH IN THE PHILIPPINES.
Meat Being Scarce Great Deal Of the
Flesh Food Is Taken From
the Sea.


Writes William f. Curtis. In special
| 10 the Chicago Record Herald. There
are IL public market houses in Manila
owned and managed by the municipality.
In which you can buy almost anything
you wish TO eat and all sorts OF cheap
| general merchandise, but they are bar
| rem OF curiosties. There is very little
! native haudlwork The best examples to
be found In the market are baskets.
trays. mats. hats and other articles made
OF bamboo aud the many natural fibres
in which the Philippines abound. The
meat Is inferior, there Is practically no
beef whatever In the Islands, and very
Few mich cows because there Is no
grass This is true of all tropical coun-
tries. Snow and frost are necessary TO
make nourishlng pastures Tropical
grass Is too coarse and fbrous to make
| good forage. 1t would seem that alfalfa
and other forage plants might be easily
grown here, although | have not seen
them. The only cattle TO be seen are the
carabaos--great. awkard. honest, ugly
beasts with long, rough, black horns
stretching out straight from their fore
heads like cowcatchers on locomotives.
Ihey are very strong and enduring and
thrive In this hot and damp climate II
they can be protected from contagious
diseases and other epidemlcs. They are
too tough for eating, according TO the
popular report, but suspect we have
had choice slices of them served to us on,
the hotel table
The markets make beautiful chow OF
| fish, which furnish the chief food Of the
Filipino, and fortunately the river and
the bay abound In them. Scientists say
that the number OF tlsh In the waters OF
| this archipelago Is much larger than else
where, yet little scientific work has ever
been done among them. a large por-
ton OF the population are engaged in the
hshing industries and along the banks
OF the rivers every citizen has his own
FISH trap, which supplies his family regu-
larry with wholesome and nourishing
iood have not seen these traps In any
other country They are constructed Of
slender pieces OF split bamboo. so that
they may be rolled up and transported
easily from place to place as the fish
change their feeding grounds When
the fisherman selects location he drives
a number OF stakes into the bottom OF
the stream, unrolls his pen and places Il
around them In the form OF the letter -"
II fascinates the fish which swim into II.
The natives say that they become bewil-
| dored and are unable to find their way
out again. Although II seems incredible,
bushels OF Ash are caught daily In every
stream by these simple contrlvances.
The fisherman goes down occasionally
and dips out his game with scoop net
Into a tub, which Is supplied frequently
with fresh water, The Ash are fed rice,
Hour and meal In order to keep them
alive and In good condition until they
are needed
As you 20 up and down the river you
see other varieties OF traps. On the
bank beside almost every cottage IA a
large dip net suspended at the end OF
long pole like the old-fashioned well
sweep 80 that II can be lowered and
raised. AS the tide comes In. bringing
the fish with Il. these nets are baited
with simple food and submerged. When
the farmer goes on 10 his work his wife,
or some other member OF the family.
raises the net an hour or two later, takes
out the FISH and sinks II again. and while
the results are not always certain they
are usually sufficient to meet the de-
mands OF the family ...
Other traps take the form OF loosely
woven bamboo baskets In the shape OF
sugar loaf, Ave or six feet long rs inches
In diameter at one end and three feet
At the other. The smaller end IA open.
with guards OF bamboo points so that
the fish having once entered cannot es-
cape.
Large pounds set In the bay are hand
led very much after the practice OF fish
ermen elsewhere, and there Is curious
method OF shore fishing that have not
seen elsewhere The fishermen In their
boats take n net about 200 feet long and
20 10 30 feet wide with heavy weights or
anchors on one OF the long sldes and
large corks or buoys on the other. Tho
anchors and floats cause II 10 stand up
right In the water like tennis net. An
hour or NO before daylight the fisher
men row out several hundred yards,
light bright nres on the bows OF their
boats, and then scull slowly toward tho
not, waving torches In the air, shouting
at the top Of their voices and beating tho
sldes of their canoes with paddles to
frlghten the nsh into tho net. After they
have gone through this performance
three or four times they bring the ends
OF the net together and slowly raise u
10 the surface and remove tho catch,
Their theory " that the fish. being
awakened from sleep by the noise. run
away from II and are caught In the
mpahoa nf tho not