Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1905-08-05

FILIPINO FAKlR WAS CRAFTY.
Grew Rich by Bunko Game with a
Christ Image Which Talked.

Christ Image Which Talked.
Two wooden images and ventrol-
oquist's voice are capital enough to
make a man rich, If he uses them
rightly.
lose zaide. a Filipino, tried 1t and
succeeded That he landed In Jail was
not due to any flaw in his bunko
scheme, but to the use he made Of his
money by aiding the insurgents.
His arrest and the capture Of his
novel outfit are the subject Of tho
latest story from the Philippines
brought by the men of the Eighth In
fantry, whose officers have the honor
of having run Jose zalde to earth.
In proof of the story they brought
the wooden images, which will be sent
to the musuem at West Point. to serve
not only as a quaint representation of
primitive Filipino art, but as showing
an advanced stage in the art Of hum
buggery in the land of little brown
men.
Zaide's outfit consists of two carved
heads, one representing the Christ,
and one the Virgin Mary In each
case the traditional cast Of feature has
been retained, but In one point the gos-
pei seems ito have been thrown to the
four winds. The Christ head is brown,
the color of the Filipino. Accompany
ing the heads are four hands, two
black and two white. exqulsltively
carved, and two pairs Of rawstuffed
otss,, no
trimmed In gold tinsel. a dress Of Fill
ipino cloth. three hemp wigs and an
elaborate halo of gilded tin.
According to the story of Captain
NJ. b. Stewart, who made the arrest,
Jose Zaide found in the superstltlous
faith of a certain sect that fourlshes
in his own and nelghborlng provinces
a fine chance for separating Filiplnos
from their pesos.
1t was the mysterious faith of these
people in the coming of a Filipino
Christ that gave Zaide the cue for his
bunko masterpiece.
He has made this image Of a black
Christ and an image Of the Virgin,
which he took with great secrecy from
village to village where members OF
the COlorum were known to be. At
each place a shrine was set up. The
two heads placed on sticks were stuck
on a dais, covered with robes of velvet
4 and native cloth and decorated with
tin jewelry. The shrine was elabor-
ately draped with gold-trlmmed satin.
The natives were then invited to
come to see the Black Messiah and
hear his message.
Here Zalde's gift of ventriloquisnl
came into play. He could throw his
voice so 1t seemed to come from the
lips Of the black figure, on whose fore
head were bloodstalns so cleverly sim.
ulated as to deceive without counting
upon an overwrOught imagination.
The faces Of the figures are wonder.
fully llfehke, showing rare workman.
ship; and the use Of glass eyes, per-
fectly set with lashes and brows OF
hair, completed this rare deception
The only point open to criticism is tn,
lack Of proportion between the head.
and the height of the figures. But the
fanatical and superstitious do not stoT
to consider details, and was there no
human voice to convince them tina
this was in very truth a Filipino
Christ?
There were messages. for all who
came, says the Los Angeles Times
and promises. Nor did 1t occur to tn,
natives to wonder that the promise.
were large or small as the cash con
trlbuhons were generous or meager.
Jose Zaide grew rich. For valu,
received, in the way of protection. h
gave big sums to the lnsurgent cause