The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-30
Tough Characters in the Annexed
District.

We didn't want TO say anything about
it till Thanksgiving Day was over, but
something ought TO be done to exclude
undesirable emigration from the Philip
pines. Our little brown brothers may
not devote themselves L the one great
American sport of chasing and being
chased by the Money Devil, but they
have troubles of their own. In the
Journal Of American FOLKLORE Mr.. ALEX
AMBER +. CHAMBERLAIN describes GER
tain gifted Tagalog characters. The
asuang, POLITICALLY called the wak-wak
by the Visayans, is said 10 be neither
devil nor ghost" We will leave it to
the Hon. FIsKE WARREN and the Hon.
ERvING WINsLow, the foremost author
tiles on devils and ghosts in the Philip
pines, if the wak-wak is not a born and
most ferocious devil. He is a mixture
of vampire and ghoul, or as Mr.. BRYAN,
also a devil hunter and ghost seer, would
put it, a cross between predatory wealth
and a corporation lawyer. Would any,
body but a devil live on human liver?
Like the Money Devil, the wak-wak has
miraculous power" Moreover, he is
versatile. He can change his form al
most as readily as the Hon. BoURKE
COCHRAN changes his politics and lifelong
convictions. The asuang-wak-wak can
turn himself, without legislation by
Congress, into a cat. cayman, dog or any
other animal; and great are his facilities
for rapid transit:
1T has the power TO change its corporal form
from human to batlike by a process OF division at
the waist line. the lower limbs and lower part Of
the trunk remaining behind. while the upper part
grows wings and flies away"
II will be a little consolation to some
of us TO know that ever this accom-
plished being cannot alter his waist line.
That stays with him whether he divides
and conquers or stands pat.
You are taking a boating trip on the
Malaylay River, A~gentlemanly stranger,
sitting on the bank and reading the Hon.
JOHN BUTIN MORAN's speeches, asks you
for a lift to Baco. You tell him that
there is standing room only. just be-
yond the next bend a cayman sneaks to
the boat. knocks you into the water.
You make the rest Of the voyage in the
cayman. In the words of the fOlksong:
20. my passion is the river.
Crack him, teeth. crackD
Hove scenery ana liver.
Cwak wskO"
The next number on the programme
is the tik-balan. He is as beautiful as he
is good:
Varlously described. usually as being Of super
human stature. at least twelve ieet. and has horses
hoofs on a manlike body. 10 Is said by some to
have great saucerike eyes. and by others to have
a long face like a horse. II has long streaming
hair. and the best way to catch It is TO drive heavy
nails into a tree which II visits and thus entangle
its hair"
M~alevolent, a magician, a cave dweller,
and not, we regret to say, a vegetarian.
His fondness for long pig has been espe-
cially acute since the sociologists went
into the stock yards. Yet he is not an
irreclaimable cannibal demon; il caught
he will work on the farm and protect
the crops from stray animals and wild
beasts. The Hon. JAMES WILSON should
try to have reform and agricultural
schools established for the benefit Of the
tik-balan. Meanwhile persons who are