The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-09-29
CARPENTER OF THE ORIENT.

 His Skill in Using the Bolo How the Filipino Has Adopted Foreign Tools.
 Throughout the Oriental countries generally the superiority of the car penter in the skilled labor class is marked and the rule has held good in the Philippines, certainly until very recently. The untutorted Filipino car penter knows but one tool, the bolo. It is simply knife with blade about 15 inches long, 3 inches wide and one eighth of an inch thick, single edged. It serves as a plane, hatchet, chisel and hammer and with 1t the native car- penter, left to himself, will build an entire house, not of the native variety merely, but in accordance with the de- sign characteristic of foreign houses in the Philippines, which are frequent ly quite elaborate in construction and finish
 The Filipino carpenter has been com pelled to adopt the nail first among modern auxiliaries of the trade, and, unless otherwise provided, the blunt back of his bolo one-eighth of an inch wide, is made to serve as a hammer face with much better success than would be supposed. In his original cult the nail plays no part and all att tachments between members of a structure are made with bamboo strips or rattan. Nearly all the native houses. and many foreign are even now built in this way, and apparently the only ser ious defect as compared with mailing l is the time consumed in the construc- tion. The native carpenter has much difficulty in mastering the operation of foreign tools at first, and 1t is neces- sary always to guard against return to his beloved bolo.
 It is rarely more difficult, and Is gen. erally Jess, so, to teach an absolute novice if he be of the same natural intelligence, the use of modern tools of carpentry than an artisan welded to the use of the bolo. This probably &C., counts for the rapidity with which other craftsmen, such as nachinists, masons, &c., ave overcome te early lead of te carpenters. They were un- handicapped by predilection of any binding sort unless we except earth and rock excavation.
 The native method of rock excavation is to build a fire to heat the rock. Then cold water is thrown on and the cracked stone removed, when the process is repeated. ThiA process, as it does not imply practice in the use of certain tool, is readily discarded by the native for the drilling and blast ing method. They quickly learn the use of mining hammer and bar drill and the heat of the natives will get out as much as the average white work man, On earth excavation there is re- luctance in adopting one of the white mans tools, his shovel, chiefly be- cause of injurious effect on the soles of bare brown feet.
 AS machinist the native shows de- cided aptitude, but fails in steadiness tas a general rule. Otherwise he dis plays, as do also the carpenter and the mason, the deep rooted fault of wastefulness of materials. So great is this fault now that the saving to the l employer in cheap wages as compared
 with those paid to white workmen is oftentimes swallowed up in waste of materials. This is but another mani- festation of immaturity which may perhaps be rectified wholly or in large part by suitable manual training at an early age.-Railroad Gazette.