Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-04-10
A Weekly Letter From the Orient
FURNISHED BY THE RECORDER s~P5C-
IAL CORRESPONDENT, WHO is
MAKING A TOUR OF THE EAST
ERIN COUNTRIES.
Especial 10 Rec rider }

Especial TO Rec ,rdcr)
Manila, P. |, November 1O:-
At the risk of telling my readers
son fthing they already know, |
am going to give a little idea of
the Philippine islands, in this let
ter, so FIR AS their Topography is
cnncpratd There ar three thouS-
and one hundred 81, d forty islands
that are recorded, and numerous
| tile ones scattered between, III
the Philippine group. This fringe
of islands lies along the coast of
China of winch mainland it once
formed part. The group extends
"A little over sixteen degrees 1T I"f
itud", - distance Il l,l02 miles
from the most northern to the
most souihfrn point in the group.
Few people realize the c"nrara-
lively lar land area If the Philip
pines. The aggregate soil area is
l27,S53 miles, or almost as large
as h. state Of California. They
are nrary twice rs large rs New
York, New .Jprse., Pennsylvania
and Delaware together They are
1000 square miles larger than The
British isles.
There are many active volcanoes
on the islands, and manv more
that are dormant. Of tie twenty
active ones the most interesting is
the Taal, in the Batangas province,
Tuzon. The mountain rises pre-
cautiously from the midst of a
fresh water lake to height of 1.
$50 Feet. The last violent ernp-
ton of this volcano was in 1873,
but it is constantly smoking and
grumbing. and earthquakes are
shaking The country at its base all
the time.
Mindanao and Luzon are by far
the largest islands in the group
These islands are respectively As,
72l and 44.235 square miles, and
the next in size drops away down.
1t is Samar, which contains bnt 8
448 square miles. The islands run
down in area to small islands OF
sometimes less than one square
mile in extent. All of the islands
and in numerous instances, especi-
ally in Luzon and Mindanao, the
mountains are rugged and pictur'
esque to a surprising degree
Numerous water courses, versing
into large streams, come down
from the many springs in the
the mountains. forming means OF
intercourse through countr,
, that is virtually shut out because
of dense tropical underground.
The islands abound in minera
springs, which haye been known
for generations for their medicine
and curative qualities. Their wa
tiers are of all temperatures, from
cold to boiling. Lns l}anns,-in Ia
guna province, island of L"zpn, il
the most famous RI sort in the Pnll
ippines, and is visited by thousands
| 1t is but thirty miles from Manila
The pecnliaritv Of tile rivers il
their great volume in comparison
| to their length. The abund4n
precipitation and many springs .
! the islands cause heavy water flow
and the streams are broad ant
deep, but very short. The largns
river on the island is the Ri
Grande OF Mindanac. which drain
the great central basin Of the is
land of Mindanao. 1t is no mile
long and is navigable for 45 miles
! On the island of Lnzon is the rlv
er Cagayan, Draining a larger are
but in less volume. 1t is Daviga
BILE for 200 miles by very ligh
draft boats. There are other larg
rivers on the islands, but all o
them are short.
Living on these Islands are 5etweeI
seven and eight million people
OF these more than seven eight
are Christians, being devoted t.
the Catholic religion. There ar
largo numbers of Moliammedan