The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-09-29
i'm THE PHILIPPINES
George S. Worcester Makes
Trip Through Southern
Islands
DESCRIBES 1T In LETTER

Hung Up on Coral Reef Twenty Hours
and Gets on Just in Time to Avoid
BIOw-See Beautiful HarbOr Com
manded by Old Spanish Fort on
Their Travels.
The following letter describing
events in the Philippine Islands
was written to Col. H. E. Parker of
Bradford, by George S. Worcester, a
brother Of Dean G. Worcester, Of the
Philippine Commission:
Cabanatuan, Neuva Ecija, P. l.,
Aug. 81.
l have recently returned from a
four weeks trip among the southern
Islands in the company of the Sec
rotary of the Interior Governor
Evans, Lieut.-Gov. Bondrout and
others and have material for several
letters had time to write them.
| The wealth.. ,as fine, the sea calm
and the G0)l-mile tip was most en-
joyable.
We ran onto ceral reef where
we lay for some 30 hours before the
captain could got w of and got off
just in time % escape a sudden blow
that would have Leen bad for us.
Our running on was rather queer.
The captain was feeling his way into
a bay very carefully, keeping the
lead going all the time. He was on
the upper bridge, the first officer at
the wheel on the deck below and a
man in the crows nest. There were
! little flurries Of wind that made the
surface of the water look black. The
captain had stopped the engines and
the boat was almost stopped when
she ran about 20 feet of her stern
into the reef so easily that we hardly
felt the jar Fifteen feet back OF
where the keel of the boat rested
on the reef there were 80 feet of wa
ter and under the stern of the boat
| 70 feet.
Unfortunately we went on just at
the highest point of the high tide
which at once began to fall and kept
going down until we could walk dry
shod around the bow of the boat.
The next high tide was not nearly
as high as the one on which We
struck but after putting one anchor
aboard, by putting two well aft and
pulling first on one and then on the
other the boat was finally pulled of
uninjured.
If any Of your readers have a good
map of the Philippine Islands and
should look south of Mindoro they
will see In the Cuyas group the little
island of Agutaya. AS Governor Ev-
ans was just going to take the place
of Governor Miller, who had recent
ly been drowned and as this island
was to be in his jurisdiction The
party decided to land, although none
of them had ever landed there be,
fore According to the chart the
town was on the east side of the is
land and as we could see quite a
collection of huts down by the water
the steamer came to anchor and we
got into the launch and started in.
When within half a mile or so CT
the shore the water shoaled and we
found ourselves running over great
beds of coral that in places came
clear to the surface of the water.
We ran back and forth in the vain
attempt to find water deep enough u
let us in, and finally went back to
the steamer and got a very light
boat in which the Secretary and Gov
ernor Evans managed to land only
to find that the village was on the
other side Of the island,
An hours ride in the launch took
us there and we found much to our
surprise beautiful little harbor COM
manded by an old Spanish fort A
pretty village with well laid out
streets, big plaza and inside the
fort a great stone church. Most for.
tunately it was the Saint day of the
island and great Fiesta" was on.
A recent census showed a popula-
ton of 200 in the island, and prob
ably more than half of them were
there that day.
! We went to the Tribunal" where
the officials met the head men, and ]
sat in a window and watched the
people come in. From different parts
of the island they came in companies
each with its own music. The wo
men. strange to say, wore mostly
black skirts with black head scarfs
while each company would have more
or less men dressed in scarlet. soon
found that these were valiant war
riors who were to take part in the
Maro-Maro dance. Not only were
these men dressed in scarlet but
their spear handles were wound with
the same. Part of the men had spears
and part swords. All had shields
and these were covered with gay tbs.
sue paper in fancy patterns.
Later the boys and young mer
gaily dressed with modern swords
and clubs began to gather-and lot
of girls from ~ to IS years old with
gay clothes and head dresses of rat.
tare covered with gay tissue paper
These last, We found were to march
in the procession.
The Maro-Maro dance was really q
mock battle between the men armed
with spears and nose with swords
and was very interesting, but nor os
much so as the battle or dance of the
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