The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-11-26

and at cost Of $40 Manila contains
about SO0, 900 inhabitants. It has electric
ity-cars and Hghts-and il cleaner than
any city in this country. II Is a BOOM
| ing place, and many Americans are max
ing money. I suppose there are 5000
Americans scattered among the islands.
IT have suffered more from hot weather
| in Washington than in the Philippines. A
merchant called on me the other day. He
has lived in Manila for twenty-four years.
7 have been we'll all that time he said,
because have been busy, and have taxi
en- care Of myself Alcohol and trop-
teal climate make a bad combination.
In seven provinces black smallpox for
merly killed 5000 persons every year. We
vaccinated 100000 of the inhabitants. and
the disease has disappeared. American
physicians and sanitation experts have
robbed the Philippines Of its disease ter
rors. A region called Benguet Is I'D
miles distant from Manila. In some
places it is 1000 feet above the sea. There
amid the pines and grass, one can reou-
perate when the need for a change OF
higher than 80 degrees Fahrenheit. nor
lower than 20 degrees. Benguet is the
Adirondacks of the Philippines"
DO robber hands, I asked, still OPP
| crate and compel landowners to pay them
money or have their property destroyed
Robbers Are Making Wagons.
"AI have been broken up and the in
dividual robbers have been sent to the
penitentiary. where they are making wag-
ons and other useful articles Of industry
and husbandry. For the first time in CEN
turtles the islands are free Of ladrones.
At a penltentiary for men serving their
first terms. Capt. Lamb, of Tennessee. Is
I,Er -F,,I III
Three OF the servants in his family are
murderers. There is only one pistol in the
prison or neighborhood, and that is owned
by the chief of police. Some of the pris-
oners are given forty acres OF land on
which TO live and cultivate. They tels-
phone Capt. Lamb every morning and
once a week they report to him in per
son. A number of them have kept their
land at the expiration OF their terms, and
have been Joined by their families. Capt.
Lamb visited the prisons of the United
States but he had very little to learn
Indeed, penitentiary specialists here can
| take lessons from him.
The smoke of Philippine tobacco"
| Gen. Edwards went on to say, "fs now
leaving a blue and fragrant trail around
| the earth. One factory, operated day
and night. makes 10000 cigars and
100000 cigarettes every twenty-four
hours. Sugar ships are carrying cargoes
| to China and the United States Manila
hemp, which is not hemp at all. but the
| fiber of fruitless banana, called abaca,
| is the strongest and best material for
cordage and ships ropes there is in the
| world. The plant natures in about two
years. When II is cut down the roots
send up shoots, and thus the field or
plantation renews itself within six
months. This happy process OF nature
goes on indefinitely. The crop OF 1903,
the last year for which I have any hg-
ures. amounted to 1880 tons, or nearly
| 400 carloads
But coCoanuts take my eye and ap-
peal to my business instincts They
grow wild and are cultivated all over
| the islands. The leaves are made into
mating, the stems contain a fiber suit
able for hats and baskets, the sap Of the
| flowers turns into palm wine when fer
| mented, the nut produces husks that are
manufactured into brooms and brushes
the shells are burned as fuel and used !
as cups and kettles. and the dried meat,
called copra. is shipped everywhere and |
is salable in any market. The crop Is !
valued at S.OOO,CO0 a year.
Put an ingenious man down in a !.
cocoanut grove and supply him with an
ak and a saw, and he could give Robin
son Cruesoe scientific points in COM !
Portable and luxurious living"
Copyright. 1911. b. James B. Morrow