Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-02-11

only 10 the knees, NnC the men wore
strings OF bells about the leg at the same
place that the American girl wears her
garter.
They Raise Hemp for Export.
Today the BaSobas are farming In
earnest. Major Gilsheuser SAYS they are
now bringing In something like l54O0O
pounds of hemp a month and that his
whole district exports ten times that
amount.
Many Of the other tribes br,ng in gums
and wax. and not few OF the wild men
are laboring on the plantations owned
by the Christians.
The greater part Of Mindnnuo IL wild,
and some of the people far in the interior
are so savage that very little has been
done with them. There are fifteen DIFF
ferent tribes near Davao. some OF whom
still live in trees making their homes IN
the branches forty or fifty feet above
the ground. These people are much afraid
OF the foreigners, but they are gradually
beginning to have confidence in the new
conditions and to learn that they will
! not be robbed or murdered.
The government has been opening up
| trails all over Mindanao. II Is making
roads and clearing out the rivers and
streams, so that the wild people can go
| from place TO place In their canoes,
There are mounted police almost every
where, and life and property are now
comparatively safe. In some places the
wild men are used TO police their own
country. Human sacrifices are being done
away with. and this is also true Of the
animal sacrifices. Down at Davao roads
and bridges have been made throughout
the whole district, There IL a wireless
telegraph station there and telephones
will soon be put In.
Work Among the Negritos.
Before / speak Of the work which has
been done in Luzon and other large
islands where there are seml-eivilized
tribes I want to tell you aboue the Ne
gritos. These little people are about the
lowest and most barbarous OF our Philip
pine cousins,
They are the aborigines, and are much
like the pigmies OF the Andaman islands
and the little dwarfs which inhabit the
wilds Of the Kongo. They are about the
smallest Of mankind. have met full
grown women who could walk under my
arm and have seen old men who did not
reach up to my shoulder. The officials
Of the census measured nine full-grown
men and the average height was four
feet eight inches.
These people are as black as your hat.
and their hair is as woolly as that OF
the little men Of the Kongo. They have
wide nostrils. thick lips and flat noses.
Their teeth are black, made so by chew
ing the betel.
The Negritos are scattered all over the
islands. They have no language except
that Of the people about them. They
have no tribal relations to speak Of. and
II Is hard to get hold Of them except In
isolated cases. The government has en-
ticed some into the schools. but they are
usually timid and Will run from the
stranger. I saw some OF them In the
Zambales mountains while General Fred
Grant was in charge OF that region. They
were almost naked. and their houses were
bark shelters or holes in the ground.
The most Of their living came from hunt
Ing and fishing. and they were expert
trappers OF game. They use bows and
arrows and tip their arrows with poison.
As to the future Of the pigmies. the
government does not expect much. The
Negrito is not numerous enough to be
an important quantity, and the probable
ity is that he will be swallowed up by the
other tribes and the Fihpinos and will
disappear
Mangyans and TaGubanos.
Another low tribe is the Mangyan and
another is the Tagubano. These peoples
are mixed with the Negritos. but they
are a little more advanced in civilization.
The government is now Investigating
them. There are many OF them in Paia-
wan and Mindoro. where they live in
the woods, engaged IN hunting and fish
ing. They have little patches OF farms.
We have American governors In Pala-
wan and Mindoro who are now organic
ing these tribes and beginning the work
Of civilizing them I am told that they
have an alphabet and that It will be
possible to get many Of them into the
schools. In the past they have sent
messages TO one anolaer on pieces OF
bamboo.
Our Head Hunters in 1919.
But want 10 tell you what has been
done among the head hunters. When We
took hold OF the islands we had tens Of
thousands Of savages who made q regu-
lar custom of killing human beings that
they might cut off their heads and keep
them as trophies. This custom was not
confined TO one tribe, but II was common
to the wild men Of the northern part Of
Luzon. Our government officials have
taken photographs OF the victims, hay-
ing found them shortly after the heads
had been cut off. 4 have seen one Of
man tied TO his shield with his bloody
necS hanging down.
They have also photographs Of houses
ornanented with human heads. and
have before me a picture Of two men