El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-02-10

has been done in LuzOn and other large
islands where there are semi civilized
tribes i want TO tell you about the
Negritos. These little people are about
the lowest and most barbarous Of our
Philippine cousins
They are the aborigines. and are
much like the clTmles of the Andaman
Islands and che little dwarfs which in
habit the wilds OF the Kongo. They
are about the smallest OF mankind. I
have met fun grown women who could
walk under my arm and have seen old
men who did not reach up to my shout
der The officials Of the census meas
ured 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 WoOly as
that of the little men OF the kOngo-
They have wide nostrils. thick lips and
fiat noses Their teeth are black, made
so by chewing 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 IL is hard TO get hold OF them
except in Isolated cases. The govern
ment has enticed some into the schools,
but they are usually timid and viii
run from the stranger. I saw some
of them in the Zambales mountains
while Gen Fred Grant was in charge
OF that region. They were almost
naked. and their houses were bark
shelters or holes I'm the ground The
most Of their living came from hunting
and fishing, and they were expert trap
Ders Of game. They use bows and
arrows and tip their arrows with poll
son.
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 proba-
bility Is that he VIII be swallowed up
by the other tribes and the FilipinOs
ana VIII disappear.
Aaagyans and TaEubanOs.
Another low tribe is the Mangyan
and another is the TagubaTS These
peoples are mixed with the NegrltOs,
put they are a little more advanced IN
civilization. The government IS now
investigating them. There are many
or them in PalaWan and Mindoros
where they live in the woods, engaged
In hunting and fishing. They have
little patches of farms We nave
American governors in Palawan ana
Mlndoro who are now organizing these
tribes and beginning the work OF CIV
LIKING them. 1 am told that they nave
an alphabet. and that it VIII be pos
slole to get many Of them into the
schools In the past they have sent
messages TO one another on pieces OF
bamboo.
Our Head Hunters in 1912.
But want to 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
regular custom Of killing human
beings that they might cut off their
neads and keep them as trophies. This
custom was not confined to one tribe;
put II was common to the wild men
or the northern part of Luzon. Our
government officials have taken pho
tographs of the victims having found
them shortly after the heads had been
cut OFF. I have seen one of man tied
to his shield with his bloody neck
hanging down.
Ihey have also photographs OF
houses ornamented with human heads,
and have before me a picture Of two
men clad In nothing more than a gee
string VINO are pounding on gOngs,
the handles Of which are the jaws OF
human beings they have probably
killed The teeth in the jaws are plain
ly visible
There are some Of these head hunt
ers today, but the American governors
or the tribes write that the custom
has been almost wiped out During
1911 there were no heads taken by the
Ifugaos and very few among the