Evening star., 1913-11-23

| people are two pieces
| Philippine of work which are
| r..A going on hand In
OonoeA '"sAoA' hand in the islands OF
the Philippine archipelago. Igorots. Ne
gritos, Moros and members Of other
tribes which before the American occu-
patton Of the Philippines contained some
OF the widest savages to be found In
any part of the world. have now been
f9amed and are entering with enthusiasm
Into the work which the Representatives
of Uncle Sam have set them to do.
Igorot and Moro fire wardens and
| forest rangers have lately been desig-
| mated as an experiment, and according to
| reports which come to the United States
forest service these wards of the Ameri
can government are making most excel
lent progress. The Philippine bureau of
forestry, which is under the direction of
Maj. George p. Ahern, U. S. A., retired.
has brought the natives into this work.
and the reports which have come to this
country show that for many lines of
service the Filipinos are well fitted and
that they like their new. duties.
In one of the districts three Filipino
forest rangers are employed. and ten
the direction of Maj Ahern say that the
Moros AS laborers are the most consist
ent workers to be found in the Philip
pines. They thoroughly understand most
OF the work connected with forest man.
agement, such as surveying. chaining.
making trails. camping and ire-fghting
They are said to be honest, obedient and
willing to work from morning until night.
For these and other reasons the Philip
pine forest service has found the natives
of valuable assistance.
One interesting report which has come
to this country is of the adoption OF a
new uniform for the Igorot fire wardens
in northern LuZon The fire. wardens
wear bronze forest badge as an en-
blem of their authority, and people who
know the scarcity of clothes worn by
some Of, the native FILIPINO tribes will
wonder where this forest badge will be
fastened EThe IgorOts. themselves, have
been somewhat embarrassed. and have
been compelled to pin the fire badge to
the so-called gee-string, which holds
their breech clout. The arrangement has
not been entirely satisfactory. and they
have expressed a desire to have some
kind of a uniform on which to pin the
sh'eld
Steps have been taken to supply the
IgorotS with a uniform which consists of
a coat and gee-string. The principal use
Of the coat Of course. is to hold the
forest badge. but the Igorots think that
this need is sufficient. The coat will be
made of durable rk-green. cloth, with
brass buttons and gayly colored shoulder.
cords of interviewer green and yellow.
The eee-string will be Of a similar shade
of green. trimmed or decorated in yellow.
with long green fringe. Thus equipped
the Igorot fire wardenS will no longer
be under the. necessity of wearing their.
forest badge pinned to their gee-string for
the lack of a better place to fasten 1t.
An attempt to provide a government
for and civilize the Negritos. the orig
inal inhabitants of the islands. is one
Of the latest ventures of the Philippine
bureau of forestry. according to a report
which has lust come to Chief Forester
Henry s. Graves of the United States
forest service. The Negritos are pygmy
people, dark brown or black in color.
with woolly hair. and they have been
classed as one of the lowest types of
human beings found in any part Of the
world. Dean c. Worcester. former sec
retary of the interior of the Philippines.
recently stated that in his opinion. this
tribe was practically incapable of civili-
zation.
Maj. Ahern. however. is hopeful of bet
tering the condition of the Negritos by
teaching them how to help themselves.
and because many of the little savages
are located in the various Philippine
forests. he has set to work to give
the tribe a form of local self-government.
Heretofore they have never had anything
of the kind The principal objects Of the
given the Negritos is to raise their stand
ards of living. and to give them some
kind of organization which will make 1t
possible for them to protect themselves
against the njustices of surrounding
people and against their own vices and
defects The government which has been
planned for the Filipino pySmies Is es-
sentially paternal. the man placed in
charge of them assuming many of the
powers and duties of government cOun-
Gil.
In the attempt to civiliZe the Negritos
and to open to them new era OF
moral and material progress. it has been
considered desirable to establish two
schools The little natives are to be taught
elementary agriculture. weaving and 9TH
er easy industrial work. The schools will
be surrounded by tract of cultivated
land on which nursery will be estab
lished, which will furnish plants to
neighboring Negritos. and the students
will grow food products for themselves
in large truck garden. These expert
ments in civiliZing the NegrltoS and. oth-
er warlike tribes of the Philippines Is
side-line to the work Of forest conserva-
ton and Americans who are interested
in the islands are sure to follow closely
whatever progress is made in the
humanitarian task which has been under-
taken.
Although the prevention of mine accI-
dents and the resulting loss of life still
offers one of the best
Mine Disasters fields for the study and
practice of human con-
AeSSCACu. servation, there is now
less danger in the mining of the coal to
heat the homes and furnish power for the
industries of the nation than ever before
in the mining industry. Ihls TACT Is
brought out in comparative statistics
which have Just been compiled by Fred
erick w. Horton Of the United States bu-
reau of mines.
In the statistical investigation which
Mr. Horton has just compiled, mas
been found that less men were hiied iasl
year in the mining industry than In any
wear since 1906. notwithstanding tne lac.
that nearly 1JO,OOO,OO0 more tons OF coai
were mined last year than six years ago.
and 10000 more men were employed IN
the mining industry than during tne
earlier year. In 1907 the mines OF the
country were killing almost seven men
| for every million tons of coal taken from
| the ground. As result OF the saIety nrst
movement as it has been EXTENDED 70 ,the
mining industry, the deaths In ana ABOUT
mines have been reduced until last year
the number of men killed for mlihoh
tons of coal mined was 1 2J-IU
In 1897 in every 1.o60 men empioyeo.
| $500 We're killed during year: put
| this number has been. gradually reduceu
until last year only : 1o-loo We're killed
in every 1nOo miners. Five years ago
,rnin nod In q