The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1917-06-28

THIS morning I awoke to the
crackle of resinous knots in
the great fireplace. The air was
cool and bracing. Outside, the
breezes stirred the giant pines whose
mastlike trunks reached high into the
air in a vain attempt to look over the
1,000-foot cliff against which our log
resthouse nestles in a bed of ferns,
writes Maynard Owen Williams to the
Christian Herald.
We are on the mountain trail Of
Benguet, in northern LuZon, in the
Philippines, resting in a reSthouse
which deserves the name. Roughing it
in northern Luzon is what Irwin Cobb
would call "de luxe" Rich, fiavory
oyster stew, fricasseed chicken, tender
peas, sweet potatoes, tea, blueberries
and hot biscuit and honey are all we
have had for lunch, but we had all we
could eat, and the Filipino cook is the
best cook and the tidiest housekeepef
in the Philippines, which is going some.
To appreciate the cool shade of the
lofty pines and the clean, rustic charm
of our pine palace of repose, we must
shoot back to Manila and begin our
trip by auto in the delightful cool Of
morning.
Several men with whom I had ex-
pected to have interviews were either
out of Manila or in the hospital, and
things seemed to be moving in a circle.
Then, one morning, I read that Direc-
tor Of Education Marquardt, Prof. r.
M. McElroy of Princeton and others
were to make a tour Of inspection of
the schools in the ~IgOrrote and Ifugao
districts north of Baguio, and I pro-
ceeded, as automatically as possible,
to "butt In"
We are travelling in the wilds, where
a few years ago head-hunters made
gruesome collections. There are
pythons here and wild boar and other
game in plenty, none Of which / have
seen trace Of as yet.
Motoring on Fine Roads.
1t is ten hours by auto from Manila
to the summer capital Of the Philip
pines at Baguio, IT'S miles away and
5000 feet higher up, where blankets
are needed in summer.
For 80 kilometers from Manila the
big seven-passenger car in which Mr..
Miller, his twelve-year-old son, Pro-
fessor McElroy and myself Travelled,
rolled luxuriously over the fine
roads through towering arches of CO.
conut palms, mango trees and fire
trees (Which become q mass of red
blossoms) over old Spanish bridges
and modern concrete les spanning
shady, curving streams in which der
ricklike fishing nets rose above the
boats, which lay idly at anchor in the
arm radiance Of the Eoorning light.
We passed thousands of nipa huts,
With matched roofs, built up on stills
so as to keep them dry In the heavy
rains, and to afford a shady retreat
for the razor-backed porkers with long
shouts like their wild ancestors, and
the spindly legged game roosters with
shiny plumage, slender necks and
heads, and boastful crows-the sport
Ing animals of the islands.
In every town there Is a Catholic
church, Its steeple topping the view
and it's whitewashed or calcimined
walls ~crumbling through the ravages
Of time in a humid climate. Farther
on, towns are fewer, and the heat
beats into ones face In hot gusts,
while the baked fields seem almost
barren, except for cogon grass or
weeds. For miles we did not see q
house, and the only sign of life was
the wavering rush of crowded motor
cars, which dash by at frenzied speed.
After passing a toll bridge, which col
lapses when the rainy season makes
heavy bamboo RATS necessary, we
turned aside from the main road and
visited the North Luzon Agricultural
college at Las Munos.
Teaching the Natives Farming.
The school is not q show place, but
q workshop, and its director, Mr.. Moe,
a graduate of the University Of Wis
consin. is working with ideas rather
then expensive equipment. Tuition
Is free, and each boy earns his food
by working at productive labor at the
rate Of three cents an hour, with meals
costing four cents each. The boys not
only build their own buildings, but
have set up a machine shop with a
discarded traction engine. which cost
$50. dIsmounted and made to drive
the machines. The moving picture
machine and the stereopticon are used
regularly. and six miles of irrigation
canals bring water from the nearby
hills.
As yet 1t Is q barren place. for II
only one farm ;rrigatese the bug popu.
lation Of the county hold a convention
and festival In ita crop beds hnt ny
/ cooperating with the homestendcrs
additional fields are now being IT,
rigated, and IN era OF prosperity Il
4 cofffn0 IN Hufx n fcSnaax