The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1920-05-01

All aboard. Let's go! We're start
Ing from Manila, the great picturesque,
Americanized Oriental city, and Will
travel by automobile 200 miles to the
north to Bagui0, the SumWer capital Of
the Philippines. The trip can also be
made by train.
We have ahead of us one Of the most
scenic. spectacular and thrilling auto
mobile trips in the world. We will
have excellent roads all the way. The
Philippines are in fact, a paradise for
autoists, possessing $500 miles of fine
macadamized roads.
The first part Of the trip is through
typical small towns and then across
the central plain Of LuzOn and through
several rich and fertile provinces,
where tropical vegetation is seen at its
best. Here one is impressed with the
great agricultural wealth of the Philip
pines, which represents one of the
East's greatest producing areas, with
the advantage Of immense natural re-
sources for the development of further
production. 1t is regrettably true that
even in the United States there is far
from any real understanding of the
potentialitieS Of the islands
At some points rice fields, looking in
the distance like the greenest Of green
lawns. stretch away as far as the eye
can see. II you want color, if YOU
want to feel the romance and mystery
of an Oriental twilight, pass this way
as the red eyed sun at the end Of the
dying day is slowly sinking behind the
amending expanse Of green fields. At
first you cry out in eCstacy at the
gorgeous scene. But as You ride along,
your eyes fastened on the panorama
of tintS and COlOrs, and with the i'm
penetrably black Oriental night com
ing on fast, you become enthralled.
You no longer try to express your feel
ings. You cannot. You realize that those
now fast changing, colOrful master
pieces in the heavens and on the land
scape are pictures that no man can adj
equately describe nor human hands du-
plicate SO what's the use Of trying!
True, these are but impressions, but
the traveIoguer considers himself justi-
fed In mentioning them, for they are a
part of the trip to Baguio and return.
Indeed, the gorgeous sunsets in all
| parts of the Philippines leave an i'm
preston on the mind of the tourist that
is everlasting.
We leave the palms and tropical
foliage and enter the zone of rugged
pine. We pass from the soft, incense
laden air of the warm lowIands to the
crisp, invigorating ozone of the tenn
perate zone, all within a few hours
time.
For mile after mile the road now fol-
lows the tOrtuous course of river, the
road lying in the bottom or on the
rocky sides of granite canyon.
The Philippines are rich in hydro
electric possibilities. This power is the
cheapest power on earth. And it is
everlasting. Your trayeloguer is nei.
Their prophet nor the son Of a prOph-
ct, but he predicts that one day there
will be innunerable Philippine govern
ment owned hydrO-eIectric plants in
this canyon We are now passing
through. Think Of the possibilities of
such "a project. Today the trip from
Manila to BaguiO is too expensive for
the average Manila worker and his
family, many of whom may live and
die without behoIding the wondrous
Il beauties of their own island of I.lzon,
Think of what blessing it would be
to Filipino mothers and children to
feel upon their feyered brows the cool
! invigorating breeZeS of the mountain
tops, now so near and yet so fart With
the Philippine government owning It's
own electric railways and hydro-eIec
tric plants it would be possible to bring