Evening star., 1928-04-08

| when Intrencherado started preaching
the gospel Of freedom and the equal dis
tribution of money. Any one at all
gifted with the powers Of oratory can
gain a following in the Philippines.
Next In popularity to cock fight comes
/ the pastime of listening to a speech.
To start with, he made bold claim to
divinity and mastery over the elements.
Not hard 70 get away with IN . land
whose inhabitants never heard OF nat
ural laws governing typhoons, earth
uuakes and an occasional volcanic
eruption-and wouldn't have under
stood II they had. He predicted the
eruption of Mount Kangalaon, and 1t Is
said the volcano spouted on scheduled
| time.
In the Philippines every male over IS
| years Of age has TO pay yearly cedula
| (personaD tax of 2 pesos. This. de-
clared Intrencherado. was all wrong.
and he was the man to right 1t. More
than that, he would attend TO the mat
ter at once. so that all who joined with
him would pay in future only 20 cen
| tavos--a mere peSeta. That brought
them In droves-~at annual pesos per
head for dues. Not being familiar with
the simplest mathematics, the taos
didn't realize that Intrencherado could
pay for each mans cedula out OF his
own pocket and still be l peso and 20
centavos ahead Of the game for each.
His business grew and grew. He
couldn't have stopped 1t II he had tried.
He hired secretaries: he printed PAM
phlets. which he sold for 10 centavns TO
the faithful: he clothed himself in the
most showy and costly Of raiment; he
went abroad through the interior Of the
two islands preaching, promising.
threatening.
He made the prophecy that ION Feb
ruary 4, 1929, the winds viii blow at o
speed OF 1900 kilometers an hour, and
whatever object they blow upon. be IL
Of stone or iron. all will be blown to
pieces" He added, however. that. like
Noah of old. he and his followers would
be saved
On the strength Of his propaganda
Intrencherado was hailed into court to
answer charges of sedition. He came in
a blaze OF glory. followed by hundreds
of his adoring adherents. He was
dressed In fun military regalia, his
head was his famous gold and joweled
crown. and he carried sword In
jewel-incrusted sheath. One attendant
sheltered him with the royal umbrella:
another wiped away the kingly sweat
with the royal mouchoir. still another
saw To Il that his royal uniform was not
creased when he sat down
The charges were duly preferred and
Intrencherado pleaded not guilty. The
fiscal lattorney generan. however. OBJ
iected 10 the plea on the ground that
fntrencherado was insane So the case
was suspended until investigation of his
sanity could be made. Meanwhile. the
defendant was released, and he returned
to his followers. who recognised IN his
regained freedom another manifestation
OF his superhuman powers.
| Many months later. so slowly do
things ofiiciM move In those remote
places, mtrencherado was again brought
into court. adiudged insane and re-
manded to San Lasaro Hospital until
eured,e
Among tho Intrencheradistos intense
excitement prevailed, Their beloved
king should not be- taken, they declared.
And the beloved king took unto himself
q couple Of lawyers and appealed to the
supreme Court. But he GOT nowhere.
for the sentence was sustained. Ia-
treneherado then promised To 20 quiet
iy IN Manila II allowed 10 do 80 accom-.
panied only by his lawyer, This re-
quest granted, he went home TO pack
UP, OatenSihly, that L.
On the morning OF May -. the day
mtrentRerado was tp have departed for
ths eaInal the municipal authorities 81