Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1940-01-05
POLICE STOP GOLD )
BRICK RACKET OF
IGOROT TRIBESMEN
Native Slickers Preyed Upon
Cullible Americans
And Europeans.

BAGUIO, p. 1.-The days when
haH-civilized Igorot tribesmen could
sell gold bricks to Americans and
Europeans are just about over, ac-
cording to James L. Keith, police
chief of this Philippine mountain
city.
A campaign to educate the Chris
tians" against the wiles of Igorot
"slickers' has almost halted the
sale of pyrite and imitation chunks
of gold to visitors.
Baguio is the heart Of a district
that yielded most of the Philippines
S31, 900, 900 gold production last year.
and therein lies the secret of the
brown-skinned gold-brickers' sue
cess.
The purchasers usually operated
on the logic that there was so much
gold in the mountains that wan
dering Igorot could stumble over
some thigh grade" and would be too
ignorant to know the United States
treasury pays S35 an ounce for the
metal.
Various Metals Used.
The bricks" were made of any,
thing from melted telephone wire
to chunks of brass given thin coat
ing of real gold. A few were made
of old Spanish pesos melted with
gold ore and rubbed with hot salt
to bring back the original luster.
Careful weighing or assaying
would have revealed the truth. But
the average victim, not detecting
a cunning developed since Igorots
sold gold to the early Spanish set
tiers for 81 an ounce, bought on the
assumption that this fellow is too
stupid to be a cheat"
Even experienced jewelers. were
listed among the suckers" until
Chief Keith put his collection of
"gold bricks" in Baguio shop VIM
dows and warning signs. Before
this was done, Keith estimates he
received an average of two COM
plants month. Many other VIC
Tins were too ashamed to admit
having been duped by tribesmen
who in the last 40 years have
learned to wear shirts but have not
yet been persuaded to abandon g.
strings in favor Of pants.
The 'buildup' was effectively
simple. A naive-looking Igorot from
the mountains, g-string dangling be-
low his Tapping shirt-tails, would
accost tourist or resident and ex-
plain furtively he had found rich
outcrop of gold. -
Uses License Excuse.
But I cannot sell it," he would
complain. The government says
must have a license to buy or sell
gold, and license cost much money.
First I must sell some gold, even if
/ can get only half price"
One mountaineer had a brain for
legal technicalities as we'll as for
expensive-looking alloys, Chief
Keith recalls. He sat on a curb
stone, idly climbing two gold-bricks
together. Two college-men tourists
from California noticed him and of
fered to buy the bricks.
mot for SALE" said the Igorot.
"These are for my children to play
with"
But your children can play with
ordinary stones" said one of the
tourists. We'll give you money for
these"
Don't know what they are" the
idler replied. But my children like
to play with these"
We'll give you 10 pesos"
mo, my children "
Thirty pesos"
And that watch, too?"
When the young men discovered
all is really not gold that glitters,
they had the idler arrested.
But I didn't tell them it was
gold," the Igorot protested to the
police chief. He won the point and
returned to the mountains with &c
pesos and a wrist watch.