Evening star., 1942-01-18

at the American Chamber Of Commerce,
located on Manilas ancient Escolta,
these rich Americans regarded them
empire. For calling themselves such,
they had valid reason: When the Jap
anese came, the businesses and indus
tries they had founded and developed
were worth more than $500 900 900.
Most fabulous OF all these empire
builders was Judge" John w. Hausser-
mann. gold king of the Philippines"
A young lawyer, he answered his coun-
try's eau for volunteers for the Philip
pine war. Later Gov. Taft appointed
him Manila's prosecuting attorney. He
has been Judge" to all since
Judge Haussermann left the Govern.
ment service. to get into the then-at-
tractive Manila law practice In 1915 a
typhoon-hit gold mine dropped in his
laS. With little expectation OF making
anything out Of it, he Immediately began
operating the mine. Twenty years later
anybody who had held on to 500 worth
of the original stock in the Hausser-
mann mine would have realized q total
return of S460,175.
Produced Chrome Also.
Since 1885 the original Haussermann
mine and its many subsidiaries have
been shipping two-thirds of the entire
Philippine gold export to the United
States. The islands expected to ship
last year s45,oO0oO0 worth of gold.
Judge Haussermann was also the
largest producer of Philippine chrome.
His l94l chrome output and the high
price paid for it by the United States
preparing for about defense presaged
the creation Of new major Philippine
industry. Before the Japanese struck,
the islands were one of the few avail
able sources for strategic chrome.
Confiscation of the Haussermann
mines, valued at s123 0O0, 900, was among
the first things the Japanese invaders
did in the Philippines. But the jap
anese would never inherit Judge Haus-
sermanns conditioned $500,OOo Office
building in Manila because, in their in
discriminate bombing Of the open city,
they hit and destroyed the structure.
The judge was away when the in
vaders came. He was at his residence
in New Richmond Ohio. where In re-
cent years he had played the role Of
sman-town banker and gentleman
farmer during his annual vacations
from his Philippinemines
Not so lucky as Judge Haussermann.
the longtime Republican national COM
mitteeman for the Philippines, was his
Democratic counterpart, Col. Robert E.
Manley.' This 75-year-old war veteran
from Rushford. Mimi, who had acquired
his millions from vast rice lands and
transportation companies, was captured
by the japanese when they reached his
residence in Naga in Southern Luzon.
His captors threw him into a concen-
tratlon camp, where he soon died.
Others Also Hit.
Also not so lucky were Judge Hausser-
mann's fellow members of the American
Chamber Of Commerce Among those
who, by order Of the enemy, could not
appear on the streets Of the city which
they helped to build into one of the
largest and most beautiful In the Far
East were:
George H. Fairchild. president Of the
Philippine Sugar Association, who was
in Washington last fall begging the
Maritime Commission to furnish more
ships to bring Philippine sugar to this
country; Horace B. Pond, head of a trad
ing house which has been selling TO
the Filipinos s160000OO worth of Amer
ican goods every year; Samuel F. Caches.
, president of the islands largest depart
ment store; Joseph H. E. Stevenot, gen.
eral manager of the Philippine Long
Distance Telephone Co., who last sum.
mer was in Washington to receive the
Boy Scouts of America award for his
work among Filipino Boy Scouts;
Thomas j. Wolff, owner of the second
largest sanitary steam laundry in the
world; Mary Peterson Marsman, wom-
an mining magnate, junior only to Judge
Haussermann, and DR.. J. w. Strong, the
one-time United States Army dentist
who became the Philippine rubber baron.
Now under the control of the in
vaderS are many other colorful Amer
leans of fortune. These and the thou
sands of other Americans not so amaz-
ingly successful witnessed the tropical
empire they had built crumble as II
struck by superbaguio. Scornful and
contemptuous of the Japanese as they
had been, 1t was bitter medicine for the
Philippine Americans to see their busi-
nesses and industries fall into the hands
Of the little men from Japan who had
long been their competitors.
from every type of college and university