Hide Article Text (OCR)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, ,1899.thryatlt-alerPHILIPPINE LETTERSSamuel Shera's Difccription of Manner 3nd Customs of People.isew; atbndastbk.re-is.1a-latnt.ngonrg*lerofIn-W.*el-mdledgh-lin,er,□tyck.re-ral □ th he e ruingnk-at-Lnk-biseri-theit ly rao re-ef-ort8 andnewreeki towill *een as a ando bently1 at , ofiday*a*er 17,Lit-day.Ines-rille,’Imi-1880-Hethatiponhog-bisuntywasway,hich . Atbenotanongain, near are Most e be Ireat 2,000 mainalmesbothreek, Z hurear* , and bad I Mob! late *»Sceses is the Market Place—X Raisy Day is a Native’s Shack-Csrrytgg a Dressedflog oa the dead.Jaabes Shera, of Jackson townthip, has received the letters published below from bis son, Samuel, who is serving in the regular army in the Philippines. The letter gives an excellent description of tbe country and the life find habits of the Filipinos as well as some incidents that, fall to the lot 6f an Ameaican soldier.Iiius, Philippine Islands, Augdst 3,1809. Dear Folks:I promised in my last letter to write something on our occupation of this town and the habits and customs of the people. Our regiment, the Fourth Infantry, was ordered from Las Pinos to this place June 18. We reached here early in the morning of the next day. The road we came over is one of th€ very tew good highways in this country and was probably built by Spain. It is very wide and at low marshy places is graded up several feet. Gravel is a very scarce article on any of the Philippine highways and now, during the rainy season, they are almost impassable This is strictly a Tagelog district. I think it Is called the Province of Gorouel and seems to be entirely under the control of this people when we came here. It is very low and level. At places between here and Las Pinos the rice fields can be seen stretching away for miles. There is a continuous line ot bamboo shacks on either side of the road. On an average I believe there is a shack for every one hundred feet.A military occupation of a town is as follows: At this place, where the enemy is not far away and an attack is expected at any time, a company is sent out a mile or so to act as an advance guard. Then all around the outskirts of the town, one hundred yards or so apart, is a string of Cossack posts. A Cossack post consists of one non-commissioned officer and four privates. These post» act independently from each other. In case of an attack onemanisse.it to notify the officer of the day while the remainder of the post hold their ground. If they possibly can. until reinforcements arrive. All through the town patrols, consisting of one non-commissioned officer and three privates, walk their beats day and night, with orders to supress all riots and arrest disorderly soldiers. In this manner perftct order is restored.A regular soldier, unlike a volunteer, cannot do as be pleases. I do not wish to say anything against the fighting abilities of the volunteers over here. Armed with Krag Jorgensen rifles and smokeless power the'; could, no doubt, put up as good a fight as the regulars. But they are no food to do gatrisou duty and something serAc^canbe said of their cond act after defeatirgtbe enemy and enteriug a town triumphantly In such instances the first thing they did was to loot and plunder the houser and rob the people of all they had.I bad often heard them tell of doing such but never believed it until I had occasion to see it done with my own eyes. This certainly had a tendency to make the people more hostile and nerve the army to fight much harder. It is probably saying too much but I believe this rebellion, to a certain extent, was started and has been prolonged by just such acts.When we first entered this tojvn the people looked at us a little cross-eyed but they didn’t do it long. Patrols and chained guards were quickly strung out all over town to keep order and see that no one was insulted or intruded upon. The people had very small stocks in their stores and soldeverything at an enormous price. We had to pay them, for awhile, just what they asked. Anv soldier who tried to force a native td take his price was run into the guard house or escorted to his quarters. The officers later set a price on several articles and authorized us not to pay more. They have now come down far below the price set by the officers.Such treatment as this, respecting their rights as if they were a civilized people, has won their friendship. From morning till night the word Americano is a prominent one in all their chattering. “Americano macho bueto.” (the American is very good) and “Mucbo gracious” (many thanks) is the remarks they make when you d » them a favor. When the bridge was washed out, during a recent flood, there was no way to get across the river. Some of the people were compelled to cross to attend to their business in town. Part of the bridge being left we laid a few bamboo poles from one arch to the other. The first to come over, at the risk of his life, was an old PhlUpino, a tailor by trade. He came near falling off the poles several times but when his featwas accomplished he thanked us time and again for accommodating him thus.The mavor and priest, both Tagals. are working In harmony with the military authorities. Just recently the mayor detected a lieuten^it and a private from the Philippine ranks in disguise. They wereevidently sizing up the situation of thingshere. Tbe mayor did not call a guard but waded in. arrested both and unarmed then*. He afterwards turned them over to our care and they were sent to Manila and put in prison.The Tagalog people have a dark yellowish color They resemble, to a' certain extent, what is known in the States as a mulatto. I have never seen a Togal that could be called black. Some of them are almost white. They have black eyea which are very brtght. Their hair is black and straight, not curly, and they are very proml of It. The men keep their hair nicelytrimmed.Dncitg the week days the men wear all kind of old trousers rolled up *to their knees. Thev always wear their shirts on tht ouUide of the pants. They very seldomwear a pair of shoes, and straw and bamboo baU of all dtscriptlons crown their beads* SikH boys wear nothing except a Ton will surprised to see the *ea ottday morning rmg to eft gKPKObnret peoplea nice straw hat, American style, and a pair of slippers, which they p«»U off and leave on the outside before entering. the church. The women wear shirt waists with big sleeves. In regard to the sleeves I think they are ahead -of the American women. Their skirts are simple enough, being a square ; ce of cloth which they wrap about their body in the most fascinating way. They very seldom wear a hat for they usually have something balanced on their heads that serves for that purpose. On Sunday they wear their best dresses which are of all colors. They comb their hair back from the forehead and braid it up behind. They use an oil on their hair that gives it a glossy color. The finishing touch to their bead apparel is a dozen or more kinds of brass ornaments.I find this letter is growing' lengtbly and I am not more than half through so will make another letter of itLAIGoodNTrackVia* August 22,18W.I think if one could make a baloon ascen-tlon in the States and alight over here on Market street he would open his eyes very wide. Every town ot any size has a market where the country people congregate every morning to dispose of their farm products. The market In Manila and in all the larger towns is under a large bamboo shed. The market place here at Imus is along one ot the streets. By nine o’clock the people be-'gin to arrive and all squat down on either side of the street with their well filled baskets in front of them. Just go away at this hour and return at eleven. Now every foot of space available for a quarter of a mile along the street is taken. *i?he town people are out getting things for dinner. There is an insessant chatter as purchases are made and money has to be changed. Try to walk through the market and you will find youxself making slow progress. No one gets out of your way. If you act gentlemanly you will never get through. It is simply a case of shove aside and go ahead. That is the way they all do.One day I went along with pencil and paper and took note of things for sale I knew the name of. I got the following: Cocoa-nuts, pineapnles. beetle nuts, mangoes, limes, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, string-beans, squashes, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, roasting ears, radishes, onious, rice, sugarcane. candy, tobacco, meat, cocoa-nut oil, eggs and chickens. There are fruits and different kinds of chow chow but when one asks about them the answer makes you still more ignorant.The people bring their products to market in various ways. Some come on foot, some in caramettas. two wheeled carts with a top, some on carabons, the Philippine beast of burden, and others on sleds and old fashioned carts drawn \y the carabon. When hogs are brought to market their feet are tied and you will sometime see three or four in one cararaetta—one hog to stick under the seat and the others laid in the front part of the bed. They never bemoan their fate and lay as still and calm as if they had been trained a life time.The women carry their burden on their heads. It is astonishing to know how much they can balance on their heads and walk along with perfect ease. I once saw a woman, while on an outpost, going to market with a dressed hog. I know the bog weighed at least one hundred and fifty pounds. She had it carfully balanced on her bead in a big bamboo basket and was moving along at the rate of about five miles per hour.The men carry their loads on the ends of a bamboo stick which they balance on their shoulders. They too can carry great weights. 1 once saw “hombee” going along the road with an old fashioned Singer sewing machine on one end of the stick and two good sized eating tables on the other end. One of our companies, while on the north lines, had a Chinaman who could carry two big barrels of water in this way.Of all the pen drawings of bamboo Bbacks in magazines and papers from the States I have never ceen a true one. They generally have nothing but the roof of the shack shown and it is pictured as setting flat on on the ground. They are never buiit low on the ground. To escape the rainy season and for the ventilation the floor is always from three to eight feet above the ground. The framework of the shack is built entirely of bamboo. It Is roofed and sided with leaves from the palmetto and beetlenut trees. These leaves are about six feet long and eighteen Inches wide. One leaf doubled makes a good shingle. The roof is pyramidal shape. The floor is made of narrow strips of bamboo that are laid an Inch or so apart thus affording good ventilation and making it much cooler. The average shack has two rooms about twelve by twelve. One room is used for a kitchen and the other tor a sitting and bedroom. Don’t get the idea now that they have beds to sleep on. At night time a big piece of bamboo matting is laid on the floor, and all lie down resting their heads on pillows of cotton.One thing can be said of the Philippine women, they keep their houses yery clean. The bamboo floor is scrubbed almost every day. Go into their houses and you will And them very friendly. I was once on an outpost and it commenced to pour down rainlt; A shack was near by and as I could discharge my duty by looking out of a window or door 1 went in. The first thing they did was to make a Are under the little earthen pot and boil some rice. A girl about fifteen went down town for some fish and tr ussel shells. The fish were only minnow* which they used to season the rice. The shells wet* put Into boiling hot water with a handful of salt. This killed the oyster and the shell came open. Supper was now ready sad I found myself invited to eat. I did not foresee this. I knew if I did net accept the invitation It would be considered a downright insult. I ate a few of the oysters bnd a Mttle rice. Seeing that I did not eat much and knowing that the Americans were very fond of chicken, he offered to kill the pet chicken and fry it for me- Every family has a pet chicken which they think a great deal of and to have sacrificed this chickenfor some people'wonld have been a bereavement to alt As X would not allow him to kill the pet, he Ued It «p and said X must takd it with me when X went back to cuup-X suggested that X take one of the chickens knotting about In the yard, so he the set «*dcaught another. W*n Jft* 'Thlt;succeaffordbut wstand was t Eteri weatlfor t!wereand jtious, did r Wedi or thscrowlt; day ^seme Thlt; seem only joyat spirii cheei tract day i in th ever, next heat with zling hour limb one c out t Bu not sligh day 2 trot,day.Frid;freedaymeeithe iMissWin*MoneAnnaGodfKlonTinDlspt Jay I Gera Gus IRex I Char Betslt; TinVoluPat (FrarGassTicFredF108!SlunAlvelt;VestRouiBirdTitPariWC,Rublt;SlunBenGayHanTiiVoloRed!SanGnsiPMissWinAnnMonTiiGasChdSamWeaGeriOMDeliTiFj. eCooandSquTnotP0Cmthbooft*tugAM
Newspaper Details
Lebanon Patriot
Lebanon, Indiana, US
Thu, Oct 12, 1899
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Krystle S.
MD, USA 01 Apr 2020
Other Publications Near Lebanon, Indiana
The Boone County Ledger
Lebanon Boone County Pioneer
Lebanon Daily Reporter
Lebanon Daily Herald
Lebanon Patriot
