The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 15, 1898, Page 25

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY 15, 1898. OUR VOLUNTEERS OFF TO THE PHILIPPINES s . | fleets fraternized whenever they met, aDtaIn m”: O t foreigner w! | Dewey's splendid victory did | Troopship | Timely Ad- vice About the | Vouage and What to Expect in Ma- nila-—-What Dewel Said to Hm n Hongkong. to shield them from the sun. They can- paign in blue woolen cloth. If hould be any sickness during ge we are well prepared to meet it. We carry two surgeons, and have a fine hospital on board. of our voyage will de- ther we are to be es- corted by the Charleston. Probably we will call at Honolulu for ccal, though we can carry 2000 tons—enough to take us to the Philippines and :ave a week’s supply to spare. But we want to get there with the coal we can, so as not to e Admiral "De ~~'s supply. It miles to Maniia. If we go un- Charleston convoy we will e able to steam ten or eleven | knots an hour, for the cruiser, with her limited coal capacity, cannot make the passage at a_greater speed. Thus the rage would require thirty day other hand, if we go alone and unprotected we can easily make fourteen knots, and thus accomplish | the trip in twenty-two days. “My crew has behaved in a curious manner. You know that in this trade we usually carry Chinamen, but when the fellows heard that we were going | into the transport trade they mutinied in a body. nese war and the sinking of a Chinese transport with over a thousand men on board. We offered them double pay, but nothing would induce them to make pend upon W , including a number of | the whole will occupy and and r of Vv aft, ntilators not to and wind sail swinging but in | the voyage. So we will have to send them back by another steamer and | ship a white crew. “Though we are not supposed to arry any civilian passengers, I got a telegram from Poulteney Bigelow ask- ing for a berth. the consent of the Government to ac- company us. Of course I have nothing to do with it; the whole ship has been | chartered by the authorities, and it Is | their business whom they take.” . Admiral - provision ov autho ith that, be fed ge troop: inary passengers, been given over to The cabin acecc rnment. SAW Dewey frequently D tative of the | when at Hongkong,” said Captain . Qoes not command | | Smith of the City of Peking. “Just 1 n ad- before we left I had a long conver- ntire | ~ sation with him, when I remarked contr > her | jokingly: ‘I suppose you are anxious to e r “reports | B¢ Off and to have a brush with those about the plague in sut I do | Spaniards. not think the troor any- | ‘I guess it will take us about half gue | an hour to finish them off,’ replied .| Dewey, confidently. He has been as good as his word. | “The same spirit of confidence in the important 1 | ships and their commanders prevailed n the atten- | throughout the entire fleet. I never hori | saw a finer or better disciplined body g light | of men in my life and the ships were | is impossible | kept in magnificent fighting condition. | e in the tropics| “All the foreign officers at Hongkong | y unifo: they now | were 16ud in their expressions of ad- | be ded with | miration for the American fleet, and as are worn by | the Inglish in particular were most | 1 service, | enthusiastic in their sympathy. The | pith helmets | sailo-s from the two English speaking | thing on that s s o the British sold and solar topees or large | | TWO VIERS OF HENRIK IBSEN. Herewith is presented the latest picture of Ibgen, from two points of view. It is accounted a remarkable study of the sturdy old pessimist, who has just received congratulations on attaining his seventieth year. They remember the Japa- | He states that he has | | luxuriance spring up almost in a day and made common cause against the their ho could not speak tongue. net surprise me a bit, for every one | who has served in the East knows the utterly rotten condition of the Spanish | ships and the inefficiency of their crews. “Hongkong expected the victory and will be delighted with it. The mer- chants there would welcome the Amer- fcan occupation of the Philippines, for then there would be a chance to de- velop the resources of the group. “The islands are enormously wealthy in natural produce, but the system of Spanish squeeze has prevented any’ great expansion of trade. These high Spanish officials are quite as bad as the Chinese mandarins, and their whole system of administration is utterly corrupt. Even as it is there are half a dozen steamers constantly running between Manila and Hongkong: there is a large trade in sugar cane for the Hongkong mills, and the business is| capable of great expansion. | .“The American cause is decidedly | popular among all classes in the East, | Everybody wants to see the Philippines brought under some proper system of | civilized government, and the down- fall of Spanish corruption will be uni- | versally welcomed.” . P HE departure of our soldiers for the Philippines, besides marking a new era in the political history | of the United States, will provide | a distinctly novel per'sonal expe- rience for most of those engaged in the | expedition. The nation has suddenly | | realized that it cannot get along any more without a foreign policy, it can no Jonger restrict its warlike operations to | its own borders, its troops will have to seek their fighting abroad. So that, in | years to come, our soldiers are likely to get plenty of tropical campaigning, | a thing which at present is a decided novelty to the boys in blue who com- pose the army COrps. The tropical East has a declded fas- cination for all of us. It is difficult to analyze this mysterious attraction, it is made up of so many different features, all blending into one fragrant, luxuri- ant whole. But the outcome of it is that, like Kipling's soldier, when we have heard the East a-calling, we don’t | heed nothin’ else. And if this is true of | | Indta, a land of many climes, it is still | more true of the Philippines, lying well within the tropics, between latitudes 4 and 20 north. These isles possess a]l| the features necessary for the develop- ment of the most luxuriant tropical | | vegetation. Naturally the climate is extremely molst. This is only to be ex- | | pected in a land situated in the neutral | | zone between the monsoons and the| trade winds. But though the rainfall 131 | heavy, it is concentrated into one sea- | son of three or four months. Practi- cally, there are three seasons—the cold, | the wet and the hot. The cold season, which is decidedly the pleasantest time of the year, lasts from November to March. The winds blow fresh and cool from the north, and in Manila the average temperature is only 72 degrees. But little rain falls during this period—some eight or nine ‘ inches. Following comes the hot seh\snn,J | from March to June—and just at pres- | ent this season is by far the most in- | teresting period to Californians. Our | ‘bo_vs will land toward the close of this time, and unfortunately will get their first tropical experience at the most un- favorable period of the year. It would | have been far better if the expedition | could have reached Manila six months | earlier, for then the soldlers would have had the cold season to become ac- | climatized in. But war, cruel war, takes no count of such trifles as human health. The time for prompt action has arrived, and the opportunity can not be lost because of a few cases of | sickness. | | " Luckily, the climate of Manila has the | reputation of being a fairly healthy | one, and even in the hot season the | temperature does not average more | than &8 degrees. The Spaniards, in- | deed, say that the heat is not so trying {as in Madrid during the summer days, and certainly it can be no worse | than some parts of the interior of this State. This oppressive condition of af- fairs, when all nature seems exhausted, and human en-rgy is at its lowest ebb, comes to an end in July. The welcome monsoon wind arrives, black and thun- derous, from the southward, and breaks | twith terrible storms upon the island. | The rain falls in torrents, and the germs of pestilence which have been accumulating during the hot season are swept away. Nature washes herself clean, new tropical growths of amazing [ and the land riots in the abundance of life-giving moisture. As much as sixty-six inches of rain have been known to fall in 113 days during the monsoon time. But this is exceptional, the average being about thirty-six inches. The temperature is still warm, only a few degrees lower | than the hot season, and perhaps our unseasoned soldiers, accustomed all their lives to a dry, equable clime, will find this season the most trying of the three. Fever and ague, rheumatism, dysentery and various other disorders incidental to the tropics will be most apt to break out among men exposed at this season of the year, and'if the troops are compelled to operate in the open the utmost watchfulness on the part of the medical staff will be neces- sary to preserve even a fair average of health. However, it Is to be trusted that nothing more than garrison duty will be required of our men during the rainy days, in which case, well clad and under good roofs, no serfous sani- tary trouble need be apprehended. Our troops are likely to be on the best of terms with the natives. There is a common bond of sympathy between them—enmity for the Spaniard. Even the Chinese, of whom there are a large number in the group, will welcome the American heartily. for John, more than any one else, has suffered from the au- sterity of Spanish rule. The native Ta- gals, who inhabit the larger portion of Luzon, are described as being of a sim- ple, honest, industrious character, eas- ily amenable to control. They have been governed for centuries rather by the priests than by the civil power. The Catholic church by means of its mis- sionaries first conquered the natives, and since then has always led them. The people have been educated; they can read and write; they are good na- tured and cheerful, Py, contented and fairly prosperous, in spite of the earthquakes, floods and other terrible calamities which often desolate their land. ‘With John Chinaman the case s very different. He carries on most of the business of the islands, and forms a very important factor in the popula- tion. This in spite of the fact tgnt the Spaniard, time and again, has done his best to wipe him out. There is an hereditary hatred between the races, and the Americans may rely upon get- ting the warmest aid from the Chinese in their task of driving the Spaniards out of the Orient. In reality the Chinese were the first comers. ey occupied the Philippines even before the Span- jards captured the isles, toward the close of the sixteenth century. If they had been left alone they would prob- | ably have overrun the land, but the Spaniards adopted a rough and ready method of keeping them down by fre- quent massacres. Stx thousand was the maximum num- ber of Chinamen allowed to live in the land. When this limit was exceeded a massacre was decreed, and even so late as 1819 we find the Spanish butchers engaged In this barbarous work. In 1762, when the British conquered and held Manila, the Chinese gave the in- vaders every assistance, and for this, when the islands were restored to the Spanish, a decree of extermination was issued. The Governor simply ordered that all the Chinese in the Philippines should be hanged, and it is believed that this inhuman command was actu- ally put into effect. Of course the good ladles of the Red Cross League, who have been working so busily during the last few weeks, will see to it that our men do not go away unprepared for the trials of a tropical clime. Perhaps the first and most important requisite for a soldier | in this country is the cholera belt, such | as is universally worn in the Indian | STR dians on an island. cording to the story, of lifting boxes weighing three and four hundred pounds. They build a peculiar hut of their own make high up against the cliffs. the tribe originally came from is a mystery to the sailors, as they claim there are no Indians in the frozen ground. them anywhere in that region. ANGE TRIBE OF IN FOUND IN THE BERING SEA. Three adven‘urers, just back from the far north report having run across a strange tribe of In- The men are big and powerful; so are the women, for the latter think nothing, ac- of a strip of flannel about a foot wide, and long enough to encircle the stomach. It can be fastened either with tapes or but- service. It consists simpl; tons. Bach man should have at least two of these invaluable artioles, for their constant use, both day and night, will do more to check cholera and en- teric diseases than any amount of med- icine. Mosquito nets will also be a neces- sity in this clime, where every kind of flying and stinging pest abounds, and a water-proof sheet, made of stout In- dia rubber, will also be required. To sleep on the ground during the wet sea- son without one of these sheets would be almost certain to produce serious results, and, in fact, in that warm at- mosphere, the rubber sheet will be about all the bedding a soldler need carry with him. Each soldler should be provided with “a housewife,” a homely, old-fashion- ed, but very useful institution. In this little roll you can carry needles and thread, sticking plaster, scissors and a 25 host of other useful articles. Hvery one who has done any campalgning knows how one's buttons go and clothes give out at the most unexpected moments, and every good soldier must | be prepared to repair his raiment at any time. Every soldier carries, or should carry, a first ald bandage with him, and this, it a few simple rules are only studied, can be applied in dozens of different ways. It may seem trivial to refer to these minor details when men are leaving full of ardor for their country’s service, and willing to do and dare anything for the cause. But a good soldier should al- ways remember that the first duty he | owes to his country is to preserve his | own health intact. And If he neglects the very simple precaution of soaping his socks before a long march, he is very likely to be- come footsore, and so destroy his value | | entirely, for a soldier’s ability to serve | his country depends entirely on the ‘1 state of his feet. DIANS They subsist on fish kept ‘Where like REDERICK WALKER, Joseph Schomanoff and James Aiken have just returned to San Fran- cisco via Seattle from a cruise of adventure and discovery among the waters of the north- ern territory. They tell of a remark- able tribe of Indians whom they found inhapiting an island near the sixty- fifth parallel of latitude and south of Bering Strait, called Kings Island. The Indians seemed to belong to the Innuit or Eskimo family, as they pre- sented the same physical characteris- tics as these people, they being large, the men generally over six feet, with small black eyes, high cheek bones, yel- low skin, brown hair and full brown beards half concealing thick lips. In the corners of the lower lips of many of the men holes had been punched, in which pendant ornaments were worn, The people appeared docile and agree- able, and when the strangers went among them they offered them no harm. A surprising feature of the tribe was the stature and strength of the women. They were equally as tall, if not taller, than the men, and fully as stout as | their lords. They did not display the barbarous ornaments upon their faces with which men increase the esteem in which they hold one another, and they were much better looking than the males. Their strength of body was wonder- ful. One of these women, it Is related, | carried off In her birch-bark capoe an 800-pound stone for use as an anchor | When it reached | to the whaler’s boat. the vessel's deck it required two men to lift it and they were strong men, too, though the woman had not found the moving of it beyond her powers. One woman, it was stated, lifted a box containing 280 pounds of lead and car- ried it upon her shoulders.. When food is scarce they will frequently travel thirty or forty miles without eating, going over the country on the main land in search of wherewithal to sus- | tain life. Both men and women &ap- pear to be endowed with remarkable vigor and power. They are highly athletic and can outrun and outjump any persons of any other race pitted against them. This physical vigor is extraordinary to be produced by the kind of food they consume. They live on carrion fish and seal oil. The fish, generally the salmon, are caught in the fall and bur- fed in the ground intact, without the entrails being removed. They are so kept throughout the winter while the thermometer ranges from 30 to 40 de. grees below zero, and they are dug up as consumption requires. When they are brought to the air they have the appearance of sound fish, but their stench is unbearable to the civilized nose. The island is a great mass of black | rock, basaltic in texture, about a mile | long and two-thirds of a mile wide, with perpendicular cliffs one thousand feet high frowning upon the ocean on three sides. On the south this wall has fallen and a steep rift of a canyon, filled with rocks and snow, cuts up from the water's edge to the top of the island. At the lower end of this ravine, and in the tall side of the basalt, there is a cave worn into the rock by the restless action of the waves. The ocean surf roars and splashes at its mouth, and at high tide that mouth is nearly closed by the sea. But in the rear of the cave there is a great filling or bank of perpetual snow. How it gets there is a question, unless there is a rift in the rock to connect with the snow mass in the ravine, which is probably the case. In this cave snow the Indians have ex- cavated rooms in which they store their walrus and seal meat and whale blubber. There such provision quickly freezes and is kept so congealed indefi- nitely, or until needed for use. ‘Where these people have come from is the curious problem in the estima- tion of the three whalers; as a few years ago the island was almost en- tirely depopulated of its inhabitants by starvation. Food in that region is no longer so abundant as to be readily obtainable with the primitive weapons =nd imple- ments used by Indians. The American whalers from the south have nearly rid the waters of the white whale, the great food of these natives, and what fish of thig variety there is now seeks the protection of the frozen ocean: or it the fish venture south through the strait they are 8o wild and timid that it is rarely possible that an Indian vil- lager can catch one of them. The walrus, too, such an important animal in the Eskimo’s scheme of gub- sistence, has so nearly disappeared that the visit of one about the island is now a rarity. The whalers have caught and destroyed them for the ivory of their tusks. The caribou on the main land are all gone, and the Indian is now forced to subsist mainly on small fish and sea lions. Some of the salmon, however, are enormously large, being five feet long and weighing as much as 120 pounds. Thelr skins are heavy and tough and when scaled and tanned are used to cover blarkas—the Eskimo boat. The Indlans have lately turned to fishing for deep water cod, the supply of which s inconceivable, as the re- source is yet comparatively undis- turbed. They have to fish in about forty fathoms of water, and, equipped with only their siaall boats, and with no pulleys upon which to reel up the lines, it is exceedingly difficult work. They are well rewarded for their la- bors, however, 8s every line draws up from three to five cod, according to the number of their bone hooks used, each fish weighing from twenty to thirty pounds. Tt would seem that with such facili- ties for cold storage these Kings Island Indians could so preserve their food that it would have a more agreeable flavor to the sensitive palate. But the Eskimo taste is a curious anomaly. Mr. Walker says that while anchored off the island a party or the men came aboard, and while his back was turned they took up and drank a gallon of lin- seed oil, which was standing in a ves- sel upon the deck awaiting use in some painting operation. And Mr. Aiken states that men cast ashore among them have starved to death, unable to eat their food. Their cravings for food would be voracious and they would | take the stuff into their stomachs, but | this organ would revolt and refuse to | retain it. So they would die amid min- | gled sufferings of nausea and pangs of | hunger. | But the most remarkable feature in !mnnecuon with these Indians is their | | habitations. They are cave dwellers, the only known people having caves for dwellings now upon the North Ameri- | can continent, and perhaps in -the| world. And their residences are pe- | culiar and far different from those of lthe cliff dwellers of New Mexico, who | Q D)) Z X N 2N o) N 7 | unless it be to protect burrowed their holes in the sides of the mesas. These houses are exca- vated in the sides of a hill, the cham- ber being plerced some feet into the rise and walled up on three sides, in blown off into the sea, it is strongly tront with stones. Across the top of the stone walls are laid poles which they gather from the drift wood of the island. And upon these improvised rafters are placed hides, grass, and lastly a layer of dirt. You do not enter this home direct- 1y, but the ingress is from the end of a long, low tunnel-like hall, covered with the same kinds of rafters and roof as is the house. This passage- way Is from twelve to fifteen feet long and it does not abut against the apart- ment to which it leads, and upon a level with {t, but ends below it, and you rise out of the hall into the house through an eighteen-inch hole in the top of one and in the floor of the other. This is the only means of getting into the house, and one must proceed upon the hands and knees to accomplish this. Why these people should adopt this strange style of architecture is an interesting problem, to the solution of which no theories have been advanced the entrance from the outer cold and snow; and yet, as none of the other Alaskans have any such ideas, and they all endure the same cold, it seems curious that such a notion should have sprung up among this tribe. In the summer these caves become too damp to live in, and the residents then build a summer house on the top of the winter one. They raise a wooden frame and stretch seal hides upon it and so made a room from ten to fifteen feet square. They abandon their long passageway for the season and enter their apartments by an oval hole cut in the skin about two feet above the ground. To prevent this structure from being torn away by the wind and guyed to the rocks of the hill with rawhide ropes. A board walk leads | from the front of the house around to the hill against which it backs. It is a strange and curious sight tc behold, these odd dwellings ranged against the hills, setting one above an- other, the topmost perhaps overlook- ing forty of such houses. It is esti- mated that 200 people live in this vil- lage which is called Ouk-ivak, and which is certainly one of the most ex- traordinarily constructed places in the world. ¥ THE CLIFF-DWELLERS OF KINGS ISLAND, BERING SEd.