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THE SUNDAY CALL HAVE seen a human incubator. ywered it in the full tide of lorious operation n in a bamboo buyo Towers, beyond kept careful daily its tale of days being sred to the world over e prettiest and flufflest s that I first beheld this—to tion of human forces mewhat foolhardy urous American have even thought of under the grateful f or awning or protect- fro wever, it was far too hot to As, expect to be even partly comfortable anywhere, and the monotony of camp life had become almost unbearable, Lieutenant George N. Wolf, ordnance officer of the Oregon regiment, deter- mined, together with myself, to take & fle ride under those blazing an errand partly explora- there was great suffering among the her people down by the Towers be- since the Spanish had been driven le or sale Even had means i been secured for and chick- VI a=Thave Pou Ever Seen a Human Mncubator?=- L - ! tion through the fact that having been because of their dire poverty restricted almost exclusively to a fish diet, the beach people had become afflicted with most painful cutaneous eruptions which had developed in many cases into a general disease affecting the whole physical structure. Loading ourselves with a number of cans of beef and a half-dozen large pasteboard boxes of hardtack, the lieu- tenant and I started on our torrid jour- ney, resting for a brief time at La Cari- dad, which seemed utterly deserted un- der that scorching sun, every one hav- fled to cover, there to remain until eventide, and then pushed on through a bamboo thicket to the beach skirting that portion of Manila Bay. Alone on ‘the sands we found one old woman digging in the sand with her clawlike fingers for shell fish, which she eagerly devoured as soon as found. The voracity with which she disposed of a which we experimentally threw + showed that anything made of was a heavenly luxury in her es- ation. We gave her as many as we »ught it would be prudent for her to , and she disposed of every crumb of them without a word or even a gesture of thanks; but before she shuffied out of sight into the bamboo jungle she uttered a singular cry, which brough around us a8 by magic & small army Filipino children. Half-clothed and far more than half- starved they all were, yellow in color and eunken of cheeks, with stick-like arms and legs, gnarled lumps of knees and elbows, and abnormally large ab- domens. Boys there were wearin, nothing but breech-cloths, girls clas with a flutter of rags as a ‘“saisa,” and little bony toddlers clad only with the sunshine. There were luminous eyes gleaming all around un—'wolflshvlookiui eyes that glared at us out of scores o wan little faces heart-breaking in their pathos of childish and unmerited mis- ery. My friend and I stood back to back and threw handfuls of pieces of cracker into the famished crowd, being obliged, however, to interfere occasionally, and often with considerable force, to pre- 7% £ a R &N poor oid woman, having outlived her usefulness in other ways, had been metamorphosed into an incubator.” the comparativel most like shadows. One little girl, a see which he case the lieutenant and in her still luxuriant but wildly dis- fragile treasures committed to her scrambling out of their shells all around rp g timid creature with a pair of the most and I ¢ followed h. ly heveled hair, were nearly three dozen charge. and over their foster-mother I shall not 5 ournful eyes that. I ever saw, had away, and dis hens' eggs. The poor old woman, hav- From that day George and I made soon forget. : particularly attracted our 'n by \'was a hut sheltered by ing outlived her usefulness in other this living incubator our special charga Later I was Informed that it is the fact that altho fough nboo. ways, d been metamorphosed and saw to it that neither she nor her quite the custom among the Filipinos vallantly With her les to hut there was absolutely incubator, and young attendant lacked for food. We to utllize the disabled and the aged in ther m 2 her share nothing few rude i was she perfor ies. made frequent visits to the solitary hut this manner, though this special 1 s we used for £ 1 She lay T ss as her and kept close Natch not only of the stance is the only one of which I ha ven & cr t ds le a sort of ralsed young grandchili—who had acted the condition of the old woman but of the had personal cognizance. With hens but had in her “saisa.” platform of bamboo upon which lay a part of Elijah’s ravens—stood on tiptoe eags, concerning which we felt a special at $2 aplece the enterprise is certainly e e was intending gaunt old woman, packed, apparently, beside her and fed her slo with and 'solicitous curlosity. It was our a remunerative one, though it would lly as share her treasure with some on in very dirty cotton batting. Cozily fragments of meat and crac : and good fortune to be present when the scarcely ind favor in more civilized melt- else intended to enjoy a much too large nestied in this soft material, close she seemed almost afraid to speak, or hatching time arrived, and the odd communities. i nto the wall of gr d us al- meal at her leisure and peace. To against and between Her arms and body even chew, lest she should break the sight it was to see the tiny chickens Pi‘ERRE N. BOERINGER. about sion glacial perfod. There are two large islands in the lake and upon them the AKE IN CALIFORN and forbldding and formed entirely of lava, which looks as if it had but yes- dians since time immorial have known the food value of these larval Insects EATURES f sulphate of soda and ten chloride of um. float hither and thither over the water. There are other strange features about by the waters of the lake, is & warm spring of fresh water, rising from the ich in these d and come from far and near to gather lake. There are springs scattered foot of man is seldom planted, for terday been lifted above the water. bottom. It aff 1 ot fc structive salte it 16 strange that any them. They are collected in the great over its bottom, and many of these, though the Indians gather about the Jagged lava surrounds a black volcanic bathing, = for OIse e dcllghtrul Bpot for i e o e e thelos, baskets which —the squaws carry on which contain lime in solution, have shores they cannot be persuaded to cone of very recent origin. On the older water of the lake he will be cov B d . B fRsoe }; «I‘fl it «'1 their backs, are dried and then stored built up fantastic towers, some of cross the water and no canoe ever ruf- lava there are a few bushes and a with .a crust of soda if he does oes support several kinds of animal for winter which extend above the water. From fled its surface. A little scow, leaky small flock of goats manage to eke out rinse off in fresh water afterward and hard to row, was the only avail- able kind of boat and, choosing a quiet morning, for fear it would not stand the fierce afternoon winds, we ventured out to the islands in it. Strange islands indeed we found them to be. One is dark one the water flows like the stream from a circular fountain running out over the edges of the basin. High above the present level of the water may be seen the shores of the old lake which existed here during the an existence. The larger island is partly volcanic and partly formed of clay beds. Its surface is light in color and almost free from vegetation. On the south side of this island, which is called by the In- dians Paoha, is a considerable area permeated by the heat of the subter- ranean fires which still smolder there. The rocks are hot under foot and from crevices here and there {ssue jets of steamn or hot vapors. On a cold morn- ing a column of steam can be distinct- ly seen from the mainland six miles away. Just out from the shore, and covered life. There is a 1 an inch long, and resembling a shrimp, th which the wa is so filled that v swim about here and there t ake the water seem almost alive. There is a fly also which seems to be unaffected by the w: n if sub- merged in it. The c numbers of these insects fairly cken the = sand in many places. There is also an insect which In the early summer lays its eggs in the water, and toward fall they hatch out in immense numbers. T worm-like creatures w: the shore in great windrows, if soon decay and pollute the air. How- ever, this seldom happens, for the In- e crustacean, half On a morning after a storm the white foam may be seen in great masses floating upon the water, reminding one foreibly of the icebergs of the north. Should a light breeze arise they pre- sent a most striking spectacle as they Copious springs of sulphur water from a little flat on the side of the and. They have a petroleum flavor are undoubtedly medicinal. Both ands look as if only recently elevat above the lake. They seem to occu the center of the lcanic action of the region. We felt while on them nearer to the Infernal regions than at any other time of our lives. ‘With easier communication across the Sierras, this isolated but most remark- able lake would prove for the tourist a most attractive feature of our State. Even now, almost inaccessible as it is, it will abundantly repay the effort neca essary to reach it.