The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 22, 1901, Page 11

THE SUNDAY CALL s HITMARSH slapped Scheror's face kerer. in turn, tried to blacken Whitmarsh's eve, but not be geressive v ving lost c d, he or cceede in punching a hole in the ai gside of s pass t arms between Pheips marsh n Civil Covernor of the prov f ng ste nd the sem!- reechclout quarrel between ivil government ; white who ptain ma e of the m 1zed, a story wE of O Scherer's pathetic life rather than as t ugh it is i at charges were pre ferred against him for abuses perpetrated & repres ve of a New York weeki which the Igorrote chiefs had hoarded during the insurrection were profitable commodities in which to deal, he unched out on the mew enterprise of acquir'ng th by commerce. To be made Clvil Governor of a province where goid and coffee abounded and returned twice their cost price at the coast and in Manila was a decided advantage. Mr. Whitmarsh re- ceived the appointment Otto Scherer, the man who would nat desert a Filipino love and his half-breedl children, the man who is a scholar and s of a dozen languages, is a most and fascinating character hermit's shell of pessimism is through and his warm heart is ken reached When he was a young man, a decade ag0, he was Jaunched from a comfortable Berlin home into the world of trade by a great German importing house, whick he epresented for a number of years in Manila on. as all such st are, and he quite in the Spanish where the price of one's ne-ds city mere bagateile, comparatively, and a houseful of co ipino servi to fill one's ev may be had for the of a single English valet. and where the on carrgmatas and quil- horses, would not York Jel with sleek littie sy beer for a New sumptio Here Sct amid greenery of palms and vines. w » the rich-hued plants of the t breezes waved nds sl- y to and fro agal starlit sky. below his conch-shell casement the waters of his garden fountain trickled in rhythm to the notes of the mandolin ris- ing apd falling from the bamboo thatched beyond. A sweet voice, a Bpanish love song, a s daily rer lived the witching termingled and follage the soft, flowers At even glant st a co the ler —— 7 Gr ' 7% orre 3CAERLR beautirully contoured face lit by the flut. tering rays of a cocoshut oil lamp. The thing was done, and Otto Schercr in the tropics was in love with one of those petite, brown-siinned beautles who blos: som as the rose in the dew bedecked morning, and who, alas! shatter with the sun-scorched noon. Most white men fall in love in the lan- guishing atmospkere of Manila, for the air, the flowers, the musle, the vine-hung gateways, the cetheticlsm of the life seem to demand some one to share sympathets ically these plrasures with you, but it is a love seeming for most forc'gners to set when called back to thelr more temperate homes the north, where conscience and convention re'gn. It was not so with Otto Scherer when, casy eside of as is the custom of these great mercan-’ tile concerns. was arked to come and cecupy a pesition in the home office for few years. He was staggered. Here was the woman whose heart was entwined with his, while binding them to- gether so both must bleed if wrenched apart were two beloved children, a tod- dling girl and an infant boy. He had seen many of his men friends confronted with the same problem. He had watched the steamer.for Hongkorng warp away fram the “Muclla” landing and glide down the Pasig. while from her deck a man waved his handkerchief shoreward huddled little group—a forlorn woman. with iiny ones. paler than she. clinging to her skirts, ag she, gr stricken, waved frantically U her eves and w The aifficulty was so easily surmounted by some men He was of different stuff. He asked to ne to a ved again '~ Maniea P 1 be aliowed to rema’n where he was, for he would not willingly take the littie sun- tanned woman, with dark, apyealing eyes bac to fatherland—the land of the bluc-eyed, fair-haired Gretchens. It was not so mauch on his own accgunt, mind nd the fesr that he would be made » publ'c prey of gossips as it was the @read of thrust‘nz the t'mid, brown weom- an and her elf-I'ke children into a civil- ized atmosphere so0 at varlance and so out of harmony with their whole previous life. He could not part with them. and in noble renunciation, made doubly bitter by the jeers of his Caucas'an compatriots, he gave up all the material advantages A connections which might bave led rim on Ith Fer the love of a native wirl, he like a fool, they said, ruined his life and lost all a we s butiness counection, but then there were many du uled men, unkin to Osto Echer o understood not the meaning of tae clutch of a baby hand around a father's fingers. What is the usec of caring when one can have long, cald whisky and godas on the club veranda? Yes, it did ruin hisJife, in spite of him- seif, and the fierce denfal he would glve if you intimated such a thing cannot alter the facts. The men at the Manila Club hang ‘their legs over the arms of the long bamboo cha #ip from glasses with ('l*x. king ice and say: “Oh, ves, that man Scherer is a wild man: he prefers living with the naked ravgges on the mountaing to assoclating with white men. 't It sad about that ghter of his? Yes, he went rs ago and seldom comes to Ma- now, because, as he says, he prefers SCHERER " MESTIZO"CHILDREN IGoRROTE PagK CARRIERS ON THE TRAIL NEIGHBORS AND IS A FRNDY OF OTvo SCHERER - A to live among nonest, Warm-neartod bar- barians rather than civilized monstrosities and thleves. Ha! ha! Isn't that funn) Scherer left Manila, as ncarly as the writer could find out.-because he becamo n marked man, and his friends were ever tco ready to twit him on the. quixotism of caring whether a brown-skinned woman and her progeny lived er dled, It wrenched hie heart and made him hate h{ w man to the cxtent that one day he took his little family off into the wilderness, up the mountain sides, and he did not stop traveling until a hundred and fifty miles separated him from Manila, and seven thousen@ feet of a'titude gave him that frea Lrcath of air he must havo or kill ¥ome une, There among the bare-legged Igorrotes, who graze their herds of cattle on the wind blown hilis of the fir forests, and cultivate scanty rice fields In the sun- Jvarmed, sheltered valleys, he hag seen his children spring to the verge of maturity. Another bitterness was added to this man’'s heart-stung life, They say the wo- man left him-—left him, after he had @iven up for love all that most men count of value. Left him because the aiv of the high country was cold and damp, and the dripping cleuds hemmed them in for weeks during tae rainy season, in their Jonesome, eerie home; Left him, because there were no “balles,” no “teatros,” no Tuuiie except the cianging of tom-toms in the wild, native dance. ’ The buiterfy must have thg roses and the sunshine, and how could the laughter- loving heart of the Filiplno woman do withcut the ballroom, the passion of the great cathedral, and the moonlit sunsets of the Luneta, where all those-she had known thronged in the balmy evcnings? 1t were better, after all, that he had taken ker t& Germany. A loneoly man, with 2 loneliness made greater by the Idolatrous worship of his children. the hatred of fellows, and the dread of the coming day when thoze lHttle ores came to man's and woman's estate. In the comfortable wooden house of adze hewn boards and with grass thatched roof he di¢ most of the domestic work until the girl, growing each year into greater beauty of face and form, naturally took from him these cares. He taught them each day, with the systematic effort of a schoolmaster, until they were fairly well versed in all the branches of a gommon school education, and further he imparted some of his wonderful knowledge of lan- guages, until they have a fair grasp of German and French, while it goes without saying that they speak Spanish, Tagalog, Nlocano and Igorrote fluently. The writer once thoughtlessly asked Scherer what were his intentions for the future of his girl. The result was much ke surprising and wounding a lion with ker cubs. He positively roared in anger that any one had dared to intimate i.at her life ameng the Igorrotes might have little possible breadth. It is a mortal hurt to him, however. He knows the dsy will come—and not so far distant, either—when this girl-woman will be out of the chrysalis entirely, and will flutter her wings. What then? His lave for his daughter is a flerce and frightful devotion and jealousies consume him, even in conjuring the future that he knows must come: broken hearted dismay over- whelms him at the thought that his duty and honor, as a father, demand he shall make her future compatible with her tratning and blood. He is drifting now, afraid to meet the issue, and while he waits the-happy, bird- like girl throws her whole spirit intc the primitive pleasures of the Igorrotes, tread- ing the shufling dance at native feasts to the sound of monotonously pounded wooden drums, dipping her dimpled hands into the communal dishes of boiled hog and rice. and watching, with awestruck face, the jmcantations of the witchlike sorceress as she smears great splotches of warm hog's blood on the cheeks of the family te propitiate the spirits. Her face wreathes in intense admiration at her father's prowess, when, as is his wont at these oft recurring feasts, he 11 springs, with outstretched arms and fold- ed blanket undulating about his bare legs, Into the circle of the dance. It can be seen that she looks upon him as the ideal of dancers. but who can say before the day how long when some bulging mus- cled Igorrote lad will seem fairer after all than the pale skinned father? It almost gseemed that the coming of the Americans ‘into the Philippines might solve for Scherer the problem of his life, and that the cordial relations growing up between the American soldier and the German recluse might extend to the petite daughter, with the father's consent: but now, after ‘rendering most valuable as- sistance “in establishing civil government, he has had a quarrel with the American Governor of the province and who is thers in power in Manila who will appreciate the unselfish services of this foreigner to the American cause after those with in- terests at stake have made their explana- tions of the trouble? He may now carry out his threat, made to the writer nearly two years ago, when the American advance guard first reached far-off Benguet, of taking his children and going another hundred miles into the interior among the “head hunting" Igor- rotes of a really unknown land—provided the whites had come to stay. If he does one must pity his children the more, while it will be most unfortunate for the government to lose the services of a man who throughout the entire insur- rection consistently preached peacs to the Filipinos, whose leaders he knew, and who, when opportunity offered, acted as a consclentious go-between, endeavoring to establish friendly relations and a fair government, What becomes of him now? Does he fall back into the grim shadows agai Ex-Speaker Reed was in the Supreme Court at Washington,D. C., recently,when the Justices were slow In assembling. Mr. Reed waited with an elephantine patience. Presently a frjend of his leaned over to him and whispered, “Mr. Speaker, can't you count a quorum?’ A look of grave reproach’ overspread the retired states- man’s face. “Sir,” said he, in a tone of dignity, “yeu forget that when T counted a quorum theré always was a quorum.”— Chicago Journal. 3 & TUDE of human nature declare =) that almost all persons are super- &7 eritious. The belief in good and bal .ens, the construing of trivial accidents and happenings of the present into grave portents of the futuré is as old recorded history, Such apparently | process is often attributed ¥ to peasants or persons of inferfor knowledge or education, but it is 2 well known fact that Dr. Johnson, one of the gravest, most learned and phil- osophical minds of modern times, was a veritable ve of superstition. Without entering into the origin and history of this pecullar form of belief, common to mpany of the greatest men of antiquity angd the present, it is interesting ther some of its most ent forms in England and curious populer and and this countr) 0)d sayings regarding clothes are still to g cu jmplicitly believed in by many; as for instance: It #s Jucky to put on any article of dress, particularly stockings. inside out; but if n to hold good, you must 2ou wish the v cod an d Evil Omens for Thos continue to wear the reversed portion of your attire in that condition, till the regu lar time comes for putting it off—that 1 either bedtime or before a bath. 1f you sct 1t right you will ““change the luc It will be of no use to put on anything with the wrong side out on purpose. When William the Conqueror, in arming himself for the battle of Hastings, hap- pened to put on his shirt of mail with the hindside before, the bystanders seemed to have been shocked as by an f{ll-omen, un- til William. claimed 1t as a good one, be- tokening that he was to be changed from a Duke to a King. The phenomenon of the “hindside before™ is so closely related to that of “inside out” that one can hard- ly understand their being taken for con- trary omens. Another and weird belief regarding per- sonal attire is that the clothes of the dead will never wear long. When a person dies and his or her clothes are given away to the poor, it is frequently remarked: *OH, they may look very well, but they won't wear; they belong to the dead.” . if a girl's petticoats are longer than her fro that is a sign that her father loves her better than her mother doés: perhaps because It is plain that her mother does not attend so much to her dress as she ought to do; whereas her father might love her very much and at the same time be very ignorant or unobservant of the rights and wrongs of fernale attire. 1f one would have good luck he must wear something new on Whitsunday, not aster. A Among miscellaneous superstitious say- ings the following may be noted: “It is unlucky to enter a house. which vou are going to occupy, by the back “Lightning will not strike elder- " The reason for this superstition is probably the tradition that the cross on which our Savior was crucified was made of this wood. Dean French. in vne of the notes to his “Sacred Latin Poetry,"” accounts for ihe trembling of the leaves of the aspen tree by saying that the cross was made of its wood and that since then the tree has never ceased to shudder, As hot cross-buns are being introduced into this country, it may be noted In con- nection with that pastry that, according to English superstition, they will, if prop- erly made, never get moldy. To make them properly the materlals must be mixed, the dough made and the buny baked on Good Friday. Regarding the cutting of the finger nafls— Cut ‘em on Monday, you cut 'em for healt] Cut ‘em on Tuesday, you cut ‘em for wealt Cut 'em on Wedneaday, you cut "em for new; Cut 'em on Thursday, a pair of new shoes; Cut 'em on Friday, you cut ‘em for sorrow; Cut ‘em on Saturday, you'll see your true love to-morrow; ‘em on Sunday and you'll have the devil with you all the week. Superstitions with respect to the cut- ting of the nails are of ancient date. Heslod, in his '""Wcrks and Days” says: “Not to cut from the five-branched with glittering iron the dry from the quick in the rfch feast of the gods.” . Mushrooms will not grow after they are seen. Very naturally, the first person that sees them gathers them. Readers of the immortal “Pickwick Papers” will recall mention thereln of the Cut SUperstitiolsly town of Bury St. Edmunds. About four miles from this place is Barton Mere— an eccentric piece of water, which varies In slze from twelve to fourteen acres to a egmall pond, and " is sometimes entirely dried up. It is regarded locally as a sure indication of the value of corn stalks. It is, in fact, a well-attested fact that the price of corn and the height of water fre- quentiy do vary together. It is supposed that the character of the weather may affect both in common. In the sams manner the saying: *“If the raindrops hang on the window, more will come to join them,” may be account- ed for by the fact that it Is a sign of slow evaporation, of the presence of abundant moisture, which will be likely to precipitate itself in the form of more rain. 1f, when you are fishing and count what you have taken, you will not catch any more. To discover a drowned body, cast an apple into the stream at a point above the spot where the body is supposed to be. The apple will drift down and stop over the place where the corpse lies. There are some odd superstitions rar garding the moon and the weather, which one hears every day. The following may be mentioned: It is good luck to see the new moon over the right shoulder, but over the left shoulder the reverse. If you see the new meon through a window and have coin about you, every plece of coin should be turned for luck. Superstitions regarding the moon are more prevalent in the coun- try, doubtless, than jn the city. Thus some farmers consider it unlucky to kill a pig In the wane of the moon; if it is done the pork will waste in boiling. Often one hears the shrinking of bacon in the pot attributed to the fact of the pig ha ing been killed in the moon's decrease, and the death of poor piggy is frequentiy delayed, or hastened, so as to happen dur- ing its increase. A Saturday moon, if it comes once in seven years, comes once too soon. The application of this is that if the new moon happens on a Saturday, the weather will be bad for the ensuing month. Rain before seven, Fine before elevens Tnclined This. though generally true, cannot, like more ambitious weather prognostications, be always relied on. There never is a Saturday without sun- shine. Just why Saturday should be se- lected is rather difficuit to determine. St. Swithin and the ground hog are very genegally regarded as sure weather prophets, for, although the former is de- creased; his day, when marked by rain, means forty continuous days of falling weather. The ground hog also has his day, upon which stould he see his shad- ow, he retires, confident in the anticipa- tion of a protracted speil of bad weather. Another weather guide connected with the moon is that to see “the old moon In the arms of a new one” is reckoned a sign of fine weather. and so is the turn- ing up of the horns of the new moon. The list of popular superstitions, some confined to certain districts, peoples or countries, others. more or léss universal, % well-nigh endless and affords curious illustration of the methods adopted by ‘man for reading the inscrutable futUre.— Washington Times.