Tagbilaran there are
Such is an outline of a simple people inhabiting one of the thousands of the islands of our new possessions. We found them self sustaining, <quiet>, and content
Except to
those in favor political systems meant little
various hempen fabrics often pretty colored by native dyes
[sic]. Cattle and horses are raised in the north and east and fish
of course form a large part of the food of the people. Fish traps abound
every where along the coast, and at night the sea in the neighborhood of
coast villages is [illegible] dotted <for miles> with the lights
of boats carrying natives armed with fish spears
*See page 29.
<But> the viscious [sic] diseases of civilization have not yet
obtained a foot hold amongst these people. Phithis [sic] is perhaps
the greatest evil but next stands small pox which is
{51}
but probably perhaps its greatest wealth is in the cocoanut
which grows everywhere in abundance and converted into copra forms a principal
article of export. <Most of the fabrics worn by the [women?] comes
[sic] from Hong Kong but> a little cloth is made from native fibers
chiefly from <piña and> varieties of hemp, by simple hand looms
seen <found> in many of the native huts; and
<also> from a kind of cotton <from the [gapas?] bush: there is another
cotton [extracted?] from the> pods of the duldul tree and
but of too short fiber to answer for cloth making <it is used as stuffing
for pillows>. Their fabrics are often prettily colored by native dyes.
<Hats and> basket work are made <and sold in the markets> and
a really beautiful mat highly and often artistically colored <and such
as I have not seen the equal of elsewhere. These mats are made in the north
of Bohol and are quite celebrated for their [beauty?].> Cattle and horses
<too> are raised in the northern and eastern parts of the island and
exported, but water is scarce in many locations <in other
parts of the island> and no great number of domestic animals are seen
on the farms of south and west. The people though doubtless poor seem to
live in comfort and plenty; houses are exceptionally well built often of
stone and commonly of hewn lumber <covered> with nipa thatched roofs
or corrugated iron perhaps and the churches often tiled.
Their places <houses> have an air of cleanliness and
thrift like the people <who live in them which is> very refreshing
to see amidst the frequent <[illegible] & dirt &> squalor
of villages in the Visayas.* [See the starred "footnote" on p. 50
above.] Of course bananas, chickens, rice and fish are main articles
of food & the latter especially abound <are very
plentiful>. Every where along the coast great areas covered by
<bamboo> fish traps are seen for which a tax is payed to government
and at night in the neighborhood of coast villages the sea is
often frequently dotted for miles with the lights of fishing
boats carrying spearmen whose catch forms a principal article of food for
the people. Fevers and other tropical diseases are of course prevalent
but next to phithis [sic] perhaps the greatest evil is the
small pox which the people dread in a way and yet
suffer with apathy. Here at
{52}
But no doubt the spread of contagion is increased by the custom of sitting
up with the dead, <when> All the friends of a family gather for a night
around the corpse of the diseceased [sic] no matter what the cause
of death.
But of the viscious diseases of civil Another ill is the
snake some of which are very poisonous; the people have a trick of carrying
at night a stick rubbed with garlic which they say frightens snakes away.
It seems probable that <the hooded cobra is found on some of the
islands.>
Called the vaccinador who receives 40 dollars per month from government.
At Tagbilaran shortly after our arrival there were 38 cases of small pox
reported in the town of about seven thousand.
Insert after occupation
Tagbilaran is a pleasant town with broad clean streets, a large and imposing
stone church and many good buildings of stone or hewn wood. It lies on a
bluff overlooking the pretty strait between Bohol and Panglao, and is buried
for the most part in foliage. In front of the church is a large plaza lined
on two sides with well built dwellings on the third by Government House a
heavy stone building with long facade and heavy stone portico, flanked by
low stone buildings which are the primary schools for children. The church
is flanked by the priests house, and at one end is a seminary for larger
girls. A well made road <or ramp> cut from the surface stone leads
from the plateau of the village to a little pier and a group of houses collected
along the water front very picturesque and pleasant. Beyond the strait is
the well wood[ed] island of [illegible] and to the left
[illegible] village of [illegible].
{53} [continued from p. 51]
Tagbilaran there are now many cases, marked under the new
dispensation by a white or yellow flag, which seems to have called the attention
of the people to the prevalence of the disease and set [fire?] to
burning lighting bonfires and creating [illegible]
<much as was done in> the old days of the plague in Europe. The poor
people fight the scourge in their feeble way and one of the offices of government
is the office vaccinator whose position is not <by no
means> a sinecure.
Such is an outline of a simple people inhabiting one of the thousands of
the islands of our new possessions. We found them self sustaining,
<quiet>, and content in their lives, asking only to
continue as they were <living> and to have their ports
be opened <by the great power that had taken possession
of their land in order> that they might trade again <with> their
neighbors.
Except to
those in favor political systems meant little nothing to them
independence was hardly a name, <and> the simple government
<established> was all they their <wants> required.
<Judged by a higher standard than their own, they are perhaps unfit to>
they govern themselves, and if attacked from without must
no doubt <surely fall> but unmolested they might for
generations continue a peaceful and contented existence <and meantime
their lot is far easier than that of the very poor of civilized countries>.
Of money they have little but their wants are few and a man <who> is
content to work for wages of 12 1/2 cents per day needs little <for his
support> and his country <offers no place for the civilized worker>.
Until the new order of things creates higher aspirations and new wants the
native of Bohol will go his easy way way earning little
<&> working less but <blessed with> a full stomach and
<a> contented mind that wholly fails to grasp the [modern?] fact that
he and his modest wife, his pretty bright eyed children
and pleasant house on the shores of the sunlit sea are part of the white
man's burden, and <that he> must be improved even at the cost of his
existence and that in the opinion of the world he must be improved even to
extinction.
p. 54 is blank
{55}
Page 29.
The towns and villages of Bohol are pretty in the extreme with broad white
streets [often?] of dazzling white and very clean.
The houses
usually fenced with a neat wattling of bamboo are buried in foliage and above
the neat thatch waves the feathery leaf of the cocoanut. Often these houses
are of stone, whitewashed and perhaps rudely frescoed, sometimes heavy stone
pillars and portales [sic] line the front as is so common in Mexico,
but more frequently they are of wood with overhanging upper story and even
more overhanging roof that reminds one pleasantly of a Swiss chalet. Often
the façade is carved and ornamented in a rude but pleasant fashion.
To see one of their village streets with its neat well ordered
houses and <neat> bamboo fences, its bordering lines of deep green
<foliage & blue ocean> contrasting with the white coral rock of
the road, the pretty bamboo huts that look like a child's play house
<alternating with the wooden houses>, and then to see the street
<fill> with groups of cleanly dressed men and women <going demurely
to mass> as the neighboring church bell tolls the hour of a bright
<Sunday morning is> to look upon as quaint a picture as can well be
seen which has in it somehow a blending of [illegible] village life
and the atmosphere of puritan New England. (Such a scene I witnessed this
morning, Sunday April 1, 1900 at the village of Blacyon [i.e. Baclayon] where
I drove about daybreak with Dr. Furbush -- a most charming morning cool and
delightful with the fresh green of the foliage on one side and the blue grey
of the quiet sea on the other.) The people on the whole show confidence in
the changes but in the smaller villages women and children are sometimes
p. 56 is blank
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a bit timid, and disappear if they conveniently can do so. This, however,
was only noticeable when a mounted officer appeared on one of the big American
horses which really seem monstrosities on these islands. Women, children
and even men are afraid of them and vanish into the brush when they approach.
Iloilo, May, 5, 1900
Since my return here on Good Friday April 13, 1900, I have been so occupied
with work, and so pulled down by the intense heat and drought that I have
had little time or energy for more than <the> daily business. The heat
now day after day is almost stifling in the coolest offices 96 or 98 degrees
and above 100 in others less well placed, whereas in the sun the heat and
glare are indescribable. Clouds of dust too blow thro' the streets powdering
the bushes along the country roads until even the foliage is white. Water
is very scarce, much that we get comes by water boat from Guimaras. Still
the command remains in fair health, though Signal Corps men out on field
work have suffered severely from fever and exhaustion. Most people are pulled
down and very thin and cadaverous in appearance. I myself am reduced to 140
1/2 pounds a loss of 29 1/2 pounds since I sailed from San Francisco. My
clothes
To page 100
{58}
hang about me like bags and I do not seem to have the muscles of a kitten.
Still my health -- thank goodness -- continues fair. (May that continue.
Now another expedition is on.
{59}
Sunday Morning April 1, 1900
This is presumably my last day at Tagbilaran for we are to start to-night
or rather at four in the morning for Tubigon, the men and baggage by boat,
Major Hale, the Governor & myself by carriage. Yesterday -- two weeks
past -- we landed on this coast; and though most of my time has been spent
in the hospital with fever, the experience has been interesting.
This morning April 1, I rose about day break and just as the men were falling
into ranks for reveille drove with the doctor out of the town along the shore
road to Baclayon. It was a beautiful drive and in front of the little houses
used as officers quarters <at Baclayon> beside the great church, was
the charming view of the sea at sunrise. The water was low and dotted over
the coral sands were innumerable water birds getting their morning meal.
We returned in time for inspection of the command, and the improvement in
appearance & cleanness was marked. Then for these notes, and after lunch
preparations for departure.
Sunday Morning May 6, 1900
Signal Offices, Iloilo.
And so five weeks have passed since the Sunday morning when the above was
written in my room in the little hospital at Tagbilaran shut in by the dense
foliage from which the lizards at night came out to utter their singular
cries.
A queer weird little place which will