A TRIP TO ILOILO.
Impressions of the First American to Visit the Philippine Sea
port Which Ranks Next in Importance to Manila.
John F. Bass, the Philippine cor
respondent of Harper's Weekly, was
the first American, since the war broke
out, to visit Iloilo, and his observa
tions there are of especial interest,
since they have been so completely
verified by what has happened within
the last few weeks. Iloilo is the sec
ond important seaport in the Philip
pines. The island was surrendered
by General Bios to the insurgents,
who took possession of the city on the
i26th of December. General Otis had
sent Colonel Potter on a fast vossel to
communicate with the Spanish Gen
eral, and to notify him of the com
pletion of the treaty, and of the fact
that his Government had ceded the
island to the United States. When
Colonel Potter reached Iloilo he found
Aguinaldo's flag flying. This fact
naturally complicates the situation iu
the Philippines, aud makes the insur
gents all the more insistent upon the
independence of the archipelago, and
the recognition of the independence
of their Government. There is some
suspicion, given expression to by Gen
eral Merritt, of bad faith on the part
of General Bios; and it may be that
he might have held on until United
States troops reached Panay, the island
of which iloilo is the port, to relieve
him and his force. The news of the
surrender of Iloilo reached this coun
try on the same day on which the
news came of the resignation ol
Aguinaldo's milder cabinet, to be re
placed by a cabinet very much more
hostile to the United States, and to
control of the islands by the United
States, than the old cabinet was.
In his last letter to Harper's Weekly
Mr. Bass describes his trip from Manila
to Iloilo. He sayß:
bAN PKDEO STREET AT THE CEMETERY,
lIjOIIiO.
At last the low tin roofs of Ilolio
appeared through the rays of sun that
pierced a heavy squall ahead, the
green hills in the distance framing
the narrow channel between the isl
ands of Panay aud Guimaras.
There was a delay of an hour iu get
ting into the river, one bank of which
is lined with sugar warehouses. Some
of our party had no passports aud
the Spanish captain in charge of the
custom house requested us most po
litely to come up to see the Governor,
as the latter was always pleased to
see all strangers who arrived iu Ilolio.
The request, although couched in
most courteous form, was evidently
an order. We were about to follow
the captain, when the manager of the
Hong-Kong Bank intervened, and, by
judicious wire-pulling, gained us the
time to eat a bite and wash up before
we visited General Bios. The Gen
eral we found a charming man, most
profuse in his friendly professions
and promises to expedite ouv further
journey through the islands. These
promises he never fulfilled; nor could
we blame him much, for we were the
first Americans who had come to
Iloilo since the beginning of the war,
and, considering our position, we were
treated most courteously, although re
garded with suspicion.
Iloilo, although the centre of the
sugar business in the Philippines,
does not possess a hotel, aud we were
obliged, nolens volens, to accept the
A NATIVE FAMILY IN ILOILO.
of the British colony—com
posed, by the way, with one excep
tion, of Scotchmen. It Beams that
Scotchmen only are capable of doing
business in a Spanish colony and re
maining sane. The drear monotony
of Iloilo life is somewhat seasoned by
this little body of Scotchmen. They
have formed a delightful little club,
with a library (the only one in town,
I am inclined to think), a billiard-loom
and card-room. There is also a tennis
club and several summer houses at
Guimaras. I was much impressed
with the manner in which these
Scotchmen kept themselves up to the
requirements of civilized life. Tbeie
was not one of them that did not pine
to be home; and yet they have not
degenerated into the slovenly ways of
the natives, and are always smart, and
try to keep up a certain amount of
style and "side."
HUE ROYALE. THE MAIN STREET OF ILOILO.
They are all unanimous in their
desire to have "Uncle Sam" take all
of the islands, and on this topic alone
they lose their native conservatism
and coolness. They are very sore be
cause an American ship was not sent
down to take Iloilo. A single ship
could easily have done it. The re
sult is that business is nearly at a
standstill, even now that the war is
over. Every day a new story comes to
hand of sugar plantations destroyed,
and the owners either killed or taken
prisoners. In the islands of Panay
and Cebu, two of the richest in the
country, hundreds of thousands of
dollars' worth of property has been
destroyed, and all business with the
interior is impossible.
Iloilo, at present, although quiet to
all appearances, is really like a quiet
volcano, boiling underneath, but
ready at any moment to break out in
to active revolution. The Catapunin
Sooiety has already organized the na
tives into a potential army. One of
the servants of our host was a lieu
tenant in the mysterious army. In
the meantime the revolutionists in the
interior of the island are driving the
Spanish troops gradually back to
lililo. The town is very badly de
fended. There are no fortifications
about it. An old fort without any
guns squats helplessly on a small
promontory in the harbor. There ar6
only some eight hundred Spanish
soldiers on the island; the rest of the
troops are all native boro, aud are
undoubtedly involved with the revolu
tionists. As yet the revolutionists in
the interior aro badly armed, but sup
plies of rifles and ammunition are be
ing sent down from Aguiuaido's head
quarters in Luzon, and before long
the natives will be well armed will
Mauser rifles.
How unreliable the local press is
will be seen by the following abstract,
which appeared on the day of our ar
rival. This extract, which states that
American soldiers are shootiug down
Spaniards and natives in the streets
Mauila whenever they please, shows
the methods used to deceive the native
population about American govern
ment;
DO NOT EXCHANGE.
From travelers arriving yesterday from
Manila we have heard of the conduct of
the Yankees In that town toward the na
tives.
Fire-arms are used regularly for the
most insignificant cause, because for this
there Is a lack of justice. In direct disre
gard of orders, they point carbines at the
face, and tire shots at the wisest aud most
able.
They laugh at the nobility of the Span
lards, and say that the measures which we
employ are big—and of little utility. Any
Yankee soldier has the right to take the
life of those disgraced ones.
Various shooting* affrays carried to a
heaa In the open street have been referred
to us, Hnd without their commission hav
ing other result than the sentence of the
soldier immedlp'jly responsible.
As is natu' J, this conduct, so little in
harmony wit' yflpauiMi sentiments, Is here
vigorously censured, notwithstanding that
all know that it is the method eaiployed
with the unhappy natives of America,
whose race is on the verge of disappear
ance.
One of the Yankee personages of most
knowledge in Manila, according to what a
person who has means of knowing tells us,
said not many duys ago that to extermin
ate the Tugal race would require fifteen
years. Already it has entered Into their
calculations to employ in Luzon the
method followed iu Amerloa. What de
ception more horrible has been practiced
till now than that which the Yankees have
assisted In against these islands?
To this date they will not call its best
people allies. Of their future hap the Fill
plnos cannot complain. They have fash
ioned their own disgrace.
When our arrival became kuowu the
whole tone of the press changed, and
complimentary notices of our presence
appeared in all ot the papers. The
natives do not appear to be deceived
by the bombastic uutruths of the press,
for, as far as we were able to learn,
the natives would welcome an Ameri
can government enthusiastically. The
inhabitants of the island of Panay are
not ou friendly terms with those of
Luzon, and nt heart they do not like
the idea of being governed by Tagalos
from Luzon.
If the United States take Luzon,
and leave the rest of the islands to
Spain, we shall find ourselves obliged
either to help Spain suppress the revo
lution or allow foreign interference.
We shall come into conflict with the
revolutionists in Luzon, who will un
doubtedly send out expeditions to help
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, ILOIIiO.
the insurrection in other islands. We
shall be in constant trouble with in
competent and dishonest Spanish offi
cials. It will be the Cuban affair over
again. Only this time we shall be far
from our base of supplies, and foreign
intervention is likely to bo much more
vigorous. It would be much better
not to take any of the islands than to
take Luzon alone.
We wanted to visit other places in
the islands, but the "manaua" policy
of the General prevented our doing so,
and we found ourselves obliged to re
turn to Manila. We could not eveu
leave lloilo without permission from
the General. He granted the permis
sion eagerly, only too glad to get rid
of the troublesome Americanos.
Germany au-l tlie Carolines.
Any one seeking an insi, 'it into the
ideas aud aims of llie German cc'onial
party encounters at every turn the idea
that Germany must expand over the
sea since expausion iu Europe is im
possible . It is this determination that
justifies the frequent predictions by
Herr Peters aud others that Germany
yet will secure the exclusive control
of Samoa and the Carolines, even if
tho cost be war. The Kaiser himself
recently has givon forcible expression
o the general colonial scheme, and the
advocates of the acquisition of the
Carolines say that the possession of
these islands will assist Germany
materially, not only to dominate the
Pacific, but to secure supremacy iu
the commerce of the world.
The islands, which recent dispatches
say are to be sold to Germany as soon
as the Cortes meets, embrace two
chains, forming, as it wer«, a T-square
—the La.lrones or Marianas and the
Carolines, including under the latter
the Pelews.—Chicago Record.
A .Japanese Uilde Tree.
At the birth of a Japanese baby a
tree is planted which must remain un
touched until the marriage day of the
child. When the .nuptial hour arrives
the tree is cut down and a skilled cab
inetmaker transforms the wood into
furniture, which is considered by the
young couple as the most beautiful of
all ornaments of the house.
The first American newspaper estab
lished ou the Pacific coast was issued
at Oregon City iu 1814, and called the
Flumgudgeon Gazette, or Bumble Bee
Budget.
It is stated that the number of card
holders iu the Boston Public Library
—7s,ooo—is greater than that claimed
by any other city in the world.
It is estimated that the annual in
come of the 40,000,000 Protestant
Church members in the world is about
$15,000,000,000.
[FOR FARM AMD GARDEN.]
Sheep Need Dry Bedding;.
Many people who keep sheep under
sheds on an earthen floor in cold
weather make the mistake of not pro
viding bedding enough, thinking that
it will interfere with properly packing
the manure which is trodden into a
hard mass by them. But a little dry
straw should be scattered over the
floor at night, and it will be none the
worse if it is the refuse of what the
sheep have picked over during the
day. Even the fattening sheep will
eat some straw as a change of food,
and it will select the upper part of the
stalk near the head. Oat straw is the
best for this purpose. The sheep is
very impatient of wet, and besides, it
is injurious to the wool to have it
soiled by manure. If the ends of the
wool are closed by filth this stops its
growth, just as it does on the tags,
which even after they have been
scoured are not worth as much as
cleau wool from other parts of the
body.
Whitewttfth and Sulphur.
The Sau Jose scale ravages have
brought out many new and valuable
spraying mixtures which, while they
possess only moderate value iu sub
duing the scale, have been found very
effective iu other diseases of trees.
The combination of whitewash and
sulphur is one of the s e. It is fairly
effective against the Sau Jose scale,
more so iu some sections than iu
others,but in pear blight it has proved
itself of great value. The treatment
consists of washing or thickly spraying
the trunk and all limbs with a mixture
of two-thirds whitewash and one third
sulphur, the work being done in the
early spring. From present indica
tion" this mixture, with the famous
Bordeaux, will do more than any other
insecticides now available iu destroy
ing the various pests of the fruit
grower. Most fruit growers are fa
miliar with the composition of the
Bordeaux mixture, which may be
made at homo or purchased from
manufacturers of spraying pumps, as
preferred. When made at home care
is necessary that only the best ingre
dients are used.
Hog* in th« OrcliHi'd.
To obtain the best results from or
chards, clean cultivation of the soil is
essential and especially so in the
young and rapid growing days of tha
trees. The plan of attempting to crop
the soil in the orchard is wrong and
fruit growers are fast abandoning it.
Undoubtedly the best success with
orchards comes from tilling the soil,
and this is particularly true in dry
seasons. No grasses of nuy kind
should bo permitted to grow. Insects
and disease uve best managed by the
use of the spray and no methods of
cultivation cau take the place of this
work. When orchards are located on
hill sides, or the trees are so set that
the soil between them cannot be ad
vantageously cultivated, it is a good
plan to turn hogs and sheep into the
orchard during the growing season.
If the herd is of good sr/.e they will
eat all of the decayed fruit that drops,
besides the grasses that grow around
and between the trees, frequently
getting down to the roots of the
grasses. This is equivalent to tillage,
and if grain is fed the animals the
droppings will materially add to the
fertility of the soil. Either plau is
good, but thorough tilling is to be
preferred to the use of hogs or sheep.
In either case remember that insecti
cides and the sprayer must be faith
fully used.
Srntlv Your Soil.
There is a rich field and a poor field
on uearly every farm. The other fields
are neither so good as the best nor so
bad us the worst. The most farmers
know; but their practise too often is
different from their knowledge. The
poor field is treated just like the rich
field. .The regular farm rotation is
practised alike in both. A good crop
is the rule in the fertile field,and noth
ing but a poor crop is expected from
the poor field. As much labor is re
quired for growing the grain on an
acre of the poor field as on an acre of
>e best one.
Farmers should study the peculiari
ties of each field on the farm. It is
necessary to know them before it is
possible to farm them to the best ad
vantage. The farmer who plants po
tatoes iu a field where the soil is cold
and heavy, or who sows wheat on low
bottom lands liable to overflow and
freezing, will not be paid for his labor.
The field with the southern exposure
should be planted to corn before the
one which lies toward the north. In
the former case the plants will have
considerable foot ing before the scorch -
ing heat of June. If there is a field
of heavy black loam which is decidedly
waxy in texture, it would better be
plowed before the time of freezing is
?iast in the spring. If wheat is sown
n a field liable to wash into gullies
during tue winter and spring, it will
pay to sow timothy seed iu these hol
lows with the wheat. —Tennessee
Farmer.
Yard or for Poultry.
To obtain the best results from poul
try raising for eggs it is concoded that
the fowls must be carefully watched
and every care given to them. This
is not, possible when they are allowed
the free range of the farm, nor is it
possible to raise fowls iu this way and
obtain the high egg records hoard
about, the publication of which has
induced more than one man to engage
iu poultry culture only to be sorely
disappointed. The egg record of the
average barnyard fowl of no particular
breed, on the range, does not aver
age more than 90 egg* a year, while
tue yarded fowl of good breed has a
record of 175 or more eggs a year. It
will be understood that in advocating
the yarded fowls, growing chicks are
not included, but only those that have
been laying or have just begun. Be
fore reaching this period the growing
chicks should have the benefit of the
free range to enable them to make
frames on which later, in yards, reli
ance is put for egg production.
It must be remembered, however,
that yarded fowls require more and
better care than those on the range if
increased egg production is to be at
tained. The yards should be not only
sufficiently large to give the fowls
needed exercise, but they should con
tain, supplied by the poultryman all
that the fowls would naturally Hnd on
the range. That means graius, green
food, meat, grit, water and a place to
dust and scratch. This applies to
winter treatment as well as summer.
If farmers will but learn to observe
the actions of fowls when on rana;e
and be guided to a largo extent by
this iu treatment of them when yarded
much less trouble '"ill be experienced.
In yarding fowls the best arrangement
is that which will permit of a double
yard with the house in the middle.
Two such yards each 150 feet long,
permit of keeping oue or the other in
green stuff from early summer until
frost by sowing oats and rye. This
green food, gathered by the hens
themselves, will subdue all natural in
clination they may have for the free
range and fill the egg basket to over
flowing.—Atlanta Journal.
»e(i Nitrogenous Fertilizers.
Extended experiments nt ihe Con
necticut station show that grasses dif
fer from many other crops iu the readi
ness with which they respond to the
use of nitrogenous fertilizers. While
clovers ami other legumes seem to be
able to gather much of the nitrogen
they need from natural sources, the
true grasses must be supplied with
nitrogen in the manure or fertilizer,
iu order to give much increase in
yield. 'I hus there is a twofold value
iu the experiments. In the first place
they show that the glasses call for the
use of nitrogenous fertilizers, and that
very little increase of crop is to be ex
pected from mineral fertilizers alone.
They indicate that where the farmer
uses stable manure, which contains
relatively large quantities of nitrogen,
on his grass crop, he is following a
wise practice, aud that by the liberal
rise of manures or fertilizers rich in
nitrogen he may increase the crop two
or three fold over what would be ob
tained where no nitrogen or no fertil
izer was used.
They indicate further, that the in
crease in yield is not the only advan
tage obtained from the use of nitrogen
iu the fertilizer. As protein is the
most valuable of the food nutrients
contained in feeding stuffs, it bocomes
important that the farmer should
udopt every means available for in
creasing the supplies of this material
produced upon the farm. This he
may do to quite a degree by the use
ou the grass lands of manure from
well-fed stock, or by the purchase and
use of nitrate of soda, sulphate of
ammonia, tankage, dried blood, fish
waste, or other forms of nitrogenous
fertilizers. The percentage of protein
iu the crop may thus be increased as
much as three to live per cent,
what is obtained where no nitrogen is
used as fertilizer.
The yields where mineral fertilizers
only were used were but very little
better than where no fertilizer wasap
plied. The increase where the nitro
gen was applied nearly always corre
sponded with the amount of uitroget
used, whether the nitrogen was from
nitrate of poda or sulphate of ammonia.
The increase, however, was not as
great where the larger quantities of
nitrogen were applied. The best
financial returns, an average gain of
$3.(50 per acre, were obtained from
the use of 320 pounds of nitrato of
soda per acre in addition to the min
eral fertilizers.
Where mineral fertilizers were used
without the addition of nitrogen,there
was a decided financial loss, while iu
all cases except one, where uitrogeu
was used with the mineral fertilizers
there was a financial gain. The in
crease in yield obtained from the two
forms of nitrogen was nearly the same,
although the financial gains were con
siderably better with nitrate of soda
than with sulphate of ammonia. The
smaller gain is accounted for by the
higher cost of the sulphate, the nilro
geu iu this form being reckoned at
one cent per pound higher than that
from the nitrate. —New England
Homestead.
Fact* for Farmers.
Don't cultivate the corn too late.
You will cut the l oots.
We would advise feeding calves from
tin or galvunized puils.
If the calf will not c 'nk—and some
will not—starve it to do it.
Overripe grass is woody, not fit for
animals. Out when it blooms.
Out the grass when the bloom is ou
aud you will preserve the aroma.
When the rains cease be sure to cul
tivate and make the surface fine.
Don't put salt on hay. It has no
preservative effect and makes the hay
moist.
The preservation of a good aroma
in bay makes it all the more palatable
to the animal.
Clover hay is a hundred per cent,
better than timothy for all purposes in
feeding stock.
No need of buying bay caps from
people who sell those things. Get
cheap muslin and paint it.
A tread power, run by a big dog or
calf, will do the churning ou most
farms, aud save lots of labor.
The only way to buy binder twine
is to club together and demand a re
duction in price. Tke sellers of binder
twine are getting rich off the farmer*.
—Western Plowman.
A WOMAN SUFFRAGIST.
One of the Bright and Talented Workers
in ■ Great Movement.
The movement for woman suffrage
lias brought to the front many women
of culture and ability. Whatever
may be the merits of tlie question of
MRS. CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT.
the right of women to vote, it - ■•x cer
tainly enabled many to enter up u a
public career which gave them an
por'.unity to develop their executive
and oratorical abilities. The woman
orator is no longer an exception, as
was the case a few years ago.
Prominent among the women who
believe that her sex has the right to
vote is Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, of
New York City. She is an orator and
a stateswoman of rare executive abil
ity, combined with a bright intellect
and an earnestness of purpose. Mrs.
Catt was born in Wisconsin and grad
uated from the lowa State College at
the head of her class. At one time
she was City Superintendent, of
Schools at Mason City, lowa. After
that she engaged in journalistic work
on the Pacific Slope, and entering the
lecture field was soon offered a posi
tion as State Lecturer for the lowa
State Suffrage Association. She is
now the Organizer of the National
Association, and has lectured in al
most every part of the country. Mrs.
Catt is also the editor of the paper de
voted to the movement, and with El
nora M. Babcock, another talented
woman engaged in the same work in
New York State, she is doing what, in
her opinion, is right to advance her
sex to a higher plane of thought and
usefulness.
Kinc of the Cotton Mill*.
Robert Knight, of Rhode Island, is
one of the most remarkable products
of the growth of modern industry. He
is commonly called the "Cotton King,"
acd he deserves the name, inasmuch
as hois the largeiit mill owner in the
world. He is the individual proprie
tor of 450,000 spindles, 11,000 looms
and fifteen villages. Ue owns every
thing in these villages, and to all in
. tents and purposes the villagers too.
"Rob" Knight, as he is familiarly
known, is now seventy-three years
old, and would never be taken for the
absolute master of the cotton industry.
His living expenses are covered by a
sum the equivalent of a clerk's salary.
W hen Knight was a lad he was a bob
bin boy in a New England mill. Sum
mer and winter ho went barefooted to
UOBEItT KNIGHT.
his work. His brother Brayton opened
a small store in one of tli9 mill towns
and prospered. He took Robert in as
a partner. The future mill owner was
thirfty. He. had saved much and was
in comfortable circumstances when he
took a position as a clerk in a Pontine
cotton mills. His employer was elected
to the United States Senate. Knight
rented the mill for SSOOO a year. At
the end of a few years he bought it
out for SII,OOO. This was the nest
egg of his tremendous fortune. In
business Robert is close and exacting.
He likes to drive good bargains, and
even looks with great care after tha
grocery bills of his own household.
A Mnrvfl in Floriculture.
This gigautio floral eagle and its
pedestal adorned the Michigan Cen
tral Station grounds at Ypsilanti for a
summer. They were designed and
A FLORAL EAGMS.
perfected by John Laidlaw, superin
tendent of landscape gardening foi
the road, and attracted much atten
tion. The bird was fir* feet six
inches in height.