The Filipino American War as seen by diarists in real time with some additional commentary and sourc

This is another hot day. We are going through out regular routine of duty. Captain [Daniel] Bierer, who has been off duty for about a week, is able again to take his command which had been filled by First Lieutenant Charles Howard. This is the first time the Captain has been sick since our departure from home. We are all sending mail via Hong Kong. [Frank] Christopher, [James] Baird, [George] Miller, [Homer] Daugherty and [David] Twist are on the Sick List.

The Life Summary of Daniel Waton Bierer
When Daniel Waton Bierer was born on 7 July 1872, in Uniontown, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, Jacob Bierer, was 40 and his mother, Eliza Jane Stewart, was 40. He married Marsella Blanche King on 31 March 1894, in Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 10 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Harrison, West Virginia, United States in 1935 and Dunkard Township, Greene, Pennsylvania, United States in 1940. He died on 30 September 1951, in Uniontown, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States, at the age of 79, and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Uniontown, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States.

Played out with Lee in morning went over town and took in Philippine Circus saw some very fine tumbling.

The Untold Dark Story of Igorots Who Performed Inside America’s Human Zoos
Written by Alex R. Castroin History and Politics,Today I Learned Last Updated 09/14/2022
While we’ve known that our ancestors were often looked down upon by their colonizers as dark-skinned uneducated savages, the lowest point of this centuries-old discrimination came in the form of America’s human zoos in the early 1900s. This is when thousands of Filipino tribesmen were taken from their homeland and displayed in exhibits for the American people to gawk at. At these exhibits, the tribespeople—introduced to visitors as primitive dog-eating headhunters to emphasize the US government’s stance that Filipinos were not ready for self-government—was made to live their daily lives in full view of the public. This is their true story.

When the gates of the St. Louis World’s Fair closed on December 1, 1904, and the cash in the tills were all accounted for, the fair—which had been attended by close to 20 million people–was declared a historic success, eclipsing the achievements of the previous 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

The monumental event marking the centennial of the Louisiana purchase drew 43 American states and 60 foreign countries, which put up pavilions and vied for visitors’ attention through shows and exhibits in its 7-month run.

Igorot Village at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
The Igorot Village. The most popular feature of the Philippine Reservation—and the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Alex Castro Photo Archives.
It also became clear which foreign participation attracted the biggest crowd and earned the most revenue. Statistics show that for every 100 fair-goers, 99 people visited the Philippine Reservation, an attraction that overshadowed the other features of the exposition.

Of the “human zoo” exhibits in the expansive Philippine exhibit grounds, none proved more popular, more controversial, and more difficult to manage than the case of the 72 Igorots who were among the 1,100 Filipino men, women, and children sent to 1904 fair. Their reputation as “head hunters, cannibals, dog-eaters and black hornets” preceded their arrival, an image masterminded by imperialist American masters, distorted by previous exhibitions, and fanned by U.S. media.


dog-eating igorots at the 1904 st. louis world's fair
I’ll be doggone! The World’s Fair 1904 emphasized the “savagery” of the ways of the Igorots, including tattooing, head-hunting—and dog-eating. This led to a surge in demand for shows that included them, and showmen quickly recognized their financial potential. Alex Castro Photo Archives.
Interest in the Igorots for exposition purposes began as early as 1887, when the Exposicion de las Islas Filipinas was staged in Madrid, Spain with 36 of them, mostly young Igorot braves, were main drawers in the Rancheria de los Igorotes, a village display. A decade later, Igorots made their appearance at the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in Nebraska and at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, which gathered 100 of the highlanders.

The peak of their fame, however, came at the 1904 World’s Fair. Just two months before the fair’s close, receipts from the Igorot Village had amounted to $173,000, an astounding amount at that time. The tremendous financial success generated by the Igorots encouraged many Americans, including those in the government, to conceive ways for the Igorots to remain in America after the end of the fair, for their continued exhibition in state fairs, sideshows, and amusement parks.


Igorots put on a spear-throwing contest show for the visitors of the St. Louis World’s Fair.
Spear-ing Partners. Igorots put on a spear-throwing contest show for the visitors
of the St. Louis World’s Fair.

Philippine Exposition board adviser Edmund Felder, for example, rationalized his proposed 2-year appearance tour of the Igorots in Coney Island and at the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition by citing “the general desire on the part of the people of the U.S who did not get to visit the St. Louis World’s Fair to see the Igorots.” In truth, Felder was a master showman and entrepreneur.

Another former Spanish-American war private-turned-impresario was Richard Schneidewind. After being fired from his post office job in Manila in 1901 for being part of a smuggling ring, Schneidewind, who was briefly married to a Manila girl, shifted to the more lucrative career of recruiting tribal people for supposed anthropological and ethnological exhibits. Certainly, his sources in the Philippines were plentiful.

The ringleader of this cabal was the master of deceit, Dr. Truman K. Hunt (1866 – 1916). As a doctor, he joined the American medical corps and was sent to the Philippines in 1898 at the onset of the Spanish American War. He stayed on after the Philippine cession to America, and the audacious doctor spent much time in the northern highlands prospecting for gold in Abra in 1900.

Hunt found his way to Suyoc and Bontoc where he led vaccination programs among Bontoc Igorots, who gave him their trust and friendship. As a reward, Hunt was named Lieutenant General of Lepanto-Bontoc province.



An Igorot Village recreated in the expansive grounds of the Philippine reservation, at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
Igorots in America. An Igorot Village recreated in the expansive grounds of the
Philippine reservation, at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

Because of his familiarity with the natives, Hunt was appointed a manager of the Igorot Village at the 1904 World’s Fair, which was populated by Igorots from three different areas—Bontoc Igorots, Suyoc Igorots, and the Tinguianes from Abra.

As the fair drew to a rousing close, Hunt saw the big potential of the Igorots as stars of his planned ethnological show business. He had sent feelers to Henry Dorsch, director of the Lewis & Clark Centennial and American Pacific Expo and Oriental Fair, to include Igorots in the fair, scheduled to open in 1905.
It was a vision shared by Felder, whom Hunt partnered with to form the International Anthropological Exhibit Co. But differences arose between the two, as Hunt wanted Igorot-only shows.

Overnight, Hunt went from being a protector of the Igorots to a greedy exploiter. Felder found a new partner in Schneidewind, and a contentious rivalry began.

Beforehand, however, the Philippine Exposition Board had received alarming reports that “certain person, anxious to gain fame and fortune as showmen, had induced some of the Igorots to remain in the U.S.” These unscrupulous persons had hoped to file a habeas corpus to legitimize their extended stay in the U.S.

However, the Igorots were technically wards of the state; they cannot be made to decide for themselves. To safeguard the Igorots from these dubious people and to avoid court actions that might keep them in the U.S., they were quickly spirited away on the eve of the closing of the St. Louis World’s Fair.

But Hunt was not to be deterred; he had an inside track on how to run circles around government processes, and he still wielded influence among the highlanders he once governed.


Luna Park of Coney Island
Luna Park of Coney Island. One of the iconic amusement parks of Coney Island was built in 1903 and became an exhibition venue for Igorots, starting in 1905.
While onboard the Philippine-bound ship with Igorot returnees, he struck up a deal with his assistants to round up 50 Igorots in Bontoc, dangling a $ 15-a-month salary for the recruits. Under his new company—the Igorot Exhibit Co., Hunt had mapped out a plan to feature them in a series of “cultural shows” in amusement parks, beginning with the famed Coney Island in New York.

Coney Island was once a seedy amusement place in Brooklyn with the opening of its first enclosed attraction, the Sea Lion Park, in 1895. From 1897 to 1904, Coney Island was transformed into a beautiful beachfront resort, a technologically sophisticated entertainment center that found wide patronage from people of all social levels.

Of its cluster of entertainment places, The Steeplechase Park, Luna Park, and Dreamland were the most popular. Coney Island earned nationwide renown as well as many monickers including “America’s Playground,” “Nickel Empire,” “Poor Man’s Paradise” (for its affordable attractions), and “Electric Eden.”

Dr. Truman K. Hunt with the band of Igorots he recruited for his Coney Island shows
The Hunt for Igorots. The only extant picture of Dr. Truman K. Hunt with the band of Igorots he recruited for his Coney Island shows. Used with permission from the Claire Prentice Personal Collection, author of ‘The Lost Tribe of Coney Island”© 2014.
On May 15, 1905, Truman Hunt herded his troop of scantily-clothed Bontoc Igorots plus an interpreter to Coney Island preceded by media hype like no other. Hunt had fed the press of the bizarre customs of these “wild, head-hunting, dog-eating savages” from the mountains of the Philippines, and these made sensational daily, keeping the public shocked, awed, and entertained.

Newspapers had a heyday as they described the men “who looked the part of head-hunters with a vengeance.” They took note of the bodies of the men and women “tattooed from head to foot, the marks on the chest of some of the men indicating… that they were fully-fledged harvesters of heads”.

Americans came in droves to Luna Park every day and paid 25 cents to watch the Igorots as they staged shows in their makeshift village that often involved ritual dancing, chanting and singing, sham re-enactments of warrior fights, weddings, funerals, and of course—dog feastings (the canines were supplied by local pounds)–anything to highlight their primitive otherness.


Igorrotes of Luna Park from Philippines
From Highlanders to Islanders. Igorrotes of Luna Park from Philippines (Luzon), 1905. Photo Credit: National Geographic.
Some of the names of these Igorots have come down to us, as researched by Claire Prentice, author of the “Lost Tribe of Coney Island,” the book that followed the journey of these mountain people in America’s sideshow circuit.

There was Fomoaley Ponci, the portly tribal chief of the group who likes to give interviews and can be chatty with the press. Bontoc-born, he had four brothers and a sister and grew to become a headhunter before he got married.

Fomoaley’s life story was included in a book, “The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans, As Told by Themselves,” published in 1906. He remembered enduring his travel to Brooklyn:

“We were carried for many days in houses that went on wheels and flew like birds. And now it seemed the land would never end. We must have come nearly a hundred days’ journey in a week. But at last, we reached another big water again, and then we stopped on the shore of this great city of Coney Island”.


Bontoc Chief Fomoaley Ponci and Bolinget Ofool
Bontoc Chief Fomoaley Ponci and Bolinget Ofool. The tattooing on their breast signifies their status as head hunters. Used with permission from the Claire Prentice Personal Collection, author of “The Lost Tribe of Coney Island” © 2014.
In one staged presentation, the Igorot chief shocked the audience when he killed a chicken with a stick, burned its feathers, and sprinkled its blood on their huts. The American Humane Association raised a furor over the killing of the bird, only to be appeased by Truman, who explained its religious significance, a sacred way to remember the death of a senior tribe member in Seattle.

Then there was Bolinget Ofool, a headhunter much ogled by visitors for his intricately-tattooed body. Feloa was another popular Igorot who had left Bontoc to earn money for his family. Dengay, Feloa’s friend, also left for the same purpose—to provide for her 3 children. The two would later provide damaging information about Hunt’s shenanigans.

There were children in the group, and the most articulate was Tainan, a 9-year-old English-speaking Bontoc boy who could sing patriotic songs in English. Like his more famous counterpart and star of the St. Louis show Antero, Tainan regaled the audience with his big voice and facility with the foreign language. When he returned home, he would assist the Rev. Hillary Clapp in compiling words in the Bontoc language for the missionary’s dictionary project published in 1908.


Julio Balinag, a half-Ilocano, half-Bontoc Filipino who was the Igorot group’s interpreter in Coney Island
Lost in Translation. The natty dresser with a straw hat seated rightmost is Julio Balinag, a half-Ilocano, half-Bontoc Filipino who was the Igorot group’s interpreter. Maria, his wife, is next to him. On the far left is Friday Strong, a Negrito adopted by the Igorots. Balinag was instrumental in exposing Truman Hunt’s fraudulent management of the Bontoc Igorots. Used with permission from the Claire Prentice Personal Collection, author of “The Lost Tribe of Coney Island” © 2014.
Tainan was a friend of a Negrito boy with the fanciful name Friday Strong. He was adopted and cared for by Maria Balinag, the 18-year-old Igorot wife of the translator, Julio Balinag.

Julio Balinag had been an interpreter as well for the Igorots at the World’s Fair the year before, where he received a bronze medal for his services. He was the son of an Ilocano soldier and a Bontoc woman, and a brother of Nicasio Balinag, who became Bontoc’s deputy governor.

A former constabulary office, interpreter Balinag could speak Ilocano, Tagalog, Spanish, and English, aside from the Bontoc language. He would prove to be a crucial figure in unmasking Hunt as a corrupt and duplicitous manager.

Igorots in their “natural state” are the cynosure of attention of visitors of the St.Louis World’s Fair
Igorot Oglers. Igorots in their “natural state” are the cynosure of attention of visitors of the St.Louis World’s Fair.
By then, without the knowledge of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, Hunt had been “importing” more Igorots that he needed for shows he had contracted to stage in fairs and amusement parks across the U.S. The government was slowly losing management control to private individuals, and Hunt’s roadshows—which totaled over 50 between December 1905 to February 1906– were fast confirming officials’ worst nightmare.

With Igorots so coveted, piracy of tribesmen became rampant. There have also been reports of serious grumbling among Igorots about shoddy living conditions, low pay, and deception.

The unmasking began when Hunt took his Igorot troop to Sans Souci amusement park in Chicago. Whether intentional or coincidental, Schneidewind and Felder also staged their show in nearby Riverview Park.

The partners would not allow a head-to-head competition, especially with their leading rival, so they reported Hunt and asked for federal inspection of the competing operations, asserting that Hunt’s inferior exhibit might mislead people into thinking that it was their Filipino Exhibit Co, show.

In the past, Hunt had evaded inspection by shuffling the Igorots from place to place, but this time, there was no escape.

Little Igorot Girl at Coney Island
Little Igorot Girl, at Coney Island, surrounded by gawkers, 1905. Image: U.S.
Library of U.S. Congress.
The following inspection shocked the federal authorities: while Schneidewind and Felder’s were found to be legal and humane, Hunt’s operation was declared “illicit and atrocious”.

The report described the eighteen Igorots in the show as living in three small tents beneath a noisy roller coaster, without privacy, and in filthy surroundings.
But the worst accusations were hurled at Hunt when the Igorots began complaining about his financial chicanery. Reports indicated that they were abused and embezzled by a total of US$15,000 by the end of their exhibitions. Hunt countered that he was just safeguarding their earnings by keeping their money.

Suspicions had been rife after the 1904 World’s Fair when Hunt was confronted by Carson Taylor, a banker named to handle the accounts of the Igorots. When asked to turn over their funds, Hunt replied there were none. Like Felder, Hunt believed “that the Igorot, as an individual, has no need of money.”

Still, the sly Hunt managed to elude the authorities from taking his prized Igorots away. Since it takes time to process their papers and arrange their trips back to Bontoc, Truman jumped at the opportunity to start hiding the Igorots and spiriting them away.

In the end, Hunt succeeded in sending the Igorots to nearby Canada and scattering them around the U.S in state fairs, thus eluding authorities who had wanted to send them back to the Philippines.

Igorots huddle for warmth and comfort as Coney Island’s Dreamland visitors check them out
Nightmare in Dreamland. Igorots huddle for warmth and comfort as Coney Island’s Dreamland visitors check them out. Once Hunt’s irregularities were exposed, Igorots accused him of stashing away their earnings. Image: U.S. Library of Congress.
The results of the U.S. War Department’s investigation, plus the corroborative complaints of Igorots resulted in the filing of suits against Hunt in 1906—in Chicago, New Orleans, and Memphis. Julio Balinag and several Igorots provided revealing testimonies that proved the accused’s guilt.

In Memphis, where 2 cases were filed, Dengay and Feloa recounted how Hunt systematically stole their money. The jury ruled in favor of the Igorots, and Hunt was convicted and sentenced to eleven months and twenty days in the first Memphis case and six months of hard labor in the second. Some money was recovered and returned to the Igorots.

In February 1907, however, Hunt was freed after a mysterious judicial reversal, in which the case was declared a mistrial. While he had served 8 months in prison, there was still the New Orleans case to settle, but he had disappeared.

The fugitive’s escape was said to have been planned in connivance with the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, a fraternal club that Hunt had helped by showing his Igorot exhibits in their fund-raising programs.

Igorot tribal dance
Dancing for Joy. Steps were taken by the U.S. government to safeguard the welfare of Igorots working in expositions and protect them from unscrupulous showmen after the unfortunate Hunt incident. Alex Castro Photo Archives.
After 1907, both private businessmen and the Bureau of Insular Affairs became more versed in the operations of the shows involving Igorots, which persisted from 1908 through 1911. Exhibitions were held indoors in the U.S. and Europe, and a tracking system was put in place by the U.S. government to monitor the location of their wards. Contracts also were drawn that stipulated wage increases over time.

For a few more years, the Igorots continued to make appearances in Coney Island, who, along with Native Americans, “giants,” “Lilliputian men and women,” “3-legged people,” and Siamese twin, filled a niche in the entertainment industry for the strange, the unusual, and the bizarre in the form of “living wonders.”

Samuel W. Gumpertz
Show Me The Money. Samuel W. Gumpertz, manager of Dreamland, was another impresario who managed to sneak in “non-headhunting Igorots” from halfway around the world, past immigration officers, for a series of Coney island shows. Image: Alex Castro Photo Archives.
American showman Samuel W. Gumpertz, manager of Dreamland and founder of “The Congress of the World’s Greatest Curiosities,” traveled all over the world looking for Igorots to exhibit, together with his “Wild Man of Borneo” and the platter-lipped women of Ubangi. Former Philippine Constabulary captain and teacher John R. McRae, for example, took a band of Igorots to the East Coast in 1908, ending in a summer show at Coney Island in 1909.

After that, the showmen felt the effects of tighter government controls as emigration became stricter; even the well-connected Schneidewind had difficulty getting permission to bring Igorots for a European exhibition in 1911. The opposition from the Philippines, which, from the start had vehemently objected to the display of minorities to represent the nation at foreign expositions, was reaching a fever pitch.

Former governor William Cameron Forbes had called 1904 fair “a great social and political injustice” that
created an “objectionable impression.” In Manila, the influential paper, La Igualdad, condemned the exhibit of any Filipinos, Igorot or not.

Eventually, too, living in America and the rigors of traveling roadshows took their toll on Bontoc Igorots. Plagued by sub-zero temperatures, diseases, and starvation, some Igorots died, like the nine abandoned by Schneidewind in Ghent, Belgium, in 1913.

Nikimalikas
Nikimalikas is a term for Igorots who have had the fortune of experiencing America. “I dreamed of coming home rich, but I came home penniless,” said an Igorot sideshow participant, “I had to pay my fare home.”
As to the natives brought by Truman Hunt to Coney Island, the novelty and thrill of going to America wore off as the harsh realities of their participation in ignominious shows run by abusive masters became more apparent.

Sporadic demands for Igorot shows persisted as late as 1931 when the U.S. government wanted them for display at the Paris exposition. It was only at the 1958 Brussels Universal Exposition in Belgium that the practice of exhibiting human beings ended.

In retrospect, Chief Fomoaley mused, “I have seen many wonders here, but we will not bring any of them home to Bontoc, we do not want them there. We have the great sun and moon to light us, what do we want your little suns? The houses that fly like birds will be of no good to us…This is a fine country, and I like all the people, but I am going back to Bontoc to stay there till I die.”

And returned he and his companion Igorots did, back to the highlands of Bontoc, where village mates admiringly called them “Nikimalika” (naka-Amerika, those who have experienced America), bringing with them stories and souvenirs of their sojourns and where they slowly settled back into their lives of quiet and obscurity.

References
Afable, Patricia O. Journeys from Bontoc to the Western Fairs, 1904-1915: The “Nikimalika” and their Interpreters, Philippine Studies, Vol. 52, No. 4, World’s Fair 1904 (2004), pp. 445-473. Ateneo de Manila University.

Fermin, Jose D. 1904 World’s Fair: The Filipino Experience, (2004), The University of the Philippines Press, Q.C.

Hamilton, Holt. Ed. The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans As Told By
Themselves, (1906), “Story of an Igorrote Chief,” p. 225-233. James Pott & Co., New
York. archive.org/details/lifestoriesundis00holtrich/page/236/mode/2up

McCullough, Edo. Good Old Coney Island: A Sentimental Journey into the Past © 1957/2003. Fordham University Press, NY.

Pilapil M.D, Virgilio R. Touring the Legacy of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, research collaboration by Alfred J. Katzenberger, Jr. (2004). The House of Isidoro Press.

Prentice, Claire. “The Lost Tribe of Coney Island: Headhunters, Luna Park, and the Man
Who Pulled Off the Spectacle of the Century,” (2004). Amazon Publishing/New Harvest.

Prentice, Claire. The Igorrote Tribe Traveled the World for Show And Made These Two
Men Rich. smithsonian.com. 14 Oct. 2014. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/igorrote-tribe-traveled-world-these-men-took-all-money-180953012/

Qiu, Linda, Tribal Headhunters on Coney Island? Author Revisits Disturbing American
Tale, published 28 October 2014, National Geographic. www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141027-human-zoo-book-philippines-headhunters-coney-island/

Sanjek, Roger ed., Mutuality: Anthropology’s Changing Terms of Engagement, p. 102,
University of Pennsylvania Press, (2004)

Thomson, Rosemarie Garland, ed. Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary
Body, “Ogling Igorots: The Politics and Commerce of Exhibiting Cultural Otherness
1898-1913)” by Christopher Vaughan, Chapter 4, section 15, (1996) New York University
Press, N.Y.

It was a very nice day until 4 p.m. Since then it has rained steadily and it looks like it will keep up all night. Company C was relieved from guard duty at 7 a.m. We are resting all day. We have pork and beans for dinner and beef and rice soup for supper. We have our new lamps fixed up in our quarters. Our patrol has orders to stop everyone from selling on the streets without a license. [Frank] Christopher, [David] Twist, [George] Knotts, [James] Baird, [George] Miller and [Homer] Daugherty are on the sick list.

Today in Philippine History, October 12, 1868, Mariano Trias was born in Cavite


(Posted under October Historical Events)

Mariano Trias On October 12, 1868, Mariano Trias, considered as the first de facto vice president of the Philippine Revolutionary Government, was born in Cavite.

One of the bravest generals of the Katipunan, Trias was also among the leading patriots and defenders of Cavite against the oppressive Spanish regime in the Philippines.

Before the revolution broke out in August 1896, Trias was an active propagandist of the revolutionary society in the towns of Silang and Kawit. He recruited troops and solicited contributions from rich Filipinos in Indang and Alfonso, Cavite to help finance the revolutionary cause.

He was chosen as vice president of General Emilio Aguinaldo in the revolutionary government that was established during the March 22, 1897 Tejeros Convention -- an assembly of Philippine revolutionary leaders that elected officials of the revolutionary movement against Spain.

During the American rule, Trias also figured in a series of battles against American forces, but he voluntarily surrendered after the capture of Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901.

With the establishment of the civil government by the Americans in the country, Civil Governor William Howard Taft appointed him the first civil governor of Cavite on June 11, 1901 in accordance with Act No. 139.

He sailed to the United States as member of the honorary board of Filipino commissioners to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904.

He was the founder of the Nacionalista Party chapter in Cavite and was acting governor of the province when he died of appendectomy at the Philippine General Hospital on February 22, 1914. He was buried in Manila, but his remains were transferred to his hometown in 1923.

The present Cavite town of General Trias, formerly San Francisco de Malabon, was renamed after him by virtue of Act No. 2880.

Source: Philippine News Agency

I despatched mail home. Today we were given rice, which was just mush.

It is still raining all day and it is quite chilly. Company C is doing guard duty at the prisons. The bay is overcrowded with ships and the water is so rough that we could not get the meat off the boat. Today we have a new blue blouse and leggings issued and some campaign hats. We have three American newspapers printed now: “The American Soldier,” about five weeks old; “The Manila Times,” two weeks old; and the “Freedom,” just out for the first time. [David] Twist, [George] Knotts, [George] Miller, [Homer] Daugherty, [Milbert] Johnson and George Conn are on the sick list.

TYPHOON.IN THE EAST.
TERRIBLE DAMAGE.

The Hong Kong papers to hand at Sydney by the steamer Airlie are full of exciting experiences in the recent typhoon which played havoc with the smaller shipping in Chinese waters. At Kelung the gale set in about midnight of the 5th ult., rising to its height at about noon on the 7th ult., and not abating until 3 a.m. on the
8th. The steamers then lying at Ke lung were the Enoshima Marn and Katsuyama Maru. The former, as al ready reported, was carried up the beach. The damage caused to small
boats and cargo lighters cannot be calculated while corresponding damage has been done in houses and other property on shore. In Taipeh even more destruction was caused. The environs of the city resembled the sea, great waves washing over the houses and sweeping them away or destroying them, amidst the piercing screams of the occupants. The scene was be yond description. Altogether 19 persons were killed, and many injured. The blue-funnel steamer Antenor reports that on the passage from Amoy at noon on the 1st ult., when off the Chinchu Islands, a lot of junk wreckage was sighted, with a dead body floating near. Shortly after a man was seen holding on to a floating spar, and the ship was stopped and the man picked up. He stated that he was the sole survivor of a crew of 18, belonging to the junk Kim-ythseng, bound from Taiwanfoo to Ningpo with a cargo of sugar, which foundered in the recent typhoon on August 29, the man having been three days in the water. An hour later a derelict junk was seen, with a number of fishermen alongside looting her. At Shanghai on August 18 a thunder storm of unusual severity prevailed

No .serious damage resulted in that city, but at an adjacent town, Sicawei, the lightning struck two boats loaded with gunpowder in a canal near the Loonghwa powder factory, the shock occasioned by the explosion being felt in the town. The six or seven men in charge of the boats were blown to pieces, and not a vestige of the boats
remained. The houses in the vicinity were badly shaken, and the shock was felt in Shanghai itself, where some thought it might have been an earth quake. A terrible flood, described as being the heaviest experienced there, has devastated Chingtu and most of the surrounding towns. Over 1000 persons suffered death from drowning.

On October 15, 1866, Manuel Artigas, a biographer, bibliographer, historian and journalist, was born in Barrio Panalaron Tacloban, Leyte to Miguel Artigas y Rodriguez, a Spaniard from Cadiz, Spain, and Soledad Cuerva y Molina, a Bulakeña.

When his father died in 1874, Artigas moved to Manila, pursued his studies and worked in several colonial government agencies. Artigas worked for Administracion Central de Impuestos Directos, Almacenes de la Aduana de Manila, Administracion Central de Loterias, Intervencion General de la Administracion del Estado, and the Administracion Provisional de Manila.

While working in the government, Artigas pursued his interest in journalism. He wrote for the Diario de Manila and later for El Amigo del Pueblo. In 1891, his first book, Manual del Empleados, was published. In 1892, he was publisher and editor of the bi-monthly local government review, El Faro Administrativo. In 1894, he published El Municipio Filipino 2 Volumes and Diccionario Tecnico-historico de la Administracion de Filipinas.

Artigas setup his own printing press on Calle San Jose in Intramuros. He bought the press that used to print the Periodical El Eco del Sur in Camarines.

At the height of the revolution in early 1897, Artigas sold the press and evacuated his family to Spain. There he continued writing for some periodicals. He founded the periodical La Voz de Ultramar, through which he exposed the abuses of Spanish authorities in the Philippines. He became acquainted with prominent Spaniards who sympathized with the Filipino cause like Señores Moret and Quiroga Ballasteros, who employed him in the Junta de Publicidad del Ministerio del Ultramar, which he served from January to June 1898. In Barcelona, he became adviser and chronicler of Sub-comite Revolucionario headed by Tito Acuña. Artigas later became its director.

In 1899, he founded the El Filipino.

Artigas returned to the country in 1902, resumed his works in journalism, and joined political groups. He was editor-in-chief of El Grito del Pueblo published by Pascual Poblete. In 1905, he joined La Democracia for a short while.

Artigas served as general secretary of the Nacionalista Party (1902 to 1905) and the Asociacion de Maquinistas Navales y Terrestres de Filipinas (1903-1909). He also published the latter’s periodical El Maquinista (1903-1904).

Before the elections in the First Philippine Assembly, Artigas switched party from the Nacionalista to Federalista and ran for the seat of the third district of Leyte but lost to Florentino Peñaranda.

In 1907, he was appointed assistant librarian in the Philippine Section of the American Circulating Library. Through his initiative, Act No. 1849 creating the Philippine Public Library was passed by the Philippine Assembly.

As acting chief and later director of the Philippine Library, he was able to increase the Filipiniana collection that became one of the most complete collections in Philippine studies.

Artigas died of heart ailment in Manila on April 2, 1925. He was survived by his wife Luisa Losada y Mijares by whom he had 12 children.

Reference:

Philippine News Agency
Web Archive (archive.org)
Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan

It has rained all night and the most part of the day. We are having inspection in the afternoon and have dress parade at 5 p.m. We had some nice, fresh meat today. There are many rumors afloat about us going home, but we all got pretty used to them. [George] Knotts, [Frank] Christopher, [David] Twist, [Milbert] Johnson, [George] Miller, [Albert] McMaster, [Samuel] Hagan, [Joseph] Frankenberry, [Homer] Daugherty and George Conn are on the sick list.

On October 17, 1857, Maximo Viola, a physician and a municipal councilor, who financed the printing of Dr. Jose Rizal's novel Noli Me Tangere, was born in San Miguel, Bulacan. Viola, a supporter of the Propaganda Movement, met Rizal and became his close friend while he was finishing his degree from the University of Barcelona in 1886. It was while traveling with Rizal in Europe that he learned Rizal needed money to publish the Noli Me Tangere. He offered to help Rizal and 2,000 copies were printed in 1887. Viola was also supportive of other propagandists, such as Marcelo H. Del Pilar, whom he aided financially.

When he returned to the Philippines in 1887, he spent most of his time practicing medicine. But his communication with Rizal didn’t cease until the latter has been exiled to Dapitan.

When the Filipino-American War broke out, Viola was imprisoned by the Americans, first at the Malate Military Prison and then at the Olongapo barracks, for his refusal to cooperate with the new administration. Even as a political prisoner, Viola continued practicing medicine. He was released from prison on condition that he treat American soldiers afflicted with illnesses previously unknown to America.

He died on September 3, 1933.

Reference: Philippines News Agency

We left Malacañang for quarters near the suspension bridge to do police duty in Manila. Received mail.

This is a beautiful day. There is a nice breeze going. We are getting good news that mail has come in by way of Hong Kong which we received in the afternoon. This made everybody happy. I received four letters and a picture of my girl. This mail was nineteen days old. We also had a goodly number of newspapers sent up to [us] this time. The Americans are printing four different newspapers: the Freedom, American Soldier, Manila Times and Uncle Sam. They are all selling at ten cents a paper. I sent one of each of them home. We had fresh meat today. [Frank] Christopher, [David] Twist, [Milbert] Johnson, [George] Miller, [Albert] McMaster, [Samuel] Hagan, [Joseph] Frankenberry, [Homer] Daugherty and George Conn and [George] Knotts are on the sick list.

Manila, Luzon Island –Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo.

After cooking breakfast of fried bacon, corn meal mush & coffee & washing dishes, got the Filipino family to mend a pair of pants for me. Did this for nothing. I then called at the post office & visited several book stores. Bought a pamphlet re the Filipinos. I am trying to purchase as much literature as possible bearing on this Archipelago. Purchased copies of “The Manila Times”, “American Soldier” and “Freedom”. Am aiming to secure full sets of these publications as they may of value historically in the future. The Philippines are but little known. The literature bearing on these islands is scant. — Visitors 2.

Purchased this diary. Paid $2. Mexican for it.

Returning house met on the street the city editor of the “American” Isaac Russell, A. Battery, Utah Art’y, who accompanied me to my quarters & secured points re the writer & his work for the aforesaid publication. We talked matters over & then agreed to make a trip up the railroad if possible and have a personal interview with Aguinaldo “El Presidente La Republica Filipina.”

With Major General Hughes’ refusal blocking my plans to erect in the burnt district on Calle del Rosario, I hardly know which way to turn. The artillerymen do not come save in small numbers to No. 2. The vino dens are generally crowded with them. Religion is not popular in the U.S. army & small wonder for many professing christians, including Salvationalists, have turned their backs on Jesus. What good reason can the average sinner see for seeking Christ when he has examples in his regiments of His (Christ’s) professed disciples leaving Him. The state of affairs is enough to give one the “blues” but my trust is in God. I will go ahead success or no success, faithful to my Lord, by His grace.

Every morning before commencing the day give from half an hour upward to Bible-reading and prayer. Generally pray several times each day – quite often with visitors.

Faith claims that my God is directing my steps and the experiences now befalling me. The Philippines are involved in civil war & the situation is very complicated from a foreign standpoint. The Insurgents are not recognized by the U.S. & other powers, yet Dewey & Merritt have virtually recognized Aguinaldo’s Republic furnishing arms, protection etc. The Republic is supposed to exist, its army is in the field awaiting the decisions of the Paris Peace Conference. What the destiny of the Philippines shall be God only knows. The outlook is dark, many war clouds hang low on the horizon. A Spanish paper pub, in Manila in pessimistic mood can see nothing but war ahead no matter what government gains control. I read a translated article today from “Independencia” which states plainly that the Filipinos want independence of all foreign domination including the United States; that the U.S. when the Spanish fleet was first destroyed seemed to consider its mission filled with the sinking of Montojo’s vessels, but now as an afterthought treats the natives as if they have no standing. Probably the Americans will have trouble with the Insurgents if they keep the Islands & try to suppress the republic. The whole country may be upset.

This is a dull day. It is raining most of the time. The boys are still busy writing. I made out an application for my discharge from U.S. Service and gave it to the Colonel which is endorsed by the same and promised me to do all he could. Captain Bierer refused to sign this application. Six men are doing guard duty. In the evening a number of us attended a YMCA meeting. [George] Knotts, [David] Twist, [George] Miller, [George] Conn, [Samuel] Hagan, [Joseph] Frankenberry and [Albert] McMaster are on the sick list.

Ruhl buried today. Wanted to embalm and send him home but it was not practicable. He was buried inManila vaults. Had charge of firing party consisting of Taltz [Teatz], Percy, Dustin, M. Holbrook, S. Holbrook, A.P. Watson, Jarmon (sic), and Pratt.