The Philippine Exhibit 



119 



would accrue were railroads built in 

 other sections of these islands. 



A line has been projected from Manila 

 eastward and southeastward, running 

 along the shores of L,aguna de Bax^ 

 across the island to a port on L,amon 

 Bay. This port is said to be the best 

 in the islands, landlocked, affording 



shelter in any weather, and with a 

 depth sufficient to enable vessels of 

 heavy draft to approach close to shore. 

 With this line built, the distance from 

 Manila to the United States would be 

 shortened by about 700 miles. The line 

 would pass through a number of large 

 towns and a rich and fertile country. 



THE PHILIPPINE EXHIBIT AT THE PAN- 

 AMERICAN EXPOSITION 



By D. O. Noble Hoffmann 



WHEN the Pan-American Com- 

 mission first considered the 

 idea of a Philippine exhibit 

 at the Buffalo Exposition, they were 

 anxious to have on the grounds a typical 

 Filipino village inhabited by genuine 

 natives — men, women, and children. 

 After much conference with the Govern- 

 ment at Washington, it was shown that 

 the cost of such an enterprise would be 

 between $150,000 and $175,000, a sum 

 greatly in excess of what would have 

 been necessary in more peaceful times. 

 Accordingly, the plan was declared not 

 feasible. However, the Commission 

 was anxious to have an exhibit of 

 some kind, and declared the sentiment 

 of the people demanded it. Further 

 efforts resulted in the sum of $10,000 

 being appropriated for the purpose. It 

 was decided that such a sum could only 

 procure purely ethnological specimens, 

 necessitating the barring out of natural 

 history and other subjects. The ex- 

 hibit thus was made to include what 

 the people of the Philippine Islands 

 make with their own hands or obtain 

 by purchase or exchange. 



The management of the money ap- 

 propriated was placed in the hands of 



the Smithsonian Institution, which dis- 

 patched the late Col. F. F. Hilder to 

 the Philippines to collect the exhibit. 

 His long residence in the Philippine 

 Islands, together with his acquaintance 

 with many of the tribes and their dia- 

 lects, -and his knowledge of the condi- 

 tions existing in the islands, coupled 

 with his scientific training, served to fit 

 him in a superior degree for this work. 



Colonel Hilder certainly did remark- 

 ably well under the circumstances, and 

 gathered an amount of valuable material 

 of great interest and importance to the 

 people of the United States. He col- 

 lected upward of one thousand pieces, 

 illustrating every phase of native life. 

 Every condition and station, every age 

 and sex, every occupation, pastime, and 

 means of warfare, has a place in the 

 collection. 



Apparently hats, swords, and canes 

 are the objects upon which the Filipinos 

 bestow the most pride, for there are 

 enough pieces of head-gear of various 

 makes to fill a hatter's shop ; enough 

 swords, plain or fancifully carved, to 

 arm a regulation-sized company, and 

 enough canes to stock the stands of a 

 country-fair mountebank. 



