234 CHRISTIE. 



Some months ago a buyer for one of the largest department 

 stores in the United States saw two boxes from San Vicente 

 at the museum of the Bureau of Science in Manila, expressed 

 satisfaction with the work and the price, and wished to com- 

 municate with some person or firm who could be depended upon 

 to furnish him with a steady supply of the boxes at fixed prices. 

 Neither the museum nor the provincial treasurer of Ilokos Sur 

 knew of anyone to whom he could be referred, and San Vicente 

 lost an opportunity to enter the American market. The absorb- 

 ing capacity of the country about San Vicente for fancy boxes 

 is very small, and the industry of making them will never be of 

 importance, until trade connections are formed outside. 



COMBS. 



A good many thousand combs are made in San Vicente every 

 year. A few are of carabao horn. The rest are of wood. The 

 favorite material seems to be kamagon wood. The cheaper ones 

 are made from the light-colored outer part of the wood ; the more 

 expensive ones are made from the very dark heartwood called 

 by Americans "Philippine ebony." There are in San Vicente 

 about a dozen comb-makers, and the town receives at least 1,000 

 pesos a year from the industry, probably more. Most of the 

 combs are of the sort worn by women. The makers either work 

 to order or take the combs to the market at Vigan. I have seen 

 San Vicente combs in many towns of Ilokos Sur and Ilokos 

 Norte, and they are said to be exported also to La Union, Nueva 

 Vizcaya, Pangasinan, and Kagayan. Combs of this kind are 

 a staple article in the Philippines and would seem to have a large 

 potential market. 



The process of making is simple. The wood is first barked 

 and then sawed into convenient sections, which are next divided 

 into small slabs. These slabs are dried over a smoldering fire 

 of sawdust held in an earthen vessel. After this the outline of 

 a comb, usually curved at the back, is drawn with a pencil; the 

 small slab is then held fast in a vise while the teeth are formed 

 with a saw. Finally the part of the slab outside the line mark- 

 ing the back of the comb is sawed away, and the comb is ready 

 except for the polishing. The latter is sometimes done with a 

 kind of leaf (Ficus sp.) possessing a rough surface, but more 

 often with common sandpaper. The majority of combs are 

 plain. Some are carved or engraved. The graving instrument 

 may be a sharp, pointed knife, or a small graver's tool. There is 

 one comb-maker in San Vicente who does better carving than 



