WOOD -WORKING INDUSTRY. 235 



any of his rivals. The tool which I saw him using for engraving 

 was made of a section of an umbrella rib brought to a point. 



Carabao horn is made into combs by sawing it into con- 

 venient sections and then proceeding as with wood, except, of 

 course, that it is not placed over a fire. 



Comb-makers of San Vicente pick up their material in a 

 casual fashion wherever it is most convenient. Sometimes a 

 trader or emigrant returning from Kagayan brings home a 

 piece of kamagon wood which he sells to the workers. Some- 

 times they buy their supplies in Vigan. At times they run 

 out of heartwood entirely and get along with inferior material 

 until some chance gives them an opportunity to replenish their 

 stock. The comb-makers can take care of themselves in a case 

 of petty bargaining for a few combs, but none of them that I 

 know has any broad-gauge business ideas. I do not know any 

 one who could be called a comb-broker. 



The making of images is a more important industry at San 

 Vicente than either the making of combs or of boxes. I know 

 of nearly 20 image-makers in the town, without counting a 

 number of persons who make a living by making the platforms 

 and cars used for images. Probably the industry of making 

 images brings to the town between 2,000 and 3,000 pesos an- 

 nually. The work is commonly done to order; orders come 

 from many towns in northern Luzon. Some images are in- 

 tended for use in churches, but my impression is that the greater 

 part of the work is for private individuals who wish a crucifix, 

 a Madonna, or the figure of a saint to set up in their own 

 homes. I have been told by several of the workers that the 

 business is not as good as it was formerly, owing to Protestant 

 and skeptical influences in recent years, but I can not vouch for 

 the accuracy of these statements. In conjunction with the. in- 

 dustry of making statues a very minor industry, that of making 

 clothes for the figures, exists in the town. This is carried on by 

 the women. 



Several kinds of wood are used in the work, sometimes in the 

 same statue. Lanete is perhaps the most common. There is 

 naturally a wide difference in the quality of the output, from the 

 painfully crude to the graceful. The illustration (Plate IV, fig. 

 1) shows the best piece of vi^ork which I saw going on. The artist 

 received his training from a Filipino artist who used to live in 

 Vigan. He used, to guide him, a small illustration in a catalogue 



