246 The Philippine Journal of Science i9i6 



When rocks too hard for hand spuds are encountered, and 

 when powder is not available, fire and water are used. This 

 method is very efficient though slow. As the working is 

 deepened, stulls are put in which achieve the double purpose 

 of holding up the hanging wall and of serving as perches for the 

 women ore sorters. The stulls are of pine, about 20 centimeters 

 in diameter with regular head boards and wedges. They are 

 furnished and put in by the men, this being the only work in 

 which women do not seem to take a leading part. 



In order to accommodate the one hundred fifty to two hundred 

 persons, and for convenience in handling ore, the exposed vein 

 is divided into sections which are worked by different sets of 

 individuals. Each set has its preferred right in the section to 

 which it is assigned and conducts mining operations to suit 

 itself. This procedure allows for a diversity of opinions and 

 leads to better mining. In each open stope the actual mining 

 is done by a few men and women who wield the spuds, and who, 

 of course, have first pick at any rich pockets of ore. They take 

 turns at the face, so that all have an equal chance. Immediately 

 back of the miners are the women and children. The hats the 

 women wear serve a double purpose — as a protection against 

 falling rocks and as ore baskets. They are made of bejuco and 

 bamboo, with small, square bottoms and wide, flaring sides. 

 They vary in width from 30 to 40 centimeters and are about 12 

 centimeters deep. The women and children catch the ore in 

 their baskets as soon as it is broken down. They examine it once 

 by the dim pitch-pine light, and if it is extra good, they cover 

 it with another basket and send it to their relatives on the 

 surface, who inspect and sort it more carefully. If it is nothing 

 out of the ordinary, they pass it back to the woman next in 

 line, who examines it and passes it back, this procedure being 

 followed until it has been passed from hand to hand by the 

 dozens of women packed in the stope. 



What is left when it reaches the surface is given a final inspec- 

 tion and is dumped or saved. 



The waste is thrown back into those parts of the stope which 

 have been worked out and bulkheaded off from the rest of the 

 stope, so that the actual open space is small and few accidents 

 from caving take place. Since the ore is snatched away so rapid- 

 ly, the miners are never in need of muckers, and as the appointed 

 timbermen keep the stulls advancing with the face or bottom, 

 the miner's task is an easy one. A white man could never work 

 under the same conditions. The air inside is very stale, and the 

 odors from the women packed in immediately back of the miners 



