Show ff 11 1 OF THE CASCO xa U hi ancient filipino craft that lighters are rapidly Sur supplanting planting C 1 11 01 41 1 18 11 1 the march of 0 progress Is undoubtedly going to be a great thing for the filipino some of these days said a man who got back from the islands not long ago to a new york bun reporter but one of the prices hes hos got to pay for it Is the gradual wiping out of picturesque customs and traditions of many years standing A good example Is to the passing of the filipino casco before the improved and wholly lighter of western commerce the casco Is a craft tor for coast and river commerce and at the same timo time the permanent home of its c ew and comma commander or patron the former living forward rand the latter aft it Is a long crude looking structure tuie tute hooded or covered with bamboo and under the manipulations of expert boatmen la Is capable of rather surprising agility manila Is not a city of good wharves nor Is manila bay a deepwater harbor hence when big ships arrive their cargoes must be lightened light ered ashore and this haa hat been the cascoa work fo for ages the lighter cascaes have a tonnage of from 20 to loo tons and the smaller ones or cas from 8 to 20 tons and they range from 20 to 90 feet in length with a 12 foot extreme beam and when loaded draw only 2 to 3 feet of water they are built of a light tough wood grown in the province of badam which resembles teak and anti will last for centuries on land or wlter cascaes Cas coos coes are usually propelled by a bamboo pole eighteen or twenty feet long in the hands of husky filipino liver men the poles are spiked and padded so the crews may place thorn them against their shoulders to give force to their pushes the crews crown number from five live to ten men and t they hey and eitneir families live almost wholly on oil rice fish oysters clams and shrimps scrimps sh rimps their pay Is a peso a day about BO 50 cents at night the bow la is cleared and tho deck spread with palm mat mats and on these men women and children lie down liko like sardines in a box sir redvers buller duller Is to write his autobiography it will be bound in black |