Pine Island (AV 12) - Naval Cruise Book

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While we are on thepsubjectof- women we might as well discuss just who does the work around these islands. .The women young and old are out from early morning, to evening plowing the field with the cow or oxen-tied to a primitive wooden plow, weeding the gardens, harvesting the crops and doing just about everything else that is connected with working on a farm. The young girls covereS, their arms- and legs with long stockings and the head is covered with a hood that makes' them look like the knights of ,old with the slot for the eyes' to peek out of. C A C The Chinese proved to be an excellenthost by inviting- 36 men from the Pine Island to attend the weekly dances held every Tuesday night at the Chinese Naval Club. A slight charge of ,two dollars was asked to cover the cost of -the be- verages served. Twelve of the most charming and exquisite young girls from Formosa acted as dancing partners, unfortunately the men had to wait out for every third dance in order to dance withone of these gorgeous women. Their footwork proved to be superior to ours in many cases as they could do all the latest steps, tanl goes or rhumbas. -e ' p V ' It was here that the unexpected happened to our famous baseball teamg They thought for all the world that the Chinese would be push- overs' but it proved -to be otherwise when the Chinese teams played us with a well 'organized and snappy looking club' playing percentage ball. We 'found out that baseball is the number, one game with the Chinese. Another surprise that Was in store for us was in the snappy way they played basketball against the Pine Islanders, this caused many practice sessions to be held aboard the ship in order to stay ahead of. the Chinese sharpshooters. i Softball proved to be a' favorite sport forthe interdepartmental teams and it developed a good deal of competitive spirit throughout the ship. With the beer tent set up close by, many a player ambled over for a nice cool can of beer in the heat of the game. It usually wound up that the losers har f th d' k. r a Opay or e rm S J.,H. Boulger,qLt. 79

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level terrain. . A The center. of activity was at the town of Makung, the capital and largest city of the Pes- cadores Islands. It wa.s approached through an opening or gate through' the great masonry wall that ran around the city to protect it from the raids of sea pirates or eager warlords. The building sitting over the main entrance is reported to be haunted, and the local people ,will have nothing to do with it as it is reported that at least one 'person every year' is found hanging from its ,balcony with a rope around- his neck. Also the local executions are conducted here for the condemned prisoners. ' The port of Makung is a scene of activity with the many largejunks discharging their car- goes of soft coal, canned food, bolted cloth, articles made of bamboo and bales of leatherg For the return trip large baskets of vegetables, and bun- dles of .dried fish are carefully stacked aboard and yet 'T the remaining space may beused by the passengers. Q T ' The most interesting spot in Makung waS the large, supermarkets where' all the house-wives conducted their shopping amid the hustle and bus- tle and the loud din that accompanies all Oriental marketsp All the counters areffilled with many' ,strange foods and vegetables, some are cooked and placed in 'colorful display, remembering the- warnf ing of our- medical officer we had to forego all thoughts of sampling the tasty looking dishes. It was most interesting to note howdependent these people are on the bamboo tree for many articles were manufactured from the fibers such as string and cord, baskets, hats, floor mats, furniture, baby carriages, shoes and sandles and even rain coatsQ The meat market section was most unusual as the pigs and chickens were lying around, alive and their feet were tied together waiting for some ,individual to select the ,pig or chicken and it would be taken out-and slaughtered and then ere- turned to be cut up in .the choice 'cutsgthat the customer -may desire. A Many times in sightseeing around the 'town ofr country side one may observe two women with a live pig or two strung up by its feet to the bamboo pole which they support on their shoulders and are market bound, or maybe carrying five or six chickens in each hand all trussed up by ,their feet. 'These will, be exchanged for other 'items that their men- folks may need and probably they maybe allowed to buy a little something for the house.- as

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