Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 January 1918 — Bamboo. [ARTICLE]

Bamboo.

Our little brown brothers in the tropics cannot understand how citizens of the United States get along without bamboo, according to United States Marines, retumning here from the Philippines. The Filipinos use bamboo for everything. They build their shacks from this material exclusively, using stout poles for the sdpports, flatten-ed-out-bamboo for the sides and floors, and bind the whole together with tough bamboo fibre. It is also used for the construction of barrels to carry water, and green bamboo, hollowed-out, is used as a receptacle in which the natives cook their rice. The friction caused by rubbing together two sticks cut from this useful tree will start a fire in less than three minutes. The U. S. Marines have convinced the Filipinos that America is a very wonderful place, but when told that w edo not cultivate . bamboo, the islanders are inclined to be a bit skeptical.