1410
CEBU-ZAMBOANGA
行勝捷 Chiat Shing Hong
YAP TICO, F. M., Importer and Exporter, Commission and Shipping Agent
Offices: Manila and Iloilo; Teleph. 80;
P.O. Box 84; Tel. Ad: Yaptico
Agencies
Yek Tong Lin Fire & Mar. Ins. Loan
Co., Ld.
S. S. "Hoi-Ching," "M. Yaptico," "Paulino"
ZAMBOANGA
Zamboanga is located on the south-western extremity of Mindanao Island in latitude 6 deg. 55 min. north and longitude 122 deg. 5 min. east, being 512 nautical miles south of Manila. It has a population of about twenty-eight thousand and, in volume of business, takes fourth place among the open ports of the Philippines, coming after Manila, Iloilo and Cebu. It is situated in a country noted for copra, lumber and hemp production, has excellent slipping facilities, and is the ideal transhipping point for all products of southern Mindanao and Sulu. The harbour is partially protected by two small islands and is never visited by severe storms as it is south of the typhoon belt. It has a good anchorage for steamers of any size, and the wharf, will accommodate steamers drawing 30 feet. The climate is characterized by a remarkable evenness of temperature and a comparatively small rainfall which increases rapidly as one goes a few miles from Zamboanga in any direction.
Communication with other ports is assured by weekly mail steainers, bi-weekly transports and despatch boats with Cebu and Manila, monthly steamers of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha with Australia, Manila and the China coast, and bi-weekly steamers of the Straits Steamship Company with Sandakan, Borneo, and Singapore. A coast-- guard cutter, running out of Zamboanga, gives regular communication with other small ports of the Department. Telegraphic communication with the remainder of the Archipelago is secured by a wireless station connecting with cables and land lines.
Zamboanga was founded by the Spaniards in April, 1635, for the purpose of intercepting. Moro corsair fleets which were accustomed to pass the Strait of Basilan from southern Mindanao to the Visayan Islands. The town was repeatedly attacked by the Moros. In 1646, it exchanged shots with a Dutch fleet and, in 1798, maintained an all day bom- bardment with an English squadron. In 1872, for putting down a mutiny of prisoners, Zamboanga was granted by the Madrid Government the title "Loyal and Valiant. Town." On May 10, 1899, the revolutionists attacked the Spanish garrison in Zam- boanga, which withdrew on May 24. The town was burned during the hostilities. Dur- ing the summer of 1899, the Republic of Zamboanga was in full control, but the town was finally surrendered to the American blockading squadron without bloodshed on November 16 of the same year.
The Department of Mindanao and Sulu, of which the capital is Zamboanga, consists of the seven provinces of Agusan, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Davao, Lanao, Sulu and Zamboanga-all of Mindanao Island, excluding the small provinces of Misamis and Surigao, but including the Archipelago of Sulu and other adjacent islands. The area of the Department is 33 per cent. of the entire land area of the Philippines. Zamboanga is also the capital of the Province of the same name. The town, though small, is one of the most beautiful, not only of the Philippines, but of the Far East. It is characterised by shady streets and possesses very fine parks and exquisite gardens. There is a drastic building ordinance in force which provides that all buildings erected in the central portion must be of reinforced concrete or other equally fire-proof material with an 8 inch firewall every 100 feet. Good roads extend along the coast in either direction from the town.