Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-06-22
THE PHILIPPINES.
HUNDREDS OF THEM, But ONLY 20
or ANY CONSIDERABLE SIZE.
Habits aud Customs of the People
nav of Manila One OF the Finest
In the WorId-Drcndfuliy tn-
b.,;tbx fJfmntc-Natiye Women.

| CIanila Letter I'm New York TimesD
| For the first time since the awful hur-
ricane OF November D. 1910 swept over
| the Philippine Islands and caused the
| drowning OF Sl0 people and the ruin bi
over 1000 native houses, this interesting
| archipelago has been brought prominent
| " 20 public attention by the Chinese
japanese war There ara LIS Islands
large and small, n the group known as
/ the Philippines. but only twenty OF them
are OF fairly-arge size. The area OF the
whole group Il i23.00J square miles. anu
! 5000 square miles OF these comprise the
| twenty principal islands.
| Manila is the metropolis Of the Philip
| pine Islands, AMI Is upon the largest
| island. Luzon. The city Is built upon Il
| bay OF that name. and nayigators say
! that il IS one Of the half dozen best IN
| the world. The navies Of the whole
! world might safely ride at anchor there.
! The city itself has almost the most dis
| agreeable climate I'm the world for seVe-
raj months In the year. and travellers
| say that many Of the famous hot cities
/ IN India have only "A little hercer tempera-
ture. In President Arthur's Administra-
ton several persistent seekers Of oilce
| I'm the diplomatic service were named
"a United States Consul NJ Manila, and
each declined. one after another. IN
average Of eleven earthquakes year
for several generations is dismaying 10
y large number OF people who come to
Manila thinking they can live there ana
make a rapid fortune.
The city lies. surrounded by walls and
wide bitches. on The southern bank Of the
Passig. which lazily glides along covered
! with green SCUM. and bearing on its placid
waters. whose languid flow resembles that
OF - Dutch canal. dead cats and dogs sur
rounded with weeds Ike eggs IN dish OF
spinach The canals and bitches In the
hot. drying weather exhale a poisonous
malaria. which also causes death TO the
unaccllmatod Although next to Goa the
oldest city in the Indies, Manila. with its
numerous monpsteries. converts. bar
racks. etc. reminds ono more OF n Span
ish provincial town than OF an Oriental
city. Foreigners live in BidOndO, a SUI
I hurb. which rs the headquarters Of COM
merce The Snaniarls and natives view
eoch other with jsal0ufy-the colonial
policy of Madrid everywhere. and which
prevents unity among the people. at the
price Of the r prosperity. Then there Is
no planter cass io break down this spirit
or eXglusiYeness api the Spaniarls only
too much regard residence In the
Islands as temporary makeshift. TIL
very houses I'm Manila are gloomy. ugly
ana badly yentilated-d fatal error I'm
such "a scorching climate Instead OF Hight
jalOusiee, they are htted with heavy sash
windows. with thin oyster-shell panes,
ground floors, on account Of the damp
are generally unnhablted. and are used
for ..lb.es and offices The dwellings are
~ plank. bamboo. AMI palm leaves the
E1lm being everybody's fri nj IN these
Islands. The houses are lightly put to-
gethor. and. including furniture often
weigh less than 10 pounds
Manila rs slow place The plays are
poor, the newspapers h'rren chroniclers
OF stale court gossip. anl the most *
citing incidents are religious professions
and cock fights. Every Indian who can
afford 10 keeps a lighting cock and the
ring around the cockpit. crowded with
perspring and Unlocking natives. is
common and Gisagreeahll sight. In spite
of AN its drawbacks. Manila has its pic
turesqu- side. During The religious festl-
walls. especially. beautiful women are to
be seen thrCugirg the illuminated and
flower b-deckej streets SOM Of tn
most charming OF thu Indian women are
Of tie fair European type. From the
provinces come the native and half-caste
women. The Indian women are beauti-
fully formed with lustrous black hair.
and melting dark eyes. The upper part NJ
their bodies IS clad In a material Of trans
parent fneness ana snowy purity. From
the waist downward comes a flowing
drapery in the form Of a brightly striped
cloth which as far as the knee is 50
tightly compressed with a dark shawl
closely drawn around the figure that the
folds Of the saga cloth burst out beneath
10 Ike the blossoms OF a p3megranate.
This swatl.ng only allows the young girls
10 take short steps. and. with their down
east eyes. makes them look more shy than
they often turn out 20 BE- OF better ac-
quaintanca.
The numerous rivers form natural, self
maintaining highways over which loads
can be carried TO the foot Of the noun
talns. which attain very respectable
height. Here the cocoa palm hourishes.
tree that not only supplies the natives
with meat and drink but with material
for building and domestic utensils. The
luxuraut bamboo tree is the ISLANDERS
unfaillng resource. II not only eXceis I'm
majestic beauty. but has 50 many useful
qualities that fsw sharp cuts suffice
u convert II into all kinds OF utensils.
Its excellence consists In It's happy cOmbi-
nation OF iightness and extraordinary
strength and toughness Of fibre. pliablity
and elasticity. and II H. also easy to split
The seeker OF strang- modes OF life
and the student OF the habits Of people
who have had little contact with clvili-
zaton and have primitive homes, can
be satisfied by a--1sit to almost any OF
the other larger islands than Luzcn. in
the Philippine archipelago. as. for in
stance, Negros, Palawan. Mindando, ana
Samas In any Of these islands there
can be found tens OF thousands Of natives
who, like generations Of their ancestors,
have never left their nftl' ISLAND homes,
and have not the faintest idea ,that there
is any world beyond their islands. Here
the race IS mixed. and the residents are
almost OF as light cdmplexions as the
residents Of Manila. Tn young men
and women are comeiy. and great many
OF the women BETWEEN the ages OF Is
and 20 are Of striking BEAUTY. On many
islands there live the Bocals. who are sup
posed to be the aborignes Of the archi-
pelago and 10 be Of Malay origin. They
are an interesting race for any anthro-
pologst 10 study. Travellers wlo have
trottsd about the globe say that the
Bocals In the Philippine Islands ana
the Panays, In Borneo, are about the
LATEST people that live. They DO aoso-
lutely nothing that Is unnecessary tor