The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-05
LIVING IN MANILA.
THE CURRENCY-PAYIN by THE
CHIT SYSTEM.


Day.
J. e. Stevens in New York Evening Post.
In Manila no one ever pays for anything
he buys at the time he buys 1t. for the
than white suits that are everywhere worn
are not made for transporting coin. Bank
I notes are practically out of circulation, and
heavy Mexican dollars stand at the head
Of a motley family of 50-ceut pieces, Span
ish pesetas and huge coppers, TO give
weight rather than value to the currency
system. If you drew the first prize in the
monthly lottery run for the benefit of the
government, your 100000 Is all paid to
you in silver "cartwheels. or subsidiary
coins and you really feel that luck Is after
all something tangible when it takes a
heavy dray or two to haul the results of
your winnings from the government office
at the bank.
A dollar is about all the coin that a
properly clothed resident of Manila can
carry about with him, and, as It generally
turns out, he doesn't need more, for
the shopkeepers, tailors and bootmakers
have all been educated to recognize in the
famous "chit system" a necessary evil
that springs out of certain monetary and
climatic conditions, and are always
ready to accept the small bit of paper on
Wnich-oYer your name-yOu write an j.
o. u. for the amount Of your purchase.
III the cook wants a new stove or the
coachman a jar Of "m:cl" molasses to
sWcctcn up the feed for the horses, or if
the gardener wants a lawn mower, which
can only be bought at the English drug
store, or the office boy new rope for
the punkan, write out chit" for each of
them, and that's the last you hear from
the transaction TIL the 1st of the next
month But scarcely has that day come be-
fore all your creditors send in their collec-
tors to cash those carelessly penciled
"chIts," and then your office is turned into
money-changer's Armed with a big can
vas bag of dollars you pay our to first
one and then the other all day long; and 10
see your callers bite the silver in the effort
to discvover lead or drop a dozen pieces on
the hard floor TO verify the ring, is not to
feel compimented by their opinion of your
integrity
About the only people that will not trust
you are the car conductors and the cab
drivers; but as fares rarely amount to over
three coppers, and cab charges to a ''pese
Ia, il IS easy enough to satisfy them with
prompt cash.
The general mode of dress adopted by
Well-to-do half-castes and Europeans OF
the masculine gender throughout the Phil
lppincs is simple and cool in the extreme,
consisting as it does of two pieces to the
white suit, a top jacket that buttons high
around the neck in military fashion, and a
pair of trouserS--both made of stronG
shceting. The price is only $2-made to or
der. A thick felt hat Of broad brim. a pair
of white canvas shoes, a light underVest
and socks, and there Is your Philippine cos
tune all the year round. No boiled" shirt
to bother with, no collar to wilt; every
thing washable, everything but the hat
and shoes changed each day, and nothing
hurt by a wetting. About eighteen of these
suits are sufficient for a newcomer in or1i-
nary standing, and he must expect often
TO wear two a day. If it begins to rain,
there is a certain pleasure in being able to
feel you've got nothing on to hurt" and
even the natives shut their umbrellas on
such occasions, carrying them open only
as projection against the sun, and seem
| TO enjoy feeling the very thin cloth cling
close when wet.
The costumes worn by the women are
not SO simple and are made up of the
brilliant calico skirt, with long train
that IS swished around and tucked into
| the belt in front, the short white waist
| with huge faring sleeves of pima fiber
| that show the arms and the costly pima
| haudkerchiefs that, folded on the diagonal
encircled the neck. Costumes of this sort
are hardly as sensible as those worn by
| the men, and to this day the Philippine
| pony is not altogether used to the swish
! of that crushed-strawberry skirt-train. In
| fact, l owe a sudden upset off the main
road into muddy rice field to the unex-
| pected swirl of one of those LONG trains
as it was gathered around to be tucked
| up in front.
Ii probably costs less to live well In
| Manufacturing peaceful seasons-than In
any other capital of the East or West
! Take the case of my messmate and my
! self, for example. We had good house
with three bedrooms, parlor, and tiled
floor dining room; a hallway. reading
room, with tiled tub and shower. A small
! stable. garden, and ten-fOOt iron fence 10
keep out the burglars who used to grease
| themselves ana prowl around naked at
! dead of night, seeking to steal ponies OF
! even carriage lamps, completed our estab-
| lishment. Our cook, TO be ready for TN
| expected guests, served dinner each even
| Ing for four, and got but forty cents to
| provide enough raw materials for six
! COurees-including the fireWOOd necessary,
/ Al the end of the month everything going
into the general mess account-house rent
/ CSl5 per month";, wages of three servants,
food. drink, ice and light-was added up
/ and divided for two. The result was aston
/ ishing as $50 was the sum total of my
menthly share TO live in such state and
| entertain ones friends for less than an
J American dollar day absolutely Spots
one for subsequent existence in this
country, and it is no wonder that many a
! Notwithstanding from Manila to Eng
! land via the states-has been so over
whelmed by his first laundry bill in San
! Francisco that he has taken a through
! train for New York and sailed by the first
outgoing liner, without stopping even to
see the bridges at Niagara or the winter
| garden at the Astoria.
The methods Of marketing In Manila are
| noteworthy in themselves. All meat, of
course, must be eaten on the day il is
killed. since In the tropics even ice fails
TO preserve fish, flesh or fowl. AS a result,
while beef and mutton are killed In the
early morning, a few hours before the
market opens the smaller fry, such as
| game and chickens are sold alive. From
to 10 all the native and Chinese cooks
| from many families come to bargain for
the days supply. After filling their bas-
kets. numbers of them mount the little
| tram-car for the return trip to their kitch-
ems, and proceed to pluck the feathers off
| the live chickens or birds as they jog
| along on the front or rear platform. BY
| the time they have arrived home the poor
creatures are almost bare of covering, and,