The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1898-08-25
LIFE In MANILA.
MANY ATTRACTIONS ABOUT THE QUAINT
OLD CITY
The Natives Have Wonderful Talent for Music
The Tremendous Downpour OF the Rainy
Season. Canoeing In the Streets.

The Tremendous Downpour OF the kainy
Season Canoeing In the Streets.
Wallace Cumming writes an article
on Life in Manila" for the Century.
Mr.. Cumming says:
Our firm had Il mess-house, in when
the partners lived, and which was
open to all their American and Eng
lish employees. Should the latter pre-
fer to live elsewhere. One thousand
dollars Il year was allowed as the
equivalent. | lived at the mess, find
| ing it much more comfortable. IN
deed. il would have been hard TO be
dissatisfied with our way of living;
and as it will show the style in which
the great American houses in the
East are conducted, | think 1t worth
telling with some detail. The mess
was fine house, handsomely fur
nished. in one of the pleasantest parts
of the city. The table was supplied by
a Chinese cook. He was allowed nve
hundred dollars Il month, ana gwen
certain of the heavier groceries. such
as -four, rice etc. He paid his under
cooks; and was responsible for meals
at the mess, and for breakfast like
the French deieuner In fourchette)
and afternoon tea. which were taken
at the office by all the employees, eX-
cept on Sundays aud fiestas. linen
there was a majordomo, who had con
trol of all servants and had charge OF
the house. There was also an extra
house servant. and a Chinese porter,
who opened and shut the great house
doors. filed the baths, pulled the
punka. and watered the street in the
| dry season. Then every one had
| personal servant, who took care OF ms
room. attended to his clothes, waited
on him at table, prepared his early
| breakfast about { a. M, and so on.
Everybody also owned horse or
| horses, which involved one more ser
| want at least. Being a Junior, L con-
tented myself with one pony and
| two-wheeled trap. something like a
| dog-cart. The others drove victorias
| and pairs. Three of our mess owned
| racing-ponieS, which Injured to my ben
| eft. as it gave me as much riding as
| | wished After the bath and an early
| breakfast came the drive to the office,
| between eight and eight-thirty; then
work till tWelve-tifteen, at which houf
| breakfast was served at the office;
| then work again until five-thirty, in
terrupted between three and four by
| afternoon tea; then to the bungalow
| to dress. to drive, and back to dinner
| at seven thirty.
To Il lover of music Manila is
charming place. The natives have
wonderful musical talent and there
were numerous bands. Those of the
| three regiments then stationed there
were remarkably good; and four after
| moons each week they played in turn
| on the 7Luneta," sort of plaza on
| the shores of the bay just outside the
old walls. | recall WILDLY the open
| air concert, by three hundred instru-
| ments given in honor of Prince Oscar
| of Sweden The glorious full moon OF
| the tropics. far brighter than in more
| northern lands, shining on the quiet
waters of the bay. the innumerable
| lights, the brilliantly dressed crowd,
and the thrilling music of the mighty
| bands, softened in volume on the great
| plain, combined to make it an occasion
| to be long remembered. The Battle
of Castelejos." which they played, was
| inspiring, and the effect was height
ened by the repetition of the trumpet.
| calls by soldiers who were stationed
at intervals far off upon the plains,
| while the guns on the city walls added
a touch of reality.
During the height of the rainy sea-
son, from about the middle of June to
the middle of September, all outdoor
pursuits are suspended. The violence
of the doWnpour is hardly to be i'm
agined by dwellers in higher ATTITUDES.
The streets in Manila, and some of
the roads for few miles outside, are
fairly good during the dry season, but
| quickly become nearly impossible
when the rains set in. AS | have al
| ready mentioned, Manila is intersected
| in all directions by creeks, which are
traversed by hundreds of canoes.
| These canoes are dugouts often OF
great size and the natives are most
expert in handling them. They are
| Indispensable at times when vast
| floods come down from the great lake,
about thirty miles from Manila, of
| which the river PaSg is the outlet
one storm will sometimes raise the
| river and overflow most of the city
| After a few hours rain | have gone
direct from our steps into a banca
(canoel. and been padded through the
| streets IN thp office
HoteI CIocks ALWAYS Truthful