The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-06
ODD MANILA HAPPENINGS.
AMERICANS AN ENIGMA TO THE
SIMPLE FILIPINoS

changed for 'Dobe DoIlars-MRny Things
mo P~uedo"-The Natives ms Servants
A Ffuger Bowl Episode-Resnit of tho
Majors SO Loan to n Gambler.
MANILA, Sept. 13.-The lizard that lives In
the hole In the ceiling where the electric light
wires run through has Just had a fight with
what We call a June bug. He Is a little bit OF
q lizard with a tail nearly twice as long rs his
body. and that isn't much more than an inch.
WRhtfully. probably. he is entitled TO be called
chameleon. that is. II the essential quality OF
tho chameleon Is the ability to change his
color. That's what the old fourth reader used
20 say. and natural history has made few strides.
for this writer at least. since his fourth reader
days. Most Of those few have been backward.
But lizard or chameleon. he has had the fight.
and as the main business of q war correspond
ent Is to record fights. why here goes. As l
said. he is a little lizard. but when he stands on
the wall. head down. he has as much fun
a-lashinE OF his tail as any tiger In his royal
Jungle. He waRGles his head. also. and has
other personal habits copied from wise men.
For instance. he opens aud shuts his mouth
a few times and saws nothing. Just now. as he
was travelling through the vast unexplored
district OF blue wall. just to the left OF the cleo
trio light wire. a monstrous big bug oame
laundering in through the open door and did
his best to collide with the incandescent lamp.
That shows a fair average OF Filipino intelli-
Gence, He hit the lamp and slid of. grace
fully. II not gently. and his head
against the wall. That made him angry, and
when Just then the lizard stumbled over the
rough edge Of q nail hole in the wall and lost
his temper. too. there was the making OF as
pretty a scrap as you want TO see. The lizard
slipped an inch or two down the wall when he
stumbled and the June bug undeniably
grinned. Moreover. he wiggled his long
antennR most Extensively. in a manner no
right-minded lizard could endure. The June
bug is u big devil. He's sitting up there on
the wall now. snug as a bug should be. with an
inch and o half OF heavy shell over his hack.
and waving derision with his long pothooks at
s,G60Oft flock Gilt Of little ZIG green ena. snH Wbs that tS ARE 16 6oePbl ing
twiddled his fingers at the lizard. the lizard set
his teeth together ana tapped the wall three
"Abre." said the bug. and kicked out his
"Runcs." exclaimed the lizard and patted the
wall with his left forefoot..
"Alivante proa," shouted the bug. and at it
You won't find those words in the dictionary.
Nobody but the bandar-log knows what they
mean. They are used by our boatmen to ex-
moment when the swell is hammering the boat
up against the companion ladder and you are
just M1ftu merely Smashed. .U nd ffo they e 3r
press exactly what the bug and the lizard felt
Just Tb as . they started s1tsdes q h each shs ether cbsngo WINS about
four inches on each side. The lizard made it
ct a full run, but the bug loafed; He aHsw
on the high plateau beside the lamp bracket.
where Sisssnt ths j ps ap Ind has u b! lis tered i and stands sSs I1s,I 7
They met with a crash that made the gnats
about Ut the lamp ipm R- hal, Ian an INCH q III, Then her the
his nose. The bug reached oyer his enemy's
back and wrapped bis derrick arms around
p ' stra ssastle is Ss%R p the has's ewes FS dRslive 81 ns sies
until the bugs derrick began to be effective.
Tho lizard claimed a foul. but 1t was disal-
Loved SD' al ,s Tor b sa instant snpio thsTe tS Eas S q lI.e not p db-
IN The wall; Then zip.they 6sSke away The
np two gnats and q small bug by way Of re-
@pEisals, The bHgLthe big old gladtiatSr bug
gled his long antenn9. Once in q. while he
Kicked out a leg refectively to SEQ II it was all
right. It was a draw.
These Americans are an incomprehensible
people. They come Town here. 10000 miles
from home. they bring men. big husky fell
lows. by the thousand. and a vast equipment to
make war. land when they get here they sit
down and wait until the enemy gets tired and
surrenders without q fight. It's very droll.
They have some queer notions, these Ameri-
cans. What difference does 1t make to them
II a Filipino pounds his horse with a club until
It falls DOWN. The horse. perhaps. is a little
balky and will not &c. The Spanish officer in
the calesin is In the only hurry OF his life. and
the pony stops. Clearly it is a case for a club.
But Just when cochero is at his merriest work
and the club has beaten a hole in the pony's
back from which the blood runs. along comes
one Of these hulkinR Americans with q gun
and q long bayonet, and then goes cochero
to 'thesProvost Judge. For what2 May a man
not beat his own ponyp The beast would not
20. and why should 1t not be beaten? Besides.
the senior must arrive very quickly. Yet
icochero is taken to the Judge. and perhaps
will clean streets for a pair Of weeks. Some
.times q pony has n mall sore under his collar
mo bigger, maybe, than a mans hand. Such
,things must happen. The collar. perhaps, Is
too big. but there is no other collar and it
tmust do. Then come these ridiculous Ameri-
cans and tell coohero he must not use that
worst Of ali. they do it. Surely that is beyond
:. There was the boy with the bird trap. Just
q little boy not more than 2 years. and he
n %sst pa A@s siFas II s be Us What to The tSey dS! t hsss
a bamboo pole. 1t has q Topped string. at the
Is bent and the tran Is set and the bird walks
into the moose. why. you pull the locking cord,
the trap is sprung. and there bangles the bird
BY the foot. Even q little boy. not more than 9
PharP little boy. and ties one live bird to the
bamboo pole as q decoy. why. he can mako
perhaps four or six ceptimos n day. and by and
By he will become rich and have ,aNlpa house
OF his own and . little boy to catch other birds.
There Is a tree down there in the Gale San
much Of q tree II one likes broad. branches and
thick shade, but big enough to house n small
family of birds. 1t would be like the foolish
Americans to feed these birds, as they. are very
tame. Perhaps by and by they will catch them
and eat them. II now q small boy. not more
than @ years. should 90 down there with his
bamboo, trap and catch the birds, those Amer
Jeans might give him, 10 GEMS and there would
be two days work, done. But just see what
eappens,. The little boy goes down BY, the
captive bird on his bamboo pole cries out, The
Americans come to the window and look ont.
Then one OF them shouts:
Hey theret Let that bird RoI'
However can O little boy, not more than q
years, tell what that means2 America Is very
far away. He has never been there. He does
not know. what this big man Is saying. He
has heard that the, Americans are pigs. but
this is no pig; 1t is a giant that Is coming
toward him, very angry. What can such a little