The herald., 1898-12-25
THE PHILIPPINE CHRISTMAS

In October the monsoon changes in the
China sea and in place of the enervating and
! balmy breeze from the lands Of the equator
comes the invigorating wind of the north.
The thermometer falls just enough to make
the weather beautiful by day and comfort
able by night. Christmas enjoys the finest
weather OF the year. The sky is pale blue
or hazy with thin gray clouds. The orange
groves put on their finest attire and form
long walks of FURNISHED green dotted with
golden circles. a dozen other trees and
scores OF shrubs and lowly plants seemingly
| try to celebrate the season by putting out
their fairest flowers or sweetest fruit.
The day is holiday and is observed
something as it is in Madrid, something as
it may have been before the conquistadore
laid his iron hand upon the docile Tagal.
The churches are open and are centers OF
human activity. White women and brown,
yellow and red proud Castilians and hum
Bile colonials, ,Tagal and lrrogote, Visaya and
half breed, make up the procession that en-
ters and departs through the great church
portals.
Within is the storm of noble music,
played as only the Filipino can play. The
art nature in the brown race expresses itself
in music and motion. The recreation of the
savage is found in Gong and dance, and the
orchestras of the churches show their an
cestral habits by melodic compositions and
the rhythmic swaying of heads and hands
and often feet. They seldom play the har-
monic masterpieces OF Bach, Handel Haydn
or Beethoven; they probably would not I'M
derstand the higher thought which is EN-
bodied in the matchless chords and Won
drous symphonic effects of these composers.
But when it comes to Guonod and Verdi, to
such pieces as the lnhammatus and the Ave
Maria, they can play and sing with vigor
and enthusiasm that are soul-stirring.
Everybody is dressed in what New Eng
landers call Sunday go goto-meeting clothes.
The Caucasians wear the toilets of Madrid,
rich with Gothic laces, velvet applique silks
and satins. The half appear in quaint
but elegant robes of silk and grasscloth
pinas, and other odd but attractive crea-
tions of the eastern loom, while the poor
natives wear the quaint serong, the Malay
jacket and the Filipino vest, which in their
way are as graceful and becoming as the
finest mode from Paris.
When the mass is over the men hurry to
the cockpit and wager their pennies and
pesos upon their favorite birds. Women
form social parties in the courtyards of their
homes and there talk gossip and discuss
never-ending problems of domestic econo-
my, the same as their sisters in other parts
of the world. Sometimes the street is en-
livened by religious procession and some
times a native funeral blocks the thorough
fare
Through the white men and the brown
move the stold Chinese dressed in their
invariable blue suits; the poor coolies in
the cheapest cotton cloth and the rich mer
chant in magnificent robes of Canton silk
1t is an odd combination of races, the brown
Malay jostling with the still darker Papuan,
and jostled in turn by the yellow man, and
all subordnated to the imperious white race,
no matter whether Spanish, English or
American.
MARGHERITA ARLINA HANfM.