The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-06-11
IN THE PHILIPPINES.
HOW THE PEOPLE LIVE TEHRE PAR
TICULARLY IN MANILA.
The Currency In Circulation There-Payinc
ing by the Chit System - How to Dress
In the PhtIippines-Live In style for Less
Than Dollar day.

1 = !
! thin white suits that are everywhere
\ worn are not made for transporting coin.
| bank-notes are practically out OF circula-
| zion, and heavy Mexican dollars stand at
the hand of a motley family of fifty-cent
pieces Spanish pesetas, and huge coppers,
to give weight rather than value to the
Icurrency system. If you draw the first
prize in the monthly lottery run for. the
benefit of the government, your 100000
lis 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 to the bank. -
a dollar Ia about all the coin that
properly clothed resident of Manila can
carry about with him. and as it general
| ~ turns out. he dosen't need more. for
the j shopkeepers, tailors, and boot
| makers have all been educated to recog-
nize in the famous "chit system neces-
sary evil that springs out of certain
| monetary, and climatic conditions, and are
always ready TO accept the small bit of
paper on whichever your name you
| write IN l.. o. u. for the amount of your
| purchase.
| If the cook wants new stove, or the
coachman a jar of 'micl' mo!asses to
sweeten 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 off1ce-boy a new rope for
the punkah, says Joseph Earle Stevens,
| in the New York Evening Post. Write
out "chit" for each, Of them. and that's
the last you hear from the transaction
| till the first of the next month. But
| scarcely has that day come before all
Your creditors send in their collectors to
| cash those carele ssly penc.lled "chits,"
and then your Office is turned into a
1noney-chanser's. Armed with a big can
" Of re Won tn
one and then the other all day long; and
20 see your callers bite the silver in the
| etE0:t,&-, discover lead. or drop a dozen
pieces on the hard floor to verify the
ring, is not to feel conplimented by their
opinion Of your integrity.
About the only people that will not
trust you are the car-conducto-s and the
/ amount to over three coppers, and cab
| charges to a "peseta," it is easy e.:o.Sh
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
philippines, is simple and cool in the ex-
| IRENE, consisting as it does of two pieces,
to the white suit, a top jacket that but
| tons high around the neck in military.
fashion, and a pair Of trousers both
made OF strong sheeting. The price Is.
only $2-made to order. A thick felt hat
0f broad zhrtm. g pair Of white canvas.
SHOES, a Tight under-vest and socks. and
there is your Philippine costume all the
year round. No ''boiled'' shirt to bother
with, no collar to wilt; everything wash
| able, everything but the hat and shoes
| changed each day, and nothing hurt by
| wetting. About eighteen of these suits
are sufficient for a newcomer in ordinary
| standing, and he must expect often to
| wear two day. II Is begins to rain.
There In MI c,,rc{ TIL afx ol>p>
feel you've got ..'rothirg on to hurt" and
even the natives shut their umbrellas on
such occasions. carrying them open only
| as protection 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 fartngt sleeves of pima fibre,
l that show the arms, and the costly pima
handkerchief that, folded on the diagonal.
enctrcles 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 Enthusiastically skirt-train.
In fact, owe a sudden upset off the
main road into a muddy rice-field to the
unexpected swirl Of one Of those long
trains as it was gathered around to be-
tucked up IN front
\ It probably costs. Jess. 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 a good house,
with three bedrooms. parlor. q and
tiled floor diningroom a hallway
reading-room, kitchen boys quar-
tiers. bathroom, tiled tub and
shower. A: small stable, garden.
and ten-foot iron fence to keep out the
burglars, who used to grease themselves.
and prowl around naked at dead at night,
seeking to steal ponies or even carriage.
laps, completed our establishment Our
cook, to be ready for unexpected guests,
served dinner each evening for four, and
got but forty cents to privide enough raw
materials for six courses-including the
4 firewood necessary. At the end of the
month everything going into the general
mess aCcount-hOuse rent Us month),
wages of three servants food, drink, ice,
i and light-was added up and divided b!
two. The result was astonishing. as 81
was. the sum toral of my monthly share.
q To live In such state and entertain ones
friends for less than an American dol
lar day absolutely spoils one for subse-
Iquent existence In this country, and It.
is no wonder that many a Britisher-re-
turning from Manila to England via the
States-has been SO overwhelmed by his
first laundry bill in San Francisco that
he has taken through train for New
!, York and sailed by the first outgoing liner
without stopping even to see the brides
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 it
Is killed, since in the tropics even ice fails
to preserve fish, flesh, or fowl AS a re-
suit, while beef and mutton are killed, In
the early morning a few hours before the
market opens, the smaller fry, such as
E game and chickens, are sold alive. From
I six to ten all the native and Chinese