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-Payine
ing by the Chit" System - How to Dress
In the PhiIippines-Live in style for Less
Than a Dollar q dav.

ing by the Chit" System How to Dr.ss
Than a Dollar a dav.
..$sn
In Manila no one ever pays for anything
ne buys at the time he buys it. for the
! lh4h Wh1te suits that are everywhere
worn are not made for transporting coin.
Bank-notes are practically cut OF circula-
! lion, and heavy Mexican dollars stand at
| the hand of motley family of fifty-cent
pieces Spanish pesetas, and huge coppers,
| to give weight rather than value to the
currency system. If you draw 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 heavy dray or two to haul
| the results of -FOUR winnings from the
government office to the bank. .f
y dollar is about all the coin that
| p1 operly clothed resident of Manila can
carry about with him. and las it general
~ turns out. he doser't need more. for
the sllopkeeperS, 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
W )
paper on which-over your name you
write an l. o. u. for the amount of your
purchase.
If the cook wants a new stove, or the
coachman jar of 'micl' moasses 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 ofice-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
cash those carelessly penc.ll:d "chits."
and then your Office is turned into a
money -chan.er's. Armed with big cam
vas beg Of GoFars you pay out to first
one and then the other all day long: and
20 see yolr callers bite the silver in the
Effort :, discover lead. or drop a dozen
pieces on the hard floor to verify the
ring. is not to feel complimented by their
opinion of your integrity.
About the only people that will not
trust you are the car-conducto-s and the
cab-dr1Vers; but as car-fares rarely
amount to over three coppers, and cab
charges to a "peseta,' it is easy euoah
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 slieeting. The price is,
only $2-made to order. A thick felt hat
Ct broad .hrim. 2. pair Of white canyas
shoes, a Tight under-vest~ ana socks. and
iyNyf~ Ill
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. If Is begins to rain,
there IS certain pleasure in being able to
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 faring, sleeves of pima fibre,
that show the arms, and the costly pima
handkerchief that, folded on the diagonal
encircles 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, I owe a sudden upset off the
| main road into muddy rice-field to the
unexpected swirl Of one Of those long
tucked up In front.
/ "1robob1xr ooo+e loo, ~ 1s,ro wal,
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, and
tiled floor diningroom a hallway
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
frewood 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,
and light-was added up and divided b.
two. The result was astonishing. as 81
was the sum toral of my monthly share.
To live in such state and entertain ones
friends for less than an American dol
lar day absolutely spoils one for subse-
.quent existence In this country, and it.
is no wonder that many 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.Al 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 re-
| suit, while beef and mutton are killed, In
the early morning, few hours before the
market opens, the smaller fry, such as
game and chickens, are sold alive. From
I six to ten all the native and Chinese
cooks from many families come to bar
gain for the days supply. After filing
their baskets numbers of them mount
the little tram-car for the return trip to
their Kitchens and proceed to pluck the
feathers OF the live chickens or birds as
they jog along on the front or rear plat
form.
| BY the time they have arrived home the
poor creatures are almost bare of cover
ing, and, keenly suffering, they are peg
ged down by string to the floor OF the
Kitchen to await their fate. When the
creaking Of the front gates announces the
/ return Of the master or mistress Of the
house, 1t is time enough to wiring the
necks OF the unfOftunates and shove them
| into the boiling-p pot or roasting-pan. that
seems hut to accentuate a certain tough
| ness which all cooked meat freshly killed.