The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-25

one shudder at the prices charged in
America. A gentleman who lived there
for some time wrote as follows touch
ing the household expenses OF himself
and a friend:
we had a good house. with three
bed rooms. parlor and tiled-foor dining
room; a hallway. reading room. kitch-
en-. boys quarters and bath ROOM. with
tiled tub and shower. a small stable.
garden and 1O-foot iron fence to keep
out the burglars. who used TO grease
themselves and prowl around naked at
lead of night. seeking to steal ponies
or even carriage lamps. completed our
establishment. Our cook. to be ready
for unexpected guests. served dinner
each evening at 4 o'clock and got but
40 cents to provide raw materials for
six courses-including the fire wood
necessary. At the end of the month
everything going into the general mess
account-house rent ($15 Il month";,
wages of three servants. food. drink,
ice and light-was added up and diNid-
ed by two. The result was stonish
ing. as s29 was the sun total of my
monthly share"
Fresh meat and fish cannot be kept
in the tropics. even where ice is en-
ployed. and must he eaten on the day
that the animal is killed. Beef and
mutton are killed early in the rnin
but poultry and game are sold alive.
The market place is an interesting
scene from s to 10 o'clock in the morn
ing, when all the native and Chinese
cooks come to make their purchases.
Their baskets filled. many of them
mount the little tram cars and stand
on the platforms plucking the feathers
from the live chickens, ducks. etc, as
they ride homeward. The fowls are
not dispatched until the arrival home
of the master or mistress, when their
heads are cut off and they are made
ready for the pot or wen. They are
always fresh. though decidedly tough.
The engine for cooking. which is dig
nifed by the name stove" is a small
earthenware concern shaped much
like a shoe and not so very much larg-
er. In front is an opening for putting
in small pieces of zoe Upon the
stove rests a single pot. kettle or oven.
These stove cost only % cents each
and each and every well regulated
kitchen contains at least half a dozen
of them. The native cooks never bake
bread. always securing ii from Chinese
bakers. 1t is of poor quality at best
and is usually eaten in the form Of
toast. Ten pounds of ice is delivered
each day for s. a month.
Good servants can be secured at from
eight to ten Mexican dollars a month.
many OF tntn supporting ldHllllts OH
that sum. The immense number of
white suits worn i'm Manila would ar
gue large laundry bills, yet the reverse
is true. Washing for an entire month
costs only 81 and the laundryman does
not srumble at the full hampers ones
servants han out 10 him He does the
washing in the river and does 1t well.
never injuring clothing. though he
bangs it against fiat rocks in a
that is surprising. He builds a fire in
a huge hollow flatiron. but anage to
do the wOrk-a mystery in itself-with-
out burning the clothing.
The regulation bed common I'm the
Philippines is a wonderful machine. alb
soluely o~verpowering at first sight.
though one gets used to it and comes
to regard ii very highly. II is a four
poster, supporting a high canopy. some-
thing like those once used in this cOun-
try and still to he encountered in por-
tiOns of the South. Regular chair-bot-
tom cane is strung lightly across the
bed frame and over this is flung a
piece of straw mating. A pillow and
a protecting wall OF mosquito netting
pendant from the roof complete the
sleeping apparatus. 1t seems like a
Veritable bed of torture" the first
night, but one grows accustomed to it
and comes to prefer ii to the best soft
mattress that was ever made. 1t does
away largely with the effects of heat
and insures to one who has learned
how TO use it a good nights sleep.