The true Democrat., 1898-07-23
THE CHINESE IN MANILA
THEY ARE INFLUENTIAL AND THERE.
FORE DISLlKED.

'PPihoe ATeler 10 Deal with The
l. Rather Than With the Naughty Don.
k Chinese Who Have Become Savage
y Forming as they do a very lar,
!" proportion Of the population, near
equal to that of the natives then
: selves, and, having by their industr
9 and business ability sustained tt
t fame of Manila as commercial por
the Chinese are thorn in the side {
the Spanish mercantile class, asid
from the conventional dislike extende
} by the latter toward all foreigners
Being commercial by nature, and hay
ing realized the good policy of keep
ing their word in business matters, il
contrast with the everlasting procras
tlnating and ''manana ling of tn,
spaniards, they have built up a larg,
business with the English and Am eri
can houses, in the Philippines whe
infinitely prefer to deal with them
rather than with the owners of the
soil. Their thrifty ways and tend.
ency to save money and send it home
to China rather than to spend it where
they are is another source of griev-
ance to the naughty "Espanoles.
Then their ability and willingness
to perform every kind of manual
labor, from carpentering, shoemaking,
etc., to coolie work, from morning to
night at the lowest of wages, is a
cause of envious irritation to the in
dolent native "Filipinos," and con-
stant feud is waged between the two
races, which has been handed down
Tor generations. In street fight,
however, [ have noticed that the
flllplno" is very apt to come out
ahead, although many of the coolies
have the most superb muscular devel-
ment which I have ever seen.
Long ago, according to history, a
heet OF Chinese junks, under the fa-
nous pirate chief LII Ma Hong. bore
down on Manila with the intention of
capturing it and it's many treasures.
The little garrison in the fort defended
1t with gallantry such as spaniards
can { and will display when in despera-
tlon, and Ii Ma Hong, possessing no
petroleum Shells" and storm com.
ing up proyidentially, the fleet was in
glorlously defeated. Some of the
Iunks went ashore on the northern
coast OF the island, aud there is todav
! curious race of so-called Chinese |
lsorotes," OF savages, living in
he businesses of the mountains
md supposed to be the descendants
u the shlpwrecked pirates. A certain
lay in January is the anniversary of
i, ne fight, and on that day hardly q
jhlnaman in Manila dares show him.
eli out of doors, for every small bow
atlye OF Spaniard, feels in duty bound
"heave rock" at him.
Whenever there is big fire in the
own, 1t is always assumed that the
'hlnese have set it, and they are verv
carce IN the streets while the confa.
ration lasts, for tacit instructions
ould seem to have been given on
lese occasions to the effect that "if
on see Chinaman hit him."
Early in the spring of 1898 the
panish iron steamer San Juan sailed
ON Hong Kong for Manila with a s
;rgo largely composed of kerosene, /:
nicn had been carefully slowed as
'ar the boilers as possible, and on |
'ck, where the some three hundred '
1lnese coolies who composed the q
list could sit on the cases
d knock the embers from their pipes +
alnst them. It is not surprising u
at the ship took fire when lust u
thin sight of Luzon, and the Span t
l captain, with most of his officers tt
omL1ptly took to the boats and pulled u
the shore, leaving q raging, fren- IL
q mass OF Chinese shrieking at them n n;
m the doomed vessel, for no nro. L
ION is made on these steamers for al
safety of the coolies in case of OF
ldent. In few minutes the San III
an was afre from stem to stern, As al
ny as could climbed the masts, onlv Of
1all back suffocated into the blaz. NJ
furnace below. Even the more NJ
rcltul death of drowning was de- p(
u them, Tor the sea was alive with 1e
rks, attracted by the glare, swarm us
around the ship as mackerel swarm nc
I, una bucketful of "gurry." DC
'hlrty-slx hours later another
'mer sighted the wreck and bore
IN to the rescue. Out of the
'lnal three hundred, some eighty ag
tched creatures were found alive. me-
glng to the big gangway which ag
g over the side and to the stern du
It's and boat tackle, with the iron raj
o OF the steamer redhot in places, tin
the sharks leaping at them. The sti
uing boats had literally to fight fru
/ way through the ravenous brutss bel
saw the survivors as they were thu
ed, and a discouraged looking lot die
were. The San Juan, an empty, in
ched hull, was towed in and an. n. qui
ed In the mouth of the river to ant
oil until the seventy thousand the
lean dollars in her bottom could VIII