The record-union., 1898-07-29

several fortunes were made by the Off
cials concerned and the work is at a
Standstill
Along the water front under the old
city wall are several improvised batter
les with guns that look like six-inch
breech leaders. Above these, on top of
the WALL are the antiquated objects al
ready mentioned AT one corner of the
city, up the river a little, is the Santi-
ago fort of solid masonry, with good
guns well adapted to attack anything
apt to enter the river, but in the alb
be rather of hardly any use for general
defense purposes.
AT the other end of the city, the
southwest corner, is another fort which
commands the whole bay and the land
ward approaches as well, and this is
supplemented by the Tureta battery,
little way along the shore from the city
wall, with two powerful guns, appar-
emily nine or ten inch which fired on
the American ships ineffectually. Ad-
miral Dewey sent word that if they
fired upon him again he would have no
option but to proceed with the bonn
bardment. The threat sufficed to silence
the Spaniards; why, therefore, do they
not recognize that they are entirely in
his power the moment he chooses to eX-
ercise it? If they shrank from the sight
of his guns then, why do they still keep
up the farce of defying him?
Across the river, north of the walled
city, is the large and fourishing bust
ness town. The central part is called
Pinondo, which name is often applied
to the whole, though the town has
grown so big as to include nearly
dozen other wards. Driving in any di-
rection it is about three miles before
one gets away from built up streets and
reaches the open country. Even then
the rural townships are found full of
the residences of Manila people for five
miles or more, and so it is difficult to
say exactly what should be considered
part Of the town and what should not.
The town is as poorly defended as
can be imagined for a city of its size.
Admiral Dewey's guns can render it's
defenses useless with absolutely no
trouble, and the guns of the Spanish
could hardly injure the American war
ships, even if they carried far enough
to touch them, but they are so power
less and inaccurate that any defense by
the city forts would look ludicrous in
the face of a fire from the modern guns
of the American squadron.
The town is as badly built as can be.
The houses are much too close together
and the streets are narrow. For the
metropolis of a big country, for a city
of quarter Of million inhabitants,
a rich and prosperous market, center
Of education and luxury as the build
ings in the walled city indicate, it is
disreputable, ill-arranged and insight
ly town. The principal business street,
the Escolea, is narrow, wretchedly paw
ed, crooked and filed with the most
commonplace, mean looking structures
So are the other streets, but further
from the center there are trees TO hide
the ugliness. In excuse. the Manila
people plead earthquakes, typhoons,
thunder storms and floods as their rea-
sons for not having a passably present
able town.
But Manila is not the only place with
earthquakes and all the rest Toxic is
infinitely worse but is handsomer. and
the roads are better paved
The Pasig is a river sixty or seventy
yards wide and perhaps twelve feet
deep, yet the bridging of it has never
gone beyond primitive stages. There
is one narrow bridge, the Puenta d'Es-
pana. connecting Binenbo with the city,
but this bridge is far too narrow for
the traffic, and would never be consid-
cred sufficient in a civilized country.
There is another bridge near it, but it is
seldom, if ever, used for vehicle traffic.
and the Puenta Despia is constantly
choked. There are tramways running
into outlaying parts of the town and
a steam tramway to the northern su-
burb. There is also a railway from
Manila to Saigbo, about 40 miles
north, run by an English company.
In the rural township of Santa Mesa,
about three or four miles out. is a
big powder magazine. or "polverin."
close by the right (north) bank of the
River Pasig. On the opposite side of
the river there is the village of Santa
Ana, a mile or two away. 1t was about
here that the first shots were fired in
the insurrection Of 1896, and several
English people having villas in these
parts had lively time
Another "polverin" is at Malateo on
the seashore on the south of the walled
city. / understand that these two are
the only powder magazines the Span
iards have In the immediate neighbor-
hood of the city, excluding, of course,
the forts own stores. Malate is reached
from Binenbo by pretty drive out
side the city walls, either along the
sea front or behind the city, and be-
yond the city is the Esplanade called
the Tuneta, where the band plays every
evening in peace times.
AT the far end of the tuneta is the
battery Of two big guns, which fired
on the American ships when Admiral
Dewey talked seriously of replying A
little beyond this battery is the Eng
hsh Club, surrounded by a number of
pleasant residences, English, Spanish
and others. Furthest of all, quite near
the fort and powder magazine is the
Eastern Extension Telegraph Com
pany's establishment (British) A little
way back from the sea is the Jesuit
Observatory, which does excellent SER
vice and is indeed the Jesuit's best an
swer to those who say they do harm in
the Philippines.
Outside the populous suburbs there
are many rural and less settled dis
trcts, dotted with handsome residences
scattered remotely among the rice fields
and tropical woodlands, where a guer-
rilla warfare would be we'll nigh in
terminable. Such country. with hedge
rows that have in the course of ages
grown into respectable little thickets,
with little plantations that are dark
and almost impenetrable patches of
somber greenery, a stationary force
might check an advancing force with