The times., 1898-10-23
ABOUT MANILA.
An Interesting Description of the
Philippine Cus,itnf.

Manila, P. l., Sept S.-Manila has a
population of about 250OOo. and is divided
into the old and new city. Old Manila
is given picturesque appearance by its
medieval fortifcations and old-fashioDed
buildings. 1t is completely surrounded
by massive stone wall about three
miles in length. twenty feet high. and
twenty-five feet thick. Outside the wall
is a moat. each entrance has draw
bridge, and the whole forms a fortifica-
ton that could stand off almost any
| army. Had not Dewey been here with
, his fleet the Spaniards could have given
us all the fighting we wanted.
The wall IS green~with moss, and is
said to be about 800 years old. Strange
stories are told of dungeons under the
wall containing skeletons and old-time
instruments of torture. / have been un-
able to find them. but have no doubt
they exist. and that some great revela-
tions could be made.
The buildings are mostly of stone.
brick and cement, with tile roofs. None
of them are lofty, but many have ele-
giant interiors, have been through the
palace. now Gen, Merritt's headquarters,
number of times, and think 1t worthy
of standing alongside of anything in st.
Louis. The lower floor is of black and
white marble and the upper one of ma
hogany. Fine statuary, paintings and
wood carving abound, the throne room
being particularly elegant. / suppose 1t
is the finest building in the islands, but
have seen others that resemble it.
Churches and cathedrals are found on
every hand, and their interiors show
| that no expense has been spared.
New Manila is located just across the
Pasig River. and has grown up since the
wall was built. The Pasig is small and
as muddy as the Mississippi at st. Louis.
A stone bridge connecting the cities bears
| the date of 1892. The new city does not
differ materially from the old. having
the same cobble stone street pavements
| the same barred windows and the same
| innumerable churches. ] have seen more
churches. crosses, crucifixes and corrup-
tion here than ever saw anywhere. Pri-
| vate residences are surrounded by high
| stone walls. with broken glass on top.
| The windows have iron bars, and every
| thing looks as II Micky Mack or Buck
| o Malley was around with a gang.
| There are numerous small retail stores
here, but anything like Crawford's or the
| Famous has never been dreamed Of
! There are only two hotels of any size,
| but what We need most of all is a good
| American restaurant. ] had dinner in a
| Spanish restaurant the other day, seven
| courses. paid $780, and had just enough
| to eat to make me hungry IL our army
| could be turned loose on Union Market
tonight they would make short work of
| it, The barber shops have straight-back-
| ed chairs and man getting shaved sits
upright shave or hair cut costs Is
| cents. and the Spaniards are good bar
bers. There are a couple of horse car
/ lines in the city. and the fare is cents
| n mile One of their diminutive horses
| pulls a car, but the driver always las a
| good whip. so the horse is 4 secondary
! consideration. | rode two miles last
! night. and had to get out three times and
/ help lift the car ON the track.
There are two beer halls in town, one
| of them, the Alhambra, somewhat resem-
! bling Koerner's Garden. They are thronS-
| ed every night with American and Span
ish soldiers, and German and English
sailors Drinks are about the same price
| as in the States, and everything is to be
| had except lemonade. They know moth
| ing about IT, and the nearest we can
| come to 1t Is lemon soda. The saloon
| keepers and small merchants are nearly
| all Spanish and Chinese, the wholesale
/ houses being English. The Spaniards are
! all slow. and a saloon keeper like Tom
! Allen would make a fortune here.
Dewey's fleet is lying out in the bay, but
| his men are not allowed ashore. They
| start in on the Germans. Visitors are not
| allowed on board, but, having once served
! aboard the Olympia, ! managed TO get out
| to her. | went out in small boat along
| with an old man / took to be a country
| preacher but afterward found to be Mu-
rat Halstead- / found about 100 old ship
mates on the Olympia, and soon had a
! great collection of war relics. | send you
| a sailors cap ribbon off of the Castillo,
I the ship that fired the first shot against
| Dewey. Dewey is better looking than the
| pictures you see of him, and is well liked
| by his men He talks and acts like man
| that knows his business, and his men say
| the best way to get him mad is to try
| and show him how to do something. Two
| street arabs who came here with the
| Tenth Pennsylvania, managed to get
aboard somehow and asked to see Dewey.
| He invited them into his cabin. took a
| fancy to them and gave them permission
to make a trip to Hongkong in the
| Olympia. They address him with all the
| familiarity of old schoOlmates.
! | send you copy of the Bounding Bill
| low, a paper published on the Olympia.
which the ships printer sells at soc Il
| copy. The Baltimore also turns out one
| called the Searchiieht. They are not pub
| lished with any regularity. and are hard
to obtain.
| Dewey's men have not been ashore since
| April, but his ships are going to Hong
| kong, one at a time, to go in the dry
| dock.
The weather here Is similar to that OF
| ST. Louis at this time of year. and l turn
as used to on the old Mississippi.