The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-07-05
Humorous Side Of Manila Life.

Major Eugene Coffin, we'll known to
thousands of travellers as one Of the
veteran clerks of Williard's Hotel, is
now on duty at Manila as paymaster
in the army. He writes home an IN
teresting letter, in which he tells some
Of the many things that struck his
fancy.
"I am living at the Hotel del ORR
ent,' he writes, "a very high sound
ing title, but very ordinary hotel.
The walters all dress in pojamas and
go barefooted. I'm in doubt as to
what I am eating most Of the time, so
1 take off my glasses and go it blind,
fguratively and literally speaking,
though sometimes I feel like | am
eating lizards and snakes. Ipay s12O
month Mexican money!, and have
an enormous room. The windows
| slide as we'll as the, wainscoating, so
that I feel like l was on plazzo.
The weather is warm, Of course, since
we are only eleven degrees away from
the equator, but it does not seem to
be any warmer here than it is In
Washington in summer. There is
always a breeze from somewhere. and
if you keep out Of the sun life is very
comfortable.
ssThe floors Of the hotel are Of hard
wood aud all sawed out by hand.
These people have never seen saw
mill. The staircases between the first
three floors of the hotel are Of rose
wood. They use solid mahogany here
for the cheapest things. I took out
my.rule the other day and measured
some Of the boards in the Aooa. and,
to my surprise, they were 22 feet long
and thirty and one-half inches wide.
You can hardly realize how wide
thirty and one. half inches is. Take a
tape measure and mark it off, and you
will understand how amazed | was.
There's a fortune here for the man
who will come in and start saw and
planning mill. They saw all their lum-
Der here by hand, chino at each
end of the saw. These boards have
been in use twenty years, and not a
chink or crack in them.
ssMonkeys are cheap out here. If
| you are nimble enough to catch them
they WON'T cost anything. Otherwise,
you can buy full sized monkey for a
quarter. They are an endless source
| Of fun for the soldiers, and every COM
pany has its quota Of them.
iThe women Of Manila are net hand
some, though some Of them have what
you might call fine features. With
! few exceptions they go barefooted and
bareheaded. Men: women, children
and babies all smoke cigarettes; and
many Of the women smoke cigars.
Still, when you remember that you can
buy very fair cigar here for two
cents, you see that the habit is not
very expensive.
;tI had nine duck suits made to or
! der for me here, and paid $3.50 in
gold for the entire lot. I pay eight
cents a suit for washing it. They
| never saw washboard here. They
wet and soap the clothes, then thrash
! them on the stones, swinging them
over their heads like you would a fall.
There is not cook stove in Manila
save those brought here by our boys.
But they have plenty Of sewing ma
! chimes. There is not a fiat iron on
the whole island
"When our boys first got here they
got ffty-four Mexican dollars for a
United States twenty-dollar gold piece,
but the rate of exchange has fallen
now until it is only two for one. We
are paying off the boys in paper money
| now, and the natives take to our cur
rency very kindly. They have never
seen so much money in all their lives
as our boys are spending now.
"They have a full brass band of
Filipinos here at the hotel. You
ought to hear them toy with After
the Ball is Over and then hear them
get of sThere'll be Hot Time.
You hire the full band for 81 a day
for the whole outfit. But then nobody
hires it more than once. They play
by ear and muscle. "-Baltimore
Amcrscdn.