The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-08
LESSONS FROM AMERICANS.
IBEAs WHICH TIE FILIPINOs ARE
TAKING UP.
Native MODES of Life Which.yisitors
in Manila Find Hard to AdOpt-A
Horrible burial Custom.
From the New York Tribune.

Manila. Sept. S.-The encroachment OF
Americanism is becoming more and more
perceptible in Manila. This is so chiefly
in the raising of prices. II has long been
said on the European continent that the
i&2h of the American tourist IS married
by this same feature, and though there
have been no American millionaires sight
seeing in the Philippines, it has not taken
the cunning native long to realize that
the average American, whatever ms
means, is careless OF his pennies and Will
not bubble over small amounts. at least
not until he fully grasps the Oriental way
of doing business. 1t has been said that
prices have gone up on account of the
state of war, but while this has affected
the price of few articles such as those
of native manufacture, like the just and
"pena' cloth, the actual cost of living is
no greater for the native
The Oriente Hotel, which has been the
| enforced asylum of many Americans, and
has had a checkered career in regard to
managers. makes a minimum charge or
seven Mexican dollars day. with small
reduction if you stay there by the month.
There are only two or three boarding
places, aside from this where any at
tempt IS made to have American cookins
or comforts, and the cost of living in one
| of these is one hundred Mexican dollars
| a month
The women of the Third Infantry are
more comfortably situated than most OF
the other army people. They came out on
the Sherman. from New York, sailing he
| fore the insureent outbreak, with the I'M
/ Il rif1
! rlson duty only. Before the transport
! reached Gibraltar the sudden change in
affairs out here had taken place. When
the regiment landed it was sent to the
| front but the officers had quarters Tor
| their families ass gned in town, row of
| attractive houses similarly built in Gale
Nozalede a general mess is run in the
middle one, the wife of a sergeant in the
| regiment being in charge. AS she is n
| capable American woman who has run The
| bachelors mess for years, the women of
the Third are living comfortably, for Ma
Mia. The quarters which they occupy
were built for the crack Spanish artillery
regiment stationed in Mania, and reno
waited and rcpainted throughout by the
quartermaster's department.
Cheap Household Labor.
The price of labor is stin low Out here,
| though perhaps not so low as IL seems
| when you take into consideration the linn
| tied amount of work that one of the ma
| tive servants is able TO accomplish. The
! general housework' girl would create
| sensation here. But il American servants
| accomplish more. compensatons are to be
| found in the good nature and respectful
| behavior of the Filipino retainer. "Mucha-
| chos' cost about 81 i'm god a month in
wages and if they are accustomed, the ex-
pense is 81 more apiece. A 'muchacha, Or
| girl, charges the same.
he tuvO ME articles of food inst
| toned may be said TO be the national Phil
| ppine diet. They are easily cooked and
| cooked anywhere-on the street corner,
| in the courtyard or the corner Of hall, on
| a charcoal stove or a bundle of sticks. The
| Filipinos are not only among the most
| skilled fishermen of the world, but they
are great consumers of their own catch.
| They are particular. too as to the cOndi-
ton of the fish before they are cooked.
The fish must not be too fresh. That de-
| feet is remedied by a sun bath, and it a
| common sight to see a row of small, shiny
fish laid out on the ground in the sun,
| where they remain till the odor is often
| sive and then they are ready for the FL
ipino pot
A native servant can live anywhere; it
| is not necessary to have room for her;
| the back hall is more luxurious than any
thing to which she has been accustomed.
She slows her possessions in some out of
the way corner eats her chow from a
bowl in another corner and at night I'M
| rolls a straw mat on which she sleeps in
comfort. She is neat, and her simple
clothes are always clean and well washed.
| The natives make their own clothes look
| so well il is strange that they cannot do
the same with those of other people.
According to American ideas it is a hard
| ship to sleep on the floor, but if you have
done il all your life you 6nd bed uncom-
Portable, and the floor is almost as soft as
| a Filipino bed. AS a substitute for boards
! you have woven cane, as hard and as firm
as that in cane seated chairs. A cloth or
bit Of straw mating is laid on this, and
| there are your springs and mattress.
| Feathers are too warm for this climate and
hair is a great luxury. 50 beds are gener-
ally provided with a pillow stuffed hard
| with cotton. The bed is also provided with
another implement known as Dutch
| housewife" The reason for the name Is
| unknown It might be described as half
| pillow and half bolster At night it is laid
| lengthwise at one side of the bed and you
| are supposed to utilize 1t in some way to
| increase your comfort, as to how various
| opinions are advanced, It being generally
| accepted, however, that it is good for the
bones to throw one foot over it. When
| YOU first see one of these beds ready for
| occupancy il never occurs to you that you
| can really sleep on it, and when you wake
/ i'm the morning you wonder how you ever
| did. But, ike everything else IN TINS
world that happens to differ from our own
particular custom. it does not take long TO
get used to it and to appreciate the ad-
| vantages in the way of GOODNESS and ven
| tilation.
An Oriental Bath.
| Next to the beds, the Filipino bath pre-
| SCENTS the greatest contrast TO our own
| household arrangements. OF course there
| are various kinds of baths in Manila, but
| than the genuine Oriental article there is
nothing quanter in this part of the world
| Here is the description of one: A square
| room of good size, a large porcelain tub,
nearly square, blue inside, and deep; on
the outside figures in low relief, and Of
dull coloring; it stands in one corner under
a faucet and is filed 10 the brim with wa
ter. The other articles with which the
| room is furnished are one or two stools,
a rough wooden bench and several basins /;
a clothesline is stretched across from side
to side The floor is of red bricks in large
| squares, which slope down toward the
| doorway,