The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-01-16
AMONG THE FILlPINOS
4 "MESTIZO BALLE'' IN THE CITY
 OF MINTEA.

Impressions of Philippine socioty-A
 Young Boston Clerks Experience
 Polyglot and PoIychromattc Pro.
 miscuity.
 Senor R., a tall and distinguished
 looking Mestizo of fifty years or so, tc of the intermissions at my first bull fight, had couteously extended an invi-
 tation to me to make one of the Eng fish speaking guests at "baile," which would take place at his 'casa' the fol- lowing evening. Sneor R was rich and influential, captain" of q pueblo, well educated and a power in the com munity, and I was told that the invita- tion was something of an honor, as his acquaintance was thing to cultivate. On the strength of his position and dig nifty, he adopted the European form of dress that is, he tucked his shirt in side his trousers and wore jacket and necktie. He was a great admirer of Americans he told me, and regretted that since the failure of the houses Of 1 Russell, Sturgis X Cook and Pesle, Hub- bell & Co.,, there had been so few rep resentatives of the great republic in l Manila. In view of his opinion, it is l unfortunate that he should not have 1 lived to see the old city filled with American troops.
 l I cordially accepted his invitation, and accordingly the next evening drove across the "Pasig" with a party of English fellows to the pueblo where 1 stood the Casa R--,' big, substan- tial-looking house, equal in appearance ! to any of the best English and Spanish residences, and standing in the midst of wildly luxuriant garden. Upon en- ! tering the "sala" We were greeted by our genial host, who extended a box of Imperial" cigars with his left hand while he shook hands with his right. He assured me that the house, grounds and all contained therein were mine and at my disposal henceforth and for | ever; a privileged possession which it 1 was very evident l was to share with each and every guest who arrived. At his side stood a bamboo table, heaped with dainty little Chinese fans, one of which each conner was supposed to take, use dupring the evening, and retain as memento of the occasion.
 I supposed the next thing to do was to hunt up my hostess, the Senor R, and pay my respects, but my English friends assured me that it was not ex- pected just then. She's somewhere in the crowd" they said, any time will do, The dining room is the next thing. Old R. would be hurt if We didn't take something to begin with
 So we filed into the dining room. A huge table stood in the middle, covered with heaping dishes of cake, candy, slabs of crumbly sugar from China, pickles of every conceivable kind, and bottles of wine and liquor including q generous supply of Scotch and Ameri- can whisky.
 The room was filled with male guests of variegated shades of complexion and arrayed in any kind of costume, from black jackets to the simple shirt with tails Tapping outside white trousers. All were eating, drinking (very mod erately, considering the supply), smok-
  ing teeth and hearty handclaps. Our en- try was the signal for burst of cordi- ality, and all hands moved up to the table and Joined the '1ngleses" in "tak- ing something." The idea of eating at this stage of the proceedings struck me as being odd, to say the least, but I had become so used to finding the natural order of things reversed in the Far East that I ate without comment.
 I had been told that to come in a regulation dress suit would be a mark ed solecism; so, not caring to go in the ordinary white linen of business, fish cd up and wore a black cutaway and qique waistcoat with gray trousers, and the result was that l nearly had heat apoplexy, though it was fairly cool evening in December.
 After having relieved our hosts feel ings by partaking of the eatabes and drinkables, we re-entered the "sala' just as the music for the first darce started up, said music being provided by three cadaverous Filpinos, with harp, violin and piaro, and remarkably good music it was. Groups of Mestiza ladies, in the attractive and brilliantly colored national dress, with complex ions varying from the darkest brown | through shades of yellow to clear dead ! white, all much bepowdered stood ] around the room chattering and laugh ing with attendant swains, and waving ! their fans with the grace which goes | only with Spanish blood.
 The floor was made of bread slabs of | dark wood, worth a fortune in any Y other country, polished to the last de- | gree of biilliancy, and afforded the most | perfect facilities for dancing. The can / vas walls were hung with wreaths and festoons of leaves, and flowers were ar- , tistically interwoven, and supended by cords from the ceiling, just over our ! heads, were several snowwhite doves . with outstretched wings, which to my | horror I discovered were alive, their wings being held in position by wires twisted among the feathers. The thought of the discomfort the poor creatures were suffering considerably interfered with my evenings enjoy ment, but I afterward found this to be quite universal method of adorning rooms among the Fillpinos and Mesti- EOS on occasions of ceremony. The golden rule, so far as animals are con enter little into the Philippine mind.
 Most of my English friends scattered