New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-15
THE PASSING THRONG.

1.-THE late Hermann. the magician" said George
Ca roll Of st. Louis, 81 knew quite well and used
to see a great deal Of whenever he
HERMANN visited my home He was a most
AND THE interesting man and perfectly Won
BOTTLE OF derful with his peculiar tricks. In
CHAMPAGNE. connection with his ability to palm
conceal articles no matter what
might be their size, remember a rather interest
ing story that used TO be told about him. He was
night at dinner in one Of the clubs here and
the conversation turning naturally on palming as
fine art. Hermann was asked by a fellow diner II
he could palm a bottle OF champagne. Previous to
answering the query, the magician pulled up the
sleeve OF his coat exposing his right arm almost to
the elbow, and then taking bottle OF champagne
In his hand said: TO palm an object successfully
1t must be sufficiently small, either to be concealed
by the hand Itself or by hand and wrist combined.
In the case OF bottle OF champagne that, as you
will observe. IS impossible, for the body of the
bottle is Of too great girth for the wrist to conceal
and portion Will project on one side or the other,
on both sides, as the case may be. The only way
! can think Of to dispose Of bottle Of champagne
is to do as l now do with this one, throw 1t at
that waiter over there Suiting the action TO the
word, he apparently hurled the bottle with great
force at waiter standing near the other end of
the table The waiter ducked, men rose from their
chairs with calculations, and in the confusion the
bottle of champagne totally and entirely disap-
peared. Clever, wasn't it?"
H. A. Godkin. OF Philadelphia, who spent several
months at Manila after the capture of the city
from the Spaniards, looking over
HOTEL the ground with a view to making
IN MANILA Investments there talked OF the
Philippines yesterday at the Gilsey
House Il lived while in Manila" said Mr.. Godkin,
Eat the Hotel Oriente, and when first got there
It was something awful. The rooms were all well
enough large. airy and fairly clean, but all else
was dreadful-poor food. wretched service and all
that sort Of thing. One two things about it
/ liked immensely, howeyer-for Instance, the
floors of the hotel l don't know what sort of
wood it was, but they were magnificent; the plankS
fully foot and half broad, and from twelve
holes had to be bored before the nails could be
driven in There was no sign OF warping, and their
were put down. They take magnificent polish.
AT first all you could get for breakfast at the
at that time, and | abominate ducks eggs; canned
butter, which detest; dark and muddy connection
so many pounds TO the square inch In conse-
quence was in perpetual state OF bad temper
Club at Ermita. Later the Hotel Orente came
under English MANAGEMENT, and became a clean,
decent and well run place.
9 Manila N weh give to the entire
the place apply only to the old walled city, the
rest OF the population living without It's walls
city is surrounded With a Need grown, rubbish
filled moat. which still can be filled with the waters
from the bay by raising the gates, and IL the Army
alone had made the attack it would have been,
tidy and expensive trick to have taken the city by
Walls. '' S"0'' "''N '"0S' O'o "''S' '''e''0
accompanied him to Manila, said aside from it's
purely physical aspects Manila is
MIXED unlike any other place I have ever
POPULATION been in. The people on the streets
OF MANILA. are Of every nation. but with Chi
nese predominating. There are
large numbers Of pure blooded Chinese there and
the haf-castes, Chinese and native of the island
innumerable. Aguinaldo himself Is one and
the almond eye shows everywhere The Tagal race
IS no longer generally Of the pure blood The
Chnese-Tagaog crossbreed Is called mestizo
while a Spanish Tagaog half-caste is called q
Filipino. These latter are inordlnately proud Of
their Spanish ancestry hold themselves aIoof and
constitute the arlstocracy of Manila. Japanese
MaldyS and representatives. OF other Eastern races
are frequently met, while Caucasians are also 90
casiOnaUy to be seen, though In fewer numbers
OF course, when was there. the American soldier
In brown uniform and campaign hat, was all over
the shop, guards on every street and groups OF
them at every corner.
The Escolta. the principal business street OF an
afternoon Is lively and interesting place with
duck clad officers passing to and fro. There used
to be one old Filipino, who drove every day alone
who was really wonderful In his grandeur Seated
alone in the centre OF the seat OF his victoria he
high hat, which must have been one OF the first
ever made. 1t was said to be the only one in or
that ever had been In, Manila, and the old chan
was nordinatey proud OF IT,
In the middle OF the day the natives and ac-
climatized Caucasans go I'm for the sesta, and for
two or three hours business is almost wholly sus-
pended but with our people II different I'm
used to the ways OF the place they have nor as
yet shaken of the habits of a lifetime and pay no
attention to the heat OF the day. As a consequence
the streets are lively now at all hours. whereas
formerly there was space OF time In the middle
OF the day when they were comparatively deserted"