Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-03

We had twelve days of smooth sea between
the Hawaiian Islands and Japan, ana
about ten days. i,ciuding our steps at the
ports between Yokohama and Hong Kong.
From Hong Kong to Manila we steamed
over $50 miles Of stormy sea. our little tug
boat Of a steamer. the D;amante bouncing
up and Down like cork on the waves,
rolling ana pitching and twisting its tail
about III ccrkscrew curves during the whole
of the voyage. This trip is always rough.
Ii is one ii sixty hours, during which few
escape sea sicl ness.
As to cost, the trip from Washington to
San Francisco. with sleeper and meals, re-
qrlires about 500, and the fare from there
to Manila is $3.50. Add 50 for extras and
stay at the ports. and you will see that the
expense of a first-ciass passage to the
Philippines is just about 800 in gold. A
second-class passage. with the incidentals
cut down. might reduce the total to $3.50 or
perhaps 5000, but the loss in comfort would
be great.
Al present all of the steamers are crowd
ed to their utmost. l found the hotels at
the ports of China and Japan full at prices
ranging from six TO eight silver dollars
day, and at Hong Kong half of those of
our ship passengers who applied for rooms
al the leading hotel. We're turned away.
Here at Manila | am in the Oriente the
biggest and supposedly the best hotel in the
Philippines. but none too good for all that
The first night / had a room with three
other guests. and now have to fight daily
to keep from having an extra bed put in
my apartments for the night.
Travel to the Philippines.
The number Of people coming here steadi-
ly increases. and now that the war is prac-
tically over Americans will soon be found
in all of the islands. y large part of those
win whom | Travelled We're the wives and
children, sisters. cousins and aunts of our
soldiers and especially of the officers on
the China, the steamer in which | came
from San Francisco to Japan. we had fifty
six women. and children of all ages, from
a little ten-day-old baby, whose mother
was on her way from Atlanta to Join her
husband, a lieutenant supposed to be on the
firing line, to an Oregon girl of nineteen.
VINO was going out to marry her soldier
sweetheart. On the Doric, which took me
to Hong Kong. there We're more army wo-
men, and on the Diamante we had, among
others, a young wife. who taking her
little baby to give il its first introduction to
Its papa, captain in the ranks who had
left America before his baby was born
We had a number Of commercial and
business men who We're going to the is
ands TO look up the prospects for Investment
and trade, a dentist who had left Japan to
accept i partnership with one of the Amer
lean dentists here, and a lot Of young men
who were coming out second class and
Steerage, hoping to make their fortunes in
one way or another.
A queer couple in the second class was
a German of sixty and his eighteen-year-
old daughter, who had sold out their farm
in southern California for 5000 and ex-
pected to invest the money in a hemp
raising ranch in one of the Islands The
CIR. was nearly six feet in height and her
father told me she weighed 2Oj pounds and
that she could plow with four-horse team
as well any man.
Rigid Martial Law.
AT Hong Kong l saw the first evidence
of the rigid martial law which is now ex-
ercised over the islands. When / bought
my ticket there / was required to sign a
sheet of paper big two pages of this
journal and insert thereon answers to all
varieties of questions. I had to give my