The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1900-05-02
A W0MAN'S VIEW
or Manila. She Sees and Writes Of
Things That Interest Her Sex, An
Extremely Interesting Letter.

The following letter was written by a
lady who was at one time a resident in
Washington county to q friend here. 1t
tells, in the breezy freshness and uncon-
straint Of private correspondence, of many
things the professional letter writer's over
look, and Of many that will particularly in
terest readers of her own sex:
And here It il wonderfully fascinating the
city from the bay il truly oriental the sea
wall aud the wall enclosing old Manila
Ontra murOs) gives us a good idea of what
old Spain looks likes. The sky line is
studded with towers, dones, grotesque
roofs OF tile, and cocOanut palms. which,
when backed with golden or Hammered
sunset over the water, is gorgeous beyond
words to express. The old city is within
massive gray stone wall, thirty feet in
thickness, with II lmsrous fine gate ways,
at the entrance Of which is the draw over
the moat, but Of no use now Of course (the
guard OF A merican soldiers doing duty in
steady The monasteries and converts
also cathedral and many fine churches, are
inside the wall but the business portion is
now outside, across the Pasig river which
| is spanned by several fine bridges, the one
| known as the Bridge of Spain being con-
gested with traffic all hours of the day,
Bids are now open to contractors for its be.
| ing widened and the business streets are as
much alive az is Broadway, N. Y.
You would scarcely credit an account OF
| the activity in business hours everywhere
| here apparent. The Spanish merchants oc-
| cupy the large stores on the Escolta, but
| the interesting quarters are where the ma
| tive women have their little shops, and the
| Chinese merchants theirs. The pine apple
| gauze, or pima, is made here and is most
| beautiful, with its narrow satin stripe OF
any color one may choose; also the hoosie,
made from the banana fibre (Which is
| striped or barred This Is worn for every
day by both men and women, washes well
and never wears out, and costs but little
| There are beautiful grays in the pima. A
piece, twenty-five yards (narrow) costs from
SIS to S25, Mex, just half that amount in
| gold. l presume you have seen it. Trading
vessels from Chinese ports used to bring it
to the States. L have dress of the hoosie
which cost twenty cents Mex. yard. 1
| send sample. The Chinese are among
| the richest people here. They are pleasant
! to deal with, being friendly to Americans.
The smaller merchants go about with great
| parcels of dry goods, laces, etc, as Jews
used to do at home. Indeed, they are the
Jews of the Orient. AS you always have to
barter, you set your own price, and if it is
at all fair you will get your goods. They
| bring around fine blue linens and still finer
white Caution linens. have plain white
| linen, very transparent and glossy; friend
| bought piece and sold me half. In that
way it cost twenty-eight cents, gold, per
| yard. The Chinese traders speak Spanish,
| so now that we have learned enough Span
| ish TO make ourselves understood we enjoy
looking at their wares. Then another class
| of traders are from Ceylon. They carry
about jewelry, unset stones, curios and
| hand made laces. AS they pay no license
and pay no rent for shops they sell their
wares at a low figure.
Rents are enormous here, as are prices Of
food products. Most of the cooking is done
| in the Spanish style, which Americans will
| eniDV for regular diet. We eat no
butter as it hurts so soon after opening as to
| be UNBEATABLE. Bananas, oranges, cocoa
nuts, chicos, the year around for dessert, l
can imagine might become mOnotonous.
There is no reason why almost any of our
fruits might not flourish. as do all of Jour
vegetables. in the different provinces here,
| though the market gardening is done for
the most part by the Chinese. A large
| proportion of the male Filipinos act as
cocheros, that is, they drive the two wheel
vehicles which we run about in. The
| women work hard, carry great burdens in
| immense fiat baskets on the top OF their
head-carry nothing in their arms, even the
children ride astrde the hip with the
mothers arm about them. They walk
| twelve and fifteen miles daily with market
produce on their heads. They present a
picturesque appearance along the country
! roads. Nearly all wear cranberry red or
pink skirt, with square OF black fastened
in front. The bodice is cream hoosie plain
| VI Sbilptu, Will cuBo VI bltcNb anu Vi bLlCo
cornered handkerchief handsomely en-
broidered. They have very shapely necks,
| shoulders and arms, heads well poised and
very erect carriage. This IL due OF course
to the burdens being balanced on the head
Some have very comedy faces most are
quite the reverse, however. The women
have beautiful tresses, long, glossy, and
generally wavey, which the young women
wear down their backs, combed back from
the forehead and caught at the crown with
what we call a side comb, sometimes having
| gold top, sometimes set with pearls, which
are bought for little here
| The people are essentially musical in
taste, catch our national and popular airs
and whistle and hum them with evident en-
| joyment. One hears "Sherman's March to
the Sea-" sung beneath the balcony and
looks out to see bright bronze little ur-
chin the singer, while the natives who play
instruments produce remarkably pleasing
| and weird musical effects.
We have experienced no inconvenience
from the climate. The mornings and even
ings are delightful, dry, cool and clear; the
middle of the day in the sun is no hotter
than in New York. The houses are well
adapted to the climate The lower story is
| heavy masonry stone to Withstand earth
quakes; the upper story Is constructed OF
hard wood, (no soft wood here) and sliding
easements, which are the windows. These
| are unique. Each pane is about three by
three inches, and while it admits SOFT
| clear light Is only partially transparent.
They are not glass but the pearly interior Of
a shell set in a white wooden frame. Thou
sands of these little panes are used in the
| side of one house. AS these are kept
pushed open all Of the time admitting the
air the casa has very hospitable look as
far as the second story is concerned. To
moderate the light, bamboo screens are
used extensively 80 one can see out plainly
| without being seen. The rooms all open on
the balcony, are large, with broad hard wood
floors, the color OF mahogany. They have
red wood, four.post bedsteads, with covered
canopy and carved head board. A carved ia
BILE set against the wall, also wardrobe. The
settee and chairs are bent wood with rattan
bottom. The carving is beautiful and in
credibly cheap. There are at least eighty
different hard woods growing in the inte-
rior OF the islands.