The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-23
CHAT WIT i
GEN., OTIS
He Talks About . the
Philippines.
NATURE OF THE PEOPLE
Struggle Over But Big Army Will
Be Needed for Two Years
to Come.

MANILA. April 30.-I spent last even
ing with General Otis at his palace in
Malacanan, one of the most fashionable
of the suburban streets of Manila. His
residence is the house erected for the
Spanish Governors General of the Phil
ppines, a great two-story structure, with
floors of Filipino mahogany, with a pol
ish like the top of a new piano, windows
of opalescent oyster shells and the walls
and ceilings frescoed and painted with
flowers, cupids and heather gods. The
ceilings are very high, the rooms and halls
large and airy, and at night. when the
tinsel and cheapness which characterize
parts of the building are softened by the
rays of the electric light. the palace is
really imposing. 1t has extensive grounds
hlled with tropical plants and trees, and
| the air about it is saturated with the
sweet perfume of orange blossoms. There
are soldiers on guard at almost every
| block of the streets that lead to it. My
| carriage was stopped at the gate, and it
was only upon saying that i had spe-
| clal appointment with the General that
| / was permitted to pass in on foot.
| found more sentries walking up and
| Down under the porte cochere, and
| waited in the hall until an orderly took
| up my card and returned with the answer
| that the military Governor would see me
| | found General Otis in his workshop
| an office and bedroom combined. 1t ha6
| evidently been used as a parlOr or music
| room 'n the days of the Spaniards, for its
| decCra. ions are Moorish and seem quite
out of place with its present practical
mar working surroundings. Large writ
.ng desks have taken the place of thu
piaLo, and a plain brass bedstead with
mo quito netting attachment has ouste'
,he divans. Last night the desks wer'
litt' red with manuscripts, documents ant
| Al X hooks tranSlatiOnS
the Spanish concessions as to the cabl
str' It car, telephones and electric light
, II IanIla, 'vhlch the General had brough
home 10 5 udy. He pushed them aSid
,'nd for two hours chatted freely with m
= about the situation and the condition
Aoow prevailing in the Philippines.
Pen Picture of General Otis.
Before / report our conversation let m
show you General Otis he appears a
urst sight. His pictures in the newspa
pers do not fairly present him. AS Pho
tOgraphed he seems to be tall poru
e man, with a big head and luxuriant SID
= VIII iskers. The real General Otis does nc
! weigh more than $50 pounds. He stand
1 about five feet eight inches IN ms stucr
= lngS and is slender in build. Ills head
= not at all large or imposing. The fac
n would be small were 1t not for the Whi:
: kers, which are of silver gray mixed vat
Z black, well covering the hollows of II
[ | cheeks and extending below the jaw
| half fingers length. He has an owe
| hanging gray muStache, iron gray ha
and very heavy black eyebrows. His ey'
are small, bright and black. He has
| good forehead, trlfie narrow, pernap
| a straight nose and rather determine
| mouth. He was dressed yesterday in
PLAIN business suit, lacking the vest, al
ne looked more like an ordinary busine
man than a General in command of OF
Of the worlds greatest armies, and Il
| absolute ruler of a country LOO mil
long, inhabited by 100000 as turbule
people now exist outside of Sou
Africa.
General Otis entire lack of military al
is the more striking considering n
length of service. He has been in Il
ranks ever since the beginning of Il
Civil War. when at 2l he left the practi
of the law to go to the field He WI
wounded in the head near the c' Sc
the war, and mustered out, but the dc
tors told him his wound would not pc
init him to live in the East, and he a
cepted an offer of service in the regul
army upon the frontier There he gra
ually rose until 1893, when he became
Brigadier General, and then Major Ge
eral here in May. 1898. During our &C
versation / asked him how he came
be sent to the Philippines. He repi
that he was pitchforked into them, wit
out having any say in the matter, a
that he was only here because he
Deen ordered to come.