The evening times., 1900-01-05

A new and interesting array of facts con-
cerning matters social and otherwise in
the mode of life in the Philippines has been
for the first time given to the public
through the wife of Capt William c. Butt
Ter, of the Third United States Infantry,
who is now at the scene of action with his
regiment Mrs. Butler has recently re-
turned from Manila by way OF San Fran
cisco and is visiting her brother, Ben B.
Bradford, 1864 X Street northwest this
city.
She was one of a party OF officers wives
who sailed from New York last spring on
the transport Sherman, reaching Manila
by way of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal. Co
lombo and Hongkong, but chose the more
direct route back across the Pacific, touch
ing at Nagasaki, Japan, but not Honolulu.
She spent some five months in Manila, and
her experience tallies in many respects
with that of other American women who
went out to our distant possessions TO join
their husbands. She is most emphatic in
advising others to remain al home until
change can be made in many conditions at
present existent there.
Existence on a Transport.
The trip on the transport was as pleas
ant as it could be made for US by the Off
GERS in charge" Mrs. Butler said to re-
porter for The Times, but when ] tell you
of the tremendous difference between the
cost of passage at about a dollar day and
the price of a ticket by way OF the express
steamers of the Pacific, and that this did
not deter me from selecting the latter route
for my return YOU will understand that
life on transport is not quite Paradise.
still 1 would not have missed the trip by
way of Gibraltar for a great deal.
We were charmingly entertained by the
English residents at Colombo. which is one
OF the most delightful places one can i'm
agine. The heat at Manila is too much 10
describe; Americans cannot stand il with
their manner Of dress. The wafer is
abominable and the cooking not worthy
the dignity of the term. For the first
month we nearly starved. The best hotel
is conducted by a Spaniard whose charges
are about on par with the most fashion
able hotels here, and the poorest American
labOrer here could never eat the food they
serve. We could only eat bananas and
the stores from the Commissary Depart
ment. but there was no other place TO go,
and We had no choice.
The houses all leak. They have
no glass window panes. and in
place of glass use translucent oyster
shells. The water pours in through the
cracks. through the roof. and through the
walls; it pours in everywhere and il pours
all the time during the wet season and
half the time during the dry. The Fill
pino women do not seem TO mind it, but
they have waterproof closets. while we
were camped out with nails driven in the
walls to hang our gowns on. But il does
seem that with centuries Of experience
with rain, the people might have learned
to build a house that would keep out wa
ter.
ITO mention a few Of the disa agreeable
features first. and then pass to the mere
desirable ones. ants take high rank in my
mind after the awful food. They swarm
everywhere, but kerosene Will check their
roaming ambition. and We had a man
servant go over all the floors every day
with the oil We managed 10 keep par
TALLY free of them. OF course. tarantulas
and snakes are abundant. but not trouble
some. Another unpleasant feature is the
inability tC keep a servant. They get a
months pay. and then generally go and buy
a hat, and forget TO come back.
Need for American Laundries.
There is a crying need in Manila for a
laundry. The prevailing system is for your
man or woman to take your laundry TO a
swamp where humans Of both sexes and
buffaloes congregate to bathe and keep
cool. There it is dipped in the dirty water.
and then beaten upon stones to get 1t
clean. They viii not use hot water, and
they Will not rub it, SO that 1t Us "a iy
stands this treatment about twice. good
1.,, I'm Mopi1o OF 10 D
fortune for its promoter.
The people are arrant towards and
greatly fear our soldiers, particularly the
colored troops. The latter cherish a like
regard for them. The squalOr OF the city,
where sanitary conditions have never been
known, and the horrors through which our
troops have passed, will never be realized
by those who have not witnessed both.
1t is a country of great natural resources,
and almost entirely undeyeloped.
Those Of the Americans who took kindly
to the climate seem to like il, but the
change from the temperate zone to the
tropics was too much for most Of us.
lost thirty-five pounds in weight while |
was there. or course there are pleasant
features. The usual late afternoon diver
sion is a drive along the LunetJa, where
there are always several bands playing and /
people meet everyone who can be out
mon flies they are but with exceptionally /
sticky feet. and they fill the houses in black |
clouds. The punkah has 10 be kept going 4
necessarily in order TO live. good serv- /
ant costs three or four dollars a month, 4
and when he can't be found around the 1
house he may be seen under the pump at
his bath.
Clothing Unsuited TO the Climate. |
The ladies were frequently entertained /
on board the warships in the harbor, and |
under the circumstances We had a very /
pleasant sort OF life in many respects. But /
We were all more or less i'll during most of |
the time, and could not drive the languor |
out of our bones. 1t was our dress, think /
The Filipino women wear one garment 4
and keep cool. Not having been into the
back country, l am unable to form a per-
sonal opinion of the worth of our new ac-
QUESTIONS, but those who are familiar with
the interior give glowing accounts of the
wealth of the upland and
country. From these sources
! have learned that the wealth Of Luzon is
enormous, but there is little indication of
il around Manila. The city is indescribably
unclean in most sections and there is no
system of sanitation or damage. Some of
the old houses are palaces, but they are all
alike in their interior economy of sewerage
and water supply.
American occupation and our energetic
character will do much toward the re-
of the city from its state of
deadly filth. and it can stand a great deal |