The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-09-16
FILIPINO SCHOOL DAYS
HONOLULU SCHOOL MA'AM" IN
THE PHILIPPINES.
Insurrectos Still Lively Near Manila
Reaches and Ants Break the Mono
tony-Unusual School Hours.

The following extracts from a letter
written by Miss ELhel Mossman, Tor
some Time a scnool teacher T.. honoIulu
ana VINO le1t some time ago Tor the
Fnliipplnes, where she is now teacning
throws interesting nght on the DAILY
ilie OF a "scnool marin" among Lne
rInplnOs.
hlIss Mossman writes from Balayan,
BanLagas; dating the letter August 10,
as IoIIOws; II came down here on the
nInLn of July being sent here by the
department TO organize a glrls school.
IhinSS are not very IlVeIy mere aIIer
Mama. L am the only wnlte woman
here and the second onIy that has ever
nVed mere. l am unuer the mIntary
as this province was Withdrawn from
civil government and resumed military
a"aln on account OF the stun penulng
nostnitles.
'Tney, the military, have been ex-
ceeoInsIy good 10 me ana L am indebt-
ed TO them for every thing. L am living
IN lar"e house, the properly of the
mlllIaTy, all by myselt and have a
muchacho and a muchacha TO hep me.
Inc girl does my washing and the boy
Drlnss my meas ana pOushes the iool S
win Kerosene, a very necessary pre-
caution on account of the many bugs
winch thrive in these isianus Ine
They attack you in bed and think MOTH
ing OF eaupg u your cIotnes. L nave
mine strung on wire all round my
lroOm, so that it has somewhat the ap-
! peaI anCe or a paWnSnOp. There are
lnnumerabIe insect of other varie ties
most of them winged. There are also
some SNAKES. One large one caught a
good sized chicken in the street the
oLher day and succeeded in killing it be-
| fore anyone could interfere.
Before arrangements were settled 1
had my meas with the officers at head
quarters for a short while but now l
have them sent fiom the hospital Tney
are as good as one could ex"ect but
| feel as if L should never care to see
eggs, bacon or chickens again. Eggs
and chicken are very plentiful and
very cheap. We seldom see fresh meat
and ice is an unknown quantity"
Sometimes we get no mail from Manila
for eight days and then get one every
day for four days running
MY school hours are from a. m. to
10 a. m. and 8 p. m. to 5 p. IN. The
only diversion here is boat sailing and
at first it seems very much like being
buried alive after Manila and Honolulu.
The rains are extremely heavy and per-
sistent. A few weeks ago we had the
least bit of excitement to vary the
mOnotOny. Some natives came in from
the outskirts and reported insurrectos
who they said had been stealing their
corn and horses. This town is gar
rlsoned by two trOoUs of the 9th Cav
airy and a double mounted guard was
put on the town. All night lonP I could
hear the tramp of horses but strange
to say l did not feel at all alarmed.
| One of the officers and thirty men are
! out on a hike" in the hills and the
rest of "us" are holding down the town.
"Balayan is only twelve miles by
steamer from Manila and was once a
very rich town. Not far from here is
volcano situated in the middle of a
lake. We drive round town sometime
in the queerest rigs imaginable drawn
by water buffaloes, carabaos they call
them here. The vehicle fits the steed
and the rate of progress is not swift,
the pace beir~ reminiscent of PAINS
chariots en- route to Waikiki.
"A friend came in on the Lawton the
other day with a load of hay and the
freight clerk went on board and told
him there was lady down at the land
ing waiting for him in a bullock cart
You can imagine his astonishment
Europa in an oXcart! Some of the
transports are returning via New York
ard l may come back that way my
self"