The age-herald., 1901-03-10
Captain and Mrs, Hardenan Prominent in American Set
SOME CURIOS OF THE ISLANDS
Lieutenant CaseY's AppOintment-Jef- ferson Clubs Move for Earlier Hours The Floral Parade. 
 In the World of Fashion.
BY ANNIE kENDRlcK WALKER.

Not even the rhetorical platitudes, " as Northern paper called the pretty phrases used by President Mckinley in his inaugural address when he referred to the country's policy toward that land under tropic suns in distant seas are as tntepesting as the gossip that reaches us from the Philippines of the American wo- men who are with their husbands in Ma nila. An American woman in the Phil ippinas ts'fhe most fascinating commodi- ty Uncle Sam could export, and yet he was very reluctant in providing shipping facilities. Where there were transports without numbepin conveying Uncle Sam s soldiers, not Q single American woman was permitted to accompany her hus- band to the Philippines. But even Uncle Sam, with his long and successful experi- fence. could not get ahead of an American woman. The transports might sail. Their starry ensigns might fiutter triumphantly far out to sea. and Uncle Sam congratu- late himself that his word was law
 All the requests of American women who desired to go to the Philippines met with the same refusal They were never permitted to go over on the transports used to convey the army. The conse- Quence was that scores of women crossed on the regular liners, and frequently were the first to meet their husbands when the latter landed in the Philippines.
 This was the case with Mrs. Thomas Hardeman of Birmingham, the wife of Captain Hardeman of the ThiPty-ninth h Volunteer Infantry, in command of Col onel Buflard of TaIladega, now station ed in Manila Captain Hardeman had hoped that Mrs. Hardeman would be per mitted to accompany him on his trans port, and strong personal influences were brought to bear on the request. But the rules were iron-clad, and Mrs. Harde- man, with a number of other American women whose husbands were army off, cers, sailed on a regular liner from San Francisco some ten days after the sail ing of the transport conveying her hus- bands regiment to the Philippines.
 The first person to greet Captain Harde- man when his transport touched at Hon olulu was his wife, who, with the other ladies in the party, must have felt tri- umphant over beating Uncle Sam at his own game.
 These American women have had thipgs their own way ever since. Wheth- er r<their own powers of adaptab bility have been brought into their new life in the Philippines, or whether the powers that be have succumbed to their fascination and charms, and adopted customs to please the former, or whether a combina- tion has been effected, will be left to in dividual opinion, but certain it Is that the American women who are now in the Philippines are the brilliant center of so- icial life. And among the most admired and sought after women in the American colony is Mrs. Hardemah, the charming Birmingham woman, who, with her hus- band, Captain Hardeman, has been In the Philippines nearly two years. The recent distinguished promotion of Captain
 Hardeman as treasurer of the Province of Pongasiman will prolong indefinitely their stay in the Philippines.
 Mrs. Hardeman Is said to be among the few American women who have per fectly mastered the Spanish tongue and who can speak at all fluently the native language. She is residing with one of the most aristocratic Spanish families in Manila for the purpose of studying the language, and now that she speaks 1t with so much fluency, she is determined to master the native language of the Philippines,
 Life must bean endless round of gaiety for the army officers and their wives, for the social gossip that comes from Manila town tells of a succession of bril- liant functions.
 The old palaces converted long ago into barracks by the American army are still being raved over by American women, and many of them have sent mementoes home of these marvellous old places that American soldiers.
 Mrs Hardeman has sent numberless souvenirs to her mother, Mrs. Annie g Jones of Birmingham.
 The shops in Manila are described as being as handsome as those of Paris, and