Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-09
Impressive Ceremony Daily in the
Homes After Nightfall.
NATIVES HAVE VIOLENT TEMPERS
Trouble Caused by "Bums' in the
American Ranks.
RELIGION AND MORALITY
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
The most impressive ceremony OF the
Filipfnos is daily enacted at nightfall.
noticed it first in the ancient, dirty town OF
Cavite The bell tolls in the ancient cathe-
dral, warning the inhabitants that the
night is on. Pedestrians generally halt, re-
move their hats and say their prayers
aloud From every open door the num-
bling is heard This is kept up until the
bell ceases.
The writer was a frequent visitor to
Filipino family of the better class in Ca
vfte. The family consisted of mother ana
her three daughters. I was present on sew
eral occasions when the above ceremony
was in progress. After the bell stops toll
ing they would all stop praying and I'M
mediately proceed to their mother, the cid
est first, and each in turn, salut1ng her.
"Buenos noche'' good night, kissing her
hand, which each would carry to the fore
head They then kissed their mothers
cheeks, then turn to their American visi-
tors with the salute, but emitting the KISS
The Filipinos in general have violent tenn
pers. The old lady mentioned above had
always found to be very quiet and reserved
Most of her time was employed in knitting.
Great was my surprise upon entering her
little store one day to find her IN Iury.
She had large butcher knife in her hand,
which she was brandishing in a threatening
manner. 1t was learned that box OF c1-
gars had been stolen and the blame was
laid on an American soldier. The old lany
was giving illustrations of what she
would do when she next saw him. The
daughters were nearly as excited as their
mother, and it was several days before they
got over the excitement. To large num-
Der of unprincipled Americans IN the ranks
can be laid the cause of much or the trou-
BILE with the natives They commit all man
ner of depredations, which the people be-
hold with horror.
When [ was last in Manila the city was
full of buns. They lived in gangs and
were recruited from dishonorably dis
charged men from the army, and each
transport furnished a fresh batch upon its
arrival These human dregs generally slept
around the water front, where they made
night a hell with their drunken orgies.
Pedestrians avoided this section after dark,
and if compelled to go there on business
would arm themselves before starting.
There has always been number of small
American boys stranded in Manila. Cen
orally they were brought over by organlZa-
lions as mascots and abandoned when the
troops were ordered to the front. These
boys manage to exist by selling papers,
backing boots and running errands. Their
chief pleasure is fighting the native and
Chinese boys, whom they easily vanquish.
as the latter know little or nothing about
the art of combat with the hands.
Rice a Principal Dish.
The F'ilipinos, like the Chinese, are rice
eaters, and it forms the principal dish at
all meals They eat with their fingers,
which is not very pleasing to witness. They
all have knives and forks in the house.
which they produce when visitors are pres
ent. Like the Chinese, they are also fond
of fatty foods. l have on number Of &C.
casions witnessed young ladies eating large
pieces of fat that caused me to have fears
for my own stomach and l would be COM
PEELED to turn my head away
l am of the belief that the longer an
American studies the Filipino character the
more complex it becomes. For thirteen
months l studied them under many condi-
tons, and when l left the islands l was
under the impression that l knew but very
little of the Filipino and his ways when not
under observation. They do not understand
themselves and do not care to, apparently.
In the city of Manila many native jargons
are spoken and they cannot understand
each other. Every province has its jargOn,
and were it not for their limited knowledge
of Spanish they would be unable to carry
on a conversation.
They resemble very much our western In
dian tribes, which have their tribal lam
guage or jargon. and were it not for the
Chinook language, originated and intro
duced by the old Hudson Bay Company, our
noble red men would be at loss for con-
versation when members of different tribes
meet here in Washington.
Nine out of ten children have revolving
sores on their bodies, generally on their
rosy and other blood diseases are common
among the natives. l understand the au-
thorities have set aside an island for lepe-s,
similar to the one in the Hawaiian group.
The main trouble will be in experimenting
the lepers, there must be several thous-
and in the vicinity of Manila. Under Span
ish rule there was large leper hospital in
Manila, where probably thousand of these
unfortunateS We're confined. The day the
Americans captured the city the officials of
this asylum became demoraliZed and aban-
doned the institution. By the time the mat
ter was brought to the notice of the Amer
lcan authorities the place was deserted, the
lepers having scattered all over the city
Many of them were found begging in the
streets A large number of them Were never
CAPTURED.
Teh most interesting sights of Manila 7
| found to be the native markets. l would
rise about In the morning, and after a
cold shower bath would start for brisk
walk through the native section of Rinondo
which includes the largest market in the
city. During my sojourn in the city took
probably hundred of these rambles alone
and never met an American, with the ex-
cept1on of a soldier, occasionally on guard
This market was destroyed by the great
llres started by the insurgents in February,
1899 Just as soon as the heat permitted
the dealers opened up for business among
the ruins, making a startling picture The
products of the markets are not temntinp
TO Americans, who do not patronize them
except for fruits. eggs, chickens and one or
wv 'eSe.apIeS CoIlIHOn TO America, They
nave their fish alive in tubs, but I would
not advise anybody to buy them as their
f1esh has sickening taste This is ,1uo IN
the water being always warm
Combine for Safety.
In these markets the Cinnamon conduct
dry goods stalls. I wondered why there
was always a half dozen Chinese to each Of
these, and upon inquiry they told me they
were compelled to band together to prevent
ROBBERY by the natives.
An incident came to my notice one morn
ing at the market which assured me that
the chinese precautions We're necessary
Several young toughs had taken some man
goes out of Chinaman's basket and had re-
fused either to pay his price or return them
could not understand their language. but 7
could tell from their excited pitch that a
row was imminent. The Filipinos started
to leave with their booty, when the China
man blew shrill blast from a whistle It
DID not seem second of time before a
dozen Cinnamon rushed out from side
street, all bare headed. The leader was one
or the largest Cinnamon 1 have ever seen.
Receiving hasty explanation from the
dealer, they made a rush for the Ffllpinos.
who produced their ill-gotten fruit with
alacr1ty. After several minutes Of excitad