The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-23
PHILIPPINE SOCIAL LIFE
MRS. LUKE Il. WRIGHT on PHASES
OF ORIENTAL SOCIETY.
Rare Jewels Of High Caste Filipino
women-DOmestfc Life of the Wom-
en-TriaIs OF the HOusekeeper.
Mempni. Commercial Appeal.


as well as the entire body polite, feel for
him. IS Mrs. Wright, who has entered so
spfritedly into the great work General
Wright has done and aided him only a
woman of clear perceptions and adapt
abilit may do under changed and utterly
move conditions.
Mrs Wright when seen last night by re-
porter for the Commercial Appeal was as
completely charming and serenely gracious
as though more than a month had not
elapsed since she could relax from the
strain of a long trip by sea. under the most
exhausting circumstances.
After the close of the triumphal ovation
on Tuesday evening she was seen at the
home of her daughter. Mrs. ]. II. Watkins,
and her face still wore its look of elation
over the inspiring welcome poured out to
General Wright by the throngs who pressed
the way of his carriage through the streets
of Memphis.
Fresh from the Philippines. where the
conditions of her life had grown to be real
and not at all out of the usual, the recent
first lady of the islands was trif1e dunn
founded at the reporters proposal that she
should give her some ideas as TO the real
social conditions of the Philippines which
Is n1OOted a question: even SAAO
people of Information.
1T Is an utterly mistaken idea, SAID
Mrs. Wright, in her gentle but cnarmlnSly
animated fashion, that the FIlplnos are
a people whose intelligence is below the aV-
erage or whose standards OF refinement and
social observances are not or the hlgnest
Their homes are superb and their hoSpltaI-
ity regal For the most part the better
classes are educated and they speak french
as do the Frenchmen born. Their manners
are perfection and they are adaptapIe 10
NE~aN xHTGll
tial changes that will be inaugurated under
the new regime.
and the Jewels worn by the native wom-
en- of the highest caste Ii is almost i'm
possible TO imagine, unless one had seen
them the gorgeousnesS of these Jeweled
ornaments worn by the F1liplnos Set In
the rare workmanship for which the East
is famous they make the most imposing
show though the sight is little dazzling
to unaccustomed American eyes. To
slight extent they are beginning 10 leave
off the cverplus of finery and take up
few European and American customs with
regard to dress. Yet they cling tenaciouSly
TO their charming native dress, which Is a
combination of finery and fascinating negh-
gence.
why. in the provinces. and even in Ma
Mia they wear the simplest and scantiest
of sandals instead of Shoes and some
times" laughed Mrs. Wright, they lose
them when dancing with the officers. The
as highly embarrassing. Their gowns are
of the loveHest and what would be to us
the costliest fabrics They are enough
to create envy in foreigners hearts, these
frocks of just, as IL is called, fabric very
like silk grenadine, only softer and silkter
than anything we are accustomed TO.
Americans realize wherein the Filipino mas
the advantage, and 1 understand that So
ciety girls here in Memphis have several
charming gowns fashioned of the weblike
material
"They live luxuriously," she commented,
land seem to have reduced the art of en-
joyment to a fine degree of perfection.
DOMESTIC LIFE.
Their household system certainly has
its drawbacks to the American homekeeper.
The lower classes work, the women espe-
cially. but they do not make the very best
servants. They have a popularity in their
household arrangements that strikes the
American exceedingly queer. 1t is pa
triarchal in way, and interesting as show
ing the spirit of race and family. Every
household of social Importance has a train
of 'parientes' who are the poor relations of
the family. They work for their main
tenance, but are regarded as equals of the
family. On the premises of the large. pa
latial homes of the rich are small houses
made of 'nipa,' Familiarity called 'nipa
shacks' by Americans, which are occupied
Wright, giving a delightful personal touch
to her narrative, '"were occupied by the
soldiers who were stationed for the protec
ton or the vice governor house. and in
one of them my son lived. Then, again,
we have the Americans following the Fill
pino step. for a number OF fashionable peo-
pie over here call their shooting lodges
and country places 'shacks' after these
same thatch-Iike houses. We had some
amusing experiences in those places while
having card party. The floors are made
of bamboo, which is placed rather far
apart. The cards seemed to have an ire
sistible attraction for these interstices, and
would constantly insist on falling through.
/ assure you we kept the Filipino servants
busy running after them.
You know we had about fifteen of Them,
though the whole lot amounted TO very
am Japanese servants were far more
efficient.
Our home was beautifully situated. the
dining-room windows overlooking Manila
bay, hardly a stones throw away. Across
the street AguinaIdo lived and we were
the best OF neighbors.
do the 'inSurrectos and the Americans
mingle in social circles? Why. indeed they
do. At a very delightful function given by
Governor Taft TO us just before our de-
parture there were numbers of them and
they regard us in the friendliest manner.
Altogether they are pleasant to meet with
in every way, are musicians and artists OF
excellent skill and their homes are filed
with embroideries and carvings that are
considered perfect gems over here, though
one becomes so accustomed to them over
there that they finally fail to make any i'm
preston.
THE women do the most exquisite en-
broideries and finger work of all kinds and
their homes are kept in spotless order. A
good scheme for our housekeepers to adopt
Is their plan OF keeping their beautiful nat
ural wood floors polished. 1t is another
very amusing sight-this process. The
servants put wooden shoes on their feet and
slide over the floors until they reflect your
face and all the objects in the room. 1t is
truly ridiculous 10 see them skating over
the floors in the most adept manner.
THE sala in the residence We occupied
was lilo feet in length and that was divided
to make hall seventy feet. They had
plenty of room for the sliding which was
gone through religiously twice a day. for
two hours in the morning and two in the
afternoon.
Some things that one meets up with are
calculated TO get on the housekeeper's
nerves TO terrifying extent.
TRIALS OF HOUSEKEEPING.
blouse snakes in the walls are not only
of common occurrence. but are necessary
for protection against rats and mice. At
almost any time one can hear their tails
Hopping ominously catch sound of the
squeaking OF mice and then a dead silence.
Lizards are OF too usual occurrence to be
noted except In passing. though one OBJ
Jects sometimes to having them inside the
mosquito bars.
What did We eat? Well. for the most
part we have been eating out OF tin cans.
Since March, when the cholera broke out