The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-25

would seem very odd TO the people here.
Their floors and walls are generally of pure
mahogany. have seen planks OF that wood
twenty-four inches wide and two or three
inches thick used flooring. There are lots
OF doors which are one solid piece of ma
hoBany All this Is kept polished so bright
~ that IL be used a mirror. The
wood is not regarded very precious or
costly In Manila.
Electric lights are an improvement the
Americans have inaugurated. The whole
city is now Illuminated by them. There has
been lots of talk about electric street cars,
but DO not think that mode OF transporta-
ton would prove profitable. In that coun-
try nobody walks at all IL it can be avoided,
and l doubt If a resident Of Manila would
walk as far as street corner TO get on
car.
when they want to move about the
people call a rickshaw or one of the little
native carts. Both are rtdiculously cheap,
and they come up TO ones very doorstep.
The trolley car would fail because it
couldn't do that.
Don't think. though, that everybody is
lazy because he or she will not walk. It's
a matter OF health over there. The climate
is enervating that ii is foolhardy 10
take much exercise and fatal to take too
much For the same reason there is not
great deal of hard manual labor done in
Manila.
Americans in great numbers are already
settled there. There seems to be lots of
money 10 be made in real estate, for the
city is full of investment and speculation
companies. Most of those who are not In
business for themselves are clerkS-yOung
Americans some of them expired-term sol
diers and others civilians who came out on
the chance Of making a good living. They
do make a good living. too. Clerks in Ma
Mia are paid from $50 to $3.50 a month and
live In the best of style
so far there has been little intermarry-
ing between Americans and Ftlipinos. l
never heard of any one above the rank OF
private marrying a native girl, although
many of the men and officers have welded
Spaniards, and seem happy and contented.
COLORS DO NOT MIX.
IT'S just the same there as ii is here
white persons will not mix with those
whose skin is brown. think this race ques-
ton will cause trouble even after the
islands are completely subdued. The Amer
leans will never respect the native Fill
pinos. On that account we nurses never
cared to go and see Aguinaldo. although he
was rather a curiosity for time. We did
see him, of course, but we didn't go out of
our way to do so.
"Agunaldo is practically free now, but
he stays pretty close TO his quarters. He
is afraid, not of the Americans, but of his
own race Some of them would kill him,
believe. if they got half a chance.
1.-The natives still hold to many of their
quaint old customs One of the most curl
Gus of these is the morning bath. Every
living creature about the house, from the
eat must have bath soon after daybreak
Out to the fields they go. all together. If
there is no running stream nearby they take
casks of water and cocoanut shells and
splash each other from head TO foot. The
F'ilipinos keep their clothes on during the
operation, and let them dry as the sun
grows stronger. Even the animals seem to
enjoy their bath.
But it would take a week to tell of all
the customs of that strange archipelago
The principal thing to be done with it is to
conquer it, and that has not been done
completely yet. There is fighting there now
and l think there will be just so long as
American people protest against the gov
ernment's plans and actions. Every one of
those protests is paid for by half a dozen
dead soldiers. As soon as they are uttered
they are cabled to the islands and another
fight is the result.
"In my opinion the Filipino question is a
momentous one more than any one who
has never been there can appreciate, and 1t
is a question that will be long in the
settling"