The National tribune., 1902-08-14

relapSeQ INTO Ine apathy t0dL 1OuOWS uh-
profitable exertion and have substituted
numbers for individual activity and ef-
fectiveness in their efforts to get some
thing done. Servants swarm in houses
and useless employees congregate in stores
and offices. Every store, office and house
has several times as many helpers as
would be necessary in a like establish
ment in this country, and all of them seem
perpetually to be resting from their la
bOrs. They evidently think they have
reached the land where the wicked cease
from troubling and the weary are at rest.
Even American energy will wear itself
away in time against the solid rock of
Filipino inertia. The frequent change in
personnel Of the army and civilians in the
Government and business may serve to
modify this, but gradually the inertia Will
prevail.
Sleep seems to be the one thing to be
desired and altogether lovely to the Fill
ipino, next to which come cigarets and
gambling. The cochero, as soon as his
cargo leaves the carriage for few
minutes, goes to sleep on his box or
snoozes upon the sent inside, with his bare
and chocolate-colored feet hanging out the
window, recking not of the busy world
until vigorous prod with cane IN the
ribs restores him to consciousness OF his
surroundings and to temporary activity.
1t is the same with the help about the
house. If they are not at hand when
wanted they are curled up on the floor
somewhere asleep, smoking cigarets or
pitching pennies in the patio, as the court
back of or inside the house Is called.
Five words only were necessary to go
anywhere in the city in carriage, If you
knew the streets. With "segue" to start,
''pronto" to hurry, para" to stop, "mano"
to turn to the right, and ''silla'' to turn
to the left, the enterprising soldier was
prepared to direct his cochero anywhere
OF all these words "pronto' was the one
most used 1t did not take the Americans
late the Filipinos into activity, and
"pronto" was the very first Spanish word
to come into general use. Filipinos were
prodded with it right and left till they
abominated it. My muchacho Juan came
into quarters one day in Cavite with a
look Of disgust on his face. I asked him
what was the matter. He said mourn
fully:
siempre hablan pronto, pronto,' and he
solaced himself with cigaret.
One day while was walking on Pla-
clio street 1 saw quilez dash by, or as
near dashing as was possible, and l would
have known its cargo was one or more
American soldiers even II had not heard
them yelling "pronto, prontO," at the CO.
chero. Poor fellow, at every demand he
hit his pony lick with the remains Of
his bamboo whip, but the more he whipped
and the more his pony jumped, the more
they yelled "pronto, pronto" at him. 1t
seems the soldiers were little overcome
with vino" and wanted him to stop, but
had substituted the word meaning to hur-
ry for the one to stop. The driver tried
to "pronto" while they meant for him to
para" Finally one Of them reached over
the drivers head, seized the reins and
threw the pony upon his launches, sx-
claiming:
"There. you, you'll pronto next
time, tell you"
This was familiar scene. The Amer
ican when riding was always in a hurry.
Ii he was q little drunk, or more so, and
the driver did not go fast enough to suit
him, he often brushed the driver off his
seat upon the ground and took possession
of both reins and quilez. The quilez
takes the place OF the ordinary hack in
an American city. There are low ear
riages such as victorias, but the quilez
is the common and almost universal con-
| there is the two-wheeled cart, the CARO-
mato, almost the only conveyance of this
kind to be found in the smaller cities and
the country.
The quilez is intended for four persons,
but the inventor had Filipinos in mind
and not Americans when he designed it.
1t is boxed in like a cab, has but two
wheels, has two seats facing toward the
center, each intended for two persons, and
is entered from the rear by q step. The
driver sits in a little seat over the base
of the shafts. l have seen one lusty
American put his foot on the rear step
and lift the pony clear off the ground.
Four drunken American soldiers crowded
into one of these little coops and swearing
Justify at the perspirins cochero is sight
net at all dignified nor impressive as to
our superior civilization, but it was COM
mon sight on the streets of Manila at that
time, and may be still.
Such thing as the delivery of goods
from retail stores was unknown, and even
wrapping them up to be carried by the
purchaser was not considered necessary.
II one went into tobacconist's for box
of cigars it was handed to him over the
counter unwrapped. II by pantomime or