Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1906-09-13

A Manila landlord in trying to rent
| his house said it was located in the
aristocratic district of San Miguel. He
was stirring up a hornets nest, but
| didn't know it. There are people in
Manila who object to San Miguel be-
! ing termed the district of the 400.
Until this time few people ever knew,
! and a majority cared less, that Ma
Mia could boast a really aristoCratic
section. Those who did were proba-
bly, of the American colony living in
Ermita. There the cream, so to
speak, of the American contingent re-
sides, that is the commanding general
of the Philippines division and those
of the big government salaries, and
it has always imagined itself the aris
tocracy of the city, perhaps more
through a penchant it has for paying
about so per cent. greater rent than
would be required elsewhere.
In Ermita the houses are huddlel
together like stampeded steers in
roundup, but the nearness of the sea
shore and the Luneta, Manila's Bois
district and, incidentally, the high
rents, are what attract the American
to this select western center of the
metropolis. But the landlord was
quite correct in saying in his rent al
that his property was located in the
aristocratic neighborhood of San Mi
guel, the literal translation of which
is Saint Michael, for here true east
ern aristocracy. what little there is
in the capital quietly resides.
The landlords of Ermita are just
rich enough on the average to own
expensive houses, but poor enough
to need to rent them when Americans
can be found that will pay double
what they are worth. But in San
Miguel the conditions are somewhat
different. There the citizens are
wealthy beyond the state of becoming
landlords, regardless Of the lone own
er who wanted to hire out and who
was crafty enough to advertise an
aristocratic atmosphere as a drawing
card to the susceptible. Here the
Roxases. the brewing magnates, and
other families Of great wealth live
when not touring continental Europe,
or globe-trotting in general. Their
vast wealth quite counterbalances
the high rents paid by the aristoc-
racy of Ermita, and then they have
one other claim upon the title which
handicaps the aspiring denizens of the
sea shore barrio This other claim
lies in the fact that the governor
general has his home there-the
White House of the Philippines-and
has had since long before American
occupation.
But so much for Manila's aristoc-
racy and the hombre who brought up
the subject through a desire to rent,
and to the subject Of the Insular
| White House, which is locally known
as the Malacanan palace, located on
the banks of the Pasig in the heart
of San Miguel Malacanan is a ma
tive name and means in terse English
the "hang-out,' or rendezvous of the
fishes, but the exalted official who re-
| sides there is far from being fish in
the sense that the American term inn
plies. Why this name was given the
place is not known. unless it was
because Of its proximity to the river.
The executive mansion at MALAGA
nan, although popularity known as
the palace, would hardly be dignified
with the name in any other country,
unless in some Of the toy republics in
the Caribbean. The new command
ing generals residence recently
erected in Ermita at government ex-
pense far excels it in exterior magni-
ficence, but the interior and the
grounds about the military mansion
can hardly favorably compare with
the domicle of the governor general
But the name of palace generally sig.
nifes a grand and imposing structure
fit for kings and their ilk, yet this
cannot conscientiously be said OF
Malacanan The buildings proper are
long and low squatty and fiat, but
covering a vast amount of ground as
if to make up in area what they lack
in height All the roofs are of or
binary. unpainted galvanized iron OF
of red tile, while the walls are either
of adobe stone or native hard woods
the place thus giving, with its well
kept lawns, shrubbery and drives
more the appearance of a shooting
lodge or some sporting prince than
anything else to which it can be com