Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-04-03
A Weekly Letter From the Orient
FURNISHED BY THE RECoRDER 'sSPaC-
IAL CORRESPONDENT, WHO is
MAKING A TOUR OF THE EAST
ERN COUNTRIES.
Especial to Reccrder.l

Especial to Recc rder)
| Manila, P. /, Oct. 30 4 have
spent some time Investigating the
business opportunities of the IS
lands and have about come to the
conclusion that is a good place for
an American to make money in,
but poor place to in. There are
so many opportunities in the Unit
ed States that are not taken advan-
tage Of that are equally as good as
those in the Philippines, that |
could hardly advise Americans to
come to the islands expecting to
grow rich from the vast opportuni.
ties. This il n wonderful country,
and the chances to make m inel
are numerous, but 4he disadvan-
tages are so great that | am sure
that the same energy expended in
any part of the United States,
especially on the Pacific coast,
would bring better returns and
would also bring more peace OF
mind
In the first place the wea'her
here il something that few white
people can stand for any length OF
time. have not seen a white wo-
men since | came who can be said
! to be in good health. The climate
dppletes their 81 stems to such an
extent that they become weak and
debilitated after being here six
months. After year they have to
90 away or pine away. | 90 not
mean TO say that no white woman
can live here and remain in good
health, but the fact that isolated
instances Of healthy women aIe
pointed out as a refutation OF this,
lis but the proof of the rule.
During the rainy season. and
this season generally lasts fully
seven month. out of the year, it is
almost impossible to have any
thing about the place in fit condi-
ton to wear. Clothing is damp
and the muggy atmosphere keeps
one in constant state of persplra'
ton. Put your leather shoes away
at night and next morning you
will find them covered with white
mildew. Leather rots so rapidly
that it is impossible to keep shoes,
belts or gloves in condition fit to
wear 1t is unnecessary to- say
that such condition is no con-
ducive to health.
Since Americans have taken
charge of Manila things are in
much better sanitary corditiOn.but
they are still far from what Amer.
leans would call clean, for the
sewer system is still such as would
not be tolerated in any land on
earth. The smells that rise up
during a rain are such rs almost
drive one to distinction. Small
pox and plague are prevalent at all
times, and while whites are usually
we'll cared for at their homes and
| in hotels, the natives die in numer
Us epidemics that are never re-
ported abroad. Cholera is here
nearly all the lime, and it increas
| es in yirulence ut times until it be-
comes a vertiable pestilence.
suppose | will be taken to task
for writing in this manner about
the CITY Of Manila but feel it
my duty to my reader to tell ex-
actly the conditions that exist. The
climate is enervating in the ex-
treme. and the reason why labor is
so cheap here is because it takes
about four times as many people
to do what is required as would be
necessary in the United States. The
fact that people can live so cheapiy
here that they can be hired fol-
twenty-five cents a day, is evidence
of what | say being true. The
twenty-five cent man does about
ten cents worth of work, and il
really a hindrance instead Of help
to his employers. Men and wo'
men spend the dav, when the,
should be at work, in gossipine
aud smoking, and if you chid'
them for their laziness, they will
simply leave you ia the middle Of
their job and go home.
They are all fatalists; if they be
come infected with some contagl