The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-03
MISS BORDEN WRITES

FROM THE PHILIPPINES.
 Friends of Mrs. Lovick Pearce will De interested in letter on the Phil- ippine Islands written by her sister, Miss Nellie Borden. formerly a teacher m the Fresno, Cal..A school. Miss Bor- den went out to the Philippines in Feb- ruary to visit her brother. who has q position in the Internal Revenue De- partment. She had only been there a few days when she was offered a posi- tion to teach. She got leave of ab- sence for q year from the Fresno, Cal. school. and during vacations she will travel in China and Japan and will return home after her years absence by the suez Canal. Miss Bordon writes.
 I am living in the dearest kind of house It is. an old Spanish home. Many tell me it is very old. stone renee. seven or eight feet high runs in front of 1t. and 1t is built up twelve feet from the ground. No one ever nves on the ground floor if there is one, This house has none. The rooms are immense and are half windows. They tell me when one has lived here few years the thought of living in q brick, house with small windows sti- fies one.
 can easily see why people like 1t here. am perfectly fascinated by everything. set out of school at 12:35 so have all the afternoon in which to take trips to the near by towns with my brother Tn every .di- rection 1t is beautiful. There Is a lone mountain about 5000 feet high which stands guard over us. Its top Is al- ways wrapped in clouds. When we can get a day of we are going to climb 1t. To our right is a beautiful range of mountains. We have many tropical fruits had my first mango today. They are much larger than those of the Hawaiian Islands. Bananas. oranges, Times, bread fruit, grape fruit, cocoa nuts and papaya and a lot of others grow in profusion--just jungle of tropical growth. It is not necessary for a native to exert himself for his food hangs low and his clothes are few.
 !. What strikes me most forcibly is thetfart that the people are so clean looking. Nearly all the students (boys) dress in white. They do not use a handkerchief as we do. but use 1t to dust off the seat that they sit on. They calmly spread 1t out and then sit. They keep these suits clean in this way for four or five days. As soon as he goes home he takes off his clothes and brushes them. You cannot tell a thing about how much a man Is worth by his clothes. It Is boys desire to possess q white suit. and he will do anything to have one. The girls wear a loose slip for an undergarment. Their dress skirt Is generally red. starched stiff to the knees Then short. loose sacque, called ''camisa' with stiff sleeves that stand out foot on either side and collar or cape which stands out behind. They have wealth of black hair and often wear 1t flowing. They still wear native shoes, but the boys wear American ones. They are much like the Japanese in their eagr- ness to learn and I ind them bright and obedient.
 The boys play baseball A great deal and at all the games the Americans turn out for they wish to encourage this sport to take the place of Cock Pit" the natives only sport. Nearly every man, you meet has a cock in his arms stroking it and betting 1t. Each time a cock wins, new glory is added to his record. They meet in herds and bet on these cocks. It is a cruel thing for they always fight until one cock is killed. They enjoy the sight of. suffering. When told in the high school to write about some funny incident they had seen. with