Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-03-20
A Weekly Letter From the Orient
FURNISHED BY THE Reconnaissance
IAL CORRESPONDENT, WHO Is
MAKING A TOUR OF THE EAST
ERN COUNTRIES.
Especial to Rec rider

to be seen in Manila, and probably
in all tile surrounding country, is
the size of the cigars smoked BY
mtn, women and children. Wber
ever you g) you are snre to see
children of both sexes smoking CT
gars almost as large as themselves.
| am afraid | would be accused of
eyaggeration il | were to say how
large some Of them are. have
seen little girls, not over ten years
old, smoking big, fat, black cigars
fully foot long. Ever BODY
smokes, and as tobacco is be cheap
est thing here the expense is never
considered. From the inevitable
cigarette to these big black cigars
there is something in the mouth
all the time. | visited one of the
cigarette factories Yesterday and
was much interested in the work
Hundreds of boys, girls and wom'
en- were rolling the cigarettes and
putting them in packages of thir
ty. The cost of these cigarettes at
retail is 6 centavos a package, or
3 cents of our money. How they
can make thirty cigarettes and fur
nish tobacco and paper for that
money is to be accounted for only
by the cheapness Of labor. Many
Of these cigarette makers get from
25 to 81 cents day and board
themselves.
The board Of IA Filipino costs so
little that it is never taken into cal.
culation. Fruits and rice, with
fish to be had for the catching, is
the general diet. Taro, a plant
from which sort Of meal is made,
grows every where, and is exceed
ingly cheap food. But little meat
is eaten by the Fllipinoes for it is
difficult to get and very expensive
in comparison with other foods.
Rice is the staple food in all these
Oriental countries. There are few
Vegetables because of the labor in
volved in growing them. Chinese
gardeners supply the foreign pops
ulation with what few vegetables
they have. Cabbages are rare and
sell for 81 a head. Onions are
plentiful but potatoes are a rarity.
None of the tubers grow here, and
such AS are to be found in the mar
ket are brought from Japan and
the United States by steamer.
There are few mich cows on the
islands, and butter and cream cam
not be hac at any price except
such as comes from other lands.
Condensed milk is used by the
whites, and natives use none at all.
Owing to the climate beef and
mutton butcbereG here must be
used up at once. S,me refrigera-
ted meats are brought in from
Australia and kept in ice houses,
but the price is so high that natives
never get it. Their only meat is
game, and they seldom go after
it. Living for whites is rather ex-
pressive owing to the fact that
many things usually considered
luxuries are necessities here. Ice
is very expensive. A great deal
moreis necessary here than in the
United States for it melts very rap
idly.
Servants are nearly all Chinese,
as the natives are unreliable and OF
little worth. Formerly servants
could be hired for small amounts.
but it was always necessary to have
a great number of them in order to
have anything done. Now the
Chinese have raised prices and de-
mand from $45 to $50 a month,
gold, but one good Chinese servant
will accomplish more than half a
dozen Filipinoes. The climate is
hard on clothing, especially leather
shoes. Your shoes vii be put
away at night clean and bright,
and next morning they will be
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