Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-03
AMERICA i'm THE PHILIPPINES
TTI-EVERYDAY LIFE in MANILA
By Frederic j. Haskin

probably will have a great influence
upon the course of affairs in the ISL
ands, as 1t will bring Americans and
educated Filipinos together in a rela-
tion which Is now unknown.
The American colony In Manila has
adopted many Oriental and Spanish
customs. Every man has a personal
hoy" who looks out for his comfort
The boy" is paid salary of ten pesos
five dollars-a month and in consid-
Grafton thereof he is valet, messenger,
body-servant and general factotum.
Everybody takes a siesta, and just af-
ter the midday lunch practically all
of Manila is asleep. Only the Ameri-
can stores and shops keep open all
day, all the others are closed from II
to o'clock. At the lunch hour, when
the streets of American cities are al
ways so busy, the Manila thoroughfares
are as quiet and deserted as II 1t
were midnight.
The theater doesn't amount to much
In Manila because 1t is so far away.
grand opera company comes out from
Spain or Italy every winter, just as 1t
has been doing for half century, and
for season the city takes on its old
appearance and the Spanish element
Is in the ascendancy.
The majority of the people, the Fill
pinos, depend for amusement upon their
own cock fights, their religious tiestas,
the ubiquitous moving picture machine
and the amusement park. At Palomar
park the American has set himself up
as entertainer of the multitude. 1t is
just like the Luna park or White City
attractions of any other American city.
The roller coaster, the slides, the games
and shows, the fortune teller and the
dancing pavilion are all there. And the
barker-engaged for the sake of his
boiler factory voice to tell the merits
of the greatest show on earth In three
languages Spanish and Tag
olog-is q feature of the fun. Despite
the efforts of the park to interest the
Europeans and Fllipinos. the best
patrons are the amusement loving
Chinese, who like to play and sport and
don't care how they. spend their money
The Filipinos take their pleasures
quite seriously, and in the dancing
pavilion at the park the couples move
about to the music with as much
solemnity as If it were a wedding or
funeral. The whole dance presents an
appearance of even greater dignity
than a season hop in Cairo where every
man Is a prince and every woman a
duchess.
In the interchange between the Amer
leans and their predecessors here the
Americans have accepted much of the
pleasure and leisure of the old regime,
and give up far more daylight to purely
social enjoyment than they would at
home. On the other hand. they have
taught the older Manila to insist on
rapid transit and upon municipal clean
liness
The American has cut his business
hours to the short schedule of the oil
regime, but he has introduced new sys-
TENS and methods which have greatly
expedited the transaction of business.
For instance, 1t requires something like
eight to ten minutes to get a check
cashed in an English bank In the orient,
and 1t used to take the Spanish bank
in Manila at least twenty minutes to
perform a like function. The Ameri-
can bank here consumes about two sec
onds in such transaction. The system
has been adopted by the Spanish bank
but not by the English:
The banks suffered greatly when the
American government gave the Philip
pines a staple currency. In the old
days the only money in the islands was
the Mexican dollar, which was heavy
unweildy, and, worst of all, subject to
violent fluctuations in value. To-day
one might have enough money to dis
charge a big debt across the water
such debts were always in gold-and to-
morrow the same amount of dollars
wouldn't go half as far The same
thing still goes on in China, and the
banks wax fat on the mysterious and
battling exchange" business. The
Manila bankers said 1t would be I'M
possible for the United States to estab-
iish a staple currency for the Philip
pines. But 1t was done, and now one
peso is worth 30 cents gold, and the
silver certificates and other Philippine
currency is just as good as gold. But
the banks mourn.
American business methods are being
introduced extensively in the retail
trade, but not so rapidly into larger COM
merclal enterprises. American habits
and customs are being reflected in the
streets and among all classes of people.
The Americans here have adopted some
strange customs, but for all that they
are the controlling factor in the actual
everyday life of the city, no matter
what the census or the balance sheets
may say.
Tomorrow: America in the Philippines
": The Philippine Peoples.