Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-03
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HI M III IduiCdl ClldilBtS III lnt
III ri everyday life OF the people
M5a Of the Philippine metropolis
zEeaszzszgsaJ yet the Americans who live
here have in turn yielded much to the
Spanish and Filipino customs as well
as to the exactions of the climate. The
American population of Manila is only
about 5000, out of a total of more than
quarter of a million, but their in
fiuence is manifest everywhere.
In the days of the Spanish regime the
city reached a point where 1t was al
most as great in population and COM
merce as 1t is now, but the conditions
of life were very different There were
no sewers no gas and but few electric
lights. Until 1894 the streets were
lighted with oil lamps. There was one
short horsecar line. and the various
sections of the city were almost ou
of communication with each other.
The Americans have constructed sew.
ers, have lighted all the streets have
built forty-five miles of good street cal
lines, and have knitted the various sec
tions of the city into one. One-ffth of
Manila city is inclosed in the ancient
walls, yet to the Spaniard and the
Spanish trained Filipino only the
walled ity-'intramuros"- Manila.
Other sections are designated by other
names. In the Spanish days the moat
dTOullu bnt wall WAS Hlleu NllH water
and at night the drawbridges were
hauled up and the gates shut. The
Spanish families preferred to live
within the walls. as they still do, but
other Europeans and the wealthier
Filipinos sought homes outside.
Five years before the Spanish -Ameri-
can war the total American population
of Manila was four-a lone quartet
of American business men. There was
a large American business house there.
but its clerks were nearly all English.
The English colony was comparatively
large and influential as it is now, and
the English club was the center of
that portion of social life which was
not purely Spanish.
The Manila club. sometimes called
the English club, continues to be the
center of the commercial and business
life of the city. After the fashion of
the Orient. much business is transacted
at the clubs at the luncheon hour. and
the English club has retained It's as
cendancy from the old days
Club life means much more in the
Orient than Ii does at home. The
American in the United States is of
all men the least dependent upon club
life. If he belongs to a club it is for
pleasure only and 1t is usually looked
upon as: thing apart from his serious
interests In the Orient. clubs are the
enters in which men of European and
American birth gather apart from the
Asiatics among whom they live. The
club furnishes not only amusement and
social advertisement, but it is also the
engine through which the pressure of
the opinions of the white colony is
impressed upon the ruling powers.
Coming to Manila the Americans
readily fell into the club life habit. The
Army and Navy club was the first
American club to be organized. 1t soon
lost all resemblance to the ordinary
army post officers club and became an
important feature in Manila life, in
cluding officers Of the civil govern
ment as well as OF the military in its
makeup.
Nowadays the civil government is
more numerously represented at the
University club. where everybody"
gathers for the cocktail hour which i'm
mediately precedes dinner. Dinner Is
usually served at o'clock, so that the
late afternoon gatherings take place
after people have had their drive, the
ride, the walk or the game of polo
which comes as soon as the heat of
the day declines
Younger Americans find their recrea-
club. an institution fathered by Bishop
Brent of the Episcopal church. There
is no cocktail hour at the Columbia
club. for 1t is a teetotal institution, but
there is a beautiful club house, a fine
gymnasium, a swimming pool and other
attractions of the same order. As a
rule the club habit in the Orient is
not calculated to make for temperance.
The combination of fellowship
exile from home and the "chit" system
has been known to be the undoing of
many a young man. To guard against
that evil and at the same time to fur
nish the features of a club which are
necessary, Bishop Brent organized the
Columbia club.
The Elks, the Germans, the Spanish
and the Filiplnos also have clubs Of
their own. The Elks are building
new home which will be the hand
soonest club in Manila. A new club,
to be made up of Americans and Fill
pinos, is being organized now. 1t