El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-01


where admiral Dewey's guns shattered
centuries Of calm on that memorable
May day in 1898. A city beautiful is
steadily being shaped by the American
exiIes in that far away land with the
! same fervor that animates the civic
worker in america itself. They take
no thought Of the fact that what they
/ are doing today will not even bene-
fit their children, when they have fin
! ished their tropical task and returned
( to live again among their own kind
I They toll in the blisterIng sun on
| Durham plans covering half a cen
! fury, and the transformation even to-
! the most modern city in the far east.
! A generation hence it will be one Of
the most beautiful in the world
Latin Culture Missing.
When the Americans first went to
| Manila there were few evidences Of
/ that delightful Latin culture of which
the story books delight to pirate.
/ Thousands washed their clothes in the
/ streams and otherwise defiled the
/ sources Of public drinking water.
/ Swamps dotted the city. Stink holes
/ lated districts Of TOndO and san Nico-
/ las offended the noses Of the very
[ angels on high. A vile mOat, a turgid
putrefying mass Of slime from five
/ to % feet deep and from 90 to 100
| yards wide, surrounded old IntramurOs
I (walled city,, and enjoyed the doubtful
/ honor Of causing far more than its
share Of the thousands Of deaths an
nually from plague, cholera, malaria
and dysentery. An apologize horse
| street car service ambled YEARLY up
and down the poor, old EscOlta, the
towns one main street. and finally
stopped of hamilton. A telephone ser
vice attributed by legend to the great
Don QuiXOte Wheezed and grOaned
through the days alleged work. An
electric light system which Thomas A
Edison would have sued for libel had
he known the half of its shortcomings
and OutgOlngS was permitted to 1lOun-
der through a nightly attempt TO keep
the citizens from total darkness. There
were no docks, no sewers. no santa
{ ton. no pretty homes The spirit Of
"manana" had the town drugged and
the only active force was death deal
ing disease.
Marvellous Change Is Made.
Now all is changed Five steel docks
offer ample berth to the biggest steam
ships that ply the Pacific or traverse
the Suez canal a reinforced steel and /
concrete million dollar hotel, i've
stories high. modern in every respect I
from the garage depot to the roof gar
den. takes care Of the fastidious tour
lists who once Stunned the place The
new Luneta lies along side the famous
old Luneta on the filledin land which /
mas replaced the waste water that used I
u SWaSh against II and the AalecOn
mile long and one half a mile wide,
massive concrete warehouses, garages
the aforementioned new Mania MOTEL ]
the ElkS club ana the Army and Navy Z
club greet the eye The Bagumbayan !
botanical gardens and other beauty OBJ I
spots feature broad, winding drives. I
Modern telephones, electric light and |
street cars serve the city. The old ]
moat IS a grass grown playground |
A very new water and sewer system |
capable OF supplying city twice It's !
size serves the citizens. Plate glass
windows in most Of the shops make the /
old store fronts blush. Modern office l
buildings here and there are elbOwing l
the mOuldy old Spanish buildings off |
the business streets. More than
thousand automobiles. motor trucks
and motorcycles keep the people on the ;
jump by day and a score of moving !
picture shows entertain them by night l
Substantial bungalows and up to date i
churches testify to the presence Of
home loving Americans A death rate
lower than many American cities tells I
the story Of health's successful fight
a thriving trade, growing annually by /
leaps and bounds. huns where manana I,
once nodded
Now Has 100000 People.
Manila Is now city of 100000 peO-
pie which handled an export and i'm
year Its geographical location. backed
up by the new dock and warehouse |
area, viii make it the commercial dis
Irlbutlng point Of the United States
IN the far east. just as it is now our
political base in that part of the
world. Fifty hours across the China I
80 ~ LAAg -A-- III Al 1aAAAlel anu AEL 1vls-
100000 Of people who soon are going
to demand shoes Of modern make, sew
ing machines scales, clothes, farming
implements, more and more of Phil
ippine sugar, construction supplies, |
machinery for public works, factories, /
etc. To the south five DAYS away lies l
the Federated Malay States 1t her !
back is India with 300, 600 600 restless [
Inhabitants.
A purely Philippine trade of I'm
mense volume Is already beginning to /
N"1nn 10 ME -
least retarding the growth Of Cebu, /
IlOilO, Albay and ZambOanEa. TrOpi- (
cal products equal in volume to the
total production Of the Hawaiian ISL {
ands, Cuba and Porto Rico viii in the /
readers life time be shipped out Of
Manila to the United States and other
countries. Last year the United States (
took tropical products worth S660.0O0,-
600, so that Philippine goods are as
sured of a ready market, and the re-
suit viii be the development of Ma
Mia into one Of the worlds great sea
ports.
Manila is governed on the commits
sion plan, the ruling body being the
municipal board, under the direction I
Of the governor general of the ISL
ands There are six members. three
appointed by the governor general, one
eNoff1clO member, being the city engi- /
neer' and two elective members who /
draw per diem One Of the men ap-
pointed by the governor general is
the mayor who has always been a
ment was organized July 81, 1901. The
insular government, for various mu-
nicipal services, pays One-third of the
city budget
Good order generally prevails. The
police force has $50 men. about half
of whom are FilipinOs. whereas Il /
years ago there were 941 policemen. !
In 1911 the municipal court heard 49,
I92 cases of which 10 percent involved !
moral turpitude. The city contains I
nearly IS square miles and is divided
into north and south districts by the |
river Pasig. which is spanned by the [
historic Bridge Of Spain. The Ameri-
cans have built IS new bridges and {
fl miles Of new streets. and $4,000 |
square yards of paving have been laid.
The department of sanitation and !
transportation every day sprinkles
LAP, 400 square yards and cleans about
?, 100000 square yards of street sur
face. Public parks and grounds have (
grown from $50 acres in 1905 to 800
acres today, with work under way on Z
500 additional acres. The new sewer l
and water system cost nearly $780,
600. Due to these improvements the /
people of Manila are now able TO enjoy !
the cool nights in peace. Gone for
ever are the times when one had to I
go to bed at S o'clock to read under [
8 h ~. ]