Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-05-15

Some OF them have limited at Garnet bag
gers. There are some in the islands, but
they are in the great minority and as
soon as cause can be found they are ship
ped away. The government officials Won
meet impress you as men who know
their business. This country and it's con-
dltions require picked men. Any per
son who fails at home and thinks that
success will be easy out here, would do
we'll to hesitate before crossing the PACT
flc. There is lot of work to be done
out here, and 1t Is being done.
One thing that is apt to strike you
when you go about in the city is that
lots Of Americans who came here as SOL
diers have never gone back home. When
they got their discharge they decided
that the land was fair, and went into
business Your tailor reveals in CONVEX
sation that he came out as a soldier and
If you encounter the man who operates
the big steam laundry that seems to be
coming money, you will find that he can
tell you an exciting tale about the time
when he was taken prisoner in Leyte,
with six others, during the Instruction,
and was the only one of them that got
away alive.
There is one thing about Manila that is
expensive. That is transportation. The
street cars charge six cents for a first
class fare, though they are doing n tre-
mendous business. The taxicab hasn't
found its way here. Judging by visible
signs. A lot of information comes by ex-
perience. If you take "calesa," light
vehicle that looks like hanson. only
that the driver sits between you and the
horse instead Of back OF you the stand
ard rate is one peso, 80 or 70 cents an
hour, and If you travel only for 100 yards
you have to pay that 70 cents If you
keep your vehicle for five minutes over
the hour you pay for two hours. on the
other hand, If you pick up a similar type
of vehicle on the street. but without
liveried rider, you may get your trans
portation as low as ~ cents an hour
II you don't get a carriage with yellow
wheels, however, and these are in great
demand, the pony that draws you must
have all the time he wants to get YOU
anywhere.
Everybody here seems to hold out the
welcome hand-the Americans. one
means-naturally. Just now most of the
n
but still there is a sprlnkling Of them
ana of army officers and navy men, al
though most of the former are on duty
with their regiments at posts or at the
maneuvers. There are frequent dances on
the roof of the Manila hotel, and there
is a great deal of dining and teaing
though you are told all the gavety is
now up at the summer capital The hot
season ia coming fast and Il IS warm
though the heat does not grip YOU in
quite the same fashion it does in Ia
maica. If you have been in Jamaica, Won
VIII be struck by contrasts between an
English colony and an American pro
tectorate." The Englishmen who come
over here from Singapore and Hong
Kong laugh at the American way of
dealing with the natives. The English
plan in administering colony where
the population is Asiatic has been
everything for the home government
and the rest for the natives. TN jamaica
one who knows that colony may be
permitted to remark, the only modern
improvements in the island are hotels
and two out of the three that may be
classed as hotels have been built on Am
erican initiative
Aside from the Jones bill, with its at
tendant nightmares the PRINCIPAL sub
ject of conversation here seems Just now
to be the capture, the other day, of men
who made tracings of the plans Of Cor
rogidor. Army officers will tell YOU that
1t would really make no difference
whether another nation got the plans
themselves or not; that the forthca-
tons there are impregnable and sur
pass those of Gibraltar
The truth Is, at home we have not been
alive to what has been going on over
here. For instance, who knows that as
much as 100000 has been spent making
this bay impossible Of capture7 Who AZ
nome mas heard anything OF the great
'battleship" of concrete that is slowly
emerging from the sea on what was once
Fraile island, between Corregidor and
the south shore of Manila bay?
There is one thing that must strike
the average American visitor with con-
siderable force. When he gets to the Phil
ippines he Is little farther away from
nome than he would be in almost anv
olher part OF the world. 1t is a slow and
a long trip from New York here. Com
ing MS way of San Francisco YOU must
allow, at the least 81 days, and Won had
better make ii 80. That represents Nh,
time 1t may take letter to reach Ma
Mia. Actually, 30 days is about the usual
time To write from New York IN Ma
MIA and get an answer will take two
months and a half. unless mail facilities
happen for the moment to be exception
ally good. There Is the trans Siberian
route. Of course, which may effect a saw
ing or five days to a week in time but
the postage is four times the ordinary,
rate and many who have tried # saw
YOU cannot depend upon II. Your letters
may never get through, or soma notify
autocratic Russian official may come 70
the conclusion that the postage paId 60
insufficient. and instead Of forwarding
them on. for the deficiency to he co,,eot-
ed at the other end, send them hack
here.
1t is worthy Of note that so treror-
dously has the trade of Manila with tho
United states increased of late thar tho
Pacific lines are gradually cutting o,,t
Shanghai In favor of this port. YET tbara
could be tremendous Improvement were
1t profitable to run American stear-
ships In competition with those Of other
nationalities A line from San Francisco
TO Honolulu and then to Manila dIrect
with a possible final destination n
Hongkong, cutting out the six IN so,.or
days required by stops at Japanese norts