Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-05-15
THE new CITY OF MANILA
Noteworthy Changes since Dew
ey's Capture of the Stronghold.
More Than Eight Hundred Acres of
New Land Pumped From the
Bay--Few Carpet
Baggefs.

NO matter what SOrJ OF uOuptlhS
Thomas you have been on the question
of what American occupation has meant
for the Philippines, when you reach the
great breakwater off Manila, and then
get beyond It your first glimpse of the
city-not the old town of tho Spanish. at
all. but a new American city, with piers
far superior to those in most seaports of
the United states-your sensation must
be wonder, and then pride, says the
Manila correspondent of the New York
Times.
Just in front of you, to the right for a
mile or so, and almost an equal distance
to the left, is land that was not there
when Dewey first happened along. You
have read occasional reports of what was
being done here Perhaps you have seen
pictures Of the new Manila hotel and the
handsome clubs that face it. But you had
no real comprehension of what had been
accomplished in the way Of physical i'm
provement
You land on soil that was pumped out
Of the bay to make 1t possible for your
ship. or any other of respectable size to
get nearer than three miles from Manila.
That breakwater out there a strong.
modern structure OF concrete and tremen-
dous rocks, which gives the port a safe
harbor, was put there by Americans. The
sand that was pumped out of the bay
makes an area of dry ground that would
hold a city itself. Behind miles Of new
sea wall more durable than any about
Manhattan island If one excerpts that of
the Chelsea Improvement, are more than
500 acres of land that the Spaniards
never knew about except when 1t struck
the bottoms of their ships.
If you needed a concrete presentment
Of contrast, there It lies before you.
on one side of a big plaza of greenward
rises the Manila hotel, the finest struc-
ture of the kind in any tropical country,
built of reinforced concrete, modern in
architecture. and designed as to It's in
terror with a view to giving the greatest
possible comfort in n normally and con-
tnuousy hot climate. So far as its con-
struction and arrangement are concerned,
it could serve as pattern at any sum-
mer resort in the United States. On the
opposite of the immense square, called
Burnham green In honor of the dis
tinguished architect who planned to
make Manila a city beautiful, stands
the Army and Navy club, harmonious
with the hotel in design and construc-
tion, and commodous. and adjoining II
Is the Elks' club. While these structures
all spell that comfort which the white
man Graves in the tropics as much as
he does at home, and needs far more,
the beauty of their architecture and the
permanence OF their construction make
them monuments. Away to the left as
you drive away from the pier, lies a
low. gray wall. 1t was practically the sea
boundary OF Manila when the Americans
got here. 1t is now high and dry. The
noat which surrounded it has had to be
filled in, and the haunts where mos
quitoes once bred by the billion to spread
disease among Filipinos and white men
alike, now serve as a playground, where
in the afternoon you will see hundreds of
lusty youngsters busy at the good Amer
lean game and bowling at the opposing
pitcher and Raging the umpire and
shouting the same baseball slang you
hear at the polo grounds of a summer
afternoon when "Christy'' Is In the box.
and the Bostons are at the bat.
That WALL $50 years old, marks the line
Of Spanish progress in the islands. The
dons never got beyond that. On the top
of it the Americans have planted grass
and shrubs, and even trees, and in the
afternoon you may be invited to drink
tea on the lawn il makes for the con-
stabulary commanders quarters.
You don't see. in your first glance, the
S. 900 water system and the sewage
system, costing an equal sum. that the
Americans have installed, hut they make
ii possible for you to sojourp here in
comparative security, so fan as your
health is concerned When you drive into
the old town, you find American push
and energy transplanted. Manila Is a
busy city. The traffic in the Escolta, the
main shopping street, is on the move
continuously. Automobiles are numerous.
and If you don't show a degree OF agility
in getting across the street something is
going to hit you. Everywhere about are
evidences of some new spirit. some i'm
polling power that is moving things
along and as things never move in Span
ish countries, and the hustle and the
rush are typically American, YOU may
easily guess what causes it all.
And the rush continues in spite of the
news from home, although you find
everybody apprehensve. Anybody to
whom you are introduced, when he finds
you are just from the States is bound
TO ask you what you think of the Jones
DILL and whether 1t has chance OF going
through. Real estate has taken tremen-
dous tumble, The Introduction of the
Jones bill, the exploitation of the idea
or Philippine independence, uncertainty
as to what the democratic administra-
ton Is going to do with regard to the
Islands, and the fear of a "scuttle"
policy, as they call it out here, meaning
pines to their own fate, with the conse-
quent ruination of every Investment of
any size in the islands (as most Ameri
cans out here predict, has made in
vestors timid-
You hear Of real estate being sold at
man or third of the price it was held at
a year ago. Money Is difficult to get.
one chief occupation seems to be making
euesses as to the composition of Wilson'S
caplnet' Anxiously and prayerfully some
Word Is awaited from the States which
can DE regarded as authentic. Cable tolls
are nigh the local papers are doing their
pest 10 cater to the present demand. Out
side or the Manila shops people tell Won
'hihgs are In state OF paralysis The
inauguration of Woodrow Wilson ia
awaited with fear and trembling Tho