Houses.
Most of the older houses in Manila are of ample size, and well suited to the climate, but some of the newer ones, built to the designs of a Spanish architect, and having glass windows, are very hot and uncomfortable. It is essential to live in a good-sized house, so as to escape the heat by moving to a different part as the sun goes round. Thus you will have your early breakfast in one corner of the balcony; your tiffin, perhaps, on the ground floor; your tea in the open corridor looking on the garden, and your dinner, at 7.30 P.M., in the dining-room under the punkah.
House-rent is paid monthly, and, up to 1892, a good detached house of moderate size could be got in one of the best suburbs for $100 per month, and for less in Santa Ana. Such a house would stand in its own garden, and would have stables for several horses, and shelter for one or two carriages.
I understand that house-rent is now nearly doubled in consequence of the American competition. From their lavish expenditure, we must infer that the new-comers possess large private means in addition to their salaries.