Binondo and the Suburbs.
Binondo, on the northern shore of the Pasig, and opposite the old city, is the business quarter. Here are the large tobacco factories, which employ about 10,000 men, women, and children. One factory alone, indeed, employs 2,000. The Manila wrappers and Manila cheroots and cigars are famed the world over. The employees in these factories earn on an average about 15 cents a day. With this they are able to live very well; for food is cheap, and rent is even cheaper. Most of the boys and men in these factories wear only a thin pair of trousers, being naked from the waist up. The girls also have but a slight covering. In the midst of every group of girls sits an old woman, who acts as a kind of combined overseer and chaperon.
The Fashionable New Cathedral in Old Manila, and the Ruins of the Old Cathedral, Destroyed by Earthquake, 1863.
The main street of Binondo is the Escolta, and here are situated the commercial warehouses, the bazaars, and the European shops. In the Rosario are the Chinese shops. These are very small, and a dozen or more are usually grouped together. In each, on the little counter, sits a Chinaman, casting accounts with the ancient abacus. Another stands behind the counter and acts as salesman; a third is in front drumming up customers, very much after the manner of Moses Cohn, Baxter street, New York. These Chinese traders are exceedingly shrewd, and it is almost useless for the buyer to attempt to secure a reduction in price; they have a uniform scale, agreed upon by themselves. Many of these Chinese merchants are fabulously rich; and all are prosperous and progressive, the natives and the Europeans not being able to compete against them.
In the Escolta are many fine shops owned by Spaniards, mestizos, Germans, English, and Americans. The Escolta, in the daytime, presents an animated appearance: about ten thousand carriages pass here daily, and a great volume of business is transacted. The commerce is yearly increasing, too. The principal articles of export are honey, tobacco, cigars, sugar, coffee, and indigo.
The laboring class live in Tondo, another suburb. Their dwellings are covered with roofs of nipa thatch. The drainage around these huts is very bad, and under them are pools of stagnant water, the cause of great mortality among the natives. The endemic diseases of the islands are swamp-fever, diarrhœa, beri-beri, and typhoid.
The traffic on the river along the Binondo shore is considerable. The river is not navigable by the large ocean-liners; only by boats of light draught.
The streets of Manila, for the most part, are badly paved and still more badly lighted, though some of the public gardens have been recently much improved in this respect.
Beyond Binondo lies the aristocratic suburb, San Miguel, where live the wealthy European merchants and many of the Government officials. Here are many elegant and imposing residences.
Commercial House of Russell & Sturgis; First American Merchants; Later, Lala’s Hotel.
It is a unique sight to pass these white bungalows at night, and hear the merry chatter or the sweet music of the happy people on the wide, cool verandas; men and women, boys and girls, all smoking cigarillos. For everybody smokes—from the Spanish grandee down to his native postilion.
A more contented people than the Filipinos surely do not exist. Naturally averse to exertion, and possessing few wants, they accept the dispensations of Providence with a philosophic acquiescence not far removed from indifference. One day differs little from another. Upon rising, early in the morning, they take a cup of chocolate or coffee. At eight o’clock they partake of a light breakfast, consisting of two or three dishes and a dessert. The head of the family then goes to his work, the women, meanwhile, attending to their household duties. From twelve to one is tiffin—a heavy lunch, consisting of soup, fish, meat, dessert, and coffee, including rice and curry. From one to four all enjoy the luxury of a siesta, after which, from four to five, they have chocolate and cakes served, exchange visits, go out riding, or take some other kind of recreation. Dinner is at eight. This is usually an elaborate meal, consisting of meats, fruits, and various native delicacies. After dinner, different diversions, such as music and dancing, make the evening an agreeable one. About eleven o’clock, the entire family goes to bed.
“Bed” consists of a fine mat, and one narrow and one long pillow. There are no sheets. Both men and women sleep in their stockings and pajamas. Mosquito curtains are, of course, a necessity.
“Home, Sweet Home,” As the Filipino Knows It.
All this, of course, applies to the better class of natives, whose residences are often fine and commodious. Very few houses are more than one story above the ground floor. If so, the extra story is uninhabited or serves as a sleeping-place for the servants, or as a coach-house. The roofs are usually of tin or iron, which makes them extremely hot in summer. For this reason many houses are also covered with a thin layer of nipa-palm, which is cooler. The ground-story is usually of stone or brick; the upper of wood, with sliding windows of opaque sea-shells. The bath-house is really the greatest personal necessity in Manila. For a daily bath is almost indispensable to health and comfort.