All of the above figures are for temperatures at a height of six feet above the ground. Temperatures nearer the ground are decidedly lower. It has been found that in the Baguio plateau the lowest temperatures correspond to the deepest valleys. In such places white frost is not rare during the months of January, February, and March, while on the tops of hills the temperature is milder, frost being almost unknown. During typhoons conditions do not differ essentially from those experienced elsewhere in the islands, except that the rainfall is exceptionally heavy.
Major-General J. Franklin Bell, who has given special attention to mountain resorts the world over, vigorously asserts that Baguio has no equal on the globe. Certainly the climate is more nearly perfect than any other of which I have personal knowledge, and the delightful coolness and the bracing air afford heavenly relief to jangling nerves and exhausted bodies, worn out by overwork and by a too prolonged sojourn in tropical lowlands.
One of the very important things about the Baguio climate is its marvellous effect upon victims of tuberculosis.
Persons suffering from this disease in its earlier stages may confidently look forward to restored health if willing to live out of doors under the pine trees, and there have been a number of extraordinary recoveries among those in advanced stages.
A series of little cottages which can be thrown wide open have been operated for some time in connection with the government hospital, in order practically to demonstrate the effect of the climate on tuberculosis victims.
The results are conclusive, and whenever funds are available there should be established a settlement of such cottages on some one of the numerous good sites sufficiently removed from the town to avoid any possible danger of infecting healthy persons. There should also be a large mess hall from which good nourishing food can be served, and plenty of level ground on which tents can be erected during the dry season. Baguio’s potential importance as a resort for victims of the great white plague justifies every cent of expenditure necessary to make it readily accessible.
The Sisters of the Assumption have erected a handsome building which serves as a rest house and a girls’ school. The sisters known as the “Belgian Canonist Missionaries” are erecting a building which will afford them a place to come for recuperation when wearied by strenuous work in the lowlands, and will make it possible for them to open a school for Igorot girls, which they are planning to do.
Bishop Brent has established an excellent school for American boys, situated on a sunny hilltop. The instruction is very good, the food excellent, and a healthier, heartier-looking lot of youngsters than those who enjoy the privileges of this institution cannot be found anywhere. There is abundant opportunity for them to play basket-ball, tennis and golf. Some of them indulge in polo, playing on Filipino ponies.
Bishop Brent also has a mission school for Igorot girls, and plans to open a boarding school for American girls in the near future.
The Belgian missionary priests, locally known as the “Missionary Priests of the Church of San Patricio,” have their headquarters at Baguio, where the chief of their order resides and where they come occasionally for rest and recuperation. Archbishop Harry has a modest home on one of the numerous hilltops.