The press was represented by five dailies—El Diario de Manila, La Oceania Española, three evening papers, El Comercio, La Voz de España, and (from March 3, 1889) La Correspondencia de Manila—also a bi-weekly, La Opinion. Some good articles appeared at times in the three dailies first mentioned, but as newspapers strictly so-called, the information in all was remarkably scant, due to the strict censorship exercised jointly by a priest and a layman. There was also a purely official organ—the Gaceta de Manila.
The first news-sheet published in Manila appears to have been the Filántropo, in the year 1822, which existed only a few years. Others followed and failed in a short time. The first Manila daily paper was the Estrella, which started in 1846 and lasted three years. Since then several dailies have seen the light for a brief period. The Diario de Manila, started in 1848, was the oldest newspaper of those existing at the end of the Spanish regime.
In Spain journalism began in the 17th century by the publication, at irregular intervals, of sheets called “Relaciones.” The first Spanish newspaper, correctly so called, was established in the 18th century. Seventy-eight years ago there was only one regular periodical journal in Madrid. After the Peninsula War, a step was made towards political journalism. This led to such an abuse of the pen that in 1824 all, except the Gaceta de Madrid, the Gaceta de Bayona, the Diario, and a few non-political papers were suppressed. Madrid has now scores of newspapers, of which half a dozen are very readable. The Correspondencia de España, founded by the late Marquis de Santa Ana as a Montpensier organ, used to afford me great amusement in Madrid. It contained columns of most extraordinary events in short paragraphs (gacetillas), and became highly popular, hundreds of persons eagerly waiting to secure a copy. In a subsequent issue, a few days later, many of the paragraphs in the same columns were merely corrections of the statements previously published, but so ingeniously interposed that the hoax took the public for a long time. Newspapers from Spain were not publicly exposed for sale in Manila; those which were seen came from friends or by private subscription, whilst many were proscribed as inculcating ideas dangerously liberal.
There was a botanical garden, rather neglected, although it cost the Colony about ₱8,600 per annum. The stock of specimens was scanty, and the grounds were deserted by the general public. It was at least useful in one sense—that bouquets were supplied at once to purchasers at cheap rates, from 25 cents and upwards.
In the environs of Manila there are several pleasant drives and promenades, the most popular one being the Luneta, where a military band frequently played after sunset. The Gov.-Generalʼs palace[9] and the residences of the foreign European population and well-to-do natives and Spaniards were in the suburbs of the city outside the commercial quarter. Some of these private villas were extremely attractive, and commodiously designed for the climate, but little attention was paid until quite the latter days to architectural beauty.
Very few of the best private residences have more than one storey above the ground-floor. The ground-floor is either uninhabited or used for lodging the native servants, or as a coach-house, on account of the damp. From the vestibule main entrance (zaguan) one passes to the upper floor, which constitutes the house proper, where the family resides. It is usually divided into a spacious hall (caida), leading from the staircase to the dining and reception-rooms; on one or two sides of these apartments are the dormitories and other private rooms. The kitchen is often a separate building, connected with the house by a roofed passage; and by the side of the kitchen, on the same level, is a yard called the azotea—here the bath-room is erected. The most modern houses have corrugated-iron roofs. The ground-floor exterior walls are of stone or brick, and the whole of the upper storey is of wood, with sliding windows all around. Instead of glass, opaque oyster-shells (Tagálog, cápis) are employed to admit the light whilst obstructing the sunʼs rays. Formerly the walls up to the roof were of stone, but since the last great earthquake of 1880 the use of wood from the first storey upwards has been rigorously enforced in the capital and suburbs for public safety. Iron roofs are very hot, and there are still some few comfortable, spacious, and cool suburban residences with tile roof or with the primitive cogon-grass or nipa palm-leaf thatching, very conducive to comfort although more liable to catch fire.
In Spanish times there were no white burglars, and the main entrance of a dwelling-house was invariably left open until the family retired for the night. Mosquitoes abound in Manila, coming from the numerous malarious creeks which traverse the wards, and few persons can sleep without a curtain. To be at oneʼs ease, a daily bath is indispensable. The heat from 12 to 4 p.m. is oppressive from March to May, and most persons who have no afternoon occupation, sleep the siesta from 1 to 3 oʼclock. The conventional lunch-hour all over the Colony is noon precisely, and dinner at about 8 oʼclock. The visiting hours are from 5 to 7 in the evening, and réunions and musical soirées from 9. Society was far less divided here than in the British-Asiatic Colonies. There was not the same rigid line drawn as in British India between the official, non-official, and native. Spaniards of the best families in the capital endeavoured, with varying success, to europeanize the people of the country, and many of them exchanged visits with half-breeds, and at times with wealthy pure natives. Spanish hospitality in the Philippines was far more marked than in Europe, and educated foreigners were generally received with great courtesy.
Since the year 1884 the city and suburbs are well supplied with good drinking-water, which is one of the most praiseworthy modern improvements undertaken by the Spanish Government. To provide for this beneficial work, a Spanish philanthropist, named Carriedo—a late commander of an Acapulco galleon—left a sum of money in the 18th century, in order that the capital and accumulated interest might one day defray the expense. The water supply (brought from Santólan, near Mariquina), being more than sufficient for general requirements, the city and suburbs were, little by little, adorned with several public fountains. Although Manila lies low the climate is healthy, and during several years of personal observation I found the average maximum and minimum temperature at noon in the shade to be 98° and 75° Fahr. respectively. The climate of Manila may be generally summed up as follows, viz.:—December, January, and February, a delightful spring; March, April, and May, an oppressive heat; June, July, August, and September, heavy rains and more tolerable heat; October and November, doubtful—sometimes very wet, sometimes fairly dry. Briefly, as to climate, it is a pleasant place to reside in.
In 1593 Manila already had a coat-of-arms, with the title of “Muy Insigne y siempre leal Ciudad” and in the beginning of the 17th century King Philip III. conferred upon it the title of “La muy noble Ciudad ”; hence it was lately styled “La muy noble y siempre leal Ciudad” (the very noble and always loyal city).
According to Gironnière,[10] the civilized population of this Colony in 1845 was as follows, namely:—