The presence of chickens about natives' homes is accounted for by their weakness for cock fights. Cockpits are no longer allowed within the city limits, but, as Manila does not cover a large area, from 15 minutes to half an hour's ride in a calesa will find one at a pit where the native sport is taking place. Gambling is the incentive for that sport, and so long as a Filipino can gamble he will not work.
Prize fights are not permitted in the Philippines, and it is a criminal offense for a newspaper to publish a challenge for bouts. Americans of sporting ilk find Manila an uncomfortable place to live in. Every once in a while groups of free-and-easy characters are rounded up by the authorities, taken to a ship sailing for the United States, when they unwillingly bid good-by to Manila's shores.
The climate of Manila differs from that of other countries the same distance from the equator. A majority of Europeans wear the same kind of hats as are worn in the States. Neither were white clothes much worn. In other sections close to the equator one would fall from sunstroke did he not wear a helmet or some other heavy head-covering.
The city and country around Manila is flat and swampy. When a season of heavy rain occurs the suburbs are partly under water, many of the streets being in a deplorable condition. Both the sewerage and water systems are modern, however, but some of the business streets are poorly paved.
Several daily newspapers are printed in the capital, but, aside from a white man being in charge, the printers are mostly natives. The same applies to the island printing office located in Manila. Wages paid the native printers are from $18 to $25 a month. Laborers receive from 50 to 75 cents a day. American mechanics receive about the same wages as those paid in the States.
Soldiers, in khaki uniforms, are always to be seen about the streets of Manila, a fort being located just outside the city. A similar uniform is worn by the British troops in some of their colonies, but the uniform worn by the American soldier looks neater, for the reason that the American uniform is starched, while the Britisher's is ironed. Both police and soldiers are gentlemanly fellows.
Evicting the dead sounds strange, but this takes place in Paco Cemetery, in Manila. The dead are placed in niches built in a wall, from six to seven feet thick, which encloses an area of three acres of land. The wall is perhaps eight feet high, and three niches, or burial places, are built one under the other, with a wall partition between. Rent must be paid for these niches, and when friends fail to meet the bills the remains are taken out and placed in a heap with others formerly evicted. One may pay rent for these burial vaults as long as he wishes, but from five to ten years seemed to be the length of time relatives retained regard for the departed. The graveyard is over a hundred years old, but the dates appearing on the slabs of the vaults bear record only of deaths within five to ten years. All the burial places are not like Paco, however, as in a number of cemeteries the dead are placed underground. The total number of vaults in Paco Cemetery will accommodate 1,782 bodies.
Hotel accommodation can be had for $2 a day. Boarding houses charge from $40 to $60 a month. Similar articles cost considerably more in Manila than they do in the States. No duty is levied on American imports when brought to the islands in American ships.
Manila is divided by the Pasig River, and a busy shipping place it is. North of the Pasig is the business center of the city, and, save for some shipping, there is little business on the other side of the dividing water. The old walled city, however, is located south of the Pasig. The wall itself is the oldest on American soil. Compared with that at Canton, it is limited, as the Manila wall contains an area of less than a mile. Its construction was started in 1591, but was not completed until 1872. The Spaniards did not seem to be in much of a hurry to finish the work. However, it served as a protection from assaults by Chinese and by the Moros; but in 1762 the English led a successful attack on this defense. Built in the walls are numerous chambers which had been used as cells for prisoners, and in some of these, after American occupation, were found instruments of torture, and even human bones. The churches and convents still stand behind the strong walls, and bear witness to the suffering, bravery and endurance in the early history of the Philippines. Some of the buildings in Intramuros are used as government offices. Originally seven gates led to the enclosure, but the Americans decided these were not enough, and two more openings were made. The fort and enclosure were built to command a wide view of Manila Bay, allowing a good stretch of land to intervene between the historic wall and the shore.
Manila has a splendid fire department, good schools, numerous churches, museums and libraries, theaters, sports grounds, hospitals, charities organizations, a very good municipal ice manufacturing plant, and club buildings. One will find in that far-off possession most of the advantages to be had in the cities of the United States.