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Entrance to Manila Bay You enter Manila Bay thru a narrow passage in the middle of which is the famous Island of Corregidor, the “Rock,” the “Gibraltar of the Far East,” the “Home of the Big Guns,” that guards the harbor. It is also a hydroplane station of the United States. The island is a stalwart sentinel, as it were, at the harbor’s mouth. Nearby are two other “watch dogs” of Uncle Sam, known as “El Fraile” and “El Carabao,” two other well fortified islands holding many a surprise for any invading fleet.

Down the bay your steamer glides amid the shipping of many nations and the launches of the customs and quarantine soon appear to “look the stranger over.”

MANILA.—After the quarantine and customs inspection you get off your steamer and you are in Manila, the capital of the Philippine Archipelago. Your first impressions are of the tourist sort. Your interest is immediately arrested by the dress and habits of the Filipinos, of the Chinese, and of the various residents from every quarter of the globe. The water buffalo or the carabao, the one horse carriage, or the carromata, and the slippers, or “chinelas,” worn in the streets by the poor will startle you to the realization that you are in a world other than your own. The every-day clothes worn by the people give you an ensemble of all the colors imaginable, more so when there is a procession, parade or similar festivities—royal purple, plum, heliotrope, magenta, psolferino, scarlet, geranium, salmon, pinks, greens, vivid and tender, all the blues, yellow, orange, champaca, in short every hue, shade, and tint that art has borrowed from nature or has invented.

You stroll around the City and one of the first things you notice is the various means of transportation. There is the automobile, from the popular Ford Lizzie to the Packard Limousine; there is the one-horse carriage, in shape and looks unique in the world; and there is the street car propelled by the familiar electricity.

Aglipayan Church, Azcarraga Street, Manila

The Walled City.—Near the pier you see a cluster of buildings enclosed by solid stone walls about twenty feet high. This is the famous Walled City or Intramuros, a remnant of Spanish days. It is something less than a mile long and half a mile wide. The walls used to be fortresses with which the Spaniards used to repel the many attacks and invasions. To go into this Walled City is to remind you of Madrid, Spain, with all its narrow streets and typical Spanish buildings. The walls had been begun prior to the end of the sixteenth century; before the next was far advanced, the place boasted of a cathedral, hospitals, and a university; walled Manila had grown into quite a city.

The Walled City is the original Manila, of which every other part of the modern city is, historically speaking, a suburb. Its battlemented wall is a little over 2½ miles in circuit, and is still for the most part in an excellent state of preservation. The age of the walls is hard to state; its oldest existing portions were undoubtedly built before the end of the sixteenth century, but it has been continuously patched and added to, almost up to the present generation. Parts of it are from twenty to thirty feet in height and thickness. Considering everything, it makes this district one of the best examples of a mediæval walled town in existence.

Fort Santiago While in this Walled City, do not fail to visit Fort Santiago, the oldest part of Spanish Manila, long the citadel of the city, and now the headquarters of the United States Army in the Philippines. It probably stands very nearly on the site of the native fort which the Spanish reconnoitering expedition carried by assault in 1570. It has undergone comparatively little external change in three centuries. There are plenty of traditions connected with the old place—stories of cells below the river level for the “unintentional” execution of inconvenient persons, and of chambers found filled with dislocated skeletons. Though none of these places are now identifiable, it is a historical fact that one cell, either in the fort or in the wall to the east of it (since removed), was the scene, as late as the night of the 31st of August, 1896, of a tragedy much resembling that of the Black Hole of Calcutta. Fifty-six out of sixty Filipinos who had been crowded into it, on being arrested on suspicion of complicity in the insurrection then raging, were the victims of the poisoned atmosphere or of the desperate struggle that took place within.

Pursuing your travels around Manila you see an admixture of the quaintly native, of the mediæval, and of the strictly modern. In architecture, you see splendid examples of Grecian, Moorish, Spanish, Renaissance, Gothic, and Byzantine. Likewise you see many native nipa houses, small yet cool and cozy, and exceedingly appropriate for the needs of the climate.

The new Trade School, Manila

Three Manilas For in reality there are three Manilas, which are still noticeable. First, there is the Manila of the original Malay, which, with its nipa shacks, its carabaos, and its quaint fishing boats, exists much as it did in the days of Raja Lacandola. Secondly, there is the Manila of the sixteenth and seventeenth century Spaniard—adventurer, merchant, and crusader in equal parts—who, in the churches and convents, the walls and gates, and the half-Moorish domestic architecture, has left ineffaceable memorials of the fact that this, the oldest of the European settlements in the East, was in its day among the chief glories of the “once imperial race.” Finally, there is the Americanized Manila of to-day, the town of electricity, motor cars, macadamized roads and sewers and steel bridges, well on its way to become one of the beautiful cities of the world.

Costumes The costumes of the women are admittedly unique and attractive. Old Spain gave the peasant’s neckerchief that has evolved into the pañuelo; the court train of her damas gave the saya; her priests gave the tapis; the ground plan is Malayan, the sleeves swelled to suit the climate. This, which has changed but little in over three centuries, is the predominating model; but America, Paris, half Asia, and the South Pacific contribute also to the revue des modes: georgette crèpe and coconut fiber rain cape and skirt, white duck and rengue, all in the same rain shower on the same block.

The Shops Modern shops with plate-glass fronts, office buildings with their elevators, elbow in between the open-fronted Chino shops of the Rosario. And the carabao snails by, and the “little gray hawk” that “hangs aloft in the air,” happens to be an aëroplane.

The Pasig Down by the entrance to the Pasig River modern steamers are warped to the river wall, and farther up dumpy river launches shuffle about their work of conveying to the big household of Manila chickens, pigs, fruits, and vegetables; a string of bamboo-roofed cascoes lie in wait by the market; sturdy bargemen with thirty-foot bamboo poles shove the unwieldy lorchas about, and the tiny bancas now toddle bravely along, now reel and wobble from the cuffs of their elders. The river is navigable for miles, and a trip upstream reveals successive combinations of meadows, high banks fringed with feathery bamboo, and here and there a village with its nipa houses and its gray stone church embowered in groves of coconuts and mangoes.

The Cathedral, Walled City, Manila

OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST

Churches You will find them at every turn. To see her churches alone, in detail—St. Augustine’s, built in 1599, with its ceiling of solid stone nearly four feet thick, and the illustrious dead beneath its hardwood floor; St. Sebastian’s of solid steel made in Belgium and brought out in sections and assembled; St. Ignatius’ and others with exquisitely carved woodwork, the work of Filipinos; their altars, statues and paintings—to appreciate their architecture and the engineering skill that erected them would require not days or weeks, but months.

The Cathedral Special mention should be made of the Cathedral, the historic edifice which has witnessed so many rare and brilliant ceremonies. It is a most ornate and yet harmonious structure. The massive dome can be seen from far out at sea. The nave of the cathedral is of most majestic proportions and its pillars and clusters, with their gilded capitals, are handsome. The cupola rises to an immense height and has an inside balcony. Its four corners are frescoed, and the subjects are the “Four Evangelists.” A beautiful sky, with angel heads, upon which stands the statue of the Immaculate Concepcion, is just above the high altar and around it, in sort of a frieze, are the heads of the apostles, while in the transepts, are the heads of the prophets, kings, and patriarchs. The architecture of the cathedral is of Roman Byzantine Style.

The Ayuntamiento On the right hand side of the cathedral, the traveler sees the Ayuntamiento, a two-story building, the original seat of the Spanish government, now the headquarters of the House of Representatives and of the six departments of the Philippine government. The cornerstone of this building was laid in 1735. On the main landing of its imposing staircase is a statue, a replica of that in the “Biblioteca Nacional” at Madrid, of Juan Sebastian Elcano, the navigator who, after the death of Magellan, brought to a safe conclusion the first voyage around the world. The doors in either side of the statue lead to the Marble Hall, named from its marble floor, where the house of representatives sits and where official receptions and state entertainments are often held.

Philippine University Cadets in formation in front of the Ayuntamiento, the central government building

University of Santo Tomas In the rear of the Ayuntamiento, and occupying the other half of the same block, stands the building of the University of Santo Tomas, founded in 1619, the oldest educational institution of collegiate rank under American sovereignty. It is under the direction of the Dominican Order and has departments for the education of students in all the principal professions. It keeps a valuable and extensive collection of zoölogical, ethnological, and other scientific specimens which is open to male visitors only (the university being by origin a monastic institution) on Sunday mornings from 9 to 11. In the little plaza on which the building fronts is a statue of Miguel Benavides, the second Archbishop of Manila, and founder of the University.

The Dominican Church At the end of this plaza stands the great Gothic Dominican Church, one of the very few examples of that style in the city. It has very fine doors and a beautifully decorated altar and pulpit. Connected with it, as with all the old churches of the friar orders, is an enormous convent, very plain outside, but containing much of interest within—ancient libraries and some very quaint courtyards, cloisters, refection halls, and a series of religious pictures.

Bureau of Printing Building

Just back of this church is the gap in the wall, thru which the car line from the commercial center of the city enters. Hard by is the Intendencia Building, in which is located the Insular Treasury and the offices and session hall of the Philippine Senate. Behind this, on the river front, is a modest monument to Magellan, the one memorial of the great discoverer in the capital of the land he brought in contact with Latin civilization.

Avenues The Walled City, except for a short space where the battlements of Fort Santiago are washed by the river, is completely surrounded by fine avenues, all bordered on the inside by the stretch of green which has replaced the former moat. The Magallanes Drive runs for a short distance between the walls and the Pasig river to the northeast. To the west is the Bonifacio Drive, with an avenue of palms. This is now bounded on its farther side by the new Port District, but in old days was the seaside promenade of Manila. The circuit of the wall is completed by the Bagumbayan Drive (now Burgos Drive), which sweeps in a beautiful acacia-bordered quadrant around the east, southeast, and south.

A section of Manila’s commercial district

This avenue will, in a few years, be completely lined with Government buildings and grounds. It begins at the river, near the end of the Jones Bridge. Continuing down it toward the bay the traveler passes first the Mehan Gardens, really a public park, of moderate size, finely kept. It was the result of the work of a Spanish botanist and forester, Sebastian Vidal y Soler, of whom a statue stands in its midst. The garden was completely neglected and used as a camping ground during the insurrection, but was restored by the present Government. Beyond the garden in succession, are the buildings of the Bureau of Printing and the present temporary City Hall. The street branching off to the left between these is Calle Concepcion, on the right hand side of which, immediately back of the City Hall, are the buildings of the Young Men’s Christian Association.

Turning to the left from the riverside of the Botanical Garden and crossing the Pasig River on the Santa Cruz Bridge, then turning to the right, the traveler comes across another important and imposing avenue, called the Rizal Avenue. This avenue begins from the heart of the commercial district of the city, and leads to the northern suburb of Manila, which is destined to be one of the best residential sections.

The Luneta Hotel, Manila

The principal attractions on this avenue, are the Grand Opera House where periodical performances are held by foreign opera companies, the Stadium where prize fighting is held between Filipino boxers as well as between Filipino and foreign boxers, the Central Methodist Church, and the San Lazaro Hospital.

Bilibid Prison This avenue is intersected by an equally broad thoroughfare formed by Azcarraga Street, on which are numerous small shops, several theaters of various grades, and several residential homes. On the sea-side of this thoroughfare is situated the Cathedral of the Independent Filipino Church, an institution headed by Archbishop Aglipay, and having about 3,000,000 members. Other places of interest are the Zorrilla Theater, the Centro Escolar de Señoritas, a private school for girls, being the biggest institution of the kind in Manila, and Bilibid Prison, the great central penitentiary of the Philippines and one of the largest and best-managed institutions of the kind in the world.

Central Railroad Station, Manila Railroad Company

The average number of inmates of Bilibid Prison is between 2,500 and 3,000. The main part of the prison, which altogether covers twenty acres, consists of well-ventilated wards radiating from a central tower; cells are little used. There is a fine hospital, a school, and a highly developed system of industries. Visitors are admitted everyday for the ceremony of retreat, which occurs at about 4:30 in the afternoon. The salesroom, where the products of the prison shops may be seen and purchased, are open to the public during the regular office hours. Perhaps the best work is to be found in the furniture of native hardwood; but the wicker furniture, the desk sets, and other small articles of hardwood, the silverware, and the local curios are well worth inspection.

Taft Avenue Another wide and picturesque avenue branches off from Burgos Drive, a short distance from the City Hall. This is called the Taft Avenue, after the first civil governor of the Philippines, Honorable William H. Taft, now Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Along this avenue are several modern concrete buildings, the most important of which are the Philippine Normal School, the Normal Hall, a dormitory for ladies, the Santa Rita’s Hall, the Central School for American and European children, the Nurses’ Home, and the Philippine General Hospital.

Turning to the right, on Padre Faura Street, the traveler comes across a number of the buildings of the Philippine University, all of which are of reinforced concrete and modern in every respect. The large vacant space behind these buildings is the University Campus where athletic exercises and military drills are held almost every afternoon.

The Paco Railroad Depot, Manila

Central Observatory Further on to the left on this same street, is the Central Observatory of the Philippine Weather Bureau. This intensely interesting institution is open to the public on Tuesdays from half past 2 to half past 4 in the afternoon and on Saturdays from half past 8 to half past 11 in the morning. It is one of the oldest and best of its kind in the East, having been founded in 1865 by the Jesuits and operated continuously since then, even in 1898, while hostile armies were contending for the possession of the city. The founder and director for many years was Fr. Frederic Faura, after whom the street on which the building stands is named. The present head is Fr. Jose Algué, who has made for himself a world-wide reputation as a meteorologist. It is still directed by specially trained Jesuit priests and supported financially by an arrangement with the Philippine Government. Its great renown has been gained through its work in the field of earthquakes and typhoons.

A Modern Thoroughfare, Taft Avenue, Manila

The Luneta At the extreme end of Burgos Drive, the traveler comes out on the broad expanse of a park, of partly natural and partly made land, on the inland side of which is the most famous recreation place of Manila—the Luneta. This is an oval stretch of lawn where, nearly every evening, the music of the fine band of the Philippine Constabulary or that of some military organization combines with the sea breeze and the gorgeous sunsets behind the top of Mount Mariveles to bring together a crowd so varied and brilliant as to make this gathering one of the most distinctively picturesque sights of the city. Hundreds of carriages and motor cars draw up along the curb or make the circuit of the driveway, while thousands of pedestrians throng the walks and lawns. It is a gay and cosmopolitan gathering—Government officials, wealthy Chinese merchants, Spaniards, officers of the Army and Navy, American women in the light and dainty gowns of the Tropics, and Filipino women of every class in the picturesque national dress of gorgeous semi-transparent native cloth, that has caused one observer to describe them as “jet-crowned butterflies.”

The Jones Bridge, named after the author of the Jones Law giving the Filipinos practical autonomy in local affairs. A section of the historic Bridge of Spain, built by the Spaniards, is seen nearby

On the green of the Luneta facing Manila Bay is the monument to the national hero of the Philippines—the physician, novelist, and patriot—Dr. Jose Rizal. It was designed by the Swiss sculptor Richard Kissling, whose work was selected out of many in a contest for a substantial prize. The monument consists of a granite obelisk, about fifty feet high, serving as a background for a bronze statue of heroic size.

The Manila Hotel To the north of the Luneta is the well-known Manila Hotel, reputed to be the finest in the Orient. Immediately opposite the hotel site, on the green at the corner of the former moat, is the monument to Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Andres Urdaneta, the civil and ecclesiastical founders of Manila. This, as a work of art, is far superior to anything else of the sort now actually standing in the city. The pedestal supports idealized figures of the mailed warrior and the priest, holding aloft the banner of Castile and the Cross. These were cast in Spain and sent out prior to the change of sovereignty, but was never put up. They were found by the American conquerors in a warehouse, and it is to them that the monument owes its erection in its present excellent location. On the side of the green opposite the hotel and the Legaspi monument are the new buildings of the Elks and the Army and Navy Clubs.

The principal buildings of the Philippine University

The Museum To the north of the Manila Hotel is the Philippine Museum, housed in a modern building. Those interested in the fauna and flora of this part of the globe, and in archeological collections will find in this museum an hour well spent.

The Carnival Grounds To the East of the present Luneta, immediately across the road, is the large tract of land known as Wallace (formerly Bagumbayan) Field. It is the site of athletic grounds and of the annual Carnival. It boasts a gruesome past and a distinguished future. Under the old régime it was a public execution ground for political prisoners, and here on the 30th of December, 1896, in the shadow of the old Luneta outwork, since removed, Dr. Jose Rizal met his death before the Spanish firing squad. In a few years more, under the name of “Government Center,” it will be the site of the new Capitol, and of other Government buildings.

The Normal Hall—A dormitory for girls, Manila

For the present this tract is the scene, for a week or more every February, of the great Philippine Carnival, which has become one of the established institutions in the Islands and one of the greatest attractions of Manila. While it lasts most of the town puts on festal garb and takes a series of half holidays, and dominoes become familiar sights on the public streets. Within the grounds are the usual amusement features—the merry-go-round, the whip, shooting galleries, a hippodrome with spectacular performances, and extensive and interesting exhibits of the products of the Islands, sent by the provincial governments, the schools, and private concerns. Elaborate parades—military, industrial, and carnival—and great balls in an immense auditorium, both exclusive and popular, complete the program. The industrial and commercial exhibits are under the supervision of the Government.

The Polo Grounds

Dewey Boulevard Capping the ensemble of all these attractions around the Luneta is a beautiful boulevard, comparable with the best anywhere, which leads from where the buildings of the Elks and the Army and Navy Clubs are situated and extends until the city limits, near Pasay, a suburb on the Manila South Road. This boulevard is a favorite driveway in the evening. The chain of lights that illuminate its entire length makes it attractive beyond comparison. To the right will be heard the splash of the waters of Manila Bay dashing against the rocks that fringe the Boulevard. To the left are some of the most imposing residences of the City. The steamers anchored in the bay present a lovely sight, especially in the stillness of the night. It is from this boulevard that the Philippine sunset, so entrancingly beautiful, can be seen without obstruction, while in the distance, to the left, is the City of Cavite, to which the Boulevard will in time lead, and hence has been originally named “Cavite Boulevard.” It was only recently that its name was changed to “Dewey Boulevard” in memory of Admiral Dewey who, a short distance out into the bay, by defeating the Spanish Squadron, sealed the fate of colonial Spain in this part of the globe.

Philippine Carnival Auditorium, 1922, where sumptuous balls are held every evening during the Carnival week

Clubs and Societies All of the great fraternal orders have their branches in Manila—The Masonic Order, The Knights of Columbus, The I.O.O. F., The Elks, and The Knights Templars. Religious, charitable, social, musical, literary, athletic, and other associations, also abound. There is a National Federation of Women’s Clubs, having about 400 branches in all parts of the Archipelago and also a Catholic Federation of Women. All the foreigners also have their respective clubs and societies.

Cemeteries The Cementerio del Norte is the municipal cemetery. It is the only modern garden cemetery in Manila. It covers a very large area (133 acres), only a small part of which has been developed. There are sections for Americans, Filipinos, and Chinese, each showing the distinctive emblems with which the several races mark the resting places of their dead. There are beautiful monuments and well-kept lawns.

Adjoining the municipal cemetery is the Catholic cemetery and the chapel of La Loma. The Chinese also have an exclusive cemetery nearby. All the ground in this vicinity is historical, for much of the fighting of the early days of the insurrection centered about the district; there was a block-house which formerly stood back of the La Loma Chapel. Paco cemetery on San Marcelino is closed now, but once a year, on All Saints Day, it is opened and in the evening, brilliantly illuminated.

Monuments Among the most notable monuments are the Rizal monument in the Luneta; the Legaspi and Urdaneta monument near the Manila Hotel; the Anda monument at the foot of the Malecon Drive; the Magallanes monument near the Treasury building; the Statue of Elcano in the Ayuntamiento; the Statue of Benavides at Plaza of Sto. Tomas; and that of Charles IV at Plaza McKinley, and Queen Isabela II in Malate. The finest of the recent ones, are the monument of Balintawak, a short distance out, to commemorate the first cry of the revolution, and the monument to the Katipunan and the Liga Filipina at Raxa Matanda, Tondo.

The Legaspi and Urdaneta Monument facing the Luneta, Manila

LIFE IN MANILA.—In Manila is felt the pulse of the world’s activity—the currents of political, commercial, and intellectual thought of the world—more keenly than in New York or London. The reason is simple. Each man here is an individual machine; in the larger cities he is a cog. The elements of absolute economic dependence being absent, the inhabitants are forced into contact with many nations, together with all the social and economic relations which that contact entails. In the press Manila is not overwhelmed with a mass of unimportant news. The immensity of non-essential topics of no general interest is spared the residents. Only the essential and all the essential reaches them. Their horizon is not bounded by 42nd Street nor by neighbor Peet’s farm. One of the many reasons for the happier life in Manila than in other cities of the world, so far at least as foreigners are concerned, is the natural selection of the fit and strong, which is invariably taking place. There are no crippled and weak, no poor nor invalid people in Manila to pester you. They do not come—they seldom dare. Only those looking for adventure, those fitted to care for themselves, those determined to survive that come to make this part of the world his temporary or permanent abode.

The Rizal Monument, at the Luneta, Manila

No Vexing Conventionalities The conventionalities and prescribed forms of daily living are absent. There is no Madam Gruncy to hector, there are no rules of the elite class or the would-be Four Hundred. You come and go unquestioned. You have absolute sovereignty over your own affairs. There are no neighbors to tell the foreigner what to think or how to vote. Neither a Democrat nor a Republican is disgraced for being so. A society of men and women from all corners of the globe accord respect to your judgment. Not living in San Francisco you are not disturbed by its claims of superiority to Seattle or New York.

There is less attention paid to inconsequential details and boresome routine than in the complex centers of the Old and the New World. It is of less importance to know what Lady Jane wore at the ball than to know how she will run her embroidery establishment. More thought is given to one’s failure and success and struggles with new conditions than of a man’s politics. The interrelationship of races, the development of a virgin country, the wide latitude for one’s activities accustom you to thinking in the large. Men talk little in the Tropics, but what they say has meaning.

There is less violence in the Philippines than in any other land. The people are gentle and courteous. In provincial towns, in lonely districts, an American or European woman can remain alone for days without fear of molestation. One can take long trips through the wildest mountain in perfect safety. Firearms for self defense need not even be thought of.

The Carnival grounds, Manila

Competition Less Severe Competition in Manila is not as severe as in other cities. Success is attained with greater ease. The routine of life is pleasant, and days pass quickly. In occidental cities one generally rushes through breakfast and rushes to his office. Also he rushes all the morning until 12 o’clock. Not so in the Philippines. He dictates in a few minutes his day’s correspondence which will probably leave port a week later, depending on the schedule of boats. Then he has new schemes to think over and conferences to hold with confrères. After this there is usually considerable time for ice cream and further conferences outside. He probably visits his bank and the cable office, and does some more thinking. If he is a salesman, he has to talk with prospective customers. At all events he is a very busy man, with a dozen plans for expansion working in his brain; but there is time, aeons of time. There is so much to be done and so little danger that the field will be overworked before he gets to it that he fears nothing. At 12 o’clock or thereabouts he goes back to his room for lunch. Afterwards he sleeps for two hours and drops back to his office. At 4 o’clock he goes out for tea, and at 5 o’clock, if the day has been a hard one, he knocks off for golf or tennis or a swim, or goes back to his siesta chair for rest. After supper at 8 o’clock, if he is socially inclined, he organizes a party for a cabaret and spends a pleasant evening. Otherwise he plays cards or billiards at his club. The next day repeats, and so on. He is never hurried, never tired, never worried.

The Luneta, during a Carnival parade