Friday, July 19, 1912 Manila Hotel

We have been in Manila a week to-day, but there has been no time to write. Our trip to Hongkong was without venture. The China Sea was  as hot as the Red Sea and seemed to grow hotter every hour.  We came near enough to the P. Isl. to see the lights and it was a pity that we had to pass by. The China Sea is reputed to be one of the roughest seas in the world, but it was smooth enough for us and one night it gave us a great pleasure in the form of a fine phosphorescence, the finest I ever saw.  The harbor of Hongkong might be called an inland Lake as only rugged and rather forbidding mountains can be seen from the sea.  Once inside, the  craft is numerous and even outside little boats looking like butterflies dotted the water - always going by twos.  In every harbor the boats are of different build and carry different sails. Those of China are like this : 

(1)  Photo 

SAMPANS, HONGKONG 
The sails are colored like burnt umber.  The water under a clear sky  is intensely blue, the hills a vivid green and the combination produces a  most picturesque landscape. As we slowly drew inside, the picture was  like this: 

(2) -2- Photo 

THE HARBOR HONGKONG. BREWER & CO. LTD. HONGKONG. 
And a little later it was like No. 3, for the city lies far inside the Harbor behind the hills, a fact which accounts for the awful summer heat.  It grew hotter and hotter as we came inside. We stopped at a Sugar refinery some distance from the city and remained on the ship until nearly evening, when the office launch belonging to the line J. C. J. L. took us to  town. 

We went to the HongKong Hotel, which is pretty good, but it stands in a narrow street and is breathless.  We took a walk in 

Photo 

THE HARBOR, HONGKONG. 
BREWER & CO, LTD. HONGKONG 

the streets after dinner and saw people who looked like No. 4. 

This was on Sunday, July 7. On Monday the 8th we went to Cooks and the Bank, and arranged our passage, and it took all the morning.  In the later afternoon we went by train up the funicular road to the Peak Hotel, where it is much cooler. The Hotel was being repaired and did not seem to be very nice, but it has a magnificent view. We came back by rickshaws over a beautiful road, which was a delight all the way, or would have been had our two boys (each) not put us down pretty often and demanded their pay.  We gave them double price when we got out and they they followed us about, sending two policeman to us to say they had not been properly paid.  When we told what we had given, they were sent flying.  Evidently the Heathen Chinese is no more satisfied with the regular rate than is all the rest of Asia.  In the morning I called on the Am. Consul and had a nice talk with his Chinese Secretary.  He told me the women had no suffrage and none of them had been elected to Councils or Parliament, but when we arrived on the Tjimanock, we 

photo 

A GROUP OF NATIVES 

No4 

BREWER & CO, LTD HONGKONG 

were surprised to see many boats manned by women push up to our boat to get some of our passengers of whom we had many in the 2nd and 3rd class, and they were so strong minded and strong limbed, and so dexterous with their curious oar and tiller that one could not think of them as "the weaker sex."  One had a baby which never whimpered, but sat still as the baby of an oarslady should.  When the passengers went down the gang plank there were several ladies with tiny deformed feet, but the little girls had normal feet.  The contrast between the boatswomen and the ladies was instructive for the character as well as the feet of the former had been allowed to develop, and the character of the latter was as small as their poor little pegs. 

On Tuesday we went shopping, packed and were on our boat by 4 p.m.  The boat was not nice, but it had a good table.  There were four passengers, ourselves, a Spanish priest, and a young Englishman.  We were a good deal bored, but on Thursday the 11th we arrived at about 11 o'clock.  We passed Mareveles at about 6 A.M., and the Captain himself came to arouse me.  When I stuck my head out of the door to see what was wanted, I found an American Health Officer.  I was asked to come out, so we hastily dressed and reported.  I was vaccinated (it didn't work), and by 7:30 we were off having left all our 2nd and 3rd class passengers and taken on those who has been left the week before, for smallpox is raging in Hongkong.  We had been blissfully unaware that we were in any danger of another quarantine.  Had we had a mild suspicion of it only, there might have seen two suicides.  This is the quarantine station and is named for a poor little nun who ran away with a naughty friar.  They found them on the beach and they were each sent away to life long penitence - the man to teach morals and Christianity on a distant isle, the girl to a convent. 

We passed Cavite, and saw the spot where the Spanish fleet went down.  Mrs. Quinan and Mrs. Peacock were awaiting the ship and Mr. Linnell came soon.  We were hustled through all formalities and up to the new Hotel, which stands on ground made by the filling of the A. G.& P.  We have a bath room with hot water and a tub.  The stars and stripes are everywhere and there is an orchestra which plays the Star Spangled Banner every day.  We have hot cakes and maple syrup (which never saw a maple tree) for breakfast, corn on the cob for dinner, and iced tea all the time. 

I was interviewed the first day three times, the last being called out of bed at 11 p.m.  We unpacked abit and had a drive with Mr. Linnell in the evening before dinner. I cannot now tell just what we have done each day, but socially the account at present stands thus.  On Sunday Mr. Linnell took us in the company machine to Los Banos, 40 miles distant, where there are hot sulphur baths and a hotel.  We punctured a tire which delayed us in a native village for an hour, and after a rest we started back, but another hour's delay on repairs brought us home about 7:30.  It gave us a view of the country.  Tuesday evening, we dined with Mr. and Mrs. Quinan, and met Mr. John DeHuff, Supt. of City Schools and Dr. Miller, Director of the Museum, in addition to the Company people.  On Wednesday evening, we dined with Mr. and Mrs. Peacock and met Mr. Strong, in addition to the Company.  On Thursday at 5 p.m., in my best clothes, I addressed the Fortnightly Club. 

If the women went home as full or convictions as my garments were of perspiration, it was a success.  On Friday, Mrs. Quinan and Mrs. Peacock gave us a tea at the home of the latter.  There were many guests from the wife of the Governor General, down, and they were all beautifully gowned and looked as though they were picked out of the Fed.  It rained most of the day we had the club meeting, and also during the tea.   To-night, (Saturday, 20) we dine with Mr. Linnell at the Elks club, which will finish the entertainments of the Company. 

We have called on the Governor General, or rather Acting Governor, Mr. Gilbert of Indiana, and began our investigation into education by calling at the department of direction.  The pride of Americans is centered in education.  The original plan was to set down in the Philippines our American system, but it was soon discovered that this was not feasible, and although all the workers say that probably there are faults, the present work appears to be along very practical lines.  All public schools are conducted in English, which simplifies things to begin with.  When the Dutch have taught Malay and Dutch to their pupils, there isn't time for much else.  Industrial work is introduced almost at once.  Throughout the schools, cooking classes work until the midmorning recesses, at which time the products are sold at cost price to the students, who beginning school at 7 a.m. and going home at 1 p.m. need a lunch.  The girls are taught embroidery at an early age to which they take naturally, and before they are through the schools do beautiful work. They are also taught most useful lessons in sanitation, and in one class room are found a trained nurse teaching a fine class of young girls how to feed, clothe and care for babies, and they actually bring babies in to teach the girls how to bathe and handle them. Nothing is more needed than this training, for  the race is prolific, but 50% of the babies die under 1 yr. of  age. In two schools they make a specialty of babies clothes -  a suit consisting of an armless underskirt, a dress with sleeves,  a little jacket and shoes made of color. The dresses were of  batiste and embroidered, and they were very dainty. In another  school the girls were making basket ball suits for themselves.  Lace is taught also, and this and embroideries may make a profit  for the girls, but all the rest of the training for girls is to  make "home happy," and keep them economically dependent. The  boys learn basketry and their products are very salable. The  Islands produce much very fine material for this sort of work.  They are taught to make gardens, and each boy must pay his proportion  toward the rent of the total garden from the profits  of his bed, the rest of the profits being his own. They also  get carpentry, so that they know enough to be handy about a  house. All this training to a much greater extent than is employed  in the U. S., is continued throughout the grades. The  8 grades of the States is covered here by 7 grades, and is  climaxed by a High School where 850 students attempt "the higher culture." Those who like more special training may go to  the independent Philippine School of Arts and Trades, which is  also under the Government. Here academic training is also  conducted, but more time is put on the Manual training. The Director, Mr. W. W. Marquardt. This school was established by  the Spaniards in 1889, with many branches. The interest waned  for some reason, and the school was closed before American  occupancy. It was opened again and has 500 pupils, 100 from  Manila and 400 from the provinces. The education is free.          

There are courses in machine shop practice, woodworking, wheel- wrighting, blacksmithing, ceramics, stationary engineering and  automobile driving and repair. All students here are boys.  The Direction has tried to find demands which trained men could supply and surely this is better than self-government, for that  will naturally follow. But, take the trade which goes by the   dignified title of ceramics. Pottery of a crude sort has existed  on the Islands for centuries, and has been the work of  women. Men took the products of the women and carried them  around on boats for sale. The women never had a potter's wheel  which is the most primitive machine. Now, the boys are taught  to make pottery of the same sort by the wheel. The chief product  is the pot for cooking and the stove and flower pots. By the old  division of labor, the men and women could claim a division of  the pottery profits. How about the new methods? The Director  thinks he will put in a class for cooking at the School of Arts  and Trades, because now they hire a Chinese cook to prepare the  mid-morning lunch, and because boys cook for all the American  families and ought to be trained. All this is practical good  sense and might well apply to the whole of Africa and Asia, since  women are never household workers except as caretakers for children,  But, this is woman's most characteristic employment and  away it goes!! There will be nothing left for women soon but  voting! The kitchens at the schools are very practical because  they employ native utensils. The clay stoves burn cocoanut  fiber and husks for fuel. A big pot holds the dish of water  and is dipped out by a cocoanut dipper with a bamboo handle. Next week we shall continue our visits to schools, and when we have  completed them we shall "do" the morals and the health. The  teachers and all Americans in the education seem to be very enthusiastic  and make me think of "new brooms." They are alert to  make the education experiment a success.  

Mr. Rafael Del Pan was a native Spaniard, a lawyer, educated  in Spain, whom we met in Java. On Tuesday morning he took us in  a motor to the Walled City - the Intramuros. It is the old city. The first wall, built in 1570, was of logs and in 1574  the Chinese attacked Manila, and burned the City, including the  walls. Curiously enough they did not come before the Fort which commands the natural entrance to the city, but landed below and  marched in behind the Fort. In 1590 a stone wall was built.  In 1762 the British attacked the City, but they landed where the  Chinese did and came in behind the Fort. The Americans did the  same, so the Fort was never of any use and now could not withstand  modern artillery. The Americans have built offices on top  of the walls where is located the Headquarters of the Army of the  Philippines and where the breezes from the Pasig and the Harbor  may blow the perspiration from the brows of Generals, Captains  and clerks. For centuries a moat surrounded the walls and  seven gates were closed at night, and guards stood alert when  their superiors were looking, and slept when they were not.  Within priests of all the divisions known to Spaniards, occupied  quaint cloisters and said mass in churches, the administration of Spain administered and the Filipinos themselves came and went  as they had done for centuries before. Now, the moat is filled  and has yielded its picturesque old world beauty, and its  mosquito breeding fields to the modern utilitarianism. Five old  gateways are still in the wall, and most of them are picturesque.  Within is the oldest church of the Islands - that of the order of  St. Augustine, and a curious tale is told. Antonio Herrera, the  nephew of the Spanish architect of the Escurial, fought a duel and  killed his opponent. Philip the Second had decreed that any  duelist who killed another in combat should himself be put to  death. Then came the great Spanish architect and plead with  the king for the life of his nephew. The king granted it on  condition that he would become a member of the order of St.  Augustine, and would go to the Philippines and never return to  Spain. All this he did and when this church was to be built  he made it of stone and used the arch for the first time in    the Islands. Others protested that it would not withstand the  earthquakes. When the great earthquake of 1862 came, and other  buildings yielded, this one stood, although its vaulted roof was   cracked. It was mended and still stands an interesting relic  of 1599. In the Church of St. Ignatius of the Jesuits, there  is a pulpit which is said to have been designed and executed by  natives. It is carved and would do credit to any European  Cathedral. This church is new. The Europeans say the native  has much talent in wood-carving,  but no initiative, and do not  think a Filipino designed this. Here in Intramuros is the big Cathedral on one side of a square or plaza, the old palace on  another side - now occupied by offices of the Gov. General. At  the head of the stairs is a beautiful statue of Legaspi, who  was with Magellan when he discovered the Islands in 1521 (and  lost his life at Cebu), and this man returned with another expedition.  The books say the cloisters of the convents belonging  to these old Churches are most picturesque and interesting.   

Gardens with palms and fountains - a safeguard to the virtue of  the priesthood.  They tell us too that could those old cloisters,  and the bells hung from every church tower and the underground  passages and cells of old Fort Santiago (now filled up) tell the tales which they have witnessed, then romances of the imagination  would be outdone.  'Tis said a double row of little cells  so small a man must sit to enter had openings into a sort of drain  closed by a drawbridge, which when lifted would flood the place,  and thus many a life was taken and the world never knew how.  Now, the Stars and Stripes float everywhere and the sleepy  Manana of the Spaniard, so readily adopted by the native, which  means, never do to-day what may be postponed until tomorrow, is  gradually giving way to the American "Do it now."  One feels the     spirit of modern science rather than the dreams of romance in  Manila now.  

The Americans have brought much that is practical with them,  but when I learned that ices were on the menu of every school  for the morning repast, and that one boy had breakfasted on pie  and ice cream, I doubt if the reforms are infallible.  One book says the Philippines are long on time - millionaires  in time, and quotes:  

"Earth has no cure  
For the nervous quest,  
The tense unrest,  
The hurrying haste of fate;  
Like the soothing balm   
Of the tropic palm,  
And the land where things can wait." 

Every person with whom I have spoken declares the women to  be superior to the men in all business affairs.  One book, 

The Women of the Philippines 

The arrival in Manilla of two leaders of women-Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt of the United States and Dr. Aletta Jacobs of Holland-who come to make investigation of the condition of women in the Philippines is a really interesting event. They come at an opportune time. Social conditions and problems are uppermost in the minds of all who are working for the advancement of the Philippines and if these ladies can contribute anything of value it will be very welcome. They bring to their mission several advantages that weigh even against extended local experience. They are enthusiasts and specialists, they have been studying the affairs and problems of the women in other counters, their eyes are new and they can get contrasts denied to local students. There seems [to be] but one possible criticism of their plan and that is the time they have allotted to their work-it appears insufficient. But if they are given the maximum of assistance they can cover a great deal of ground and to that end the writer ventures the suggestion that the government, the chiefs of all local institutions of women, the officers of the local women's societies and all who are interested in their purpose join in forwarding their work. These investigators will at the very outset discover many interesting things about the women of the Philippines. They will quickly discern that they are whole lot better than the men, an advantage by no means limited to mere morals. They excel their men in business, in energy and industry, in thrift.  They do more for their homes and their families than do their men. They have caught the new spirit of progression that is abroad in the land and have a leading part in it. They are filling the schools and their attainments in scholarship equal to those of the other sex. They have taken the first steps toward the professions, notably medicine and nursing, and their work is rich in promise for the future. They have for years been leaders in the local household industries and will be an important element in the commercial life of the islands when that sphere is enlarged by the work of the schools and the special efforts that the government is now devoting to it. 

Speaking in a broad and general sense the writer is inclined to believe that the rights of woman in the Philippines are fairly protected and conserved by both the laws of the land and the family and social customs that obtain.  In common with her people, she needs educational, social and material advancement but she will share fully in these advantages as they come. Much is planned for her but perhaps much more can and should be done for her, and if the two investigators can be helpful their ideas and suggestions will be welcomed. The cause of suffrage, in which the two visiting ladies are especially interested, has not been advanced here and conditions would indicate that the time is not ripe.  However, let not us deter; it would be diverting whether practical or not.
The Manilla Times 
Saturday, July 13 

"Interesting Manila", by Geo. A. Miller, says: 

"The Filipino woman is the equal of the Filipino man, provided, of course, that such is the case. Her Chinese sister limps in small footed helpnessness; her Hindoo cousin creeps about behind a veil; her Mohammedan relative is a harem slave, and even her Japanese neighbor is a doll to look at, but the Filipino stands up straight and with bare shoulder and sturdy carriage looks you squarely in the eye and is abundantly able to take care of herself. She is unbound in arm and waist, and not having the responsibilities of the social swim is free to go to market and to carry her end of the industrial load." 

This man gives the credit to the teaching and standards of the Catholic Church. But, neither the Mohammedans nor Buddhists have been able to reduce women of this race to subjection nor seclusion! 

On opposite page is an editorial from the Manila Times.