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A ^OMAN'S IMPRESSIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES UC-NRLF SB 375 777 \ MARY H. FEE A WOMAN'S IMPRESSIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES WOMAN'S IMPRESSIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES BY MARY H. FEE ii ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS > <* * J CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1910 JJS4 5 Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1910 Published March 26, 1910 the uyivBRrry premj, Cambridge, it.s.a. TO MY SCHOOLMATE AND LIFE-LONG FRIEND MARTHA PARRY GISH THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 268954 CONTENTS Chapter Page I. The Voyage Begins 11 II. From San Francisco to Honolulu . 21 III. Our Ten Days' Sightseeing ... 26 IV. From Honolulu to Manila .... 38 V Our First Few Days in the City . 45 VI. From Manila to Capiz ..... 60 VII. My First Experiences as a Teacher of Filipinos 73 VIII. An Analysis of Filipino Character 86 IX. My Early Experiences in House- keeping 107 X. Filipino Youths and Maidens . 119 XL Social and Industrial Condition of the Filipinos 130 XII. Progress in Politics and Improvement of the Currency 150 XIII. Typhoons and Earthquakes . 168 XIV. War Alarms and the Suffering Poor 179 XV. The Filipino's Christmas Festivities and his Religion 192 VI CONTENTS Chapter Page XVI. My Gold-hunting Expedition 206 XVII. An Unpleasant Vacation . 217 XVIII. The Aristocracy, the Poor, and Ameri- can Women 232 XIX Weddings in Town and Country . 250 XX. Sickbeds and Funerals 262 XXI. Sports and Amusements 270 XXII. Children's Games The Conquest of Fires 280 ILLUSTRATIONS Page Filipino School Children . Frontispiece The Pali, near Honolulu 28 West Indian Rain -tree, or Monkey-pod Tree, Honolulu 34 The Volcano of May6n 40 View of Corregidor 42 Swarming Craft on the Pasig River, Manila .... 46 " " The Rat-pony and the Two-wheeled Nightmare . 48 The Luneta, Manila 52 The Bend in the River at Capiz 62 Street Scene in Rombldn 64 Church, Plaza, and Public Buildings, Capiz .... 80 The Home of an American Schoolteacher 90 A Characteristic Group of Filipino Students .... 100 Filipino School Children 110 A Filipino Mother and Family 120 A Company of Constabulary Police 132 Group of Officials in front of Presidente's (Mayor's) Residence 142 viii ILLUSTRATIONS Page A High-class Provincial Family, Capiz 148 Pasig Church 154 The Isabella Gate, Manila 162 Calle Real, Manila 174 Procession and Float in Streets of Capiz, in Honor of Filipino Patriot and Martyr, Jose" Rizal .... 184 A Rich Cargo of Fruit on the Way to Market ... 194 A Family Group and Home in the Settled Interior . 200 Filipino Children "Going Swimming" in the Rio Cagayan 212 Mortuary Chapel in Paco Cemetery, Manila .... 220 " " The Ovens in Paco Cemetery, Manila 228 Peasant Women of the Cagayan Valley 236 A Wedding Party Leaving the Church 252 A Funeral on Romblon Island 264 Bicol School Children One Generation Removed from Savagery 272 Sunset over Manila Bay 282 A WOMAN'S IMPRESSIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES A WOMAN'S IMPRESSIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES CHAPTER ONE THE VOYAGE BEGINS I FIND THE TRANSPORT SHIP Buford AND MY STATEROOM OLD Maids and Young Maids bound for the Orient The De- ceitful Sea Making New Friends and Acquaintances. a hot July day the army transport Buford lay at the Folsom Dock, San Francisco, the ONStars and from her stem, her Stripes drooping Blue Peter and a cloud of smoke announcing a speedy departure, and a larger United States flag at her fore- mast signifying that she was bound for an American port. I observed these details as I hurried down the dock accompanied by a small negro and a dressing- bag, but I was not at that time sufficiently educated to read them. I thought only that the Buford seemed very large (she is not large, however), that she was beautifully white and clean; and that I was delighted to be going away to foreign lands upon so fine a ship. Having recognized with relief a pile of luggage going aboard luggage which I had carefully pasted with red, white, and blue labels crossed by the letters "U. S. A. T. S." and Buford I dismissed the negro, grasped the dressing-bag with fervor, and mounted the 12 IMPRESSIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES gangway. To me the occasion was momentous. I was going to see the world, and I was one of an army of enthusiasts enlisted to instruct our little brown brother, and to pass the torch of Occidental knowledge several degrees east of the international date-line. I asked the first person I met, who happened to be the third officer, where I should go and what I should do. He told me to report at the quartermaster's office at the end of the promenade deck. A white- haired, taciturn gentleman in the uniform of a major, U. S. A., was occupying this apartment, together with a roly-poly clerk in a blue uniform which seemed to be something between naval and military. When I men- tioned my name and showed my order for transporta- tion, the senior officer grunted inarticulately, and waved me in the direction of his clerk, glaring at me meanwhile with an expression which combined singu- larly the dissimilar effects of a gimlet and a plane. The rotund junior contented himself with glancing suspiciously at the order and sternly at me. As if reassured, however, by my plausible countenance, he flipped over the pages of a ledger, told me the number of my stateroom, and hunted up a packet of letters, which he delivered with an acid reproof to me for not having reported before, saying that the letters had been accumulating for ten days. It is true that the Buford had been scheduled to sail on the first day of the month; but I had arrived a day or two before that date, only to learn that the sailing date had been postponed to the tenth. I had made many weary trips to the army headquarters in THE VOYAGE BEGINS 13 Montgomery Street, asking for mail and labels with no results. Nobody had suggested that the mail would be delivered aboard ship, and I had not had sense enough to guess it. I did not make any ex- planations to the quartermaster and his clerk, how- ever, because an intuition warned me not to add tangible evidence to a general belief in civilian stu- pidity. I merely swallowed my snubbing meekly and walked off. I ambled about, clinging to the dressing-bag and looking for some one resembling a steward. At the foot of the ladder leading to the bridge I encountered two young girls descending therefrom with evidences of embarrassed mirth. They were Radcliffe girls, whose evil genius had led them to the bridge and to an indig- nant request to explain their presence there. They explained to no purpose, and, in response to a plain- tive inquiry where to go, were severely told, "We don't know, but go down from here immediately." So they came down, crimson but giggling, and saw me (they said) roaming about with an expression at once wistful and complacent. I found a steward and my stateroom at last, and a brown-haired, brown-eyed young woman in it who was also a pedagogue. We introduced ourselves, disposed of our parcels, and began to discuss the possibilities of the voyage. She was optimistically certain that she was not going to be seasick. I was pessimistically certain that I was. And she was wrong, and I was right. We were both gloriously, enthusiastically, madly seasick. 14 IMPRESSIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES When we returned to the deck, it was crowded with passengers, the mail was coming aboard, and all sorts of bugle-calls were sounding, for we were carrying "casuals." It was a matter of wonder that so many persons should have gathered to bid adieu to a pas- senger list recruited from all parts of the Union. The dock was black with people, and our deck was densely crowded. Khaki-clad soldiers leaned over the side to shout to more khaki on the dock. An aged, poorly dressed woman was crying bitterly, with her arms about the neck of a handsome boy, one of our cabin and all the of intense passengers ; about, signs feeling showed that the voyage marked no light interval of separation. I stood at the forward rail of the promenade deck, and fell into conversation with a gentleman whom I had met in San Francisco and who was a fellow passenger. We agreed in being glad that none of our relatives were there to see us off; but, though we made much ado to seem matter-of-fact and quite strong-minded about expatriating ourselves, I noticed that he cleared his throat a great deal, and my chin annoyed me by a desire to tremble. The gongs warned visitors ashore, and, just as all the whistles of San Francisco were blowing the noon hour, we backed away from the dock, and turned our head to sea. As the little line of green water between ship and dock widened to a streamlet and then to a river, the first qualm concerning the wisdom of the expedition struck its chilly way to my heart. Prob- ably most of the passengers were experiencing the THE VOYAGE BEGINS 15 the the for same doubts ; and captain suspected fact, he gave us fire drill just to distract our attention and to settle our nerves. The luncheon gong sounded immediately after his efficacious diversion, and the military people who were to eat in the first section the Buford' s dining-room was small went down to lunch.

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