An Ohio Woman in the Philippines Giving Personal Experiences and Descriptions Including Incidents of Honolulu, Ports in Japan and China Mrs. Emily Bronson Conger Published with illustrations 1904 Press of Richard H. Leighton Akron, Ohio TO HIS DEAR MEMORY. To my beloved husband, ARTHUR LATHAM CONGER, whose love was--Is my sweetest incentive; whose approval was--Is my richest reward. Mizpah, EMILY BRONSON CONGER. INDEX   PAGES Out of the Golden Gate 7-14 First Glimpses of Japan 15-20 From Yokohama to Tokio 21-25 Tokio 26-33 Japan in General 34-41 In Shanghai 42-49 Hong Kong to Manila 50-55 Iloilo and Jaro 56-66 The Natives 67-77 Wooings and Weddings 78-82 My First Fourth in the Philippines 83-88 Flowers, Fruits and Berries 89-92 The Markets 93-95 Philippine Agriculture 96-100 Minerals 101-103 Animals 104-106 Amusements and Street Parades 107-110 Festivals of the Church 111-114 Osteopathy 115-122 The McKinley Campaign 123-125 Governor Taft at Jaro 126-132 Shipwreck 133-138 Filipino Domestic Life 139-151 Islands Cebu and Romblom 152-154 Literature 155-159 The Gordon Scouts 160-162 Trials of Getting Home 163-166 OUT OF THE GOLDEN GATE. CHAPTER ONE. With the words ringing out over the clear waters of San FranciscoBay as the Steamer Morgan City pulled from the dock, "Now, mother, do be sure and take the very next boat and come to me, " I waved a yesas best I could, and, turning to my friends, said: "I am going to thePhilippines; but do not, I beg of you, come to the dock to see me off. " I did not then realize what it meant to start alone. I vowed tostay in my cabin during the entire trip, but, as we steamed out ofthe Golden Gate, there was an invitation to come forth, a prophesyof good, a promise to return, in the glory of the last rays of thesetting sun as they traced upon the portals, "We shall be back in themorning. " And so I set out with something of cheer and hope, in spiteof all the remonstrances, all the woeful prognostications of friends. If I could not find something useful to do for my boy and for otherboys, I could accept the appointment of nurse from the Secretaryof War, General Russell A. Alger. But, if it proved practicable, I preferred to be under no obligations to render service, for myhealth was poor, my strength uncertain. The sail from San Francisco to Honolulu was almost without incident;few of the two thousand souls on board were ill at all. They dividedup into various cliques and parties, such as are usually made up onocean voyages. When we arrived at Honolulu, I did not expect to land, but I was fortunate in having friends of my son's, Hon. J. Mott Smith, Secretary of State, and family meet me, and was taken to his morethan delightful home and very generously, royally entertained. My impressions were, as we entered the bay, that the entire populationof Honolulu was in the water. There seemed to be hundreds of littlebrown bodies afloat just like ducks. The passengers threw small coins into the bay, and those aquatic, human bodies would gather them before they could reach the bottom. The city seemed like one vast tropical garden, with its waving palms, gorgeous foliage and flowers, gaily colored birds and spicy odors, but mingled with the floral fragrance were other odors that betokeneda foreign population. It was my first experience in seeing all sorts and conditions ofpeople mingling together--Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiians, English, Germans and Americans. Then the manner of dress seemed so strange, especially for the women; they wore a garment they call halicoes likethe Mother Hubbard that we so much deride. We visited the palace of the late Queen, Liliuokalani(le-le-uo-ka-lá-ne), now turned into a government building; saw theold throne room and the various articles that added to the pomp andvanity of her reign. I heard only favorable comments on her career. Allseemed to think that she had been a wise and considerate ruler. I noticed many churches of various denominations, but wasparticularly interested in my own, the Protestant Episcopal. TheRt. Rev. H. C. Potter, Bishop of New York, and his secretary, Rev. Percy S. Grant, were passengers on board our ship, the Gælic. Thespecial purpose of the Bishop's visit to Honolulu was to effectthe transfer of the Episcopal churches of the Sandwich Islands tothe jurisdiction of our House of Bishops. He expressed himself asdelighted with his cordial reception and with the ready, Christian-likemanner with which the Supervision yielded. The success of his delicatemission was due, on Bishop Potter's side, to the wise and fraternalpresentation of his cause and to his charming wit and courtesy. It was still early morning when my friends with a pair of fine horsesdrove from the shore level by winding roads up through the foot hills, ever up and up above the luxuriant groves of banana and cocoanut, theview widening, and the masses of rich foliage growing denser below orbroadening into the wide sugar plantations that surrounded palatialhomes. We returned for luncheon and I noted that not one house hada chimney, that every house was protected with mosquito netting;porches, doors, windows, beds, all carefully veiled. After dinner we again set forth with a pair of fresh horses and drovefor miles along the coast, visiting some of the beautiful places thatwe had already seen from the heights. The beauty of gardens, vines, flowers, grasses, hills, shores, ocean was bewildering. In the cityitself are a thousand objects of interest, of which not the least isthe market. I had never seen tropical fish before, and was somewhat surprised bythe curious shapes and varied colors of the hundreds and thousands offish exposed for sale. I do not think there was a single color schemethat was not carried out in that harvest of the sea. Fruits and flowerswere there, too, in heaps and masses at prices absurdly low. With thechatter of the natives and the shrill cry of the fishermen as theycame in with their heavily laden boats, the scene was one never tobe forgotten. The natives have a time honored custom of crowning their friends atleave-taking with "Lais" (lays). These garlands are made by threadingflowers on a string about a yard and a half long, usually each stringis of one kind of flower, and, as they throw these "Lais" over thehead of the friend about to leave, they say or sing, "Al-o-ah-o, until we meet again. " This musical score is the greeting of good-day, good-morning, orgood-bye; always the greeting of friends. They chose for me stringsof purple and gold flowers. The golden ones were a sort of wax begoniaand the purple were almost like a petunia. Instead of sitting on the deck of the steamer by myself, as I hadpurposed, I had one of the most delightful days I have ever spentin my life. It was with deep regret, when the boat pulled from thewharf, that I answered with the newly acquired song, "Al-o-ah-o, "the kindly voices wafted from the shore. We had taken on board manynew passengers, and were now very closely packed in, so much so, that to our great disgust one family, a Chinaman, his wife, childrenand servants, fourteen in number, occupied one small stateroom. It iseasy to believe that that room was full and overflowing into the narrowhallways. Though he had eight or nine children and one or two wives, he said he was going to China to get himself one more wife, because theone that he had with him did bite the children so much and so badly. I had never before seen so many various kinds of Chinese people, and it was a curious study each day to watch them at their variousduties in caring for one another and preparing their food. Strangeconcoctions were some of those meals. They all ate with chop-sticks, and I never did find out how they carried to the mouth the amountof food consumed each day. One day we heard a great commotion downin their quarters, and, of course, all rushed to see what was thematter. We were passing the spot where, years before, a ship had sunkwith a great number of Chinese on board. Our Chinese were sending offfire crackers and burning thousands and thousands of small papers ofvarious colors and shapes, with six to ten holes in each paper. Somewere burning incense and praying before their Joss. The interpretertold us that every time a steamer passes they go through these rites tokeep the Devils away from the souls of the shipwrecked Chinese. Beforeany Evil Spirit can reach a soul it must go through each one of theholes in the burnt papers that were cast overboard. Bishop Potter asked us one day if we thought those Chinese peoplewere our brethren. I am sure it took some Christian charity to decidethat they were. One of these "brethren" was a Salvation Army man, who was married to an American woman. They were living in heathenquarters between decks and each day labored to teach the way ofsalvation. Many of these poor people died during the passage; thebodies were placed in boxes to be carried to their native land. Alarge per cent. Of the whole number seemed to be going home to die, so emaciated and feeble were they. There was fitted up in one of the bunks in the hold of the vessel aJoss house. I did not dare to see it, but I learned that there wasthe usual pyramid of shelves containing amongst them the gods of Warand Peace. Before each god is a small vessel of sand to hold the Josssticks, a perfumed taper to be burned in honor of the favorite deity, and there is often added a cup of tea and a portion of rice. There areno priests or preachers, but some man buys the privilege of runningthe Joss house, and charges each worshipper a small fee. The devoteefalls on his knees, lays his forehead to the floor, and invocatesthe god of his choice. Soothsayers are always in attendance, and fora small sum one may know his future. As between Chinese and Japanese, for fidelity, honesty, veracity anduprightness, my impression is largely in favor of the Chinese as arace. Captain Finch told me that on this ship, the Gælic, over which hehad had charge for the past fifteen years, he had had, as head waiter, the same Chinaman that he started out with, and in all this periodof service he never had occasion to question the integrity of thismost faithful servant, who in the entire time had not been absentfrom the ship more than three days in all. On these rare occasions, this capable man had left for his substitute such minute instructionson bits of rice paper, placed where needed, that the work was carriedon smoothly without need of supervision or other direction. The sameholds true of Chinese servants on our Pacific coast. I was much pleasedwith the attention they gave each and every one of us during the entiretrip; it was better service than any that I have ever seen on Atlanticships. In the whole month's trip, I never heard one word of complaint. Being a good sailor, I can hardly judge as to the "Peacefulness ofthe Pacific. " Many were quite ill when to me there was only a gentleroll of the steamer, soothing to the nerves, and the splash of thewaves only lulled me to sleep. By day there were many entertainments, such as races, walking matches, quoits, and like games. Commander J. V. Bleecker, en route to takecharge of the Mercedes reclaimed in Manila Bay, was a masterly artistin sleight-of-hand performances, and contributed much to the fun. Often the evenings were enlivened with concerts andreadings. Col. J. H. Bird, of New York, gave memorized passages fromShakespeare--scenes, acts, and even entire plays in perfect voiceand character. We thought we were most fortunate in the opportunityto enjoy his clever rendition of several comedies. But to one passenger, at least, the best and sweetest ministrationsof all were the religious services. Bishop Potter took part in allwholesome amusements. He was often the director; he was the delightfulchairman at all our musical and literary sessions; but it was in sacredservice that his noble spiritual powers found expression. One calm, radiant Sunday morning he spoke with noblest eloquence on these wordsof the one hundred thirty-ninth psalm:-- Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. Fifteen months later, when wrecked on the coast of Panay, his clearvoice again sounded in my soul with the assurance, "Even there shallthy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. " FIRST GLIMPSES OF JAPAN. CHAPTER TWO. But for all our devices to while away the time, the thirty-two days ofship life was to all of us the longest month of our lives. The Pacific, as Mr. Peggotty says, is "a mort of water, " a vast, desolate waste ofwaters from Honolulu to our first landing place, Yokohama. We had awonderful glimpse of the sacred mountain, Fujiyama. The snow-cappedpeak stood transfigured as it caught full the rays of the descendingsun. Cone-shaped, triangular, perhaps; what was it like, this gleamingsilhouette against the deep blue sky? Was it a mighty altar, symbolof earth's need of sacrifice, or emblem of the unity of the everpresent triune God? 'Tis little wonder that it is, to the peopleover whom it stands guard, an object of reverence, of worship; thatpilgrimages are made to its sacred heights; that yearly many livesare sacrificed in the toilsome ascent on bare feet, on bare knees. As we went through Japan's inland sea, one of the most beautiful bodiesof water on the globe, it seemed, at times, as if we might reach outand shake hands with the natives in their curious houses, we passedso near to them--the odd little houses, unlike any we had ever seen;while about us was every known kind of Japanese craft with curioussails of every conceivable kind and shape. On the overloaded boatsthe curious little Japanese sailors, oddly dressed in thick paddedcoverings and bowl caps on their heads, with nothing on limbs andfeet save small straw sandals, strapped to the feet between greatand second toes, looked top-heavy. While I watched all these new things, I was eagerly on the lookout forthe wreck of the Morgan City, on which my son had sailed. Nothing wasvisible of the ill-fated ship but a single spar, one long finger ofwarning held aloft. As we passed on, watching the busy boats plyingfrom shore to shore, the Chinese on the boat chattered and jabberedfaster with each other than before; we fancied they were making fun oftheir little Japanese brethren. We arrived at Yokohama about 9 P. M. , and were immediately placed in quarantine. The next morning a dozenJapanese quarantine officers appeared, covered all over with strapsand bands of gold lace. They looked so insignificant and put on suchan air of austere authority that one did not know whether to laugh orcry at their pomposity. They checked us off by squads and dozens, andby 12 o'clock we were ready to land. It was our first touch of Japanesesoil, and we were about to take our first ride in a Jinricksha. It wasvery beautiful to hear as a greeting, "Ohio. " As I had been told bya Japanese student, whom I met in Cambridge, Mass. , that this is thenational greeting, I was not unprepared as was a fellow passenger, who said, "Oh, he must know where you came from. " My height and mywhite hair seemed to make me an object of interest. It was such anovel thing to be hauled around in those two-wheeled carts, one manpulling at the thills and another pushing at the rear. It is a fineexperience, and one which we all enjoyed. The whole outfit is hiredby the day for about a dollar, the price depending upon the amountof Pigeon English the leader can speak. The first thing they say toyou is, "Me can speak English. " We found the hotel admirably kept. The blind Japanese are an interesting class. They are trained atgovernment cost to give massage treatment, and no others are allowedto practice. These blind nurses, male and female, go about the streetsin care of an attendant, playing a plaintive tune on a little reedwhistle in offer of their services. The treatment is delightful, the sensation is wholly new, and is most restful and invigoratingafter a long voyage. No wonder that so many of the Japs are weak-eyed or totally blind. Thechildren are exposed to the intense rays of the sun, as, suspended ontheir mothers' backs, they dangle in their straps with their littleheads wabbling helplessly. From friends who have kept house many years, I learned that the service rendered by the Japanese is, as a whole, unsatisfactory. Their cooking is entirely different from ours, andthey do not willingly adapt themselves to our mode of living. It is not my purpose to tell much about Japan and China; they were onlystages on the way to the Philippines; and yet they were a preparationfor the new, strange life there. But such is the charm of Japan thatone's memories cling to its holiday scenes and life. The Japanese are really wise in beginning their New Year in spring. Thefirst of April, cherry blossom day, is made the great day of allthe year. There are millions of cherry blossoms on trees largerthan many of our largest apple trees--wonderful double-flowering, beautiful trees, just one mass of pink blossoms as far as the eyecan reach. They do so reverence these blossoms that they rarely pluckthem, but carry about bunches made of paper or silk tissue that rivalthe natural ones in perfection. No person is so poor that he cannot, on this great festal day, have his house, shop, place of amusementor, at least, umbrella bedecked with these delicate blossoms. It isalmost beyond belief the extent to which they carry this festal day, given up entirely to greetings and parades. Then the wonderful wisteria! In its blossoming time the flower clustershang from long sprays like rich fringe. From the hill-tops the viewdown on the tiny cottages, wreathed with the luxuriant vines, is mostbeautiful. A single cluster is often three feet long. They make cups, bowls and plates from the trunk of the vine. There are marsh fields of the white lotus. The ridges of the heavilythatched roofs are set with iris plants and their many hued blossomsmake a garden in the air. One should visit Japan from April to November. In the cultivation ofthe chrysanthemum they lay more stress on the small varieties than wedo; they prefer number to size. The autumn foliage is beautiful beyondbelief, --vision alone can do it justice. The hillsides, the mountainslopes are thickly set with the miniature maples and evergreens;the clear, brilliant hues of the one, heightened by contrast withthe dark green of the other, are strikingly vivid. The trees and shrubs are surely more gnarled and knotted than they arein Christian countries. They are trained in curious fashion. One limbof a tree is coaxed and stretched to see how far it can be extendedfrom the body of the tree. At first I could not believe that theselimbs belonged to a stump so far away. The Japanese pride themselveson their shrubs and flowers. Nothing gave me more pleasure thanseeing all this cultivation of the gardens, no matter how small, around each home. I did not see a single bit of wood in Japan likeanything that we have. The veining, color, texture and adaptivenessto polish suggest marble of every variety. At Yokohama I engaged a guide, Takenouchi. I found him to be a faithfulattendant; his devotion and energy in satisfying my various requestswas unwearied; I shall ever feel grateful to him. He would make meunderstand by little nods, winks, and sly pushes that I was not topurchase, and he would afterwards say: "I will go back and get thearticles for you for just one-half the price the shop-keeper toldyou. " They hope to sell to Americans for a better price than theyever get from each other. We went to every kind of shop; they areamusingly different from ours. Few things are displayed in the windowsor on the shelves, but they are done up in fine parcels and tuckedaway out of sight. It is the rule to take two or three days to sitat various counters before you attempt to purchase. The seller wouldmuch rather keep his best things; he tries in every way to induce youto take the cheaper ones, or ones of inferior quality. My guide was inevery way capable and efficient in the selection of fine embroideries, porcelain, bronzes, and pictures. FROM YOKOHAMA TO TOKIO. CHAPTER THREE. From Yokohama to Tokio, a two hours' ride on the steam cars, one is constantly gazing at the wonderful country and its perfectcultivation. There are no vast prairies of wheat or corn, but the landis divided into little patches, and each patch is so lovingly tendedthat it looks not like a farm but like a garden; while each garden islaid out with as much care as if it were some part of Central Park, thick with little lakes, artistic bridges and little waterfalls withlittle mills, all too diminutive, seemingly, to be of any use, andyet all occupied and all busy turning out their various wares. I understand they even hoe the drilled-in wheat. The rice, the stapleof the country, is so cared for and tended that it sells for muchmore than other rice. Imported rice is the common food. As our guide said, we must go to the "Proud of Japan, " Nikko, to seethe most wonderful temples of their kind in all the world. We took thecars at Yokohama for Nikko. It was an all day trip with five changes ofcars, but every step of the way was through one vast curious workshopof both divine and human hands. The railway fare is only two cents amile, first class, and half that, second class; we left the choiceto our guide. A good guide is almost indispensable. Our faithfulTakenouchi was proficient in everything; he was valet, courier, guide, instructor, purchasing agent, and maid. I never knew a personso efficient in every way; he could be attentively absent; he neverintruded himself upon us in any way. It is impossible to describethe wonderful temples! They must be seen to be appreciated and, eventhen, one must needs have a microscope, so minute are the carvings inivory, bronze, and porcelain, inlaid and wrought with gold and silver;many of them, ancient though they are, are still marvels of delicatelines of the patient labor of the past centuries. One of the gods, which was in a darkened temple, had a hundred heads, and the only wayone could see it was by a little lantern hung on the end of a stringand pulled up slowly. But even in that dim light we stood awestruckbefore that miracle wrought in stone. No one is allowed to walk nearthis god with shoes upon his feet. Unbelievers though we were, we wereawed by the colossal grandeur of this great idol. The God of Wind, the God of War, the God of Peace, "the hundred Gods" all in line, were, when counted one way, one hundred, but in the reverse orderonly ninety-nine. To pray to the One Hundred, it is necessary onlyto buy a few characters of Japanese writings and paste them upon anyone of the gods, trusting your cause to him and the Nikko. The bells, the first tones of which came down through that magnificentforest of huge trees and echoing from the rocks of that wonderfulravine, will ever sound in my ears as an instant call to a reverentialmood. The solemn music was unlike any tone I had ever heard before;now it seemed the peal of the trumpet of the Last Day, now a callto some festival of angels and arch-angels. As the first thrillsof emotion passed, it seemed a benediction of peace and rest; theevening's Gloria to the day's Jubilate, for it was the sunset hour. The next morning we took our guide and three natives to each foreignerto assist in getting us up the Nikko mountain. It took from 7 o'clockin the morning until 2 in the afternoon to reach the summit. Everymountain peak was covered with red, white, and pink azaleas. Ourpathway was over a carpet of the petals of these exquisite blooms. Weused every glowing adjective that we could command at every turn ofthese delightful hills, and at last joined in hymns of praise. Eachalluring summit, as soon as reached, dwindled to a speck in comparisonwith the grandeur that was still further awaiting us. We stopped oftento let the men rest, who had to work so hard pulling our little cartsup these steep ascents. There is a great waterfall in the hills, some two hundred fiftyfeet high, but none of us dared to make the point that gives anentire view of it. All we could see added proof of our paucity ofwords to express our surprise that the reputed great wonders ofthis "Proud" were really true. On returning we were often obligedto alight and walk over fallen boulders, this being the first tripafter the extreme winter snows. At one place, being "overtoppled" bythe weight of my clothes and the cramped position that I had been in, I lost my balance and fell down, it seemed to me to be about a mileand a half. In a moment there were at least fifty pairs of hands toassist me up the mountain side. A dislocated wrist, a battered nose, and a blackened eye was the inventory of damages. Such a chatteringas those natives did set up, while I, with a bit of medical skill, which I am modestly proud of, attended to my needs. The day had beenso full of delights that I did not mind being battered and bruised, nor did I lose appetite for the very fine dinner we had at the NikkoHotel, so daintily served in the most attractive fashion by the littleJapanese maidens in their dainty costumes. In the evening the hotelbecame a lively bazaar. All sorts of wares were spread out beforeus--minute bridges modeled after the famous Emperor's Bridge at thisplace. No person is allowed to walk upon it but His Majesty. Thestory goes that General Grant was invited to cross over upon it, but declined with thanks. In returning we drove through that mostwonderful grove of huge trees, the Cryptomaria, a kind of cedar, which rise to a height of one hundred fifty or two hundred feet. Imay not have the number of feet exactly, but they are so tremendousthat one wonders if they can really be living Cryptomaria. Indeed, much of all Japan seems artificial. Every tiny little house has itsown little garden, perhaps but two feet square, yet artistically laidout with bridges, temples, miniature trees two or three inches high, flowers in pots, walks, and little cascades, all too toy-like andtiny for any but children. Nearly all of the houses have their littletemples, and the children have their special gods; little boys havetheir gods of learning and their gods of war. The prayer to the godof learning is about like this: "Oh, Mr. God of Learning, won't youplease help me to learn my lessons, won't you please help me to passmy examinations, and Oh, Mr. God of learning, if you will only helpme pass my examination and to study my lessons and get them well, when I get through I will bring you a dish of pickles. " This prayerwas given me by a Japanese student who studied in our country. We found that nearly every banking house and hotel had for theirexpert accountants and rapid calculators, Chinamen. I finally askedone of the proprietors how it happened and he said it was becausethey could trust the Chinese to be more faithful and accurate. Onthe other hand, when we got to Hong Kong we found that the policemenwere of India, because the Chinese could not be trusted to do justiceto their fellow men. There was such a difference between the serviceof the coolie Jinricksha men in Hong Kong and in Japan. They did notseem so weak or travel-weary, and yet they had often to take peopleon much harder journeys. TOKIO. CHAPTER FOUR. Tokio, the capital, with a population almost equal to New York, lookslike a caricature, a miniature cast such as one sees of the HolyLand. The earliest mention of the use of checks in Europe is in thelatter part of the seventeenth century. The Japanese had already beenusing them for forty years; they had also introduced the strengtheningfeatures of requiring them to be certified. Visiting the Rice Exchange in Tokio during a year of famine, whensubject to wide and sudden fluctuations, it was easy to imagine one'sself in the New York Stock Exchange, on the occasion of a flurry inWall Street. There was the same seeming madness intensified by theguttural sounds of the language, and the brokers were not a whitmore intelligible than a like mob in any other city. I said to theinterpreter: "You Japanese have succeeded in copying every featureof the New York Stock Exchange. " "New York!" he exclaimed, "why, thisvery thing has been going on here in Japan these two hundred years!" The palace is a long, low building, unattractive in itself, butits gardens with every beautiful device of native art, fountains, bridges, shrines, fantastically trimmed trees, flowers, winding ways, are amazingly artistic. The Lord High Chamberlain has ordered every civil officer to appear atcourt ceremonies in European dress. It seems such a pity, for they arenot of the style or carriage to adopt court costumes. One governmentofficial wanted to be so very correct that he wore his dress suit tobusiness. So anxious are they to be thought civilized. There is nothingthat hurts a gentleman's feelings in Japan more than to hear one say, "They have such a beautiful country and when they are converted fromheathenism it will be ideal. " There is a strong Episcopal church andcollege in the capital. I am not at all prepared to judge the Japanese creeds or modes ofworship. But one may infer something of what people are taught, from their character and conduct. The children honor their parents;the women seem obedient to their husbands and masters; and the menare imbued with the love of country. The prevailing religion of Japan is Shintoism, and through the kindnessof Rev. B. T. Sakai, I will give a bit of his experience. He wished toacquire a better knowledge of English and found that Trinity College inTokio could give him the best instruction. He went to this institution, pledged that he would not, on any account, become a Christian, andassisted in the persecution of his fellow students, who were becomingconvinced of the truth of Christianity. During the extreme coldweather, the institution was badly in need of warmer rooms. Several ofthe students met and decided to make an appeal to the Bishop. They wentto him, three Japanese boys who were converted and two who were not, and told him in very plain language that they would not endure thecold in their rooms any longer. The Bishop listened attentively andfinally said, "Well, young men, you are perfectly right, and I have avery good solution of the difficulty. I am an old man and cannot livemany years, so I will give you my warm room and I will take the coldone. " He told me that was something new to him, that a person of hisyears and standing should be willing to make so great a sacrifice. Hesaid that he could not keep the tears from running down his cheeks, and on no account would any of these boys accept the Bishop's proposal;he gave them a new idea of Christian charity. KOBE AND NAGASAKI. From Nikko we returned to Yokohama and thence by steamer to Kobe. TheU. S. Consul, General M. Lyon, and his wife met me. They gave me thefirst particulars of the wreck of the Morgan City. Nothing couldexceed their kindness during the two days of my stay there. Theirfamiliarity with the language, the people, and the shops was a greathelp to me. And when we returned home, I found the little son of myhosts the most interesting object of all. Born in Kobe, cared forby a native nurse, an ama, as they are called, he spoke no English, only Japanese. He was a beautiful child, fair, golden haired, blueeyed, and sweet of temper. The garden of the U. S. Consul at Kobe was a marvel of beauty. Therewas a rumor that the United States government might purchase it. I hopeso, because it is in a part of the city which has a commanding view ofthe bay, and it is such a joy to see our beautiful flag floating fromthe staff in front of the consulate. No one appreciates the meaning of"Our Flag" until one sees it in foreign countries. I visited the famous Buddhist Temple of Kobe; it was placed in agarden and there were hundreds of poor, sore eyed, sickly, dirtyJapanese people around, and it gave one the impression that thistemple might have been used for other purposes than worship. In allthe temples that I visited, I never saw, except in one, anythingthat approached worship, and that was in the Sacred Temple of theWhite Horse, Nagasaki, and an American who had lived there for eightyears said that I must be mistaken for she had never heard of anysuch doings as I saw. There seemed to be about a dozen priests whowere carrying hot water which they dipped out of a boiling caldronand were sprinkling it about in the temple with curious intonationsand chantings. They ran back and forth, swishing the water about in avery promiscuous manner. I stood at a respectful distance fearing toget some of the hot fluid on myself. Meanwhile the White Horse stoodin the yard well groomed and cared for, little knowing what they weredoing in his honor. I could not hear of a single place where theirpoor or sick and afflicted were cared for. They may have asylums andhospitals, but I never heard of any. Nagasaki is beautiful for situation. A river-like inlet, remindingone of the Hudson river, leads into the broad lake-like harbor. Eightor ten of our transports lay at anchor and still there was abundantroom for the liners and for the little craft plying between this andthe small ports. The dock is famous; all our ships in the east put in here for repairsif possible. The high hills circle about the town and bay; they are highlycultivated and dotted with the peculiar Japanese house. The nativehouse of but one story, is not more than twelve or fourteen feetsquare, and is divided into rooms only by paper screens that may beremoved at will. The people live out of doors as much as possible, or in their arbors. In cold weather a charcoal brazier is set in thecenter of the house. At night each Jap rolls himself in a thicklypadded mat and lies on the floor with his feet to this "stove. " A party was made up to visit the Concert Hall of the celebrated Geishagirls. General and Mrs. Greenleaf and many officers and their wivesfrom the transports were of the number. They kindly invited me tojoin them. A sum total of about fifteen dollars is charged for theentertainment; each one bears his share of the cost. It was a rainyevening, rickshaws were in order. About thirty drew up before theNagasaki Hotel. It was a sight! the funny little carriages, man beforeto pull, man behind to push, gaily colored lantern fore and aft andamused Americans in the middle, laughing, singing, and enjoying thefun, a strange contrast to the stolid native. The long line of carriages wound in and out like a snake with shiningscales. The night was so dark that little was to be seen except thefirefly lights and the bare tawny legs of the rickshaw men. It has been said that the Japanese are the soul of music. I am surethat no ears are cultivated to endure it. As we entered the roomswe were obliged to remove our shoes and put on sandals. Instead ofsitting down on chairs we took any position we could on the floor matsthat were placed at our disposal. At the first sound from the throatof a famous singer in a staccato "E-E-E-E, " we all sprang to our feetthinking she was possibly going into some sort of a fit. With a twangon the strings of the flattened out little instrument, we subsided, concluding that the concert had begun. Then when the others joinedin, the mingled sounds were not unlike the wail of cats on the backfence. The girls themselves looked pretty, in kneeling posture, lipspainted bright red, hair prettily braided and adorned with artificialflowers or bits of jewelry. If they had been quiet they would havelooked like beautiful Japanese dolls seated on the floor. After several"catterwaulings" by the choir, came the dances. It was all a seriesof physical culture movements; the music was rendered in most perfectrhythm by two of the girls, it was the poetry of motion. They wouldtake pieces of silk and make little bouquets, whirlwinds, and diversthings; the most beautiful of all was a cascade of water. It was hardfor us to believe it was not actually a waterfall. It was made ofunfolding yards of white silk of the most sheer and gauzy kind. From athin package six inches square, there shimmered out a thousand yards--averitable cascade of gleaming water. We were treated to refreshments, impossible cakes and tea. We were thankful that we sat near an openwindow that we might throw the cake over our shoulder, trusting someforlorn little Japanese who liked it might get it. The tea is finely powdered dust; the tea maker is supposed to measureexactly the capacity of the drinker and to take enough of this finelypowdered tea to make three and one-half mouthfuls exactly. They doit by taking a rare bit of porcelain and holding it in their hands, turn it about and talk learnedly of the various, wonderful artsof pottery and how many years they have had this certain piece offine porcelain, turning it about in the meantime in their handsas they comment on its beauties and qualities, and then take threelarge swallows of the tea and one small sip and then go on talkingabout the wonders of the cup. These cups are anything but what weshould call tea cups. They are really large bowls, sometimes witha cover but more often without. But it is refreshing to drink theirtea even if one cannot do it à la Jap. Everywhere in Japan you areasked to take a cup of tea, in the steam cars, in the shops and bythe wayside. A Japanese told me that he could tell whether a personwas educated or not by the manner in which he drank tea. They takelessons in tea drinking as we do in any accomplishment we wish toacquire. One friend could not resist buying tea pots and pretty cups;she had a grand collection after one day of sight-seeing. Their potteries are not like ours, huge factories, but householdthings. Here and there in a family is an artist who can make a bitof porcelain, a few cups, plates, or saucers stamped with his ownindividual mark. The quality varies, of course, with the skill ofthe maker, but the poorest work is beautiful; and one develops aninsatiate greed to possess this and this and just one more. The ancient Imari, Satsuma, and the old bits of pottery that havebeen kept in the older families for centuries are, to my mind, themost wonderful works of art of the kind in the world; they look withpride on the articles of virtu as almost sacred. JAPAN IN GENERAL. CHAPTER FIVE. One of the many objects to attract the eyes of one traveling inJapan is the "Torii" or sacred gateway. It is said that once a birdfrom Heaven flew down and alighted upon the earth. Here the firstgate was erected, the gate of heaven. Its construction, whether itbe of wood, stone or metal, is ever the same, two columns slightlyinclined toward each other, supporting a horizontal cross-beam withwidely projecting ends, and beneath this another beam with its endsfitted into the columns; the whole forming a singularly gracefulconstruction, illustrating how the Japanese produce the best effectswith the simplest means. This sacred entrance arches the path whereverany Japanese foot approaches hallowed ground. It is, however, overall consecrated portals and lands, and does not necessarily indicatethe nearness of a temple. You find it everywhere in your wanderings, over hill and dale, at the entrance to mountain paths, or deep inthe recesses of the woods, sometimes it is on the edge of an oasisof shrubbery, or in the very heart of the rice fields, sometimes infront of cliff or cavern. Pass under its arch and follow the path itindicates and you will reach--it may be by a few steps, it may be bya long walk or climb--a temple sometimes, but more often a simpleshrine; and if in this shrine you find nothing; close by you willsee some reason for its being there. There will be a twisted pine orgrove of stately trees, to consecrate the place and perpetuate somememory. Perhaps the way leads to the view of some magnificent panoramaof land or sea spread out before the gazer who, with adoring heart, worships the beauty or the grandeur of his country. Wherever thereis a Torii, there is a shrine of his religion; and wherever there isan outlook over the land of his birth, there is a temple of his faith. As we left Nagasaki for Shanghai, I noticed on this occasion, ason four later visits, the great activity of this port as a coalingstation. It has an immense trade. Men, women, and children formin line from the junk which is drawn alongside of our huge ships, and then pass baskets of coal from one to the other. Many of thewomen and girls have babies strapped on their backs, and there theystand in line for hours passing these baskets back and forth. As Iwas watching them one day, for I saw them loading many times, forsome reason not apparent, they all pounced upon one small man, and, as I thought, kicked him to pieces with their heavy wooden shoes andstrong feet. After five minutes of such pummeling, as I was lookingfor a few shreds of a flattened out Japanese, he arose, shook himself, got in line, and passed baskets as before. One day from my comfortable bamboo chair I watched some cooliesgetting some immense timbers out of the bay near where I sat. Itdid not seem possible that these small men could manage those hugetimbers, which were so slippery from lying in the water that theywould often have to allow them to slip back, even after they hadgot them nearly on land. I expected every moment to see those poorcreatures either plunge into the water themselves or be crushed bythe weight of the heavy timbers; and while I watched for about twohours they must have taken out about twenty or thirty logs, twentyor twenty-five feet long and two feet through. I often watched thecoolies unloading ships. Two of them would take six or eight trunks, bind them together, run a heavy bamboo pole through the knotted endsand away they would go. I never saw a single person carding what we, in America, pride ourselves so much on, "a full dinner pail. " Theydid not even seem to have the pail. There are horses in Japan and they are poor specimens compared withthe fine animals that we know. They are chiefly pack-horses, used inclimbing over the mountains, consequently they go with their nosesalmost on the ground. Instead of iron shoes they have huge ones madeof plaited straw. They are literally skin and bones, these poor beastsof burden. Horses may be judged, in part, by the mouth; but the Japs may be whollyjudged by the leg. It did distress me to ride after a pair of legswhose calves were abnormally large, whose varicose veins were swollenalmost to bursting. As a rule, the men trot along with very littleeffort and, seemingly, have a very good time. They cheerfully playthe part of both horseman and horse, of conductor, motineer and power. I never could get used to the number of Jinrickshas drawn up in frontof the railroad station, and as it is the only way to get about thecountry, I accepted it with as good a grace as I could. At a largestation there may be hundreds of rickshaws and double hundreds ofdrivers, all clamoring as wildly as our most aggressive cabmen. Theywave their hands frantically, crying, "Me speak English! Me speakEnglish! Me speak English!" They knew originally, or have learned of foreigners, how to cheat inJapan as elsewhere. One often needs to ask, "Is this real tortoiseshell?" The answer, even if imitation, is "Now, this is good; thisis without flaw. " I found it of great advantage, as far as possible, to keep the same men, and they became interested, not only in takingme to better places, but in assisting me in procuring articles, notonly of the best value, but at Japanese prices. It is never best topurchase the first time you see anything, even if you want it verybadly. I secured one Satsuma cup that has a thousand faces on it. Itis very old, very wonderfully exact, and a work of very great art. Ittook me several days to purchase it, as the man was very loath topart with it, and at the end I got it for very much less than I waswilling to give the first day. They do not seem to have any day of rest--all shops are open seven daysof the week. All work goes on in the same unbroken round. Indeed, fromthe time I left San Francisco until my return, it was hard for me to"keep track" of Sunday, even with the almanac I carried; and when Idid chase it down, I involuntarily exclaimed, "But today is Saturdayat home; the Saturday crowds will parade the streets this evening;the churches will not be open until tomorrow morning. " I learned here that the average wages of a laboring man, workingfrom dawn to dark, is about seven cents a day of our money. The mendo much of the menial service, much of the delicate work, too. Thefinest embroidery, with most intricate patterns and delicate tracingsin white and colors, is done by men. Two will work at the frame, oneputting the needle through on his side, and the other thrusting itback. In that way the embroideries are alike on both sides, exceptthe work which is to be framed. They are so very industrious thatthey very rarely look up when anyone is examining their work. As I was watching some glass blowers, the little son of one raisedhis eyes from the various intricate bulbs that he was handing tohis father and gave him the wrong color. Without a word of warningthe father gave him a severe stroke with the hot tube across theforehead, which left a welt the size of my finger. Without one cryof pain he immediately handed his father the correct tube and wenton with his work as if nothing had happened. I had intended to buythat very article, but it would have meant to me the suffering itcost the child, and I would not have taken it if it had been given me. Sanitary conditions, as far as I could judge, were bad. The houses, in the first place, are very small. I understand they are made smallon account of earthquakes. It is said that the whole of Japan is inone quake all the time. They have shocks daily, hence, the housesare only one story high. I attended an auction of one of the finest collections of works ofart that had ever been placed before the public. The only way wecould tell that many of these works were especially choice was by thenumber of elegantly dressed Japanese who were bending before them inadmiration. One could see that, as a whole, it was a collection ofrare things. The books and pictures were the most interesting. Onepicture, "White Chickens, " on white parchment was very artistic. Itdid not seen possible that these white feathered fowls could sonearly resemble the live birds in their various attitudes and sizes, for there were about twelve from the smallest chick to the largestcrowing chanticleer of the barn yard. Another picture was of fish, which was so exact that one could almost vow that they were aliveand ready to be caught. Indeed, one of the fish was on the end ofthe line with the hook in his mouth, and his resistance was seen fromthe captive head to the end of the little forked tail. They excel inbirds, butterflies and flowers; and one knows the full meaning of the"Flowery Kingdom" of both China and Japan as one travels about. Onesees in the public parks notices posted, "Strangers do not molest orcapture the butterflies. " For nowhere, except in this Oriental country, are the butterflies so gorgeously magnificent. Japan is truly a land of umbrellas and parasols. With frames made ofthe light, delicate bamboo, strands woven closely and then eithercovered with fine rice paper or silk, they are ready for rain orsunshine. They all carry them. The markets are the most attractivethat one could imagine, but after hearing of the means used to enrichthe soil, it is impossible to enjoy any fruit or vegetable. In allthe towns are the native and the European quarters. In the latter onecan have thoroughly good accommodations; the service and attendanceare excellent. At one place on the coast of Japan there is cormorant fishing. Men goin small boats with flaring torches, hundreds of them. The birds withtheir long bills reach down into the water and pick up a huge fish, then the master immediately takes it out of the bill, before it canbe swallowed, and places it in his boat for market. These birds ina single evening get thousands of fish. I suppose they are rewardedat the end of their service by being allowed to fish for themselves. Kite flying is a favorite pastime; the size, shape, and curiousdecorations are astonishing. They have fights with their kites up inthe air, and there is just as much excitement over these kite gamesas we ever have over foot-ball. They go into paroxysms of joy whenthe favorite wins. There are singing kites and signal kites and ahundred other kinds. I saw no children indulging in any games on the streets. As soonas they are able to carry or do anything at all they seem to beemployed. I could not but think that most of the Japanese childrenare unhealthy. Every one of them had sore eyes. Small of statue, the children seemed too small to walk, and yet those that lookedonly seven or eight years old would, invariably, have each a babystrapped on his back, and the poor little creatures would go runningabout with the small human burdens dangling as they could. There is one delightful thing about the people, as a whole, theirattentive, courteous manners; their solicitude to assist you inwhatever they can. They are a domestic and thrifty little race, themen doing by far the larger part of the work. The enormous burdensthat these little mites of humanity can pick up and carry are anincreasing wonder. In visiting Japan, it is convenient to make Yokohama one's headquartersfor the northern part of the kingdom, Nagasaki for the southernpart, and Kobe for the central part; and from these centers to takeexcursions to the various points of interest. My first visit was brief, for I still clung to the Gælic, moving whenshe moved, and stopping at her ports according to her schedule. ButI returned and made a stay of many months, exploring at leisure themore important or attractive places. I have gathered together in thisrambling account the various observations and impressions of thesevarious visits, and have tried to unite them into one story. IN SHANGHAI. CHAPTER SIX. But it is time to bid Japan good-bye and sail for China. It is athree days' voyage from Nagasaki to Shanghai. We left the ship at thebroad mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang and in a small river boat went upa tributary to Shanghai, a distance of twelve miles. I was met at the dock by our Consul General, John Goodnow, and hiswife, with their elegantly liveried coachman, and was taken to theconsulate, and, after a fine tiffin (lunch), we started for the walledcity. A shrinking horror seized me as if I were at the thresholdof the infernal regions as we crossed the draw bridge over the moatand entered the narrow gate of the vast city of more than a millionsouls. Immediately we were greeted by the "wailers" and lepers, --thiswas my first sight of the loathsome leprosy. Our guide had suppliedhimself with a quantity of small change. Twenty-five cents of our moneymade about a quart of their small change. A moment later we met thefuneral cortege of a rich merchant. First came wailers and then menbeating on drums; then sons of the deceased dressed in white (whiteis their emblem of mourning); then the servants carrying the body ontheir shoulders. More wailers followed, then came the wives. It madea strange impression. The streets are so very narrow that we had to press our bodies closeagainst the wall to keep from being crushed as the procession passedus. We heard the tooting of a horn. Our guide said, "Here comes theMandarin. " We began to press ourselves into a niche in the wallto watch him pass. First came the buglers, then the soldiers andlast the gayly-bedecked Mandarin carried in a sedan chair on theshoulders of six coolies. He looked the very picture of the severeauthority that he is invested with. They say that he has witnessedin one day the execution of five hundred criminals. He was obligedto put a mark on each one's head with his own fingers, and, afterthe head was severed from the body, to remark it in proof of theexactness of his work. I was glad when I had seen the last of him, though it is only to go from bad to worse. In the opium dens, hundreds of people, of both sexes, of various ages, kinds and colors, were reclining in most horrible attitudes. Oneglimpse was enough for me. From this place we entered the temple. One of our guides said he wasobliged to buy joss-sticks and kneel before the gods or it would makeus trouble, because they are watchful of what foreigners do. Theyconsider us white devils. We saw a war god nine feet high mounted ona war steed one foot high, a child's woolly toy. There were placedbefore the gods about six or eight cups of tea and hundreds of fragrantburning tapers. At one point our hearts failed us. We came to a dark bridge; it lookedso forbidding with its various windings, so frail in structure, sothronged, that we were timid about stepping upon it. Being assuredthat it was safe we ventured across. While it shook under our weight, we did not fall into the filthy frog-pond beneath. When we reached the center, there were a number of sleight-of-handperformers who were doing all sorts of curious things; bringing out ofthe stone pavement living animals, bottles of wine, bits of porcelain, and cakes, too filthy looking even to touch. There were for sale numbers of beautiful birds in cages and wonderfulbits of art of most intricate patterns and exquisite fineness. Wesaw beautiful pieces of brocaded silk and satin on little hand-looms, made by these patient, ever working people, who only have one week inthe year for rest. There does not seem to be any provision made fornight or rest, and each Chinaman looks forward to this one holidayweek in which he does no work whatever, and in which he must haveall the money ready to pay every debt he owes or be punished. I did not learn how much the average Chinaman gets for a day's wages, but I know that one of my friends sent a dozen linen dresses to belaundried, and that the charge was thirty-six cents. To be sure asatin dress that she sent to be cleaned was put in the tub with therest. In the markets were impossible looking sausages, dried ducks, and curious frogs. In China, as in Japan, each individual has hisown little table about two feet long, fourteen inches wide and sixor eight inches high, --not unlike a tray. Their religion is centuries old, but if cleanliness be next togodliness, they are still centuries away from Christian virtues. Thevast city crowded from portal to portal is one seething mass ofliving beings pushing, hustling, and silent. With the exception of asoothsayer, I did not see in an entire day two people talking together, so intent were they on their various duties. It was a joy to get out of the native into the European parts ofShanghai and feel safe; and yet there was not a single thing, uponthinking it over, that one could say was alarming, not a disrespectfullook from any one. I said upon reaching the outer gate, "Thank God, we are out of there alive and safe. " It was the first experience onlyto be renewed with like scenes and impressions at Canton, with thesame thankfulness of heart, too, for escape. Our guide told us that he would be in no way responsible for anythingthat might happen in traveling about Canton. The land and its peopleare a marvel and a mystery; the great wonder is how all this vastmultitude can be reached and helped. The rivers teem with all sorts of junks filled with all sorts ofwares going to market, and it was upon the quays that we found forsale the finest carved things, the richest embroideries, the mostdelicately wrought wares. The monkey seems to be a favorite subjectwith the artist. Look at these exquisite bits of carved ivory. Thisone is the god monkey who sees no evil, his hands cover his eyes;this one is the god monkey who hears no evil, his hands cover hisears; and this one is the god monkey who speaks no evil, his handscover his mouth. Half ashamed of our own dullness an old lesson cameback with new significance, --be blind, deaf, and dumb towards evil. One curiously wrought specimen of art was an inkwell encircled bynine monkeys. In the center, on the lid, was the finest monkey of all;the diversity of bodily attitudes, the variety of facial expressions, and the perfection of all was wonderful. Temple cloths, with picturesof various gods embroidered in fine threads of gold, were marvels ofpatient labor. We once entertained at our home in Akron a converted Chinaman who hadcome to Gambier, Ohio, to study for the ministry. After the lapse ofmany years his son came to Ohio to be educated. It was interestingto hear him tell of the ways and customs of his native land. I askedhim about servants being so very cheap, and he informed me thatgood servants might not be considered so cheap. The best families, according to the value they place upon the friendship of their friends, pay for every present received a certain per cent. Of its value totheir servants; and at every birthday of any member of the family, every wedding, every birth and death, there are hundreds of presentsexchanged. I saw many servants in the large cities carrying thesevarious gifts, and some of the servants were dressed very well, having, on the garments they wore, the coat-of-arms or rank of theirmaster. On a little table or tray was placed the richly embroideredfamily napkin with the gift neatly wrapped therein, and on both sideswere placed lighted tapers or artificial flowers. As with Shanghai so with all the coast towns of China, there is theold walled city swarming with millions of natives, and the new orEuropean city as modern as New York. My two days' stay seemed liketwo weeks, so full was it of strange sights. On returning to the Gælic, I was pleased to find that two Americanshad been added to our passenger list. Indeed, it was the last ofthe many kindly offices of Mr. Goodnow to introduce me to Rev. AndMrs. C. Goodrich. These new friends were delightful travelingcompanions. For a longer stay at Hong Kong and a much better boat toManila, I was indebted to their thoughtfulness for me. We were told that we must all get in position to watch the entranceat Hong Kong. Captain Finch said that for fifteen years he always wentdown from the bridge as soon as he could to see the wonderful displayof curious junks and craft of every conceivable kind that swarmedabout the boat, some advertising their wares, some booming hotels, somefortune-telling in hieroglyphics which only the Chinese can interpret. Before our boat dropped anchor there were hundreds of Celestialsclimbing up the sides of the ship with all kinds of articles forsale. There were sleight-of-hand performers, there were tumblers ofred looking stuff to drink; there were trained mice and rats. We hada man on shipboard who was very clever with these sleight-of-handtricks, but he said he could not see where they got a single one ofthe reptiles and articles that they would take out of the ladies'hands, their bonnets, and his own feet, which were bare. The city of Hong Kong is built upon a rock whose sides are almostvertical. The city park is considered one of the finest in theworld. It has been said that every known tree and shrub is grown there;and when one considers that every foot of its soil has been carriedto its place, the wonder is how it has all been done. The blossomsseem to say, "The whole world is here and in bloom. " The banyan treegrows here luxuriantly and is a great curiosity. The main trunk ofthe tree grows to the height of about thirty or forty feet. The firstbranches, and indeed many of the upper branches, strike down into theground. These give the trees the appearance of being supported on hugesticks. As to the bamboo, it is the principal tree of which they buildtheir houses, and make many articles for export in the shape of wovenchairs, tables, and baskets of most intricate and beautiful designs, most reasonable in price. The first shoots in spring are used as foodand make a delicious dish. It is prepared like cauliflower. Our muchdespised "pussley" proves to be a veritable blessing here; it makesa nice green or salad. China seemed like one vast graveyard, full of huge mounds from threeto five feet high, without special marking. Each family knows whereits own ancestors are buried. One of the reasons why they oppose thebuilding of railroads through their country is their reverence forthese burial piles. One of the very best missionary establishments that I know anythingabout is the hospital in Shanghai. The institution is full tooverflowing and the amount of good that the nurses do there is beyondhuman measure. I heard pathetic stories almost beyond belief; I hopethat the grand workers in that field are supplied with all they needin the way of money. Servants seldom remain at night in the house of their employers orpartake of the food that is prepared for the household. The rich enjoypleasure trips on the house-boats; they take their servants, horses, and carriages with them, and leaving the river at pleasure they journeyup through the country to the inland towns. One cannot understandhow the poor exist as they do on their house-boats. Of course, those hired by the Americans and English are well appointed, but alarge proportion of the inhabitants are born, live, and die on thesejunks which do not seem large enough to hold even two people and yetmultitudes live on them in squalor and misery. I have a great respectfor the determination of Chinese children to get an education. Itis truly wonderful that with more than fifty thousand characters tolearn, they ever acquire any knowledge. Some of the scholars studydiligently all their lives, trying to the last to win prizes. HONG KONG TO MANILA. CHAPTER SEVEN. From Hong Kong to Manila we were fortunate in being upon an Australiansteamer which was very comfortable, indeed, with Japanese forsailors and attendants. At last I was in the tropics and felt for thefirst time what tropical heat can be; the sun poured down floods ofintolerable heat. The first feeling is that one can not endure it;one gasps like a fish out of water and vows with laboring breath, "I'll take the next steamer home, oh, home!" It took four days to reachManila. The bay is a broad expanse of water, a sea in itself. The cityis a magnificent sight, its white houses with Spanish tiled roofs, its waving palms, its gentle slopes rising gradually to the mountainsin the back ground. The waters swarmed with craft of every fashion and every country. Howbeautiful they looked, our own great warships and transports! No largeship can draw nearer to shore than two or three miles. All our armysupplies must be transferred by the native boats to the quartermaster'sdepartment, there to be sorted for distribution to the islands wherethe troops are stationed. This necessitates the reloading of stores onthe boats, to be transferred again to medium sized vessels to completetheir journey. A volunteer quartermaster told me, that, on an average, every seventh box was wholly empty and the contents of the other sixwere rarely intact. The lost goods sometimes reappeared on nativeheads or backs. Coal oil was in demand, and disappeared with amazingcelerity; it is far better for lights than cocoanut oil. Custom house inspection being quickly over, we landed. The beauty ofthe distant view was instantly dispelled; one glance and there was awild desire to take those dirty, almost nude creatures in hand and, holding them at arm's length, dip them into some cleansing caldron. Thesanitary efforts of our army are effecting changes beyond praise bothin the people and their surroundings. A little two wheeled quielas (ké-las) drawn by a very diminutivehorse took me to the Hotel Oriente, since turned into a governmentoffice. I noticed that the floors were washed in kerosene to checkthe vermin that else would carry everything off bodily. The hotelwas so crowded that I was obliged to occupy a room with a friend, which was no hardship as I had already had several shocks from newexperiences. We had no sooner sat down to talk matters over than Istarted up nervously at queer squeaks. My friend remarked, "Never mind, you will soon get used to them, they are only lizards most harmless, and most necessary in this country. " The beds in our room were fourhigh posters with a cane seat for the mattress, a small bamboo mat, onesheet, and one pillow stuffed with raw cotton and very hard. As we weretucked in our little narrow beds mosquito netting was carefully drawnabout us. "Neatly laid out, " said one. "All ready for the morgue, "responded the other. The next morning we watched with interest the carabao as they weretaken from the muddy pools in which they had found shelter for thenight. The natives begin work at dawn and rest two or three hours inthe middle of the day. It seemed to me too hot for any man or beastto stir. When a large drove of carabao are massed together it seems inevitablethat they shall injure each other with their great horns, six oreight feet long but fortunately they are curved back. Strange, too, I thought it, that these large animals should be driven by smallchildren--my small children were really sixteen to twenty years old. We ventured forth upon this first morning and found a large cathedralclose by. It was all we could do to push our way through the throngof half-naked creatures that were squatting in front of the churchto sell flowers, fruits, cakes, beads, and other small wares. We pressed on through crooked streets out toward the principal shoppingdistrict, but soon found it impossible to go even that short distancewithout a carriage, the heat was so overpowering. We turned to theold city, Manila proper, passed over the drawbridge, and under thearch of its inclosing wall, centuries old. We went to the quartermaster's department to get transportationto Iloilo. It gave a delightful feeling of protection to see oursoldiers in and about everywhere. At this time Judge William H. Tafthad not been made governor; the city was still under military rule, andthere were constant outbreaks, little insurrections at many points, especially in the suburbs. We were surprised to find the city solarge and so densely populated. It is useless to deny that we were in constant fear even whenthere were soldiers by. The unsettled conditions gave us a creepyfeeling that expressed itself in the anxious faces and broken wordsof our American women. One would say, "Oh I feel just like a fool, I am so scared. " Another would say, "Dear me, don't I wish I wereat home, "--another, "I just wish I could get under some bed andhide. " But for all their fears they stayed, yielding only so far asto take a short vacation in Japan. There is not much in the way ofsight seeing in Manila beyond the enormous cathedrals many of whichwere closed. About five o'clock in the afternoon everybody goes tothe luneta to take a drive on the beach, hear the bands play, andwatch the crowds. It is a smooth beach for about two miles. Here arethe elite of Manila. The friars and priests saunter along, some inlong white many-overlapping capes, and some in gowns. Rich and poor, clean and filthy, gay and wretched, gather here and stay until abouthalf-past six, when it is dark. The rich Filipinos dine at eight. The social life in Manila, as one might suppose, was somewhatrestricted for Americans. The weather is so enervating that it isimpossible to get up very much enthusiasm over entertainments. Duringmy stay in Manila, in all, perhaps two months, there was little inthe way of social festivity except an occasional ball in the hallsof the Hotel Oriente, nor did the officers who had families therehave accommodations for much beyond an occasional exchange of dinnersand lunches. The Americans, as a rule, did not take kindly to either entertainingor being entertained by natives, and besides they could not endurethe heavy, late dinners and banquets. At one grand Filipino ball (bailie) an eight or ten course dinner wasserved about midnight. The men and women did not sit down together atthis banquet, the older men ate at the first table, then the olderwomen, then the young men, lastly the young women. After the feastthere were two or three slow waltzes carried on in most solemn manner, and then came the huge task of waking up the cocheroes (drivers)to go home. While everything was done in a quick way according toa Filipino's ideas, it took an hour or two to get ready. The onlything that does make a lot of noise and confusion is the quarreling ofFilipino horses that are tethered near each other. I thought Americanhorses could fight and kick, but these little animals stand on theirhind legs and fight and strike with their fore feet in a way that isalarming and amusing. They are beset day and night with plagues ofinsects. No wonder they are restless. The Bilibid Prison in Manila is the largest in the Philippines, andcontains the most prisoners. The time to see the convicts and men isat night when they are on dress parade. Of the several hundred that Isaw, I do not think that anyone of them is in there for other than justcause. They are made to work and some of them are very artistic and domost beautiful carvings on wood, bamboo and leather. It is very hardnow to get any order filled, so great a demand has been created fortheir handi-work. I could not but notice the manner of the on-lookersas they came each day to see those poor wretches. They seemed to haveno pity; and then, there were very few women who were prisoners. I donot remember seeing more than three or four in each of the five prisonsthat I visited. Orders were taken for the fancy articles made in theseprisons. One warden said he had orders for several months' work ahead. ILOILO AND JARO. CHAPTER EIGHT. We went from Manila to Iloilo on a Spanish steamer. I gave one look atthe stateroom that was assigned to me and decided to sleep on deck inmy steamer chair. I had been told that I positively could not eat thefood which the ship would prepare, so I took a goodly supply with me. The captain was so gracious that I could not let him know my plans, so I pleaded illness but he ordered some things brought to me. Therewas a well prepared chicken with plenty of rice but made so hotwith pepper that I threw it into the sea; next, some sort of saladfloating in oil and smelling of garlic, it went overboard. Eggscooked in oil followed the salad; last the "dulce, " a composition ofrice and custard perfumed with anise seed oil, made the menu of thefishes complete. I now gladly opened my box of crackers and cheese, oranges, figs and dates. As the sun declined, I sat watching the islands. We were passingby what is known as the inner course. They lay fair and fragrant asso many Edens afloat upon a body of water as beautiful as any thatmortal eyes have ever seen. Huge palms rose high in air, their longfeathery leaves swaying softly in the golden light. Darkness felllike a curtain; but the waters now gleamed like nether heavens withtheir own stars of phosphorescent light. On the voyage to Japan, a fellow passenger asked if I were sure thatIloilo was my destination in the Philippines and, being assured thatit was, informed me that there was no such place on the ship's maps, which were considered very accurate. The Island of Panay was there, but no town of Iloilo. Iloilo (é-lo-é-lo) is the second city in size of the Philippines. Itstands on a peninsula and has a good harbor if it were not for theshifting sands that make it rather difficult for the large steamersto come to the wharf and the tide running very high at times makesit harder still. There is a long wharf bordered with huge warehousesfull of exports and imports. Vast quantities of sugar, hemp andtobacco are gathered here for shipment. It is a center of exchange, a place of large business, especially active during the first yearsof our occupation. Immense caravan trains go out from here to the various army posts tocarry food and other supplies, while ships, like farm yards adrift, ply on the same errand between port and port. Cebu and Negros arethe largest receiving stations. In the center of the town is the plaza or park. Here, after gettingthings in order, a pole was set, and the stars and stripes unfurled tothe breeze. The quarters of our soldiers were near the park and so ourboys had a pleasant place to lounge when off duty in the early morningor evening. When our troops first landed here in 1898 there was quite abattle, but I am not able to give its details. The results are obviousenough. The native army set fire to the city before fleeing acrossthe river to the town of Jaro (Hár-ro). The frame work of the upperpart of the buildings was burned but the walls or lower part remains. After the battle at Jaro, I went out to live for awhile in the quartersof Captain Walter H. Gordon, Lieutenant J. Barnes, and LieutenantA. L. Conger, 18th U. S. A. I soon realized that the war was still on, for every day and night, the rattle of musketry told that somewherethere was trouble. One day I went out to see the fortifications deserted by theFilipinos. They were curious indeed; built as an officer suggested, tobe run away from, not to be defended. One fortification was ingeniouslymade of sacks of sugar. Everywhere was devastation and waste andburned buildings. The natives had fled to distant towns or mountains. All this sounds bad and looked worse, and yet it takes but a littlewhile to restore all. The houses are quickly rebuilt; a bamboo roofis made, it is lifted to the desired height on poles set in or uponthe ground. The walls are weavings of bamboo or are plaited nepa. Thenepa is a variety of bamboo grown near shallow sea water. When oneof these rude dwellings is completed, it is ready for an ordinaryfamily. They do not use a single article that we consider essentialto housekeeping. Some of the better class have a kind of stove;its top is covered with a layer of sand or small pebbles, four orfive inches thick; on this stand bricks or small tripods to holdthe little pots used in cooking. Under each pot is a tiny fire. Theskillful cook plays upon his several fires as a musician upon hiskeys, adding a morsel of fuel to one, drawing a coal from another;stirring all the concoctions with the same spoon. The baking differsonly in there being an upper story of coals on the lid. It has been said that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Twoor three of us American women, eager to learn all we could, becausewe were daily told that the war was over and we should soon be goinghome, were rashly venturesome. But we soon found that it was unsafe togo about Molo or Iloilo even with a guide, and so we had to contentourselves with looking at the quantities of beautiful things broughtto our door. We were tempted daily to buy the lovely fabrics wovenby the native women. Every incoming ship is beset by a swarm of smalltraders who find their best customers amongst American women. Officersand men, too, are generous buyers for friends at home. The nativeweaves of every quality and color are surprisingly beautiful. Jusa (hoó-sa) cloth is made from jusi fibre; piña (peen-yah) frompineapple fibre; cinemi is a mixture of the two; abaka (a-ba-ka) fromhemp fibre; algodon from the native cotton; sada is silk; sabana isa mixture of cotton and hemp. We visited many of the places where the most extensive weaving is done, and there we saw the most wretched-looking, old women handling thehair-like threads. Each one had by her side some emblem of the RomanChurch as she sat at her daily task. These poor, dirty, misshapencreatures, weaving from daylight to dark, earn about fifty centsa month. So many of the women are deformed and unclean, both themakers and the sellers, that it seemed utterly incongruous that theyshould handle the most delicate materials. In all my observations, I saw but one nice, clean woman of the lower classes. In our happycountry we do not think of seeing a whole class of people diseasedor maimed. In the Philippines one seldom sees a well formed person;or if the form is good, the face is disfigured by small-pox. I was surprised, at first, on looking out after breakfast, to find atmy door every morning from two to a dozen women and boys in sittingposture, almost nude, only a thin waist on the body, and a pieceof cotton drawn tightly round the legs. Many would be solemnly andindustriously chewing the betel nut, which colors lips and saliva avivid red. It would not only be impertinent on my part to relate particulars ofour army, but I should undoubtedly do as Mrs. Partington did--"openmy patrician mouth and put my plebeian foot in it. " The first thingI did on arriving at Iloilo was to call mess "board" and go to bedinstead of "turning in. " In time of special danger, the various commanders were very kind inproviding guards--mostly, however, to protect Government property. Ifelt no great uneasiness about personal safety, though I always"slept with one eye open. " We were so frequently threatened that westood ready every moment to move on. Shots during the night are not, as a rule, conducive to sleep, and I did not like the sound of theballs as they struck the house. I had my plans laid to get behindthe stone wall at the rear of the passage and lie on the floor. Itwas necessary to keep a close watch on the servants who were "mucheehard luc" (very much afraid) at the slightest change in the movementsof either army, home or foreign. Their system of wireless telegraphy was most efficient, so much sothat one day at 2 P. M. I was told by a native of an engagement thathad taken place at 10 A. M. In a distant part of the island, remotefrom the telegraph stations. I wondered how he could have known, and later learned of their systems of signaling by kites. For nightmessages the kites are illuminated. They are expert, not only inflying, but in making them. Their schools are like pandemonium let loose; all the pupils studyingaloud together, making a deafening, rasping noise. Sessions from 7to 10 A. M. , 3 to 6 P. M. The large Mexican dollars are too cumbersome to carry in any ordinarypurse. If one wishes to draw even a moderate sum, it is necessary totake a cart or carriage. A good sized garden shovel on one side and abig canvas bag on the other expedites bank transactions in the islands. At the time of the evacuation of Jaro by the insurrectos, our officerschose their quarters from the houses the natives had fled from. Thehouse which we occupied had formerly been used as the PortugueseConsulate. Like all the better houses the lower part was built ofstone, and the upper part of boards. There was very little need ofheavy boards or timbers except to hold the sliding windows. I shouldthink the whole house was about eighty feet square with rear porchthat was used for a summer garden. The pillars of this porch werethings of real beauty. They were covered with orchids that in thehottest weather were all dried up and quite unsightly, but when therainy season began they were very beautiful in their luxuriance ofgrowth and bloom. The front door was in three parts; the great doubledoors which opened outward to admit carriages and a small door in oneof the larger doors. There was a huge knocker, the upper part was awoman's head. To open the large doors it was necessary to pull thelatch by a cord that came up through the floor to one of the innerrooms. I used to occupy this room at night and it was my office and mypleasure to pull the bobbin and let the latch fly up when the scoutingtroop would come in late at night. Captain Gordon said that he neverfound me napping, that I was always ready to greet them as soon astheir horses turned the corner two squares away. The entrance dooradmitted to a great hall with a stone floor, ending in apartmentsfor the horses. On the right of the hall were rooms for domesticpurposes, such as for the family looms, four or five of them, and forstores of food and goods. On the left there were four steps up andthen a platform, then three steps down into a room about twenty feetsquare. There were two windows in this room with heavy gratings. Weused it as a store room for the medical supplies. Returning to theplatform, there were two heavy doors that swung in, we kept thembolted with heavy wooden bolts; there were no locks on any doors. Atthe foot of the steps was a long narrow room with one small window;it was directly over the part where the animals were. The hall waslighted with quite a handsome Venetian glass chandelier in which weused candles. From this room we entered the large main room of thehouse; the ceiling and side wall was covered with leather or oilcloth held in place with large tacks; there were sliding windows ontwo sides of the room which, when shoved back, opened the room socompletely as to give the effect of being out of doors; the frontwindows looked out on the street, the side windows on the garden, on many trees, cocoanut, chico, bamboo, and palm. There was a largesummer house in the center of the garden and the paths which led upto it were bordered with empty beer bottles. The garden was enclosedby a plastered wall about eight feet high, into the top of which wereinserted broken bottles and sharp irons to keep out intruders. Thehouse was covered with a sheet iron roof. The few dishes that wefound upon our occupation were of excellent china but the threeor four sideboards were quite inferior. The whole house was wiredfor bells. This is true of many of the houses, indeed they are allfashioned on one model, and all plain in finish, extra carving or finewood-work would only make more work for the busy little ants. Evenwhen furniture looked whole, we often found ourselves landed on thefloor; it was no uncommon thing for a chair to give way; it had beenhoneycombed and was held together by the varnish alone. My first evening in Jaro was one of great fear. We were told by apriest that we were to be attacked and burned out. While sittingat dinner I heard just behind me a fearful noise that sounded like"Gluck-co-gluck-co. " An American officer told me it was an alarmclock, but as a matter of fact it was an immense lizard, an animalfor which I soon lost all antipathy, because of its appetite for thenumerous bugs that infest the islands. Unfortunately they have notaste for the roaches, the finger-long roaches that crawl all overthe floor. Neither were they of assistance in exterminating the hugerats and mice, nor the ants. The ants! It is impossible to describehow these miserable pests overran everything; they were on the beds, they were on the tables. Our table legs were set in cups of coaloil and our floors were washed with coal oil at least once everyweek. This disagreeable condition of things will not be wondered at, when I say that the horses, cattle, and carabao are kept in the lowerpart of the house, and the pigs, cats, and dogs allowed up stairs withthe family. The servants are required to stay below with the cattle. The animals are all diseased, especially the horses. Our men werecareful that their horses were kept far from the native beasts. Thecats are utterly inferior. The mongoose, a little animal betweena ferret and a rat, is very useful; no well-kept house is withoutone. Rats swarm in such vast hordes that the mongoose is absolutelynecessary to keep them down. Still more necessary is the housesnake. These reptiles are brought to market on a bamboo pole andusually sell for about one dollar apiece. Mine used to make greathavoc among the rats up in the attic. Never before had I known whatrats were. Every night, notwithstanding the mongoose, the house snake, and the traps, I used to lay in a supply of bricks, anything to throwat them when they would congregate in my room and have a pitchedbattle. They seemed to stand in awe of United States officers. Asoldier said one night, glancing about, "Why, I thought the rats movedout all of your furniture. " They would often carry things up to thezinc roof of our quarters, drop them, and then take after with rushand clatter, the snake in full chase. Mice abound, and lizards areeverywhere, of every shape, every size, and every color. I spent a large part of my time leaning out of my window; therewas so much to see. The expulsion of the insurrectos had just beeneffected, and very few of the natives remained, but as soon as theywere thoroughly convinced that our troops had actually taken the town, they flocked in by the hundreds, the men nearly naked, always barefoot, the women in their characteristic bright red skirts. The entire time spent there was full of surprises, the customs, dress, food, and religious ceremonies continually furnishing matter of intenseand varied interest. I noticed, especially, how little the men andwomen went about together, riding or walking, or to church. Neitherdo they sit together, or rather should say "squat, " for, even in thefine churches, the women squatted in the center aisles, while themen were ranged in side aisles. There are few pews, and these few, rarely occupied, were straight and uncomfortable. No effort was evermade to make them comfortable, not to mention ornamental. THE NATIVES. CHAPTER NINE. The natives are, as a rule, small, with a yellowish brown skin; nosesnot large, lips not thick, but teeth very poor. Many of them havecleft palate or harelip, straight hair very black, and heads ratherflattened on top. I examined many skulls and found the occiput andfirst cervical ankylosed. It occurred to me it might be on accountof the burdens they carry upon their heads in order to leave theirarms free to carry a child on the hips, to tuck in a skirt, or carefor the cigars. The Filipino skirt is a wonder. It is made by sewing together theends of a straight piece of cloth about three yards long. To hold itin place on the body, a plait is laid in the top edge at the right, and a tuck at the left, and there it stays--till it loosens. Oneoften sees them stop to give the right or left a twist. The fullnessin the front is absolutely essential for them to squat as they are soaccustomed to do while performing all sorts of work, such as washing, ironing, or, in the market place, selling all conceivable kinds ofwares. The waist for the rich and poor alike is of one pattern, theonly variation being in the quality. It has a plain piece loose atthe waist line for the body, a round hole for the rather low neck, the sleeves straight and extending to the wrist, about three-fourthsof a yard wide. These sleeves are gathered on the shoulder to fit theindividual. A square handkerchief folded three times in the center isplaced round the neck and completes the costume. As fast as richesare amassed, trains are assumed. All clothing is starched with riceand stands out rigidly. The materials are largely woven by the people themselves, and the finerfabrics are beautiful in texture and fineness, some of the strandsbeing so fine that several are used to make one thread. By weavingone whole day from dawn to dark, only a quarter of a yard of materialis produced. The looms, the cost of which is about fifty cents, areall made by hand from bamboo; the reels and bobbins, which completethe outfit, raise the value of the whole to about a dollar. There israrely a house that does not keep from one to a dozen looms. The jusi, made from the jusi that comes in the thread from China, is coloredto suit the fancy of the individual, but is not extensively used bythe natives, who usually prefer the abuka, piña, or sinamay, whichare products of the abuka tree, or pineapple fibre. The quality ofthese depends on the fineness of the threads. It is very delicate, yet durable, and--what is most essential--can be washed. The common natives seem to have no fixed hours for their meals, nordo they have any idea of gathering around the family board. Afterthey began to use knives and forks one woman said she would rathernot use her knife, it cut her mouth so. Even the best of them preferto squat on the floor, make a little round ball of half cooked ricewith the tips of their fingers and throw it into the mouth. My next door neighbor was considered one of the better class ofcitizens, and through my window I could not help, in the two yearsof my stay, seeing much of the working part of her household. Therewere pigs, chickens, ducks, and turkeys, either running freely aboutthe kitchen or tied by the leg to the kitchen stove. The floors ofthese kitchens are never tight; they allow the greater part of theaccumulated filth of all these animals to sift through to the groundbelow. There were about fifteen in the family; this meant fifteen ortwenty servants, but as there are few so poor in the islands as to beunable to command a poorer still, these chief servants had a crowdof underlings responsible to themselves alone. The head cook hada wife, two children and two servants that got into their quartersby crawling up an old ladder. I climbed up one day to see how muchspace they had. I put my head in at the the opening that served themfor door and window, but could not get my shoulders in. The wholegarret was about eight feet long and six feet wide. One end of itwas partitioned off for their fighting cocks. All the time I was there this family of the cook occupied that loft, and the two youngest ones squalled night and day, one or other, orboth of them. There was not a single thing in that miserable holefor those naked children to lie on or to sit on. The screams or thewails of the wretched babies, the fighting of the rats under foot, thethud of the bullets at one's head, the constant fear of being burnedout, --these things are not conducive to peaceful slumbers, but tofrightful dreams, to nightmare, to hasty wakenings from uneasy sleep. As soon as there is the slightest streak of dawn, the natives begin towork and clatter and chatter. No time is lost bathing or dressing. Theywear to bed, or rather to floor or mat, the little that they haveworn through the day, and rise and go to work next day without changeof clothing. It never occurs to them to wash their hands except whenthey go to the well, once a day perhaps. While at the well they willpour water from a cocoanut shell held above the head and let it rundown over the body, never using soap or towels. They rub their bodiessometimes with a stone. It does not matter which way you turn you seehundreds of natives at their toilet. One does not mind them more thanthe carabao in some muddy pond, and one is just about as cleanly asthe other. They make little noise going to and fro, all being barefoot;but it was not long until I learned to know whether there were three, fifty, or one hundred passing by the swish of their bare feet. The fathers seem to lavish more affection on the children than themothers, and no wonder. Even President Roosevelt would be satisfiedwith the size of families that vary from fifteen to thirty. They donot seem to make any great ado if one or more die. Such little bitsof humanity, such wasted corpses; it hardly seems that the shrunkenform could ever have breathed, it looks so little and pinched andstarved. There was a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, which weresaid to be twenty-five years old, that were the most hideous lookingthings I ever saw. They were two feet high, with huge heads out ofall proportion to their bodies. They used to go about the streetsbegging and giving concerts to get money. I understand that they arenow somewhere in America. I became very much interested in a man with only one leg. I wantedto get him a wooden mate for it, but he said he didn't want it; thathe could get around faster with one leg, and he certainly could takelonger leaps than any two legged creature. Even when talking he neversat down. He had admirable control of his muscles. A little abovethe average height, his one leggedness made him seem over six feet. It was out of the question to take the census of any town or province, because of the shifting population. It is nothing for a family to movemany times in the course of the year; they can make thirty or fortymiles a day. They have absolutely nothing to move unless it might bethe family cooking "sow-sow" pot, which is hung over the shoulderon a string, or carried on top of the head. I used often to see afamily straggling along with anywhere from ten to twenty children, seemingly all of a size, going to locate at some other place. Onefamily came to Jaro the night before market day. They had about sixdozen of eggs. I said I would buy all of them; the woman cried andsaid she was sorry, as she would have nothing to sell in the marketplace the next day. At night the whole family cuddled down in a cornerof the stable and slept. The native cook we employed proved to be a good one, and was willing tolearn American ways of cooking. We did not know he had a family. Onemorning while attending to my duties there appeared a woman aboutfive feet tall, with one shoulder about four inches higher than theother, one hip dislocated, one eye crossed, a harelip, which madethe teeth part in the middle, mouth and lips stained blood red withbetel juice, clothes--a rag or two. I screamed at her to run away, which she did instantly. I supposed she was some tramp who wanted toget a look at a white woman. She proved to be the wife of our cook, and after I had become accustomed to her dreadful looks, she becameinvaluable to me. Hardly anyone would have recognized her the daythat she accompanied me to the dock. The little money that she hadearned she had immediately put into an embroidered waist and longblack satin train; and as I bade her good-bye she left an impressionquite different from the first, and I am sure that the tears she shedwere not of the crocodile kind. The first native, Anastasio Alingas, whom we employed proved to bethe very worst we could have found. He not only stole from us rightbefore my eyes, but right before the eyes of our large household. Hetook the captain's pistol, holster, and ammunition. We could not havebeen more than five or ten feet from him at the time, for it was therule then to have our fire-arms handy. With an air of innocence, child-like and bland, he diverted suspicionto our laundry man and allowed him to be taken to prison. It wasonly after being arrested himself that he confessed and restored therevolver. He was allowed to go on the promise that he would nevercome any nearer than twenty miles to Jaro. He had been systematicallylying and stealing. He used to come with tears streaming down hisface and say that some man had stolen market money intrusted tohim. He plundered the store-room, though it was hard to tell whichstole the most, he or the wild monkeys that were about the house. Hehad pretended to be eager to learn, and had been so tractable thatwe were greatly disappointed to have him turn out such a bad boy. Wefound this true of every man that we tried, and most strongly trueof the ones who pretended to be the best. All the servants, all the natives, prized highly our tin cansfrom the commissary, as we emptied them. They used to come milesfor them. Cocoanut shells and hollow bamboo stalks are the commonvessels. A few old cans furnished a valuable ten cent store. Thevariety of uses to which these cans were turned was remarkable. None of the so-called better class work at anything. They all carryhuge bundles of keys at their side, and in most stentorian voicecall out many times during the day "machacha" to a servant, who is toperform some very small service which her mistress could easily havedone herself without any effort, and these lazy machachas saunter aboutin the most deliberate manner and do whatever they are asked to do inthe most ungracious way. These so-called ladies beat their servants. Ioften interfered by pounding with a stick on the side of my windowto attract their attention; that was all that was necessary. Theywere ashamed to have me see them. One time in particular, a womantook a big paddle, such as they use for pounding their clothes, and hit a small, sick looking creature again and again on the bareshoulders. What the offense was I do not know, but certainly thebeating was such as I have never seen administered to anything. The servants always walk about three feet behind the mistresses andcarry their parcels, but they seldom walk, however, for they ride evenwhen the distance is short. The grand dames affect a great deal ofmodesty and delicacy of feeling. On a certain occasion they sent wordto the commanding general that it would be a serious shock to theirfeelings to have the execution of a criminal take place in the centerof the town. The gallows were erected in the suburbs. Immediatelyall the natives were set to work to make hiding places where thesesensitive ladies, unseen, could witness the execution. From earlydawn until 9 A. M. Carriages were carrying these delicate creaturesto their secret stations. Not one of them in the whole village ofJaro but was on the watch. They supposed, of course, that I wouldbe so interested that I would take a prominent part; that executionswere common festivals in the United States. The criminal himself had no idea that his sentence would be enforced, even up to the last moment he took it as a huge joke, and when he wastaken to the general said he would like to be excused, and offeredto implicate others who were more guilty than himself. Many questions were asked me concerning our methods of execution, and great was the surprise when I confessed that I had never seen onemyself, nor did I ever expect to see one; that my countrywomen wouldbe horrified to witness such a sight; and that on the present occasionI had gone to the adjoining town six miles away to escape it all. Iwas shown several pictures of the victim taken by a Chinese artist. A man buys at a booth one penny's worth of what is known as "sow-sow"for himself and family. I have often looked into the sow-sow pots, but was never able to make out what was contained therein. Thechildren buy little rice cakes, thin, hard, and indigestible as bitsof slate. The children's stomachs are abnormally large; due, perhaps, to the half-cooked rice and other poorly prepared food. When it comesto the choice of caring for the child or the fighting cock, the cockhas the preference. The bird is carried as fondly and as carefully asif it were a superior creature. It was strange to see how they wouldcarry these birds on their palms; nor did they attempt to fly away, but would sit there and crow contentedly. We had at one time five or six carpenters to do some bamboo work. Theybrought their fighting cocks along with them for amusement when theywere not at work, which was every moment our backs were turned. Theyare so used to being driven that it never occurs to them to go onwith their work unless someone is overseeing them. They began byputting the bamboo at the top of the room and working down, braiding, plaiting and splitting, putting in a bit here and there in a verydeft way without a nail. They did all the cutting sitting down onthe floor and holding the smooth bamboo pieces with their feet, while they sawed the various lengths with a bolo. When they had completed the partition, I said to the foreman, "How much for the day's work for all. " The head man very politelyinformed me that he did not propose to pay these other men anything;if I wanted to pay them all right, but he would not. The defrauded onesgot down on their knees to beg for their pay. I called in a priest whocould talk some English, and explained the situation to him. He toldme frankly that I would have to pay these other men just the same, notwithstanding that I had paid the foreman the full amount. Hesaid I had better do it, because if I did not the men would bringvengeance upon me. They have no idea of justice or honor. What istrue of business is true of every act of theirs, as far as I know. An American woman told me that her husband could not attend to hismilitary duties because he had to watch the nine natives who cameto his house to do work. He had to keep account of their irregularcomings and goings, to examine each one that he did not steal, toinvestigate his work that it was not half done. Men and women arealike--they must be watched every moment, because they have beenso long watched and driven. If women who are hired and paid by themonth break or destroy the least thing, its value is taken out oftheir wages and they are beaten. It was very astonishing to me to see, notwithstanding this serfdom, that they remain submissive to the samemasters and mistresses. A man was condemned to die by one of the secret societies. His mostfaithful servant, a member of the order, was chosen to execute thesentence. He calmly met his master at the door, made a thrust at himand wounded him slightly, struck again, and again; the third blowwas fatal. The servant was never punished for the crime. It happenedjust a few doors from where I was living. There was a large funeralprocession and a huge black cross was placed at the door, and thatended the matter, so far as I know. They place little value upon life;they seem to think death is but the gate to great happiness, no matterwhat its manner may be. I used to see many persons, men and women, with crosses on their throats and bodies. I asked ever so many whatit meant, but was never able to find out. It was never seen upon theso-called better class. Much that I learned of the various tribes andvarious castes was told me by a converted Filipino, Rev. Manakin. Heexpected any time to be placed under the ban of the secret societiesand killed. WOOINGS AND WEDDINGS. CHAPTER TEN. The manner of wooing is rather peculiar. The man who wishes to pay hisaddresses to a woman gets the consent of her father and mother. He isreceived by the entire family when he calls, but is never allowed, in any way, to show her any special favor or attention; he mustdevote himself to the entire family. If he wishes to take her to atheatre, or concert, or dance, he must take the entire family. Forabout a week before the marriage the bride elect is carried about ina sort of wicker bamboo hammock borne on the shoulders of two youngmen and she goes about paying visits to her intimate friends; she isnot allowed to put foot to the ground or do any sort of menial labor. Mothers brought their young daughters to me daily to importune me tochoose a sweetheart for my son or for any other officer who happenedto be at our headquarters. I know that one young officer was offered$100, 000 to marry the daughter of one of the richest men in the townof Molo, and it was a great wonder to the father that the young mancould refuse so brilliant a match socially, to say nothing of itfinancially. There happened to be a young Englishman in the regularservice whose time expired while he was at Jaro. He had been cook andvalet for an officer's mess and was really a very fine fellow. He wasimmediately chosen by a wealthy Filipino to marry his daughter. Theyoung man not only got a wife but a very handsome plantation of sugarand rice; perhaps not the only foreign husband secured by a good dowry. The trousseau of a rich Filipino girl consists of dozens and dozensof rich dresses; no other article is of interest. They do not need thelingerie. Among the common people it is simply an arrangement betweenthe mother and the groom or it can all be arranged with the priest. Ihave seen as many as fifteen young girls sitting in the market placewhile their mothers told of their various good qualities. Marriage isnot a question of affection, seemingly. The only thing necessary ismoney enough to pay the priest. Very often all rites are set aside;the man chooses his companion, the two live together and probablyrear a large family. I was told that there are two sets of commandments in use--one forthe rich, the other for the poor. I was glad to accept the kind invitation of a rich and influentialfamily to their daughter's wedding. At the proper hour, I presentedmyself at the church door and was politely escorted to a seat. Therewas music. The natives came dressed in their best, and squattedupon the floor of the cathedral. After a long time the bride electsauntered in with three or four of her attendants not especiallyattired, nor did they march in to music but visited along the way asthey came straggling in. Soon the groom shuffled in, I say shuffledbecause they have so recently begun to wear shoes. The bridal groupgathered before the altar and listened to the ritual. Finally thegroom took the bride's hand for one brief moment. A few more wordsby the priest and the ceremony was ended. To my surprise the bridecame up and greeted me. I did not understand what I was expected to dobut I shook hands and said I hoped she would be very happy. The groomnow came up and bowing low presented his "felicitations. " I returnedthe bow but could not muster a word. The women straggled out on oneside of the cathedral and the men on the other. This was considereda first class "matrimony. " There was a very large reception at thehouse with a grand ball in the evening; indeed, there were two orthree days of festivities. In contrast to this was the wholesale matrimonial bureau which wasconducted every Saturday morning. I have seen as many as ten couplesmarried all at once. I never knew which man was married to which woman, as the men stood grouped on one side of the priest and the women on theother. I asked one groom, "Which is your wife?" He scanned the crowd ofbrides a moment then said comfortably, "Oh, she is around somewhere. " I used to go to the cathedral on Saturdays to see the variousceremonies. The most interesting of all the cheap baptisms atwhich all the little babies born during the week were baptized forten cents. These pitiable little creatures, deformed and shrunken, were too weak to wail, or, perhaps they were too stupified withnarcotics. A large candle was put into each little bird-claw, thenurse or mother holding it in place above the passive body coveredonly with a scrap of gauze but decked out with paper flowers, hugepieces of jewelry, odd trinkets, anything they had--all dirty, mother, child, ornaments; the onlookers still more dirty. The priest whomI knew very well, since he lived just across the way, told me thatfew of these cheap babies live long. I am sure they could not; notone of them would weigh five pounds. They were all emaciated; deathwould be a mercy. There was a little fellow next door to whom I wasvery much attached. The dear little naked child would stay with meby the day if I would have him; he was four years old but no largerthan an American baby of four months. I used to long for a rockingchair that I might sing him to sleep but he had no idea of sleepingwhen he was with me. His great brown eyes would look into my facewith an intensity of love; he would gaze at me till I feared that hewas something uncanny. If I gave him a lump of sugar, he would hold itreverently a long time before he would presume to eat it. Every day heand other little devoted natives would bring me bouquets of flowers, stuck on the spikes of a palm or on tooth picks. No well regulatedhouse but has bundles of tooth picks arranged in fancy shapes such asfans and flowers. All their sideboards and tables have huge bouquetsof these wonderfully wrought and gayly ornamental tooth picks. They carve with skill; out of a bit of wood or bamboo they willwhittle a book, so pretty as to be worth four or five dollars. One day I made a woman understand by signs that I should like to weave;she nodded approval and in a little while a loom was brought to thehouse; we went over to the market, purchased our fiber and began. Ifound it a difficult task, as I had to sit in a cramped position;and the slippery treadles of round bamboo polished by use were hardto manage. I did better without shoes. The weaving was a diversion;it occupied my time when the soldiers were out of the quarters. I willnot deny that yards of the fabric were watered with my tears. Therewas dangerous and exhausting work for our troops; and there were badreports that many were mutilated and killed. MY FIRST FOURTH IN THE PHILIPPINES. CHAPTER ELEVEN. I can not tell what joy it was to me to see my son and the membersof the troop come riding into town alive and well after a hardcampaign. They looked as if they had seen service, and what hugeappetites they brought with them. On the third of July, 1900, I heardthat the boys were coming back on the Fourth. Learning that therewas nothing for their next day's rations I decided to prepare a goodold-fashioned dinner myself. All night long I baked and boiled andprepared that meal; eighty-three pumpkin pies, fifty-two chickens, three hams, forty cakes, ginger-bread, 'lasses candy, pickles, cheese, coffee, and cigars. Having purchased from a Chinese some firecrackers--as soon as there was a streak of dawn--I went to my windowand lighted those crackers. It was such a surprise to the entire town;they came to see what could be the matter, as no firing was permittedin the city. We began our first Fourth in true American style, as the"Old Glory" was being raised we sang "Star Spangled Banner. " Manyjoined in the chorus and in the Hip! Hip! Hurrah! I keep in a smallframe the grateful acknowledgment of the entire Company that wasgiven to me from the Gordon Scouts: Jaro, Panay, P. I. , July 4th, 1900. To Mrs. A. L. Conger: We, the undersigned, members of Gordon's Detachment, of MountedEighteenth Infantry Scouts, desire, in behalf of the entire troop, to express our thanks for and appreciation of the excellent dinnerprepared and furnished us by Mrs. A. L. Conger, July 4th, 1900. Itwas especially acceptable coming as it did immediately after returnfrom arduous field service against Filipino insurrectos and, beingprepared and tendered us by one of our own brave and kind Americanwomen, it was doubly so. It is the earnest wish of the detachment that Mrs. Conger may neverknow less pleasure than was afforded us by such a noble example ofpatriotic American womanhood. Respectfully, [Signed] I prepared other dinners at various times, but this first spread wasto them and to myself a very great pleasure. Letters from home were full of surprise that we still stayed thoughthe war was over--the newspapers said it was. For us the anxiety andstruggle still went on. To be sure there were no pitched battles butthe skirmishing was constant; new outbreaks of violence and crueltywere daily occurring, entailing upon our men harassing watch andchase. The insurrectos were butchers to their own people. CaptainN. Told me that he hired seven native men to do some work around thebarracks up in the country and paid them in American money, goodgenerous wages. They carried the money to their leader who was soindignant that they had worked for the Americans that he ordered themto dig their graves and, with his own hands, cut, mutilated, and killedsix of them. The seventh survived. Bleeding and almost lifeless, hecrawled back to the American quarters and told his story. The captaintook a guide and a detail, found the place described, exhumed thebodies and verified every detail of the inhuman deed. They committed many bloody deeds, then swiftly drew back to theswamps and thickets impenetrable to our men. The very day, the hour, that the Peace Commissioner, Governor Taft, Judge Wright and othersto the number of thirty were enjoying an elegantly prepared repastat Jaro there was, within six miles, a spirited conflict going on, our boys trying to capture the most blood-thirsty villains of theislands. This gang had hitherto escaped by keeping near the shore andthe impenetrable swamps of the manglares. No foot but a Filipino'scan tread these jungles. When driven into the very closest quarters, they take to their boats, and slip away to some nearby island. I hope that my son and his men will pardon me for telling that theyrushed into some fortifications that they saw on one of their perilousmarches and with a sudden fusillade captured the stronghold. TheFilipinos had a company of cavalry, one of infantry, one of bolo men, and reserves. The insurrecto captain told me himself that he never wasso surprised, mortified, and grieved that such a thing could have beendone. They thought there was a large army back of this handful of men, eleven in all. General R. P. Hughes sent the following telegram tomy son, and his brave scouts: "To Lieutenant Conger, June 14, 1900, Iloilo. I congratulate you and your scouts on your great success. Noaction of equal dash and gallantry has come under my notice in thePhilippines. " (Signed) R. P. Hughes. All this time there were negotiations going on to secure surrender andthe oath of allegiance. Those who vowed submission did not considerit at all binding. General Del Gardo surrendered with protestations of loyalty and hashonored his word ever since; he is now Governor of the Island of Panay(pan-i). He is very gentlemanly in appearance and bearing and hasassumed the duties of his new office with much dignity. Just recentlyI learn, to my surprise, that he does not recognize the authorityof the "Presidente" of the town of Oton, who was appointed beforethe surrender of General Del Gardo, and that therefore the very fineflag raising we had on the Fourth of July, 1900, is not consideredlegal. We had a famous day of it at the time. All the soldiers whocould be spared marched to Oton. There was a company of artillery, some cavalry, and the scouts. From other islands, Americans and oursick soldiers were brought by steamer as near as possible and thenlanded in small boats. We were somewhat delayed in arriving butwere greeted in a most friendly manner by the whole town. We wereescorted up to the house of the Presidente and were immediatelyserved with refreshments that were most lavish in quantity, color, shape and kind; too numerous in variety to taste, and too impossibleof taste to partake. After the parade, came the running up of theflag, made by the women of the town. The shouting and the cheeringvied with the band playing "America, " "Hail Columbia, " and the"Star Spangled Banner. " It was indeed an American day celebratedin loyal fashion--certainly by the Americans. It was the very firstflag raising in the Islands by the Filipinos themselves. It is withregret that I hear that General Del Gardo has refused officially torecognize this historic occasion. After these ceremonies we had thebanquet. I do not recall any dish that was at all like our food exceptsmall quail, the size of our robins. Where and how they captured allthe birds that were served to that immense crowd and how they everprepared the innumerable kinds of refreshments no one will ever knowbut themselves. We were all objects of curiosity. The natives formiles around flocked in to gaze upon the Americans. At this placethere is one of the finest cathedrals on the Island of Panay, largeenough for a whole regiment of soldiers to quarter in, as once happenedduring a very severe storm. The reredos was especially fine. It wasin the center of the cathedral and was almost wholly constructed ofhammered silver of very intricate pattern and design. Nave, choir, and transepts were ornamented with exquisite carving in stone and wood. FLOWERS, FRUITS AND BERRIES. CHAPTER TWELVE. Fruits are of many varieties; the most luscious are the mangoes. Thereis only one crop a year; the season lasts from April to July. It isa long, kidney-shaped fruit. It seems to me most delicious, but somedo not like it at all. The flavor has the richness and sweetness ofevery fruit that one can think of. They disagree with some personsand give rise to a heat rash. For their sweet sake, I took chances andended by making a business of eating and taking the consequences. Themango tree has fine green satin leaves; the fruit is not allowed toripen on the tree. The natives pick mangoes as we pick choice pearsand let them ripen before eating. They handle them just as carefully, and place them in baskets that hold just one layer. The best mangoesare sometimes fifty cents a piece. The fruit that stands next in favoris the chico. It looks not unlike a russet apple on the outside, butthe inside has, when ripe, a brown meat and four or five black seedsquite like watermelon seeds. It is rich and can be eaten with impunity. The banana grows everywhere, and its varieties are as numerous asthose of our apple; its colors, its sizes, manifold. Some aboutthe size of one's finger are deliciously sweet and juicy. They growseemingly without any cultivation whatever, by the road as freelyas in the gardens. Guavas are plentiful, oranges abundant but poorin quality. The pomelo is like our "grape fruit, " but larger, lessbitter and less juicy. Cut into squares or sections and served with asauce of white of egg and sugar beaten together it is a delicious dish. There are no strawberries or raspberries, but many kinds of smallfruits, none of which I considered at all palatable, although someof them looked delicious hanging upon the trees or bushes. There is asmall green kind of cherry full of tiny seeds that the natives prizeand enjoy. The fruits of one island are common to all. The flora of the country was not seen at its best; many of the nativestold me. Trees, shrubs, gardens and plantations had been trampled byboth armies and left to perish. Our government took up the work ofrestoration as soon as possible. The few roses that I saw were not of aparticularly good quality, nor did they have any fragrance. No one canever know what joy thrilled me when one day I found some old fashionedfour o'clocks growing in the church yard. The natives do not care touse the natural flowers in the graceful sprays or luxuriant clusters inwhich they grow. They usually stick them on the sharp spikes of somesmall palm or wind them on a little stick to make a cone or set thespikelets side by side in a flat block. They much prefer artificialstiffness to natural grace. In the hundreds of funeral ceremoniesthat I saw I never noticed the use of a single natural blossom. Theflowers were all artificial, of silk, paper, or tissue. One reason, perhaps, of this choice is that all vegetation is infested with ants;they can scarcely be seen, but, oh, they can be felt! The first timeI was out driving I begged the guard to gather me huge bunches ofmost exquisite blooms but I was soon eager to throw them all out;the ants swarmed upon me and drove me nearly frantic. I learned toshun my own garden paths and to content myself with looking out ofthe window on the plants below. There are many birds but no songsters. The betel nut is about the size of a walnut. The kernel is whitelike the cocoanut. They wrap a bit of this kernel with a pinch ofair-slacked lime in a pepper leaf, then chew, chew, all day, andin intervals of chewing they spray the vividly colored saliva ondoor-step, pavement and church floor. I often watched the natives climb the tall cocoanut trees, abouteighty feet high, with only the fine fern-like leaves at the extremetop. These trees yield twenty to fifty cocoanuts per month and live toa great age. No one can have any idea of the delicious milk until hehas drunk it fresh from the recently gathered nuts. A young native willclimb as nimbly and as swiftly as a monkey, and will be as unfetteredby dress as his Darwinian brother. The fruit is severed from the treeby the useful bolo. The flowers in the parks when I saw them had all been trampled into themud by the soldiers of both armies, but I was told that they had beenvery beautiful. There were also large trees, bearing huge clusters ofblooms; one bunch had seventy-five blossoms, each as large as a fairsized nasturtium. These are called Fire or Fever Trees, since theyhave the appearance of being on fire and bloom in the hot season whenfever is most prevalent. Other trees whose name I do not recall bearequally large clusters of purple flowers. The palms are large and growin great luxuriance, and the double hibiscus look like large pinks. THE MARKETS. CHAPTER THIRTEEN. The market day is the great day of every town. A certain part ofevery village is prepared with booths and stalls to display wares ofendless variety. We all looked forward to market day. There were matsof various sizes, --mats are used for everything. There are some soskillfully woven that they are handsome ornaments, worth as much asa good rug. There were hats woven out of the most delicately shreddedfibers, the best costing from twelve to twenty dollars in gold, verydurable and very beautiful. The best ones can be woven only in a dampplace, as the fiber must be kept moist while being handled. Therewere fish nets of abaka differing in mesh to suit the various kindsof fish. The cloths were hung on lines to show their texture. We hadto pick our way amongst the stalls and through or over the nativesseated on the ground. I have seen a space of two acres covered withhundreds of natives, carabao, trotting bulls, chickens, turkeys, ducks, fine goods, vegetables, and fruits all in one mass; and I hadto keep a good lookout where I stepped and what I ran into. It wasnot necessary to go often for they were more than willing to bring alltheir wares to the house if they had any prospects of a sale. I havehad as many as thirty natives troop into the house at one time. Theyfinally became so obnoxious that I forbade them coming at all. The silence of these crowds was noticeable. They were keenly aliveto business and did not laugh and joke or even talk in reasonablemeasure. As a race they are solemn even in their looks, and no wonder, such is their degradation, misery, and despair. They have so littlesympathy and care for each other, so little comfort, and so neglectedand hopeless, so sunken beneath the so-called better class that whena little mission gospel was started one could hardly refrain fromtears to see the joy that they had in accepting the free gospel. Itwas no trouble for them to walk thirty or forty miles to get whatthey called cheap religion. They were outcasts from society and toopoor to pay the tithes that were imposed upon them by the priests intheir various parishes, for no matter how small a village was therewas the very elegant cathedral in the center of the town which onlythe rich and those who were able to pay were entitled to enter. The poor blind people wandered from village to village in groupsof two to twenty. Quite a number of the moderately insane would goabout begging, too, but the worst were chained to trees or put instocks and their food thrown at them. Even the dumb brutes were notso poorly cared for. The houses of the rich, while not cleanly and not well furnished, always have one large room in which stands a ring of chairs with arug in the center of the floor and a cuspidor by each seat. You areushered in and seated in one of these low square chairs, usually caneseated. After the courtesies of the day and the hostess's comments onthe fineness of your clothing, refreshments are brought in, --cigars, cigarettes, wine, cake, and preserved cocoanut. Sometimes Americanbeer is added as possibly more acceptable than the wine. The citizens of Jaro seemed to be friendly, they often invited meto their festivities; committees would wait upon me, presenting mesometimes invitations engraved upon silver with every appearance ofcordiality in expression and manner. They could not understand whyI would not accept; I would explain, that first, I had no desire;second, I thought it poor policy to do so when our soldiers wereobliged to fight their soldiers, and they were furnishing the moneyto carry on the warfare; then too, most of their balls were given onSunday night. True, a Filipino Sunday never seemed Sunday to me. Icould only say, foolishly enough, "But it is not Sunday at home. " Icould not attend their parties and I had little heart to dance. Ihad only to go to the window to see their various functions; itcould hardly be called merry as they went at it in such a listless, lazy way, with apparently little enjoyment, the air that they carryinto all their pleasures. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE. CHAPTER FOURTEEN. It has been said that the prosperity of any nation depends largelyupon its agriculture. The soil in the Philippines is very rich. Thechief product, which the natives spend the most time upon, is rice;and even that is grown, one almost might say, without any care, especially after seeing the way the Japanese till their rice. Theysow the rice broadcast in little square places of about half an acrewhich is partly filled with water. When this has grown eight or teninches high they transplant it into other patches which have beenpreviously scratched over with a rude one-handled plow that oftenhas for a point only a piece of an old tin can or a straggly root, and into this prepared bit of land they open the dyke and let in thewater; that is all that is necessary until the harvesting. They havea great pest, the langousta or grasshopper, and they are obliged, when these insects fly over a section of the country, to scare themaway by any means in their power, which is usually by running aboutthrough the rice fields waving a red rag. As I have said before they gather these pests and eat them. I haveseen bushels of fried langousta for sale in the markets. When theygather the rice harvest, it is carried to some nearby store room, usually in the lower part of the house in which they live. Then comesthe threshing, which is done with old-fashioned mills, by pounding witha wooden mallet, or by rubbing between two large pieces of wood. Thenthey winnow it, holding it up by the peck or half bushel to let thewind blow the hulls off, and dry it by placing it on mats of wovenbamboo. I saw tons of rice prepared in this way by the side of theroad near where I lived. This being their staple, the food for manand beast, one can form some idea of the vast quantities that areneeded. There was a famine while I was there and the U. S. Governmentwas obliged to supply the natives with rice for seed and food. There is no grass grown except a sort of swamp grass. The rice cutwhen it is green is used in the place of grass. It is never dried, as it grows the year round. One can look out any day and see rowsof small bundles of this rice paddy laid by the road side for saleor carried by the natives on bamboo poles, a bundle before and onebehind to balance. It was astonishing to see these small men andboys struggling under the weight of their "loads of hay. " None of theAmerican horses cared for it; their hay and grain had to be stackedup along the wharf and guarded. It would be of little use, however, to the natives as they know nothing about the use of our products. If there was any wheat grown in the islands, we never heard of it, and judging from the way in which flour was sold in their marketsat ten cents for a small cornucopia that would hold about a gill, it was probably brought from either Australia or America. They have a camote, something like a sweet potato. Althoughit is watery and stringy it does very well and is called a goodvegetable. They raise inferior tomatoes and very inferior garlic. Itwas a matter of great curiosity to the natives to see an Americanplow that was placed on exhibition at the British store. I am surewhen they can take some of our good agricultural implements and turnthe rich soil over and work it, even in a poor way, the results willbe beyond anything we could produce here in the United States. Their cane sugar is of fine quality, almost equal to our maplesugar. They plant the seed in a careless way and tend it in the mostslovenly manner imaginable, and yet, they get immense crops. One man, who put in a crop near where some soldiers were encamped in order tohave their protection, told us that he sold the product from thissmall stretch of ground of not more than five or six acres for tenthousand dollars. The natives so disliked to work that nearly every one who employedmen kept for them a gaming table and the inevitable fighting cocks;as long as they can earn a little money to gamble that is all theycare for; houses, lands, and families are not considered. Nearly allthe sugar mills had been burned in our neighborhood, but I know fromthe way they do everything else that they must have used the verycrudest kind of boiling apparatus. The sugar seemed reasonably cleanto look at, but when boiled the sediment was anything but clean. Withour evaporating machines and with care to get the most out of thecrop, the profit will be enormous. Often we would buy the cane in themarkets, peel off the outside and chew the pith to get the sweet juice. They raise vast quantities of cocoa, as indifferently cared for aseverything else, also a small flat bean, but it has a bitter taste. The largest crop of all is the hemp crop which grows, seemingly, without any cultivation. This hemp when growing looks somethinglike the banana tree. They cut it down and divide it into lengths aslong as possible and then prepare the wood or fiber by shaving it oniron teeth. They are expert in this industry, in making it fine and in tying it, often times, in lengths of not more than two or three inches. Theygive a very dextrous turn of the hand and the finest of these threadsare used in some of the fabrics which they weave. I often wonderedhow they could prepare these delicate, strong, linen-like threadsthat are as fine as gossamer. A man who had cotton mills in Massachusetts visited places where thehemp is prepared and the looms where it is woven. He said he had neverknown anything so wonderful as the deft manner in which these peopleworked out the little skeins from an intricate mass of tangled webs. One of the curiosities of the world's fair at St. Louis will be thistying and weaving of hemp. Then a still greater curiosity will be themaking of pine-apple fiber. This manufacture has been sadly neglectedand crippled by the war and its devastations. They have learned tomix in other fibers because of the scarcity of the pine-apple. Idid not see this prepared at all; only secured with difficulty someof the good cloth. It is considered by the natives their very bestand finest fabric. They spend much time on its embroidery and theirexquisite work astonishes the finest lace makers. The field corn which I saw was of such an inferior grade that itnever occurred to me to try it; indeed, they do not bring it to marketuntil it is out of the milk. On my return home I planted a few kernels as an experiment. There neverwas a more insignificant looking stalk of corn in our garden. Withmisgivings we made trial of the scrubby looking ears. To our surpriseit was the best we ever had on our table. It seemed too good to betrue. I gave several messes to my friends and this year am hoping togive pleasure to many others. I denied myself the delicious productthat many might have seed for this spring. MINERALS. CHAPTER FIFTEEN. Gold is found in every stream of the islands. In small bottles Isaw many little nuggets which the natives had picked up. Whether itwould pay to use good machinery to extract he gold I cannot tell;but certain it is that they use a great deal of gold in the curiouslywrought articles of jewelry of which they are all passionately fond. A man who was greatly interested in the mines of Klondike said thatthere were better chances of getting gold in the Philippines andthat he had given up all his northern claims and was now using hisenergies to secure leases in the new territory. Other minerals, too, he said, are abundant and valuable. I had a small brass dagger which I used to carry for defense and, uponshowing it to some of my friends, since my return, I was asked if Isaw this dagger made, because if I knew the secret of its annealingit would be worth a fortune to me. I had missed a golden chance for I had often visited a rude foundrywhere they made bolos and other articles, but it did not occur to methat there could be anything of value to expert workmen at home inthese crude hand processes. The soldiers that accompanied me, as well as I myself, went intoconvulsions of laughter over the shape of their bellows and theworking of their forge. Everything they do seemed to us to be done inthe most awkward manner; it is done backward if possible. The firsttime I saw a carriage hitched before the animal I wondered how theycould ever manage it. Bolos are of all sizes and shapes and are made of steel or iron tosuit the fancy of the person. Some are of the size and pattern of anold-fashioned corn cutter, handles of carved wood or carabao horn;sometimes made with a fork-like tip and waved with saw teeth edge. Itis an indispensable tool in war and peace. There were none so poor asnot to have a bolo. They made cannon, too, and guns patterned afterour American ones. And sometimes cannon were made out of bamboo, bound around with bands of iron. These were formidable and couldshoot with as much noise as a brass one, if not with as much accuracy. They must get a great deal of silver, as they have so many silverarticles; they insert bits of silver in the handles of bolos. Thesebolos are used for everything. One day I found that the little tinoven which I brought from home was all worn out on the inside. I wasin despair for there was no way of getting it repaired, My nativecook watched me as I looked at it sorrowfully. Without saying a wordhe went to work and with only a bolo took my old tin coal oil canand constructed a lining with the metal cleats to hold the shelvesup. The only thing he had in the way of a tool to work with was hisbolo, about two feet long. When I hired him I noticed that he hadgreat long finger nails; I told him that he would have to cut themoff. He said, "Why I don't too. I wouldn't have anything to scratchmyself with. " But, upon my insisting, he took his huge bolo, placed hisfingers on a block of wood, and severed his useful finger nails. Theyuse these bolos for cutting grass, cutting meat, --they use them forhaggling our soldiers, as we learned to our grief and wrath. There are vast quantities of coal, but the mines so far have been butlittle developed. The coal is so full of sulphur that its qualityis spoiled. There are possibilities of finding it in good payingquantities on several of the islands. It makes a quick blaze andsoon burns out. The natives sell it in tiny chunks, by the handful, or in little woven baskets that hold just about a quart. ANIMALS. CHAPTER SIXTEEN. The animal that is most essential in every way is the carabao orwater buffalo. They are expensive, a good one costing two or threehundred dollars. Their number has been very much diminished by therinder-pest. The precious carabao is carefully guarded; at night itis kept in the lower part of the house or in a little pond close by. The picture shown opposite is a good representation of the betterclass of fairly well-to-do Filipino people; they are rich if theycan afford as many carabao as stand here. The second picture showsthe way they are driven. Their skins are used for everything thatgood strong leather can be used for. Their meat is good for food; butheaven help anybody who is obliged to eat it, and when it is prepared, as it often is, by drying the steaks in the sun, then the toughnessexceeds that of the tanned hide. A sausage mill could not chew driedcarabao. The milk is watery and poor, but the natives like it verymuch. The horns are used for handles for bolos, the hoofs for glue, and the bones are turned into carved articles of many kinds. Thelittle calves that go wandering about by the sides of their mothersare so curious and so top heavy, and yet they are strong even whensmall. Carabao sometimes go crazy, and when they do, they tread downeverything in their way. Notwithstanding their ungainly bulk they canrun as well as a good horse, and can endure long journeys quite aswell. They are urged to greater speed by the driver taking the tailand giving it a twist or kicking them in the flank. I used to spend most of my time threatening my driver that he wouldhave to go to a calaboose if he did not stop abusing the animal. Thehorses are only caricatures. They are so small, so poorly kept, and so badly driven that one burns with indignation at the sight ofthem. There is no bit and the bridle is always bad. The nose pieceis fitted tight and has on the under side a bit of horny fish skin, its spikes turned towards the flesh. These are jerked into the fleshof the poor horse until, in its frenzy, it dashes madly from one sideof the road to the other. Cows are of little use. They look fair but they give little milk. Goatsare next in importance, and are delightful to watch. The kids, inpairs and triplets, are such pretty little creatures, so perfectlyformed, that I could scarcely resist the desire to bring a few home. The dogs are the worst looking creatures imaginable. They are somaimed that they are pests rather than pets; but there are thousandsof them. There was one exception, a dog that was brought to me one dayfrom a burning house, the like of which I had never seen before. It wascalled an Andalusian poodle. It proved to be not only the handsomestbut the best little dog I ever had. Being a lover of dogs, I regrettedvery much to give him up upon my return. AMUSEMENTS AND STREET PARADES. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. As a drowning man catches at a straw, so was I eager for anythingthat would give even slight relief from consuming anxieties andpressing hardships. The natives responded quickly to the slightestencouragement; small change drew groups of two to fifty to give me"special performances. " There were blind fiddlers who would playsnatches of operas picked up "by ear" on the rudest kind of a fiddlemade out of hollow bamboo with only one string; it was astonishinghow much music they could draw from the rude instrument. The bow was apiece of bent bamboo with shredded abaka for the bow-strings. Fluteswere made of bamboo stalks; drums out of carabao hide stretched overa cylindrical piece of bamboo. Some of these strolling bands came manymiles to my door, and while none of them ever produced correct music, still they were a great diversion. There were strolling players, too. The first performance wasthe most interesting that I have ever seen. The players arrangedthemselves within a square roughly drawn in the middle of the road;then to the strains of a bamboo fiddle, bamboo flute, bamboo drum, the melodrama was begun. The hero pranced into the open square to thetune of a minor dirge, not knowing a single sentence of his part; theprompter, kneeling down before a flaring candle, told him what to say;he repeated in parrot-like fashion, and then pranced off the squareto slow dirge-like music. Now the heroine minced in from the oppositecorner to slow music with her satin train sweeping in the dust; thoughcarefully raised when she crossed the sacred precincts of the square, and in a sauntering way, with one arm akimbo and the other holdingthe fan up in the air, she took the opposite corner and the promptertold her what to say. In the meantime the candle blew out; it wasrelighted; the prompter found his place and signaled to the hero tocome on. From the opposite side again, with a bow and hand on heart, the lover repeated after the prompter his addresses to the waitingmaiden. She pretended to be surprised and shocked at his addresses, fainted away and was carried off the stage by two women attendants;the lover with folded arms looked calmly at the sad havoc he hadwrought. Now a rival suitor sprang into the ring and with a hugebolo attacked number one and killed him. The heroine was now able toreturn. She did not fall into the arms of number two. She only listenedplacidly to the demand of how much she would pay to secure so splendida man as the one that could bolo his rival. The parents finally enteredand settled the difficulty. The play closed with the prospect of ahappy union. The company dispersed, the women and girls walking onone side of the road with the torches in their hands, and the men onthe other, in two solemn files. There was no chattering or laughing;yet they all felt that they had had a most delightful performance. Two or three concerts given at a neighboring town were verycreditable, but only the better class attended; nine-tenths of thepeople resort to these crude, wayside performances. They look on withseeming indifference; there is never a sign of approval, much lessan outburst of applause. They seem to have no place in their soulsfor the ludicrous, the comic, or the joyous. They were shocked by mysmiles and peals of laughter. They have a strange preference for theminor key in music, for the dirge. No wonder when our bands would playlively music that they were quite ready to take up the catchy airs, but they would add a mournful cadence to the most stirring of ourAmerican airs. After awhile I found that the music oftenest renderedby the cathedral organ was the Aguinaldo March. I took the liberty toinform the commanding officer and that tune was stopped. After thesurrender, to my great surprise and joy, the same organ rolled out"America"; it did thrill me, even if it was played on a Filipinoinstrument and by a Filipino. Little boys often came with tiny birds which they had trained to dolittle tricks. One had snakes which he would twist around his barebody. And never was there a day without a cock fight. Sometimes thebirds were held in check by strings attached to them, but it was acommon occurrence to see groups of natives watching their birds fightto the finish at any time of day, Sundays not excepted. And they willall bet on the issue if it takes the last cent they have. They do notseem to enjoy it in a hilarious manner at all. It is serious business, without comment or jovial look or act. No one is so busy that he cannot stop for a cock fight. There are many kinds of monkeys on the islands. It is common todomesticate them, to train them to do their master's bidding; theybecome a part of the family, half plaything, half servant. Parrots, too, are adopted into the household and learn to speak its dialect;they are almost uncanny in their chatter and they, too, do all kindsof tricks at the bidding. I was daily importuned to buy monkeys, parrots, cocks, or song birds. Itook a tiny bird that was never known to so much as chirp, but he grewfond of me, would perch upon my shoulder or would turn his littlehead right or left as if to ask if I were pleased with his silentattentions. The last morning of my stay in Jaro I went to the windowand set him free but he immediately came back and clung to my hand. Itook him to Iloilo and left him with the nurses; he lived only a day. FESTIVALS OF THE CHURCH. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. According to the Spanish calendar in my possession, there is a festivalfor every day in the year. There are services every morning at seven, every evening at five; often there are special grand festivals. TheJaro church has a wax figure of the Savior and this figure is dressedfor various festivals in various ways; sometimes in evening dress, with white shirt, diamond stud, rings on the fingers, patent leathershoes, and a derby hat. This figure was placed on a large platformand either carried on the shoulders of men or put on a wagon and drawnby men. Once I saw the cart pushed along by a bull at the rear. Thisprocession would form at the Cathedral door, march around the squareand then usually go three or four blocks down toward the house wherethe priest lived, and by that time it would be very nearly dark andthey would light their candles and return and go about the squareagain before going into the Cathedral. Sometimes the figure was dressed in royal robes with long purplemantle and gilded crown upon the head; on Good Friday it lay in awhite shroud as if in death; on Easter day it was arrayed in flowingwhite robes and was brought from the cemetery into town and borne atthe head of a great parade. Those who could afford to do so would setup a special shrine in front of their homes, adorned with flowers andhousehold images. The priest would, as a special favor, have specialservices before these shrines, and the more money spent on theseshrines and the more paid to the priest the more distinguished thecitizen. For days before the natives were busy making long candlesout of carabao tallow. Some of these candles, huge and crude, wouldweigh four or five pounds. None of the so-called common people orthe poor class would take part in any of these wonderful paradesunless they were able to wear good clothes and have long trains totheir dresses. I never saw any one in these processions who was atall poor; the poor simply stand by the roadside and look on. I askedmy Filipino woman why she did not join; she said she would just assoon as she could get a dress with a train. It was not many weeksbefore she was in the procession, having earned the train by laundrywork for the officers and soldiers. For the men, it was their joy tobe able to purchase a derby hat. I never knew there could be so manykinds of derbies as I saw on the heads of these natives. It was saidthat a ship-load of them was brought over once, and they so charmedthe male population that from that time on they all aspired to owna derby, no matter how ancient its appearance or of what color itmight be. And no matter if they did not have a shirt to their back, if they had on a good stiff derby hat, they were dressed for anyoccasion and to appear before anybody. The priests wear, first, a long, plain white robe, over this a blackcassock, then a white cotta; and the more richly it is embroidered thebetter they like it. There was with this white cotta a white petticoatplain at the top and ruffled at the bottom. I did not know the namesof the outer vestments but they were all embroidered. I offered to buyone of the heavily embroidered vestments from a priest but he refused, saying that it was very hard to get that kind of cloth embroidered sobeautifully. He gave me one of the Filipino skirts; it was badly worn, but I kept it as a curiosity. Not knowing very much about the Romanchurch, there were a great many things done every day that I could notunderstand; for instance, when a priest went out in a closed carriageattended by two or three boys he would come from the church door withone of the boys in front of him ringing a bell vigorously. He wouldring this bell just as hard as he could until the priest would getinside with his attendants and then they would drive away. When theyreturned they would go through this same performance of ringing thisbell until they got inside of the church. I saw this many times andonce asked a Roman Catholic soldier what it meant; he said he didnot know. It may be that these people need to be terrorized by the priests;certain it is that, when a priest walks through the village or whenany of the people see him, they kneel and kiss his hand, if he is sogracious as to honor them with the privilege. The people bow downbefore him and reverence him though he may at any moment lift hiscane and give them a good whack over the head or shoulders. I neversaw this done, but several of our men told me they had seen it; andone captain told me that he saw the priest take a huge bamboo poleand knock a man down because he failed to get into the procession indouble-quick time. They do literally rule these people with the rod. OSTEOPATHY. CHAPTER NINETEEN. In 1895, for the benefit of one dearer to me than life, I went toKirksville, Mo. , and from Dr. A. T. Still learned something of theprinciples and practice of his great art. The subject grew in interest;I became a regular student of the American School of Osteopathy, and, in time, completed the course and took the decree. In the islandsit was a great pleasure to me to help our sick soldiers; scores ofthem, with touching gratitude, have blessed the use that I made ofmy hands upon them. Officers and men came daily for treatment. Soonthe Filipinos came, too. Women walked many miles carrying their sickchildren; the blind and lame besought me to lay my hands upon them. Itwas noised about that I had divine power. My door was beset. I gladlygave relief where I could, but for the most of them help was onehundred years too late. I recall with special pleasure one successful case. A woman came tome who said she had walked forty miles to bring her sick child; forcompensation she offered a pigeon and three eggs. I could not lookout of my window without seeing some poor sick native squatted on theground waiting to see if I could do anything for her sick child orherself. The natives when burning up with fever think they dare notwash their bodies; they will lie hopeless and passive on the ground oron a small bamboo mat. It is pitiable to see them so utterly destitute;not one single thing that would go to make up a bed or pillow, nordo they seem to have any mode of taking care of their sick at all. Our army hospitals were very well kept, indeed, but it was a greatstruggle to get help enough and to get the things needed for hundredsof sick soldiers. There were many large buildings, but as soon as thegovernment attempted to purchase them, the Filipinos asked exorbitantprices. And then the sanitary conditions are such that it is hard toestablish hospitals anywhere. I read with great pleasure that thecapitol of Luzon will be on a plateau in the mountains where thetemperature will be lower, the air better, and the water purer. I am sure that Americans can live in the Philippines; I know thatthe resources of the islands are vast, especially in agriculturaland mineral products; that we have, indeed, acquired in our newpossessions immeasurable riches. As soon as any Filipino wishes to become a friend and to impress youthat he is rich and has vast possessions, the entire family, father, mother, and children, will call and bring quantities of fruits, fineclothes, carved shells, and native pearls with curiously wrought goldsettings, and present them with great earnestness of manner and manywords of praise. They tell you what great value they place upon yourfriendship, and that of all the people in all the world you are theone person that they do most ardently believe in, and finally thatthey consider you the greatest acquisition to their islands. A Filipino general and his wife came again and again to see me;they brought a magnificent sunburst of diamonds which they urgedme to accept with their greatest love and affection. I declinedpositively and absolutely. They seemed very much downcast that Iwould not accept this little token of their deep affection. Theywent home, but in about two hours came back, brought the diamonds, and again urged and urged so strongly that I finally consented to letthe wife pin the elegant brooch on my dress; perhaps I should findout the hidden meaning of this excessive devotion. As soon as theofficer in command returned, I told him of the gift, of my refusal, and of their return. A written note was hastily sent to the generalthat he must come and remove the brooch at once. Fearing the wrath ofthe officer, he came immediately and I returned the diamonds. Evenafter this the family renewed their efforts. I found out afterwardsthat the general had violated his oath of allegiance; his bribe wasto buy my influence with the commanding officer. It was evident that many of the better class of natives, in spite ofoath and fair face, were directing and maintaining the murderous bandsof banditti. Often letters were found that the Filipino generalshad written to their women friends in Jaro, Iloilo and Molo, tosell their jewels, to sell all they could, to buy guns, ammunition, and food, and later other letters were captured full of the thanksof the Filipino army for these gifts. While the good Filipinos weretaking the oath of allegiance with the uplifted right hand, the leftwas much busier sending supplies to the insurrectos. The hypocrisy of the upper classes was matched by their cruelty. Anative of prominence was gracious enough upon one occasion to directa party of officers on their way. He was attended by his servant whowalked or ran the entire distance carrying a heavy load suspendedpartly from his shoulders, and partly by a strap about the forehead. The servant failed to start with the party, but in a short time hecaught up by running swiftly. The master calmly got off his horse, motioned to the servant to drop his load, and proceeded to beat the manunmercifully with a cane made out of fish tail, a sword-like, cruel, barbed affair, about four feet long. The poor servant never uttereda cry. As soon as possible the officers interfered and stopped thetorture. So bloody and faint was the poor victim that they gave hima horse to ride. The master was angry, declared he would not havehis authority questioned and left the party. A ball was given in the town of Jaro by the officers who were thereand in the town of Iloilo. Army, navy, ladies, and nurses from thehospital were invited. It was considered quite an unusual thing todo at this time, as the Filipino soldiers were near at hand day andnight, approaching and firing upon the town. One of the Filipinowomen said, "I do not see how the American officers dare congregateat so dangerous a time. " The men decorated the huge ball room withmagnificent palms and ferns which they had gathered and put up manyflags. The regimental band was stationed on the porch at the rear ofthe building. It was, altogether, a very fine gathering, and all wentmerry "as the marriage bell. " There was a German on the dance programme that was to end in a mockcapture. Not thinking that it might occasion alarm, at a certainpoint, some of the soldiers were instructed to fire off some cannoncrackers; in addition the soldiers thought it would be just as well tofire off a few pistols. The surprise was very great. The colonel of avolunteer regiment nearby heard the commotion and gave orders for thecompany to turn out and find out where this fusillade was occurring, not supposing that it could be in private quarters. The Presidenteof the town was greatly alarmed, as he was expecting any moment tobe captured for serving under the U. S. Government as head man of atown. The firing created a great commotion, people ran hither andthither to find out where the battle was going on; the musicians, who did not understand about the firing, were frightened, too; therewas a call to arms and great commotion. But soon explanations came, and immediately it was on with the dance. It was a huge joke, and whenthe sentry told that a colonel and his wife were the most frightenedof all, barricading their doors and having extra guards placed around, the merriment knew no bounds. It was seldom that the officers had any of these receptions or balls, but when they did everybody felt they must attend, and those takingpart in the dance enjoyed themselves very much. Sometimes the officerswould charter a small steamer and go to one of the nearby islands, but it was rarely they could do so, because of the skulking nativesand their manner of signaling where these parties landed, making itunsafe for any but large companies to attend these excursions. It was often the duty of our officers and men to stop the crueltiesthey saw practiced upon dumb brutes. I have in mind the way pigs werebrought to market, their forefeet across a bamboo pole and their headsbound so that they could not squeal, and in this uncomfortable waythey were carried many miles. Of the many stories that were told ofthe cruelties our soldiers perpetrated upon the helpless Filipinos, I do not believe one word; indeed, our men were constantly assistingthe natives in every way possible. On the 4th of July, 1900, our officers decided to tender a reception tothe Filipino families whose hospitalities they had enjoyed. They issuedinvitations and decorated their quarters in fine shape with flags, bunting, palms, and pictures. It was quite the talk of the town. Thebeauty and chivalry of the island were there. For refreshmentsthey served commissary supplies with ice cream and cake. The gueststhought it a very poor banquet for such pretentious people as theofficers were. The Filipinos always have a ten or twelve course mealat twelve o'clock at their dances, especially when they have festivalsor wedding banquets. There were many of these given. I could oftenwatch the throng from my window; they went at this particular kind ofhilarity in the same listless, slow, silent manner in which they dideverything. The popular dance is the "Rigadon. " There is a great dealof swinging of couples and going forward and back. None of the commonpeople seem to indulge in any form of a dance, so far as I could learn. We invited upon several occasions some Filipino men and women to dinewith us, and it was interesting to hear their remarks about variousdishes we had prepared for them. They would ask questions concerningthe preparations. Mince pies, which we made of canned meat and cannedapples, were a source of great wonder; they would ask where they couldget the fruit for that kind of a pudding. I know that they made wryfaces at some dishes, and I know that we did ourselves, for some ofthem were beyond comparison; no chef in all the world could producea good thing out of such materials. The May festival was given by the children, chiefly by the littlegirls of the cathedral congregation. The leader was a woman of finecharacter and standing. She worked hard every day with these littletots to train them to do their parts well, which consisted of marchinginto the cathedral by twos', arranging themselves into a circleabout the Virgin Mother and throwing flowers and bouquets, singingand speaking. The ludicrous part of it all was that these littlethings were supposed to be dressed like American children. The modelshad been taken from some old magazine, --huge sleeves, small waists, skirt to the knees, and pantlets to the top of shoes. The shoes werepainfully tight and the little feet, unaccustomed to being held insuch close quarters, limped and hobbled piteously. The festival wascarried on every day for weeks. Bushels of flowers were thrown atthe figure of the Blessed Virgin. Some of the festivals in the larger cathedrals in Manila were gorgeousindeed. There were floats on which were carried the differentpatron saints, all gorgeously arrayed in the most magnificentcostumes. Evidently the churches were never meant for the commonor poor people, so few of them were ever seen within their walls;but without were vast crowds of beggars, of the blind, the deformed, the diseased; victims of smallpox and of leprosy in every stage ofsuffering. It is said that the first thing ordered by Bishop Brent, who took charge of the Protestant Episcopal church in the Philippines, was soap. THE McKINLEY CAMPAIGN. CHAPTER TWENTY. The excitement on the islands ran quite high during the McKinley-Bryancampaign. The natives conceived that if Bryan were elected they could, in some way, they could not explain how, not only be very greatlybenefited personally, but the U. S. Troops would be withdrawn; theywould then be rid not only of the Spaniards but of the Americans, and could then have a ruler of their own choosing. I knew thatthere were small papers or bulletins published to intensify thesesentiments. Popular favor was all for Bryan and not one person forMcKinley, while on the other hand I do not think there was a singlesoldier who was not a McKinley man. The feeling ran high, and, whileour papers gave us every assurance that the Republican party wouldbe victorious, we were very anxious for the news. On the night of the6th of November we had the glorious report. It did not take long forthe shouts to go up from every American soldier. About eleven o'clockP. M. All the American officers and men formed in procession with theband at the head; they came around to the house where I was staying andcalled out, "Come, Mrs. Conger, you must join in this jubilee. " I didnot need a second invitation. Snatching my little American flag that Itake wherever I go, I formed in line with the boys. We marched aroundand around the park, cheering, singing patriotic songs, and hurrahingfor McKinley. In front of one of the houses where I knew they were themost bitter toward the Americans, we cheered lustily. I had been thereonly a few days before to purchase a Jusi dress for Mrs. McKinley. Isaid that I would like one of their very best weaves, as it would goto the White House to Mrs. McKinley. With a great deal of scorn in hervoice and manner she declared she would not make it. We continued onour march through and around the town until after one o'clock, when Ireturned to my room. I was about to retire when a detachment from theScouts came and said, "Oh, Mrs. Conger, we want you to come over tothe park, we are going to have a big bonfire. " So I went over and wehad another jollification, hurrahing, singing, shouting for McKinley, until we made ourselves hoarse. We burned up all the old debris thatwe could gather and plenty of bamboo, which makes a cracking noise, quite like a roll of musketry. From every window and crevice in everyhouse about that park native heads were gazing at us, and never onecheer came from a single throat, but we gave them to understand inno uncertain terms where we stood. I suppose they thought it wasonly one more unheard of thing for a woman to do, to be out marchingand singing, and I am sure they thought "Señora Blanco, " the name Iwas called by the people all over the Island of Panay, had gone mad;and I was certainly doing unheard of things, for, as I said before, it is not considered at all proper for a woman to be walking orriding with a man. And to think that a woman of my years, and theonly American woman in that part of the country, would, at such anhour, be marching with those hundreds of boys in the dead of nightwas wholly beyond their comprehension, and they had no words adequateto express their disgust at my outburst of enthusiasm and patriotism. GOVERNOR TAFT AT JARO. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE. When Governor Taft and other members of the peace commission wereexpected at Iloilo and Jaro, there were great preparations for severalweeks before hand. The guests came to Jaro for a morning reception atthe home of one of the wealthy citizens. The house had been beautifullydecorated and the refreshments were served in the large room at theleft of the hall; the buffet luncheon consisted of every kind of cakeand sweetmeats, champagne, wine, and beer. The Filipino guests werein the large front room, seated in rows, six or eight rows, perhapstwenty in a row, with their backs to each other or facing each other. I was the only American woman there until Mrs. Taft and other ladieswith the peace commission arrived. Not wishing to sit solemnly in linegazing at these newly acquired sisters of mine, I ventured some remarksin Spanish about the weather and the coming guests. There was littleresponse. My curiosity getting the better of me, I made bold to examinethe gowns of these women for I had seldom seen before such handsomematerial, rich brocaded satins, cloth of gold wrought with seed pearlsand jewels; huge strings of pearls on the neck, diamond and pearlrings on the fingers and very handsome ornaments in the hair; everyhead bore a huge pompadour and every face was heavily powdered; theperfume was stifling even with every window stretched to the fullestextent. Each woman carried a handsome fan and each was attended by atleast one servant. After waiting in this rigid company manner aboutan hour and a half, the distinguished guests arrived. We were thenentertained by some of the local artists and celebrities. There wasvocal and instrumental music; a fine grand piano, very good violins, and the concert was by far the best music I had heard in the islands. At 1:30 we were all carried over in carriages to the house of thePresidente and thirty-five of us sat down to a very sumptuous banquetof about eighteen courses. The menu of soup, fish, game, birds, salads, was very quickly served, a waiter for each guest. The tablewas furnished with much silver and cut glass, and at each plate wasa bouquet holder with napkin ring attached; there were after-dinnerspeeches by Governor Taft, Judge Wright, and others; then we wereushered into the large drawing-room where coffee and cigars wereserved. The room had been especially prepared by the labor of many daysspent on tacking flags on the ceiling and side walls, making a verybeautiful effect. There were huge bunches of artificial flowers. Forthe entertainment at this house, all the Filipino bands from thesurrounding towns were massed together. Governor Taft complimentedhis hosts upon their very delightful "entretener, " and said he hadseen nothing to compare with it for elegance and enthusiastic welcomesince he had been on the islands. At every corner of the plaza therewere erected handsome bamboo arches and booths, and every strip ofbunting and every flag that could be got out were waving in Jaroon this great day of inauguration of the Civil Commission on theIsland of Panay. To me it seemed anything but a peaceful time asthe scouts were then out after a very desperate band of insurrectos, but I have never seen anywhere more beautiful ornamentation or morelavish display of wealth, and yet there was lacking in it all thegenuine ring of cordiality and enthusiasm. In Iloilo there weremany receptions and various kinds of entertainments given. GovernorTaft invited leading citizens out to the ship where he returned thecompliment with refreshments, good cheer, and a salute. In writing of my life in the islands, I must mention incidents ofserious nature and yet of common happening. Almost daily would come aninstant call for troops to mount and ride post haste by night or dayafter some of these worse than lawless bands of Filipinos. One eveningwhile we were at dinner we had as our guest a Lieutenant of one of thevolunteer regiments. He had been ill and had spent the time of hisconvalescence in acquiring some of the manifold Filipino dialects, about sixty in all, it is said. He was detailed by the commandingofficer to visit some of the inland villages and inspect the schoolsand inquire generally after the condition of the people. He told usthat evening that he intended to make quite an extensive tour aroundthe island of Panay in the interest of the schools. "You are going totake a strong guard, of course?" we asked. "Anyone going on such apeaceful mission as mine would not need even an orderly, but I willtake an orderly to assist in carrying the books and pamphlets. " Thevery next evening while we were at dinner, word was brought that thissplendid young man had been killed not three miles from where we weresitting. In a few minutes men mounted and were off to the scene ofthe murder. In a nearby hut the young officer lay dead. He, who had sotrustingly confided in these "peaceful people, " had fallen the victimof his noble impulses. Every article of any value had been taken fromhis body except a little watch that he carried in a small leather caseon his wrist; he had bought it that very day to send to his wife. Notrace of the "insurrectos, " the murderers, was ever found. A nativewoman said the officer was riding peacefully along with his orderlyat his side when suddenly they were stopped by a volley of balls. TheLieutenant turned, as did also the orderly; their horses took fright, one rider was thrown, probably already dead, the other escaped. Thefuneral rites of our noble soldier were conducted with military honors;the body was sent home to his bereaved wife and family. One day a missionary was on his way from town to town; he had, unfortunately, an orderly with him. He was stopped and asked hisbusiness; he replied that he was a missionary. "Why carry a gun?" wasthe scornful retort. He was stripped of everything of value but wasallowed to return. The soldier did not fare so well; he was killedbefore the rescuing party could reach him. A detachment was sent outone day to procure some young beef for sale in a nearby village. Theywere received with open arms by the Presidente of the village and thePadre and were most sumptuously entertained. It was kindly explainedthat they had no young cattle for sale but that about a mile furtheron there were some very fine young calves that could be had at fivedollars in gold. Not thinking of any treachery, the soldiers mounted and rode abouta mile beyond the village into a ravine which, according to theinstructions, led to the cattle-field beyond. While crossing the streamin the bottom of the ravine, the men were startled by the whiz ofbullets and, glancing up, found the steep banks lined with insurrectoswho had opened fire without a moment's warning. Our men entrapped, surrounded, were ordered to surrender. For answer they put spurs totheir horses and started back under a heavy fire. Unfortunately two ofthe fine horses were shot; their riders were obliged to run afoot therest of the way up the bank and were picked up by their comrades. Oneof the men shouted, "Sergeant, don't you hear they are calling forus to surrender? Say are you going to?" With an oath, "No, not bya d---d sight. Run and fight. " Which they did and actually got awayfrom hundreds of natives and arrived in Jaro breathless and weary, thehorses covered with foam. Not a man had been killed or wounded. Twohorses were killed outright, but none were maimed. Soon the troopwas in the saddle and out after those treacherous miscreants. Manynatives were arrested and brought to town and then it was found thatthis loyal (?) Presidente, whom the commanding general had had theutmost confidence in was at the head of a number of Filipino companieswhich scoured the country to capture small parties of our soldiers. Asthe investigations were pressed it came out that the bodies of theirvictims had been torn to pieces and buried in quicklime that theremight be no traces left of their treachery. It was several weeksbefore the full facts were obtained and before the mutilated remainsof our soldiers were found and brought back and buried. The volunteer regiments suffered most from these brutal cowards, directed and urged on by the "very best men" in civil and "sacred"office. These are facts from the lips of U. S. Officers, men who donot lie. Very often the troops were called out to capture these bloodybands, but it was hard to locate them or bring them to a stand. Thenatives knew so many circuitous ways of running to cover and theyhad so many friends to aid them that it was almost impossible tofollow them. Whenever they were captured they were so surprised, so humiliated, so innocent, meek and subdued, that it would neveroccur to an honest man that they could know how to handle a boloor a gun. But experience taught that the most guileless in lookswere the worst desperadoes of all. My first sight of a squad ofthese captives is a thing not to be forgotten. They were a scrubbylot of hardly human things, stunted, gnarled pigmies, with no hatsor shoes, and scarcely a rag of clothing. Their cruel knives, thedeadly bolos, were the only things they could be stripped of. I lookeddown upon them from my window in astonishment. "It is not possible, "I exclaimed, "that these miserable creatures are samples of what iscalled the Filipino army. " "Yes, " an officer replied, "these are thefellows that never fight; that only stab in the back and mutilatethe dying and dead. " My eyes turned to the guard, our own soldiers, fine, manly fellows, who fairly represented the personnel of our ownsplendid army. It made me indignant that one of them should sufferat the hands of such vermin or rather at the hands of the religiousmanipulators who stood in safety behind their ignorant degraded slaves. SHIPWRECK. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO. The climate seemed beyond physical endurance, although the thermometerranged no higher than from ninety to one hundred ten, but the heat wascontinuous night and day; exhaustion without relief. The only time thatone could get a breath was about five o'clock in the morning; in themiddle of the day the sun's rays are white-hot needles, --this is theonly way that I can express it; and even if one carries an umbrella, the heat pierces directly through. From the first of November tothe middle of December, there is usually about six or seven hoursa day of comparative comfort; but the season is too short to bracethe enervated body. One day the thermometer fell to seventy-eight;we Americans shivered and craved a fire, so much did we feel thechange of temperature. I finally learned from the natives that it is not best after bathing, to rub the body with a towel; and indeed, following them more closely, that it is wise to feed with cocoanut oil the famished pores of theskin which has been weakened by excessive exudation. The rainy seasonbegins in April, usually, and gives some relief from the excessiveheat; and such rains, never in my life had I known before what itwas to have rain come down by the barrelful! The two-story house inwhich we were quartered was quite solidly built, and the boards ofthe second story were over-lapped to keep out the rain; and yet, I have often had to get up on the bed or table while the waterpoured in at innumerable unsuspected cracks and swept the floorlike a torrent. It was hard to tell which frightened one the most, the terrible rain-storms or the awful earthquakes. In the housethere was a magnificent glass chandelier. The first time we had asevere earthquake that chandelier swayed back and forth in such awild way that it seemed as if it must fall and crush every prism, tiny light, and bell. I felt sure whenever a quake began that Ishould not live through it. The flying fragments across the room, the creaking hard-wood doors, the nauseating feeling that everythingunder foot was falling away, --it was a frightful experience then, it is a sickening memory now. One never gets used to these shocks nomatter how many occur; the more, the worse. They are more frequentin the night than in the day. It was not quite so bad if the wildstart from uneasy slumber was followed by a cheery voice calling, "Hello there, are you alive, has anything hurt you, has anythingstruck?" Even the rats are terrified, and the natives, almost to asoul, leave their houses, congregate in the middle of the street, and begin to pray. Sometimes a fierce wind from the north brings sadhavoc to the hastily built bamboo houses; a whole street of theseslightly constructed dwellings is toppled over or lies aslant, or isswept away. At first we used to smile at the storm signal displayed atIloilo. If the sky was clear and still, we would start out confidentlyon some trip, to the next town perhaps; before we had gone more thana half mile we would be drenched through and through and no cloud, not even as big as a man's hand was to be seen; at other times denseclouds, the blackest clouds, would shut down close upon us, --such arethe strange variations. No sort of sailing craft ever leaves the portwhen the signals are up for one of these hurricane storms; if caughtout in them they put instantly into the nearest port. Shipwrecks arefrequent, partly on account of these sudden storms, but chiefly onaccount of the shifting sands of the course. From Manila to Iloilo on a boat that had been purchased for the useof the government, I was, on one occasion, the only passenger onboard. The captain had never been over this course before, but he wasconfident of getting through with the help of a Spanish chart. Abouttwo o'clock in the morning I sprang to my feet alarmed by the harshgrinding of the boat's keel, the scurrying of many feet, the shoutingof quick orders. The shock of the boat blew out all lamps; in thedarkness I opened the door of my cabin and ran to find the captain, guided by his voice. I learned that we were aground. I asked him ifI could help. "Yes, if you can carry messages to the engineer andtranslate them into Spanish. " I ran to and fro, stumbling up or down, forgetting every time I passed that a certain part of the ship had araised ledge. The effort was to prop the boat with spars that it mightnot tip as it crunched and settled down upon the coral reefs. We couldhardly wait until daylight to measure the predicament. When the lightgrew clear so that I saw the illuminated waters, there was a scene ofnew and wonderful beauty, --a garden of the sea, a coral grove. Far asthe eye could reach there was every conceivable color, shape, and kindof coral, --pink, green, yellow, and white. It all looked so safe andsoft, as if one might crush it in the hands; and yet these huge cakesof coral were like adamant, except the delicate fern-like spikes thatwere so viciously piercing the bottom of our boat. I saw all kinds ofsea shells, the lovely nautilus spreading its sails on the surface, and the huge devil-fish sprawling at the bottom of the shallow pools, with its many tentacles thrown out on every side. With innumerable ants, swarms of mosquitoes, lizards everywhere, rats by the million, mice, myriads of langoustas or grass-hoppers, long cockroaches, squeaking bugs, monkeys that stole everything theycould lay their hands on, the fear of the deadly bolo, the dreadeach night of waking up amid flame and smoke, earthquakes, tornadoes, dreadful thunders and lightnings, torrents of water, life sometimesseemed hard; each new day was but a repetition of yesterday, and Iused constantly to rely upon the assured promises--Psalms XCI: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abideunder the shadow of the Almighty. "I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress: my God:in him will I trust. "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and fromthe noisome pestilence. "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shaltthou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrowthat flieth by day; "Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for thedestruction that wasteth at noonday. "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand;but it shall not come nigh thee. "Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of thewicked. "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the mostHigh, thy habitation; "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nighthy dwelling. "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in allthy ways. "They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy footagainst a stone. "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the dragon shalt thou trampleunder feet. "Because he hath set his love upon thee, therefore will I deliver him:I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him introuble; I will deliver him, and honour him. "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. " Looking down from my window every day into the faces of six or moredead bodies that were brought to the cathedral, I knew that "Thepestilence was walking in the darkness. " FILIPINO DOMESTIC LIFE. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE. The houses are made of bamboo; some of them are pretty, quite artistic;the plain ones cost about seventy-five cents each; no furniture ofany kind is needed. The native food is rice, or, as it is called inthe vernacular, "Sow-sow. " It is cooked in an earthen pot set uponstones with a few lighted twigs thrust under it for fire. When it iseaten with nature's forks--the fingers--with a relish of raw fish, it is the chief article of diet. House-cleaning is one thing that I never saw in practice or evidence. Itook a supply of lye with me and it was a huge joke to see the nativesuse it in cleaning the floors. The windows are made of oyster shells which are thin and flat;these cut in three-inch squares make a window peculiarly adapted towithstand the heavy storms and earthquakes; it transmits a pleasantopalescent light. Coffee is raised, but not widely used by the natives; they preferchocolate. After many unsuccessful attempts, I gave up trying to have my disheswashed in my way; I soon discovered that the servants used the teatowels on their bodies. This convinced me, and I let them wash mineas they did their own, by pouring water on each dish separately, rinsing and setting to dry on the porch in the sun, the only placewhere the vermin would not crawl over them. The irons used for pressing clothes are like a smooth, round-bottomedskillet, the inside is filled with lighted sticks and embers. Theoperator, who sits on the floor, passes this smoking mass over thething to be pressed. The article, when finished, looks as if it hadbeen sat upon. One Palm Sunday I visited five different churches in all of whichwere palms in profusion, woven into almost innumerable forms; fishes, birds in and out of cages, trees, fruits, flowers, crosses, crowns, sceptres, mitres, and saints' emblems. The cathedral at Arevalo lookedlike a huge garden, but, in one second after it had been discoveredthat a white woman and an American officer were present, the entirecongregation, rising, turned to look at us; it seemed as if a whirlwindwere sweeping the palms, so nervous were the hands that held them. After the service, the crowd came out and vanished immediately, fear of an attack having overcome their curiosity. Nearly all the little children are naked. One day I saw a littlefellow about three years old who was suffering severely with thesmallpox. He was smoking a huge cigar of the kind the natives make byrolling the natural tobacco leaf and tying it with a bit of bamboofibre. He did look ridiculous. A native teacher told me that theyall begin to smoke when about two years old; poor, little, stunted, starved things, fed on half cooked rice and raw fish. Drunkenness is comparatively rare among the natives; the intoxicatingbeverage is the "Tuba, " which is made about as follows: The flowersof the cocoanut are cut while still in bud and the sap, or "Beno, "caught in a tube of bamboo; the liquor is gathered daily as we gathermaple sap and fermented by the addition of a piece of wood, whichalso imparts a slight color. The product of this fermentation is aninsidious stimulant. I never tasted it, but one poor soldier toldme his sad experience and that sufficed. After a particularly hardmarch, his company came to a halt in a village; he asked for water, but could get only this innocent looking "Beno;" he took one tinyglass; it tasted like cologne water; his thirst not being quenched, he took a second and a third glass, after which he proceeded to makea howling mob of himself. This, since it happened in the face of theenemy, with momentary expectation of attack, was a serious offenceenough, but coupled with the fact that he was "on guard" at the time, entailed punishments, the rigor of which, can be guessed only bythose familiar with army discipline. Once a party of officers and men were going from one island to another, carrying money and food for the soldiers. It was found, after starting, that they were not so heavily guarded as they should be, in view ofthe fact that they would be exposed to attack when in the narrowchannels between the islands. At one point where they were hemmedin, not only by the islands, but by a number of sailing crafts, theCaptain, a Filipino, very seriously asked the Paymaster if he hadplenty of fire arms; his reply was, "Oh, muchee fusile, " meaning, "Oh, very much fire arms. " To add to the horror of the situationthey were becalmed. The Captain became very much alarmed and thesoldiers more so. Strange to relate, there came a gale of wind thatnot only blew them out into a wider channel beyond the reach of theirinsurrecto friends, but put them well on their way. This was told meas being almost like a miracle. No one can ever realize until theyhave been caught in one of these terrific gales what their severityis. I remember one blast that tore my hair down and swept away everyarticle of loose clothing, also some things that I had just purchased;I never saw them again. It would not occur to the natives to returnanything that they found, even if they knew that they never could useit; they all professed friendship to my face, and were constantlybegging for any little article that I might have, but they neverreturned anything they saw me drop or that had been blown away. We had, at one time, a peace society formed, there was an attendanceof all the women of Jaro, some from Iloilo, and the President waschosen from Molo. I took pleasure in joining this society for themaintenance of peace and fraternal feeling with the Filipinos. One day I thought it my duty to call upon the President of thenew peace commission. She lived in the town of Molo. I invited anative woman to accompany me, and secured a guard of soldiers and aninterpreter. Such a commotion as the visit created. The interpreterexplained that I had called to pay my respects, as I was the onlyAmerican woman who had joined the peace society. The Presidentwas pale with fright at my coming, though I had with me a womanwhom she knew very well. After she had recovered from the shock, we had a very agreeable time. She called in some of her family; onedaughter played well on the piano, a large grand, and another playedupon the violin. In the meantime refreshments were served in lavishprofusion. They offered me very handsome cloths and embroideries, which I declined with thanks. It is a common custom to make presents. I had agreed with this Filipino friend to exchange views on points ofetiquette and social manners. She told me that I had committed quitea breach of propriety in allowing the interpreter, who was a soldier, to ride on the front seat of the carriage; that it would become knowneverywhere that she and I actually had a man ride with us. It is notcustomary for even husbands and wives to drive together. My criticismwas, "We do not like the manner of your ladies expectorating. InAmerica we consider it a very filthy and offensive habit. " She wasquite surprised that we were so very particular and asked me if wechewed the spittle. A large cathedral was situated just across the street, a circumstancethat enabled me to witness many ceremonies of the Roman church, ofwhose existence I had no previous knowledge; daily services were held, and all the Saints' days were observed. On festivals of especialimportance there were very gorgeous processions. The principalfeatures were the bands of music, the choir, acolytes, priests, andrich people, --the poor have no place--all arrayed in purple and finelinen; gold, silver, pearls, and rare jewels sparkled in the sun byday, or, at night, in the light of the candles and torches carriedby thousands of men, women and children. It was a trying experience to be awakened from sound sleep by thefiring of guns. It was necessary to be always armed and ready toreceive the "peaceful people. " (We read daily in the American papersthat all danger was over. ) A characteristic feature of each town is a plaza at its center, andhere the people have shrines or places of worship at the corners, the wealthier people, only, having them in their homes. Smallpox is a disease of such common occurrence that the nativeshave no dread of it; the mortality from this one cause alone isappalling. This brings to mind the funeral ceremony, which, since thenatives are all Catholics, is always performed by the padre or priest. In red, pink, or otherwise gayly decorated coffin, the corpse, which is often exposed to view and sometimes covered with cheappaper flowers, bits of lace and jewelry, is taken to the church, where there are already as many as five or six bodies at a timeawaiting the arrival of the priest to say prayers and sprinkle holywater upon them. If the family of the deceased is too poor to buy orrent a coffin, the body is wrapped in a coarse mat, slung on a pole, and carried to the outer door of the church, to have a little watersprinkled thereon or service said over it. If the families are unableto rent a spot of earth in the cemetery, their dead are dumped into apile and left to decay and bleach upon the surface. In contrast withthis brutal neglect of the poor, is the lavish expenditure of therich. The daughter of one of the wealthy residents having died, thebody was placed in a casket elaborately trimmed with blue satin, thecatafalque also was covered with blue satin and trimmed with rufflesof satin and lace. In the funeral procession, the coffin was carriedon the shoulders of several young men, while at the sides walked youngladies, each dressed in a blue satin gown with a long train and whiteveil, and each lavishly decorated with precious jewels. They held long, blue satin ribbons fastened to the casket. At the door of the churchthe casket was taken in charge by three priests, attended by thirtyor forty choir boys, acolytes, and others, and placed upon a blackpedestal about thirty feet high and completely surrounded by hundredsof candles, many of which were held in gilded figures of cherubim;the whole was surmounted by a flambeau made by immersing cotton inalcohol. The general effect was of a huge burning pile. Incense wasburned every where in and about the edifice, which was elaboratelydecorated with satin festoons, palms, artificial flowers, emblemswrought in beads, all in profusion and arranged with native taste. Allthis, with the intonation of the priests, the chanting of the choir, and the blaring of three bands, made a weird and impressive scenenever to be forgotten. After the ceremony, which lasted about anhour, the body was taken to the cemetery, and, as it was by thistime quite dark, each person in the procession carried a torch orcandle. I noticed quite a number of Chinese among the following, evidently friends, and these were arrayed in as gorgeous apparel asthe natives. The remains having been disposed of, there was a grandreception given in the evening in honor of the deceased. It is customary to have a dance every Sunday evening, and each womanhas a chair in which she sits while not dancing. The priests not onlyattend, but participate most heartily. I was told that among the papers captured in Manila was a documentwhich proved to be the last bull issued by the Pope to the King ofSpain (1895 or 96). This was an agreement between the Pope and theKing, whereby the former conveys to the latter the right to authorizethe sale of indulgences. The King, in turn, sold this right to thepadres and friars in the islands. Absolution from a lie cost thesinner six pesos, or three dollars in gold; other sins in proportion totheir enormity and the financial ability of the offender. The annualincome of the King of Spain from this system has been estimated atthe modest figure of ten millions. The discovery of this and other documents is due to a party ofinterpreters who became greatly fascinated by the unearthingprocess. In the same church in which these were found, the meninvestigated the gambling tables and found them controlled andmanipulated from the room below by means of traps, tubes, and otherappliances. An interesting fact in this connection is that one ofthe interpreters was himself a Romanist, and loath to believe hiseyes, but the evidence was convincing, and he was forced to admitit. Gambling is a national custom, deeply rooted. I shall never forget the joy I experienced when we got two milchcows. What visions of milk, cream, and butter, --fresh butter, notcanned; then, too, to see the natives milk was truly a diversion;they went at it from the wrong side, stood at as great a distanceas the length of arms permitted, and in a few seconds were through, having obtained for their trouble about a pint of milk--an excellentmilk-man's fluid--a blue and chalky mixture. One day I heard what seemed to be a cry of distress, half human inentreaty, and I rushed to see what could be the matter. There, on itsback, was a goat being milked; there were four boys, each holding aleg, while the fifth one milked upward into a cocoanut shell. It wasa ludicrous sight. One of their dainties is cooked grasshoppers, which are sold by thebushel in the markets. I cannot recommend this dish, for I neverwas able to summon sufficient courage to test it, but I should thinkit would be as delectable as the myriad little dried fish which areeaten with garlic as a garnish and flavor. The poor little horses are half starved and otherwise maltreated bythe natives, who haven't the least idea of how to manage them. Theybeat them to make them go, then pull up sharply on the reins whichwhirls them round and round or plunges them right and left, ofteninto the ditches beside the road. It was no uncommon sight to seeofficers or men getting out of their quielas to push and pull to getthe animal started, only to have the driver whip and jerk as before. Some of the natives bought the American horses and it was painful tosee them try to make our noble steeds submit to methods a la Filipino. Beggars by the thousand were everywhere, blind, lame, and deformed;homeless, they wandered from town to town to beg, especially onmarket days. One blind woman, who lived on the road from Iloilo toJaro, had collected seventy-five "mex, " only to have it stolen byher sister. Complaint was made to the military commander, but it wasfound that the money had been spent and that there was no redress tobe had. She must continue to beg while her sister lived hard by inthe new "shack" which she had built with the stolen "denaro" (money). About three miles from Jaro was quite a leper colony, shunned, of course, by the natives. During confession, the lepers kneeledseveral rods away from the priests. I saw one poor woman whose feetwere entirely gone lashed to a board so she could drag herself alongby the aid of her hands, which had not yet begun to decay. There were no visible means of caring for the sick and afflicted; theinsane were kept in stocks or chained to trees, and the U. S. Hospitalswere so overtaxed by the demands made upon them by our own soldiersthat little space or attention could be spared to the natives. Charitybegins at home. God bless the dear women who nursed our sick soldiers; it was mypleasure to know quite intimately several of these girls who havemade many a poor boy more comfortable. I am proud, too, of ourU. S. Army; of course not all of the men were of the Sunday Schoolorder, but under such great discomforts, in such deadly perils, andamong such treacherous people, nothing more can be expected of mortalmen than they rendered. Many poor boys trusted these natives to theirsorrow. They accepted hospitality and their death was planned rightbefore their eyes, they, of course, not understanding the languagesufficiently to comprehend what was intended. They paid the penaltyof their trust with their lives. On Decoration Day we were able to make beautiful wreaths andcrosses. Our soldiers marched to the cemeteries and placed theflowers on the graves of the brave boys who had given their lives indefence of the flag. I had the pleasure of representing the mothers, whose spiritual presence was, I felt sure, with those far-away lovedones. An officer has written me that Memorial Day was again observedthis year, and I am sure it was done fittingly. A Protestant mission was established at Jaro, in a bamboo chapel, pure bamboo throughout, roof, walls, windows, seats, floor. The seats, however, were seldom used, for the natives prefer to squat on thefloor. The congregation consisted of men, women, and children, manyof whom came on foot from a distance of twenty or more miles, theolder people scantily clad, and the children entirely naked; a moreattentive audience would be hard to find, as all were eager to get the"cheap religion. " None of the inhabitants of Jaro attend, as yet;they fear to do so, since they are under the strict surveillanceof the padre, and are in the shadow of the seminary for priests, the educational center of the island of Panay. The Protestant minister is a graduate of this institution and issubject to all imaginable abuses and insults. Under his teachings, a great many have been baptized, who seemed devoutly in earnest; itis inspiring to hear them sing with great zeal the familiar hymns, "Rock of Ages, " "Safe in the Arms of Jesus, " etc. One incidentwill suffice to illustrate the intense and determined opposition toProtestantism. One of the native teachers was warned not to returnto his home, but, in defiance of all threats, he did so, and wasmurdered before the eyes of his family. I shall expect to hear thatmany other missionaries have been disposed of in a similar manner, after the withdrawal of the American troops. Many ask my opinion as to the value of these possessions; to me theyseem rich beyond all estimate. A friend whom I met there, a man whohas seen practically the whole world, said that, for climate andpossibilities, he knew of no country to compare with the Philippines. The young generation is greedy for knowledge and anxious to progress, though the older people do not take kindly to innovations, but clingto their old superstitions and cruelties. God grant the better daymay come soon. There was quite an ambition among the natives to be musical;they picked up quickly, "by ear, " some of the catchy things ourband played. When I heard them playing "A Hot Time in the Old TownTo-night, " on their way to the cemetery, I could not restrain mylaughter, and if the deceased were of the order of Katapunan theprophecy was fulfilled. Officers informed me that this society wasprobably the worst one ever organized, more deadly than anarchistsever were. It was originated by the Masons, but the priests acquiredcontrol of it and made it a menace to law and order. I should nothave escaped with my life had it not been for one of the best friendsI have ever known, a "mestizo, " part Spanish and part Filipino. Sheundoubtedly saved my life by declaring that before anything was doneto me she and her husband must be sacrificed. "Greater love hath noman than this. " They were influential people throughout the islands, and nothing occurred. ISLANDS CEBU AND ROMBLOM. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR. The various islands seemed to have their own peculiarities. Cebu isfamous for vast quantities of Manila hemp; also for shell spoons;these are beautiful, of various sizes, and colors, according to theshell they are cut from. They are especially appropriate in servingfish. The abaka-cloth of this island is the finest made, and its pearlfisheries are valuable. In 1901 a lively insurrection was going on inCebu. The banks of the bay were lined with refugees who had come fromthe inland to be protected from their enemies. There were hundredsof them, but not a single cooking utensil amongst them. Some wouldgo up to the market place and buy a penny's worth of rice skillfullyput up in a woven piece of bamboo. And lucky for them if they hadthe penny. The rest spent their time fishing. The cathedral of Cebu, built of stone, is especially fine. It has forits Patron Saint, a babe, Santa Niña. The story is that at one timethere were a great many babies stricken with a malady; the parentsvowed if the Holy Mother would spare their children they would buildthis cathedral. One of the largest prisons is at Cebu. We were shown many of thedungeons; there were then confined within those walls many verybad Insurrectos. As we were eager to visit one of the large estates, we were given aheavy guard and went inland about two miles from the port; it wascertainly a fine plantation, much better kept than any I had everseen before. We were apparently cordially received, and were assuredif we would only stay we could partake of some of the family pig, that was even then wandering around in the best room in the house. The floor of the large reception room was polished as perfectly as apiano top; its boards were at least eighteen inches wide and sixteen totwenty feet long. I asked several persons the name of this beautifulplace, but could not find out. On the sideboard were quantities offine china and silver that had been received only a few days beforefrom Spain, there was a large grand piano, and there were eight orten chairs in the center of the room forming a hollow square. Herewe were seated and were offered refreshments of wine, cigars and"dulce. " While this place seemed isolated it was not more than tenminutes before we had a gathering of several hundred natives, indeedour visit was shortened by the fear that we might be outnumbered andcaptured, and so we hastened back to quarters. While all the islands are tropical in appearance, Cebu is pre-eminentlyluxuriant. We were sorry not to stay longer and learn more of itspeople and its industries. Romblom is considered by many the most picturesque of the islands. Theentrance is certainly beautiful; small ships can come up to thedock. The town itself is on the banks of a wonderful stream of waterthat has been brought down from the hills above. There is a finelyconstructed aqueduct that must have cost the Spaniards a great dealof money, even with cheap labor. It is certainly a very delightfullysituated little town. This place is famous for its mats; they are wovenof every conceivable color and texture, and are of all sizes, fromthose for a child's bed to those for the side of a house. The edges ofsome mats are woven to look like lace, and some like embroidery. Theyrange in price from fifty cents to fifty dollars. Every one who visitsRomblom is sure to bring away a mat. On every island much corn is raised, perhaps for export; certainlythe staple is rice. Quite a number of young men who were officers inour volunteer regiments, have located on the island of Guimeras, andI have no doubt that, with their New England thrift, they will be ableto secure magnificent crops. The soil is amazingly rich; under skilledcare it will produce a hundred fold. Many of the islands are so nearto one another that it is an easy matter to pass from island to island. LITERATURE. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE. In no house of any town, on any island, nor in the very best housesof the so-called very best families, did I ever see any books, newspapers, magazines, periodicals of any kind whatever. One womantriumphantly took out of a box a book, nicely folded up in wax paper, a history of the United States, printed in 1840. In a lower room of alarge house, once a convent, but now occupied by two or three priests, there were perhaps four or five hundred books written in Spanish andLatin on church matters. One reason for the dearth of books is thedifficulty of protecting them from the ravages of the ants. We foundto our horror that our books were devoured by them. And then the timeswere troublous and things were out of joint. In the large seminary atMolo, where hundreds of girls are taught every year, I did not see asingle book of any kind or any printed matter, except a few pamphletsconcerning the Roman church. The girls work on embroideries, and surelyfor fineness they surpass all others. They do the most cobweb-likedrawn work, and on this are wrought roses, lilies, and butterflieswith outspread wings that look as if they had just lighted down to sipthe nectar from the blossoms; these very fine embroideries are doneon the piña cloth. It is no wonder that the people would get even theadvertisements on our canned goods and ask any American whom they metwhat the letters were and what the words meant. Our empty cans withtomato, pear, peach labels were to them precious things. Whereeverour soldiers were, the adults and the children crowded around themand impromptu classes were formed to spell out all the American wordsthey could find; even the newspaper wrappers and the letter envelopes, that were thrown away, were carefully picked up so as to glean themeaning of these "Americano" words. There was near our quarters a verylarge building that was used for the education of boys; one can formsome idea of the size of this building when two or three regimentswere encamped there with all their equipments. There may have been books here, once, but nothing was left when ourtroops occupied it except a few pictures on the walls, a few tablesand desks, a few chairs and sleeping mats. There was a little story in connection with the bell tower on oneside of the plaza in Jaro; this tower was about eighty feet high, had a roof and niches for seven or eight good sounding bells. Fromthe top of this tower one could see many miles in every direction;when the Philippine army fled from the town they immediately thoughtour soldiers might ascend the tower and watch their course, sothey burned the staircases. Alas for the little children who hadtaken refuge in the tower! As the flames swept up the stairways, they fled before them; two of them actually clung to the clapper ofone great bell, and there they hung until its frame was burned awayand the poor little things fell with the falling bell. Their remainswere found later by our soldiers, the small hands still faithfulto their hold. The bells were in time replaced and doubtless stillchime out the hours of the day. It is the duty of one man to attendto the bells; the greater the festival day the oftener and longerthey ring. When they rang a special peal for some special service, I tried to attend. One day there was an unusual amount of commotionand clanging, so I determined to go over to the service. Hundreds ofnatives had gathered together. To my surprise, six natives came inbearing on their shoulders a bamboo pole; from this pole a hammockwas suspended, in which some one was reclining; but over the entireperson, hammock, and pole, was thrown a thick bamboo net, entirelyconcealing all within; it was taken up to the chancel and whoeverwas in that hammock was given the sacrament. He was, no doubt, someeminent civilian or officer, for the vast congregation rose to theirfeet when the procession came in and when it passed out. I askedtwo or three of the Filipino women, whom I knew well, who it was, but they professed not to know. They always treated me with respectwhen I attended any of their services and placed a chair for me. Inoticed how few carried books to church. I do not believe I ever sawa dozen books in the hands of worshipers in any of the cathedrals, and I visited a great many, five on Palm Sunday, 1900. I know fromthe children themselves, and from their teachers, that there arecomplaints about the size of the books and about the number whichthey have to get their lessons from in the new schools. There are three American newspapers in Manila, and one Americanlibrary. The grand success of the library more than repays all the costand trouble of establishing it. One must experience it to know thejoy of getting letters, magazines, papers, and books that come onceor twice a month, only. It really seemed when the precious mail bagswere opened that their treasures were too sacred to be even handled. Wewere so hungry and thirsty for news from home, for reading matter inthis bookless country, where even a primer would have been a prize. I alternated between passive submission to island laziness, shiftlessness, slovenliness, dirt, and active assertion of Ohiovim. Sick of vermin and slime, I would take pail, scrubbing brushand lye, and fall to; sick of it all, I would get a Summit countybreakfast, old fashioned pan cakes for old times' sake; sick of thenative laundress who cleansed nothing, I would give an Akron rub myselfto my own clothes and have something fit to wear. These attacks ofenergy depended somewhat on the temperature, somewhat on exhaustedpatience, somewhat on homesickness, but most on dread of revolt andattack; or of sickening news--not of battle, but of assassination andmutilation. Whether I worked or rested, I was careful to sit or standclose to a wall--to guard against a stab in the back. I smile now, not gaily, at the picture of myself over a washtub, a small daggerin my belt, a revolver on a stool within easy reach of my steady, right hand, rubbing briskly while the tears of homesickness rolleddown in uncontrollable floods, but singing, nevertheless, with mightand main:-- "Am I a soldier of the Cross, A follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause, Or blush to speak His name? "Must I be carried to the skies On flowery beds of ease, While others fought to win the prize, And sailed through bloody seas?" Singing as triumphantly as possible to the last verse and word ofthat ringing hymn. My door and windows were set thick with wonderingfaces and staring eyes, a Señora washing. These Americans were pastunderstanding! And that revolver--they shivered as they looked at it, and not one doubted that it would be vigorously used if needed. And Ilooked at them, saying to myself, as I often did, "You poor miserablecreatures, utterly neglected, utterly ignorant and degraded. " No wonder that the diseased, the deformed, the blind, the one-toed, thetwelve-toed, and monstrous parts and organs are the rule rather thanthe exception. These things are true of nine-tenths of this people. THE ADVERTISER. ILOILO 25th. NOVEMBER 1899. EXTRA. Reuter's Telegrams. THE TRANSVAAL WAR. LONDON 25th. Novr. --The British losses at Belmont are stated at 48killed, 146 wounded, and 21 missing. The losses include four Officerskilled and 21 wounded and are chiefly Guardsmen. 50 Boers were taken prisoner, including the German commandant andsix Field Cornets. The British Infantry are said to have behaved splendidly and wereadmirably supported by the Artillery and the Naval Brigade, carryingthree Ridges successively. The Victory is a most complete one. It isstated that the enemy fought with the greatest courage and skill. This Extra was Issued Daily--Eighty-four Mexican Dollars per Year. THE GORDON SCOUTS. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX. The Gordon Scouts were a detachment made up of volunteers from theEighteenth U. S. Infantry. They were under direct command of CaptainW. A. Gordon and Lieutenant A. L. Conger. The captain lost health andwas sent home; thus the troop was, for about a year, under the commandof Lieutenant Conger. It would not be proper for me to tell of thewonderful expeditions and the heroic deeds of the Gordon Scouts. Noone was more generous in praise of them than General Del Gardo, nowgovernor of the Island of Panay. He told me often of his great esteemfor my son and of the generous way in which he treated his prisonersand captives. Surely men were never kinder to a woman than thesescouts were to me; they most affectionately called me Mother Congerand treated me always with the greatest respect and kindness. I hopesome day the history of this brave band of men will be written, withits more than romantic campaigns and wonderful exploits, marches, dangers, and miraculous escapes. Few men were wounded or disabled, notwithstanding all the tedious marches in most impenetrable swampsand mountains, with no guide but the stars by night and the sun byday, and no maps or trusted men to guide them. I recall the braveryof one man who was shot through the abdomen, and when they stopped tocarry him away he said, "Leave me here; I cannot live, and you mayall be captured or killed. " They tenderly placed him in a blanket, carried him to a place of safety, and, when he died, they broughthim back to Jaro and buried him with military honors. He was the onlyman killed in all the months of their arduous tasks. If I have any courage I owe it to my grandmother. I will perhapsbe pardoned if I say that all my girlhood life was spent with myGrandmother Bronson, a very small woman, weighing less than ninetypounds, small featured, always quaintly dressed in the old-fashionedLevantine silk with two breadths only in the skirt, a crossed silkhandkerchief with a small white one folded neatly across her breast, a black silk apron, dainty cap made of sheer linen lawn with fullruffles. She it was who entered into all my child life and who used totell me of her early pioneer days, and of her wonderful experienceswith the Indians. In the War of 1812, fearing for his little family, my grandfather started her back to Connecticut on horse back withher four little children, the youngest, my father, only six monthsold. The two older children walked part of the way; whoever rodehad to carry the baby and the next smallest child rode on a pillionthat was tied to the saddle. In this way she accomplished the longjourney from Cleveland, Ohio, to Connecticut. When she used to tellme of the wonderful things that happened on this tedious journey, that took weeks and weeks to accomplish, I used to wonder if I shouldever take so long a trip. I take pleasure in presenting the dearlyloved grandmother of eighty-one and the little girl of ten. While my dear little grandmother dreaded the Indians, I did thetreacherous Filipinos; while she dreaded the wolves, bears and wildbeasts, I did the stab of the ever ready bolo and stealthy natives, and the prospect of fire; she endured the pangs of hunger, so did I;and I now feel that I am worthy to be her descendant and to sit byher side. TRIALS OF GETTING HOME. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN. The first stages of my return home were from Iloilo to Manila, and thence to Nagasaki, the chief port of Japan. Upon leavingIloilo for Manila, my son accompanied me as far as Manila; he heardincidentally that he was to be made a staff officer; as I procuredquick transportation as far as Nagasaki, I told him to return tohis duties and I would get along some way. Upon reaching Nagasaki, the difficulties began. I went immediately to the various offices ofsteamship lines and found there was no passage of any grade to behad. Many were fleeing from the various ports to get away from theplague and all steamers were crowded because of the reduced ratesto the Pan-American Fair. Thinking I might have a better chance fromYokohama, I took passage up there on the North German Lloyd line. Ihad a splendid state-room, fine service, the best of everything. Itold the purser I should like to engage that same state-room back toLiverpool; he replied he could not take me, that I would not live toget there. I assured him that I was a good sailor, that I was verymuch emaciated with my long stay in the Philippines, that I would soonrecover with his good food and the sea air; but he refused to takeme. When I reached Yokohama, I immediately began to see if I could notsecure sailing from there; day after day went by, it was the old story, everything taken. When the Gaelic was returning I told the captain thatI would be willing to take even third cabin at first class rates, buteven thus there were no accommodations. Within an hour of the ship'ssailing, word was brought to me that two women had given up theircabin and that I might have it; it was two miles out to the ship, with no sampan--small boat--of any kind to get my baggage out, so Itearfully saw this ship sail away. I then decided to return to Nagasakito try again from that port. The voyage back was by the Empress line ofsteamers flying between Vancouver and Yokohama. Upon reaching Nagasakiagain I appealed to the quarter-master to secure transportation; hesaid I could not get anything at all. Officers whom I had met in thePhilippines proposed to take me and my baggage on board without thenecessary red tape, in fact to make me a stow-away, but I refused. Icabled my son in New York to see if I could get a favorable orderfrom Washington. I cabled Governor Taft, but he was powerless in thegreat pressure of our returning troops. In the meantime, I was dailygrowing weaker from the excitement and worry of being unable to doanything at all. The housekeeper of the very well-kept Nagasaki hotelwas especially kind. She gave me very good attention and even theChinese boy who took care of my room and brought my meals realizedthe desperate condition I was in. One day, with the deepest kind ofsolicitude on his otherwise stolid but child-like and bland face, he said:-- "Mrs. , you no got husband?" "No. " "You no got all same boys. " "Yes, I have three nice boys. " "Why no then you three boys not come and help poor sick mother gohome to die?" Captain John E. Weber, of the Thirty-Eighth Volunteers returninghome on transport Logan, insisted upon my taking his state room. Thequarter-master, who had refused me so many times before, thought thathe could not allow it, anything so out of the "general routine ofbusiness;" but Captain Weber said, "On no account will I leave youhere, after all your faithful service in the Philippines to myself, other officers, and hundreds of boys. " I had one of the best staterooms on the upper deck and received the most kindly attentions frommany on board; the quarter-master had been a personal friend of myhusband in other and happier days. On the homeward way, the shiptook what is known as the northern course; she made no stop betweenNagasaki and San Francisco. We went far enough north to see the coastof Alaska. We saw many whales and experienced much cold weather. Inmy low state of vitality I suffered from the cold, but not from seasickness. I did not miss a single meal en route during the twenty-foursailing days of the ship. They were days of great pleasure. We hadsocial games and singing, and religious services on Sunday. There werea great many sick soldiers in the ship's hospital; three dying duringthe voyage. On reaching San Francisco the ship was placed in quarantinethe usual number of days, but there was no added delay as there wereon board no cases of infectious disease. Mrs. General Funston wasone of the passengers and was greeted most cordially by the friendsand neighbors of this, her native state. Upon my declaring to thecustom house officers that I had been two years in the Philippinesand had nothing for sale they immediately passed my baggage withoutany trouble. My son in New York, to whom I had cabled from Nagasaki, had never received my message, so there was no one to meet me, butI was so thankful to be in dear, blessed America that it was joyenough. No, not enough until I reached my own beloved home. Had itbeen possible I would have kissed every blade of grass on its grounds, and every leaf on its trees. I am not ashamed to say that July 10th, the day of my home coming, I knelt down and kissed with unspeakable gratitude and love its dearearth and once more thanked God that His hand had led me--led me home. "Adious. "