14 - Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines by Isabel Anderson

Join Isabel Anderson on a captivating journey through Hawaii and the Philippines, as she shares a fascinating travelogue that doubles as a rich history lesson. This book is a treasure trove for anyone intrigued by the South Pacific, offering a compelling glimpse into the transformations that have taken place since Mrs. Andersons travels. Prepare to be enthralled by her vivid storytelling and insightful observations.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Section thirteen of the Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and
the Philippines by Isabel Anderson. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain recording by William Tomko. The Spell of
the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines by Isabel Anderson, Section thirteen,

(00:23):
chapter five, Healing a Nation. The sanitary conditions which existed
in the Islands twenty odd years ago would seem to
us appalling, but perhaps they were no worse than those
of some other tropical countries. At that time, even the
most progressive colonizers, like the English, had given up trying
radical reforms, contenting themselves with making passibly helpful conditions. Especially

(00:48):
for the European part of the towns, the combination of
climate and native inertia seemed to them one which it
was difficult and almost hopeless to combat. So it remained
for us to proved that the thing could be done,
that a tropical country could be made sanitary and hygienic
for all its inhabitants, whether they were white or brown

(01:09):
or yellow, and whether they wanted it made so or not.
If we had done nothing else for our restless dependency,
that achievement would be a sufficient crown of glory. Manila
was then, as it still is, the most highly civilized
spot in the islands. As I have said, much of
the walled city was built of stone and plaster, but

(01:30):
many of the natives in the suburbs lived in one
room houses made of wood and raised on stilts. No
provision whatever was made for drainage or for the removal
of garbage. Each house was a law unto itself, and
very often an offense unto its neighbors. A large part
of the city drained directly or indirectly into the passing river.

(01:53):
Here also the carabao, which is not a fastidious animal,
went for his mud baths, and the women washed their clothes.
This river furnished drinking water for all who lived near
enough to share the privilege. It was said to have
a flavor like the Ganges, which they sorely missed later on,
when a purer supply was substituted. The medieval wall, which

(02:15):
allowed for many damp, unhealthy corners, interfered with municipal ventilation.
No cleansing winds can sweep through a city whose every
street ends in a high wall. Outside was a stagnant
moat which made a convenient breeding place for the industrious Mosquito.
The local market used to be a community dwelling for
all the vendors who lived there, reveling in their filth.

(02:37):
Their children were born there, also their dogs, pigs, cats,
and chickens. It was so vile smelling that no American
dared go into it, Never being cleaned, It was a
center from which disease was spread to the city. These
markets were the first places to be cleaned by the Americans.
The first step was always to burn up the entire

(02:58):
shed and then build an iron and concrete structure which
could be washed down every night with a hose. Only
the night watchman was allowed to live there. This is
only typical of changes made in every department, from market
to school, from custom house to palace. To tell a
long story, very shortly, gaps have been opened in the
city walls to lit in the air. The moat has

(03:21):
been filled in with soil dredged from the bay to
make a field for sports. Nearby marshes have been reclaimed
and old wells filled up. While the sewerage system and
a method of collecting refuse have of course been established.
The new water system has cut a death rate from
water borne diseases in half. To stop an epidemic, whole

(03:42):
districts of huts which could not be fumigated were burned
and others were sprayed with strong disinfectants by fire engines.
Slowly the people are being taught the rules of hygiene.
The new and up to date medical school is turning
out very good doctors, and the school of nursing most
exces nurses who are gentle, cheerful, and dainty. The modern

(04:04):
hospitals were at first regarded with suspicion by the natives,
who went with the greatest reluctance for treatment. But day
to day the difficulty is to keep them out. A
toothache is excuse enough for a week's sojourn with free board.
The native doctor often is a skillful grafter, and as
to be watched, otherwise he may pass in all his

(04:25):
poor relations, more to give them food and rest than
for illness. A friend was much annoyed while sick in
a Manila hospital by some Filipino girls in pink and
lilac hospital gowns who were romping through the corridors. Her
nurse explained that they were passed in by the native doctor.
One of these physicians had every bed in his ward

(04:46):
filled with patients who were not ill, but just enjoying themselves.
Some of these doctors have used their authority in other ways.
One of them, it was discovered, used to go to
San Lazarro, the hospital for Contagious diseas diseases, and take
friends who were detained there with leprosy to write in
public vehicles. But aside from occasional abuses by natives, the

(05:08):
work which has been done for the public health in
Manila is an example of what has been accomplished elsewhere.
In many of the provincial towns. The introduction of artesian
wells has brought the death rate tumbling down to half
its former size. The work was carried on under disadvantages
at first, for it was the butt of much ridicule
and abuse, the former from abroad, the latter from the

(05:32):
native press. Medical authorities in other parts of the Far
East laughed at our efforts to create better conditions for
the Filipinos and told us that Orientals were incapable of
sanitary reforms. Before long, the same men were seeking to
learn by what magic we had accomplished what they had
hardly dared even attempt, and were sending delegates to Manila

(05:53):
to study our methods. When Americans went there, they found
the Filipinos a race of semi involings. Those who had
managed to survive the various scourges which were constantly sweeping
the islands were often infected with hookworm or similar parasites,
which sapped their vitality. Many of them were tubercular, and
most of them were under fed. The laziness which made

(06:16):
several Filipino workmen equal to one American was much of
it due to actual physical weakness. As a people, they
are showing a marked improvement in energy and activity. It
was from changes of this sort that there would be
benevolent anti imperialists labored to save them. Of course, a
great deal remains for us to do. Half the babies

(06:38):
still die before they are a year old. Only a
beginning has been made in stamping out tuberculosis. The people
have not yet been educated out of that fatalism which
makes them prefer acceptance of evil to fighting it. But
as fast as they learned English, they come under our
educative influence. More and more. Doctor Richard peaste Strong, whom

(07:01):
we knew when we were in the islands, and who
is now at the Harvard Medical School, lecturing on tropical diseases.
Had done many notable things in various parts of the world.
We all know about his wonderful work in the northern
part of China when the pneumonic plague was raging there
a few years ago, and still later his heroism among
the typhos stricken soldiers of Serbia. But we do not

(07:24):
all know that, among other things, he has discovered a
cure for a dreadful skin disease called yaws, which has
been prevalent in the Philippines. A doctor in Bontok cured
a disease with a single injection of salversan. The case
was so delighted that he escaped from the hospital before
a second injection could be given. Him, rushed home to

(07:45):
his native village, and returned a day or so later
with a dozen or more of his neighbors who were
suffering from the same trouble. We were fortunate in traveling
through the Islands with doctor Heizer, who had entire control
of the health conditions there for many years, in fact,
until the Democratic administration. To him. Is largely due the
practical disappearance of small pox from the Philippines. When the

(08:08):
Americans took over the country, there were sometimes over fifty
thousand deaths a year from this one disease. The change
is the direct result of the ten million vaccinations which
were performed by American officials. An effort was made to
entrust the vaccinating to Filipino officials, but epidemics kept breaking
out and it was discovered that their work was being

(08:29):
done chiefly on paper. In a recent letter, a friend writes,
the other day, one of our servants, Crispin, was ill.
I tried to get him to go to the hospital,
but he insisted he was not sick. I did not
enjoy having him wait on the table, for I thought
he had measles. So I took him to the hospital
myself and told him to do what the doctor said.

(08:51):
When I returned home, a telephone call summoned us to
the hospital to be vaccinated at once, for Crispin had
the small pox. He sent him to San Lazarro, where
he had a good time and came home smiling. While
we spent a miserable ten days waiting to see what
was going to happen to us. The native Sindados came

(09:12):
promptly to disinfect but all they did was to put
a bucket of something in the center of the room.
I soon saw that they were not going to be thorough,
so after ten minutes, just as they were going away,
I called them back and telephoned to the Board of Health,
asking if no American sanitary officer was coming. They said no,
that Filipinos had been put in all the white men's places.

(09:34):
So I went to work myself, burning bedding, clothes and hangings,
and opening every trunk and closet. It was a revelation
to those two little natives who thought they had done
enough before. Apparently the natives had the same aversion to
the preventive method of vaccination that some of our own
country folk have. For doctor Heizer writes of the early

(09:54):
work in the field. Formerly, the lives of the vaccinators
were seriously threatened by persons who refused to be vaccinated. However,
after much persuasion, a considerable number of the inhabitants were vaccinated.
Shortly afterwards, smallpox was introduced, and the death rate among
the unvaccinated became alarming. The people themselves then noted that

(10:17):
in spite of the fact that the vaccinated persons frequently
came in constant contact with the disease, they did not
contract it, while the unvaccinated died in large numbers. This
led to urgent request being made for vaccination, and the
vaccinators who previously found their lives in constant danger were welcomed.
But perhaps doctor Heyser's greatest work has been done in

(10:40):
freeing the islands of the worst feared disease of all
times and nations, leprosy. I was walking along the street
with him one day when he noticed the swollen ear
lobes of a man nearby. It was one of the
first symptoms of leprosy. He stopped and spoke to the
man and walked with him to the hospital. The diseases
not really so much to be feared as people think,

(11:01):
for it is seldom inherited and is not easily contagious.
We had planned to go to Coollion, the beautiful island
where thousands of lepers have been taken to live or
to die, and where they have every care and comfort
that science and unselfish devotion can give them. Unfortunately for us,
the Secretary of War was obliged to cut the trip short,

(11:22):
owing to official business in Manila, so we did not
go there. We heard so much about the place that
this was a real disappointment. The island is a day's
sail from Manila. It is well forested and has hills
and fertile valleys and a fine harbor. The more important
buildings of the town, which the authorities knew would be

(11:42):
needed by the thousands of lepers than at large, were
built from the foundations, entirely of concrete for sanitary reasons
at economy. Besides hundreds of houses, one finds there to
day a theater, a town hall, a school, dining halls, hospits, viddles, stores, docks,
and warehouses. Water lighting and sewage systems were also constructed,

(12:07):
and a separate settlement was built for the non leprous employees.
Collion is really a leper's heaven. The people have perfect
freedom and live normal lives, farming or fishing when they
are able, carrying on their own government, having their own
police force, playing in the band if they are musical,
giving theatrical performances. They have social distinctions too. Those better

(12:30):
born take the place denied them in the outer world
because of their affliction. Here they are again somebody. When
Americans took possession of the islands, there were six thousand
lepers at large. Two things evidently had to be done. First,
prevent a further spread of the disease, and second cure
those who already had it. If this were possible, segregation

(12:54):
of all known cases as fast as accommodations could be
provided for them, was the immediate necessity. The colony at
Coolion was opened in nineteen o six with five hundred patients.
These went reluctantly to their new abode, but once settled there,
found it so much to their liking that they rode
home enthusiastically, and after that the authorities had no difficulty

(13:15):
in persuading others to go. Indeed, the plight of these
poor outcasts had been pitiful enough. They were so neglected
that in one of the larger cities they had been
known to go into the markets and handle the produce
as a protest against their treatment. More than eight thousand
have been transferred to Coolyion in all, and to day
every known leper in the Philippines is there. New cases

(13:38):
are still occasionally found, but even the worst provinces are
now practically free from the historic scourge. It was that
remarkable man, doctor Heizer, who not only organized and carried
out this great undertaking, but who himself saw to the
smallest details. Many times he is known to have carried
loathesome patients in his own arms. The second problem, that

(14:00):
of finding a cure, was not so easily solved. But
it has been found, and our nation had the credit
of finding it, the first definite cure ever established. Doctor
Heyzer says two methods were tried out very carefully, both
with some success. The first was the X ray, which
brought a marked improvement in most of the cases where

(14:22):
it was used, and an apparent cure in one case.
The other method was the use of chalbougra oil. This
remedy had been known and used in the Far East
for some time, but it could rarely be given long
enough to produce much effect because it was so unpleasant
to swallow. Our doctors, however, devised ways of injecting it

(14:43):
after mixing it with resource and canphorated oil, so that
there were no ill effects. Already several cures have resulted.
Ten years ago, there were forty thousand users of opium
in the islands. In five years that number was reduced
ninety five percent, and most of those still addicted to
the drug are Chinese. In the last few years, moreover,

(15:05):
cholera and bubonic plague have been practically wiped out, but
of course a few other tropical diseases still exist. The
Philippine Assembly recently conceived the brilliant idea of cutting down
expenses by having the health appropriation. Doctor. Heizer got permission
to speak before them, but instead of talking a few
minutes as they expected, he spoke for three days. He

(15:29):
told them that if they did not give him the
money he needed for the work, he would be forced
to economize by setting free the criminally insane, whom he
promised should be given tags, stating that they had been
set free by order of the Assembly. Also, he said
he would have to send back many of the lepers
to their friends. It proved to be the way to
deal with the childlike legislators, who in the end gave

(15:52):
him what he wanted. Since that, however, he has resigned
and his loss will be sadly felt. Indeed, there has
already been an outbreak of cholera since he left. Regenerative
work among the Filipinos has by no means been confined
to their bodies. However, for besides the educational advance that
has been made in their schools, which I have mentioned elsewhere,

(16:14):
their prisons have become sources of light instead of darkness.
It is true that penology in the Philippines has gone
ahead with great strides. In Bontoc, for instance, there is
a prison which the commissioner in charge of the province
probably called his university. Its inmates are men of the mountains.
In the old days, they would have been sent to

(16:36):
Billybid Prison in Manila, where a few of them lived
over two years. A longer term meant practically a death sentence.
This provincial jail is situated in the high and healthy
capital of the province, and is kept clean and sanitary
by the prisoners themselves. The men are well fed and
cared for, and they are taught trades and made to

(16:56):
work at them too, so that they learn industry along
with nical skills. Bilibid Prison is a huge institution. It
occupies several acres of land in the heart of the
city of Manila, its buildings radiating from a common center,
so that the guard in the high tower at the
hub can overlook anything that occurs. High walls surround the

(17:17):
whole patrolled by watchful guards and mounted with gatling guns.
It is an extraordinary institution, inherited from Spanish rule, but
like everything else, completely changed since then. The wives of
men committed there were considered widowed in those days, since
so few survived a long term and were free to
marry again. There has been some confusion of late years,

(17:40):
because most of the prisoners that only come out alive
but healthier than when they went in. So prison widows
who remarried found that they had not counted on American methods. Bilibid,
though in many ways still rather experimental, is a great success.
There are extensive shops, and the prisoners are kept at
work all the time. Some make silverware, carriages and furniture,

(18:04):
while others do the cooking and washing for the prison,
make their clothes, and run a laundry not only for
their own use but for outside custom. Many are employed
in road building and on fortifications. Each man learns a
trade during his term of imprisonment, and so is better
able to earn an honest livelihood than when he entered.

(18:25):
I have been told that Billy graduates are in demand
because of their honesty and industry. No better recommendation for
a prison could be desired. Besides the shops, there is
a school in which they are taught English. The day
we visited the prison, we saw a teacher there who
had been a guest at the governor's table, but as
he had forged a check, he was paying the penalty.

(18:48):
Most of the attendants in the up to date prison
hospital were Spaniards who were in for life sentences and
who made very good nurses. Part of this institution is
devoted to consumptives, of whom there are so many in
the islands, and they received treatment according to the best
and latest methods. We were much interested in the kitchens

(19:08):
and the manner in which food was issued to several
thousands in only six minutes. It was all wonderfully systematized.
Late in the afternoon we went up into the central
tower to watch the retreat. The prisoner's band, which had
played for us as we entered the prison gates, now
took its place in the courtyard below and began to play.

(19:29):
Out of the work rooms trooped hundreds of convicts who
were searched for hidden implements and then released to take
their position in military formation. The different groups marched to
their quarters, and standing outside, went through a series of
exercises to the music of the band. They seemed to
enjoy this very much, and later, still to the music,
marched gaily off to get their rations. A long term

(19:52):
prisoner with two years of good conduct to its credit
is given the privilege of going to the Penal Colony
on the island of Palawan. This island is one of
the more southern ones and is the place where the
Spanish sent their convicts in the old days. But the
present colony, which was established by Governor Forbes, is very
different from the former one. It was once a malarial jungle,

(20:14):
but now is a healthy, thoroughly up to date at
successful reform institution. Our visit to this place was one
of the most interesting features of our whole trip. Palawan
itself is a curiosity, for it has an underground river
which has been explored for two miles beneath a mountain,
but the Penal settlement is unique. Leaving the steamer at

(20:35):
Puerto Princessa, a quaint little town with charming old Spanish gardens,
we were met by a launch which took us up
to the Ewahig River to the colony. This launch, which
was gaily decked with flags was manned by convicts, the
engineer himself being under a sentence of nineteen years for murder.
After our sail up the tropical river, we reached our destination.

(20:59):
At the wharf, we were greeted by mister Lamb, superintendent
of the colony, a Dominican priest, and a crowd of
prisoners who were enjoying a holiday. We were driven to headquarters,
near a pretty plaza with hedges and flowers, surrounded by
several two story barracks built of bamboo and nepa, where
the prisoners live. As we walked about the plaza, we

(21:21):
visited the hospital and the chapel, as well as the
main office and the superintendent's house. The Pedal Settlement is
located on a reservation of two hundred and seventy square miles.
At the time of our visit, they were in all
eleven hundred convicts Filipinos for the most part, with a
few Moros and only three white men to keep them

(21:42):
in order. The prisoners had all come from Bilibid Prison.
In its management, the colony is somewhat like the George
Junior Republic for Boys in America. The prisoners elect their
own judges and make some of their own laws, subject
to the approval of the superintendent. A majority verdict will convict,
but the superintendent has the right to veto any measures.

(22:03):
Men who break the laws are locked up, but can
be released on bail. The police force is composed of convicts.
Of course. The chief of police when we were there,
was a murderer who had earned his pardon, but prefer
to remain in the settlement. If a prisoner tries to escape,
he is followed, and occasionally when is shot. The attempt
is seldom made, for it is difficult to get away,

(22:26):
and the men are moreover quite content to live there.
Once thirty five convicts did make a break for liberty,
but beyond the confines of the settlement, they found themselves
in the midst of the savage Mangyans, by whom some
were killed. Of the rest. Those who were not captured
alive returned of their own free will, and were consigned

(22:47):
again to bilibid, which considered a great punishment for good behavior.
Convicts may earn the right to have a house of
their own with their family, one bull or caraboo, and
a little farm to cultivate. There were then a hundred
and eighty of these farmers who raised their crops on shares,
the government receiving half. They had to report to headquarters

(23:09):
by telephone every other day and undergo a weekly inspection
as well. Every year they were obliged to plant cocoanuts,
which in a few years were expected to bring in
large returns. Already great quantities of yams were being shipped
to Bilibid, and in a short time enough cattle would
be delivered there to supply in part at least the

(23:29):
meat demand of that prison. The colony suggests the possible
solution of the meat question for the American Army in
the Philippines, as they were successfully raising calves from native
cows by Indian bulls. Although the majority of the prisoners
were engaged in farming, they were often given the privilege
of selecting the kind of work that they preferred, and

(23:50):
were divided accordingly their hats and the signs on the
sleeves of their prison clothes showing what grade of convict
they belonged to and what work they did. They were
paid in the money of the colony, which was good
nowhere else. There were about forty women on the reservation.
The men might marry if they earned the privilege, or

(24:10):
if already married, they might have their wives and children
come to live with them. There were six marriages the
year we were there. After receiving their pardons, they could
remain on the island if they wished, their work being
credited toward the purchase of their farms, but they had
to continue under the laws of the colony. At the
main office, we saw four prisoners who were about to

(24:32):
be pardoned. Governor Forbes very kindly asked me to hand
them their pardons and ask any questions I wished. One
a bandolero or brigand was small and wizened. Another, who
looked much like him, when asked what crime he had committed,
laughed and answered bigamy. A third, a stolid, thick set fellow,

(24:53):
had the best face of them all, but showed no
emotion whatever when I gave him hiss pardon. He also
had been a Brigand the convicts gave an exhibition fire
drill for us at the barracks. The natives are born
climbers and scrambled down the poles with the agility of monkeys.
They also play baseball. Of course. They are remarkably musical

(25:14):
and have a good band. We had luncheon with mister
and Missus Lamb in their pretty bamboo and nepa cottage.
Missus Lamb was a frail little woman, but strong in spirit,
for she did not seem at all afraid to live
in this land of evil men. She told us that
the three murderers whom she had as servants were very
efficient and were devoted to her little four year old son.

(25:37):
When our visit ended, we were driven in a wagon
to the river, accompanied by a troop of prisoners who
ran alongside, shouting good byes. At the wharf, they lined
up while mister Lamb and the priest bowed us politely
aboard the launch. These intrepid countrymen of ours, who are
healing and uplifting a whole people, seemed to me to
be true missionaries. The time may come when the work

(26:01):
which they are doing will set a standard for us
stay at homes to follow. That is, if we send
the right kind of men out there. As the song says, ah,
those were the days when the best men won the
survival of those that were fit, When the work to
be done counted everything, and politics nary a bit. End

(26:22):
of Section thirteen, recording by William tom co