18 - 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 (00:00):
Section seventeen of the Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and
the Philippines by Isabel Anderson. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain recording by William tom Coe. The Spell
of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines by Isabel Anderson,
Section seventeen, Chapter eight, Inspecting with the Secretary of War,

(00:25):
Part two. So much has been written about the schools
and the wonders in education in the Philippines that I
shall not try to enlarge on this interesting theme, other
than to add my tribute to the government and the teachers,
and also to the people who are wise enough to
take advantage of the opportunities offered each. Little Juan and Maria,

(00:47):
with their desire to learn, may soon put to shame
little John and Mary if the latter are not careful.
It has not been a fad with them, as we
feared it would be. One of the teachers told me
they have stuck to it. Many grown ups in the
family make real sacrifices to keep their juniors in school.
My little Filippina dressmaker is educating all her sister's children

(01:09):
and sending her brother to the law school. At first, too,
we feared there would only be a desire to learn
English and the higher branches. But with a very little urging,
they are learning domestic science and the trades, showing that
they have a mind for practical matters. After all, I
begged her to tell me more about the natives, since

(01:29):
she understood the people so well, and what she said
is worth repeating. Even in his grief, the Filipino is
a cheerful creature. She began curiously enough too. A death
in the family is an occasion for general and prolonged festivities.
An orchestra is hired for as many days as the
wealth of the family permits, and a banquet is spread continuously,

(01:52):
at which all are welcome, even former enemies of the deceased.
Strangers from the street can come. I have often wondered
if the beggars imposed on this custom, but there are
very few of them, and they seem to respect it.
The music drones on day after day. Sometimes only one
instrument will be left, the other players going out to smoke,

(02:12):
or eat or rest, but they reassemble from time to
time and keep it going. There is always much dancing,
for the Natives are great dancers and were not the
last to learn the one step and hesitation. Even in
their heelless slippers. They are very graceful. Of course, masses
are said, for they firmly believe that these will take

(02:33):
their departed to heaven. With this belief, they are so
happy knowing the dear one is better off in heaven
than here, that Chopin's funeral march is quickly turned into
walls time and the fiesta waxes merry. In Spanish times,
each district had its band which always played at the
church festivals. Each church had its patron saint, and there

(02:56):
was always a Saint's de fiesta going on in some district.
In the churchyard booths were spread as at our country fairs.
Everything from toys to all kinds of chance games of
which they are so fond, was sold. The band played
continuously and the people came in crowds. The Americans have
catered to the spirit in the yearly carnival, which is

(03:18):
given every February. This carnival is more than a fiesta, though,
for it is also an exhibition of their produce and handiwork.
Their hats have always been famous, as has their needlework,
and under American encouragement, the basket work exhibit has become
one of the finest in the world. Some hemp baskets
woven in colors look as if they were made of

(03:39):
lustrous silk. I can't say which I like best the
finest of our Alaskan, Indian, or Apache or Filipino baskets.
Their shell work is lovely too, and their buttons are
coming into the world's market for the first time. The
Filipinos are also learning at the School of Arts and
Trades to carve their magnificent woods most skillful, and are

(04:01):
making furniture which will soon be coming to the States.
In the early days, a few Chinamen had the monopoly
of furniture carving and making. They copied the very ornate
pieces brought to Manila by the Spaniards from Spain and France,
in the native mahogany called nara, and in a harder
and very beautiful wood called acli, or in a still

(04:23):
harder one known as a kamagan, a native ebony. American
women soon began to search the second hand stores and
pawn shops for the originals and had them polished and
restored at Billybid Prison. The expense, considering was small. A
single peace stop dining table of solid mahogany is often

(04:43):
nearly eight feet in diameter and two or three inches thick.
Another of the teachers told me something of her experiences
in the early days when she went out with her father,
who was one of the first American army officers there.
When we landed, we lived in in an old Spanish palace,
she said, which, of course, we proceeded to clean. That

(05:04):
was the first thing all Americans did on landing. We
took eleven army dump cart loads from the palace of
every kind of dirt conceivable. Then we began washing windows
and mirrors and lamps, which I am sure had never
been touched with water before. The servants were so amazed
that they were of very little use. They were mostly

(05:24):
Chinese and had never seen white women work before. The
sight of such energy staggered them. Just when we got
things running smoothly, father was called home, and our clean
house fell to his successor's wife, who wept and said
she had never been put in such a dirty place.
It was after this that my real adventures began. Father

(05:46):
mc kimmon was opening public schools and wanted English taught,
so he went among them army girls and just begged
us to give up a few of our good times
and do some of this work. I didn't see how
I could teach people when I didn't know their language,
but he explained how simple it would be, and we
could learn Spanish at the same time. It was fun

(06:07):
to work with the Spanish nuns. They were so interested
in us, and their quaint, old fashioned methods with the
children amused me constantly. Arms were always folded when they
rose to recite, and it was always servador des ousted
at your service before they could sit down. The nuns
soon became pupils of ours too. When the Spanish prisoners

(06:29):
liberated by our men from the Filipinos were brought to Manila,
they were courted in our school for a hospital. I
never saw such starved wrecks. Many of them young men
had no teeth left. More Americans are arriving on every transport,
and a most delightful society was forming of army and
navy people, government officials, and naval officers of every nation.

(06:52):
In addition to the original Spanish population and the small
colonies of many countries. There were parties of all kinds,
and as we trained our cooks into our own ways.
We ventured on dinner parties. I shall never forget the
first dinner I went to that was cooked in Spanish
stal There was every kind of wine I ever heard of,

(07:13):
but no water. I wanted some, but it was not
to be had. My host apologized for not having provided any,
but no one dared drink the city supply. We sat
down to table at nine and rose at twelve, and
when the men joined us at one, they were all
much amazed that I made them move to go home.
I left Manilla to visit my brother in the provinces.

(07:35):
Traveling in those days was very different from what it
is now. After leaving the Manila dagupand railroad, there were
no motors to go up the mountain. Instead of that,
I rode an ancient American horse till I was tired
and burning with the sun. Then my brother put me
in a bull cart and I sat on the floor
of that till the sun was preferable to the bumping.

(07:57):
I arrived at four in the afternoon and was down
in an empty room with my trunk and a packing box.
Being a good army girl, that packing box had all
the elements of comfort. But first there was cleaning to
be done. My brother was a commanding officer in that town,
his house being at the corner of the plaza and
an outpost. So he sent me a police party, that is,

(08:19):
ten Native prisoners and an American sentry. They were armed
with rooms and buckets. I said, sentry, this room is
very dirty. The captain sent these men here to clean
it for me. Yes, ma'am, said the sentry. Well. I
told him I want the seating cleaned first, even the corners.
He turned to his gentle prisoners with here, hombres, you

(08:43):
shitty up that pole, and limpia those corners. He didn't
know much Spanish, but limpia means clean, and it is
the one essential word. I soon unpacked my box and
turned it into an organ dye draped dressing table, after
out of it had come all that made the room livable.
That night, I was sleeping the sleep of the very tired,

(09:04):
when I was awakened by a blood curdling shout. A
gun was thrown to the floor, and a man's voice
yelled for help. I simply froze. I couldn't move hand
or foot. The voice was in the outpost guard room,
just under my own of course, I was sure the
whole guard was overpowered and being bolowed. I waited for
them to come to me as I lay there. Then

(09:27):
I heard a man's voice call from an upstairs window,
what's the matter down there? And the answer number four
had a nightmare, Sir thought there was a goat on
his bunk. Just as I was going to sleep again,
I threw out my hand in my restlessness, and to
my horror, clasped it round a cold, shiny boa constrictor.

(09:48):
Every large house has one in the garret to keep
down the rats. This time I gave the scream and
sprang out of bed, but no snake was to be found,
and I decided it must have been the bed post.
But what a night that was. We re embarked at
Legaspi and sailed on to the island of Samar, which
is in the typhoon belt. Cat Balagan is a town

(10:11):
which has been visited by very severe typhoons and terrible plagues,
but by very few people. It is a small place,
far away and forgotten. But the island of Samar is
where the massacre of the Ninth Infantry occurred. The massacre
at Balangiga by the natives in nineteen o two, there
were triumphal arches of bamboo and flowers, and speeches in

(10:34):
the town hall Governor Forbes, speaking in both English and Spanish. Afterward,
eight small boys and girls dressed in red, white and
blue danced for us in enchantingly the Charka and the Jota,
clicking their little heels and snapping their little fingers in
true Spanish style. Delicious sweetmeats were offered on the veranda,

(10:55):
real native dishes, and we drank cocoanut milk and ate
cocoanut candy reserves, nuts and cakes. Two half Chinese girls
who spoke English took very good care of us. As
we left, we looked out over the sea by the
setting sun and watched a lonely fisherman standing on a
rock throwing his net. Next morning, from the Rizal we

(11:17):
saw across a stretch of calm water, the blue ranges
of the mountains of Bohol. Native Bancas glided silently about,
and a straw sailed boat drifted idly round the point
where the picturesque gray walls of the old Spanish fort
in the Philippines stood guard. Its sentinel houses at the
corners were all moss grown and pretty pink flowers were

(11:39):
breaking out of the crevices of the rocks. We led
it at Cebu, which is the oldest town in the Islands,
and passed down a street lined with ancient houses whose
second stories arcaded the sidewalk. They were all in good
condition in spite of their age, for they were built
of the wonderful hard woods that last forever. In fact,

(12:00):
Cebu has the look of a new and prosperous place,
for there have been fires which burnt up many of
the ramshackle houses and gave a chance to widen the
streets and replace the old structures with permanent looking buildings.
The American government has done wonders in deepening the harbor
and building a sea wall, behind which concrete warehouses are

(12:20):
going up. There was a scramble to a review near
the barracks, then another scramble to a reception at the
house of the Colonel Commanding, a very nice but hot occasion,
and then still another scramble to the dedication of a
really excellent schoolhouse. A young priest took us to see
the famous idol, the small Black Infant Christ. We went

(12:43):
to the convent of the Dominicans near the church and
passed through its pretty unkempt court up a staircase with
treads and hand rail, richly carved in a wood which
was hard as iron and black with age. It was
handsome work, such as we had been looking for and
hadn't seen before. In the sacristy too, and the robing
room there were screens and paneling with richly detailed carvings.

(13:07):
Passing down the galleries of the convent, where we could
see some of the friars at work, we entered the
special chapel where this holy image is kept. Several doors
were taken off a rather gaudily gilded altar, until at
last the little figure was revealed. Its back was toward
the room, and it had to be carefully turned. A
small brown wooden doll, all dressed in cloth of gold

(13:31):
and bejeweled like the Bambino of Rome. It is considered
a most sacred and wonderful heaven sent idle. As we
had heard speeches by filipidos and head hunters, I was
curious to know what the Chinese would have to say,
and that night there was an opportunity to find out,
for we were invited to a dinner given by the
Chinese merchants. I quote from the speech made by mister

(13:55):
Alfonso Zarata ci Kipp, which was specially interesting. The Chinese
have traded with these islands since long before Confucius and Mensius,
said mister cy Kipp, And for centuries we have been
coming here and assimilating with the Filipinos, and to day
we are deeply interested in the welfare of the country.

(14:16):
The Chinese have been called a nation of traders the
Jews of the East, but we are more than traders.
We are laborers, artisans, farmers, manufacturers, and producers. A very
large percentage of the growth and development of the commerce
and material interests of the islands is due to the
efforts of our countrymen. The infusion of Chinese blood has

(14:38):
strengthened and improved the Filipino people. Chinese labor is recognized
all over the world as the best cheap labor in existence.
Since American occupation of these islands, you have excluded our
labor from entering. Why not for the reason that it
would tend to lower the standard of living among Filipino laborers.

(14:59):
Because the standard of living among Chinese laborers in the
Philippines is higher than among the Filipino laborers. Hence the
introduction of Chinese laborers would tend rather to improve conditions.
In this regard, you do not exclude him for the
reason that he works for lower wages than the laborers
of the country, because, on the contrary, the Chinese laborer

(15:21):
in the Philippines receives higher wages than the native laborers. Hence,
the introduction of Chinese laborers would tend rather to improve
the condition of the native laborers as far as wages
are concerned. You do not exclude him for the reason
that he will not become assimilated with the natives of
the country, because centuries of experience have shown that Filipinos

(15:43):
and Chinese do assimilate and readily amalgamate, and the result,
as I have already said, is an improvement of the
Filipino people. If you are excluding Chinese laborers from the
Philippines because of political reasons, then I confess such reasons,
if they exist, have been carefully guarded as secrets from
the people. Lack of room is not a reason for

(16:07):
excluding Chinese laborers, nor is lack of need for their
services in the Great Island of Mindanao alone. It is
doubtful if five percent of the tillable land is under cultivation,
and in other places it is the same. A large
part of the rice consumed in these islands is imported
from other countries. Yet we have here the finest tropical

(16:29):
climate in the world and the most productive soil. Let
a sufficient number of Chinese laborers come into the Philippines,
and we will guarantee that in ten years we will
be setting rice to the gates of Pekin and Tokyo.
Toward night, we sailed on the resolve from Cebu for
the land of the Moros. Out in the Sulu Sea,

(16:51):
one felt very near heaven when the sky turned hazy
gray and the afterglow, and the distant islands mauve, only
their peaks flaming like volcanoes from the hidden sun. Then
the big stars came out like Japanese lanterns and left
a comet like trail upon the dancing waters. From their
holes below the cabin boys, a sing and sing song

(17:13):
would pop out like slim white mice with their long
black pigtails, with little cot beds tucked under their arms,
which they would place in rows upon the deck. A
sing would say, cha y ko ko, that will do
and sing song would answer, see how sin be careful. Later,
when the moon rose out of the sea and the

(17:35):
Southern Cross appeared on the horizon, shadowy forms glided silently
up the companionway, but the silence did not last. Some
one would call to sing song in pigeon English boy,
go catch a whiskey, tan san topside, talking man, little
more fat, And some one else would say to a
sing you fool boy, you catching me one bath? A

(17:58):
sing seemed to understand. He would wag his head at answer,
you good man, No talking all the time, making me sick,
and he would disappear at sight of a tall, genial man.
The people in their cots would sing out, doctor Heizer's,
a friend of mine, A friend of mine, A friend
of mine, et cetera. American judges and Filipino congressmen and

(18:21):
generals were of the company. Occasionally a whisper, very often
a giggle. Sometimes a clinking of glasses and good night
kisses were heard. And then the sandman closed our eyes.
End of section seventeen. Recording by William tom Coe