Manila Street Scenes

MANILA STREET SCENES

An American Volunteer's Observations In the Philippines.

MENDICANT'S SEEN EVERYWHERE.

They Fare Well at the Hands of Our Free Handed Soldier Boys-Begging Reduced to a Science-Manila's Great Abattoir-Water Buffaloes, Ponies and Dogs Used For Food.

[Copyright, 1899, by the Author.]

VIII.

Manila life has many sides, and every side is of intense and absorbing interest. No matter where one goes or which way he turns he is continually coming unexpectedly upon something new and interesting. I have traversed the same streets many times, and yet every time some new things of interest are revealed.

Manila has some fine clubs, and its places of enjoyment, while probably not up to our standard, are modern according to Spanish ideas. It is doubtful whether there is another city of the same size in the world so much given up to enjoyment and so utterly devoid of ambition in business lines, but American enterprise is now working a marvelous change.

No picture of Spanish life in the city of Manila would be complete without the beggars, who intrude themselves upon all strangers and give them a cordial and continuous welcome. The beggars are really one of the great plagues of the islands, and one cannot but wonder at the great number of these mendicants. It has been said that there is a suspicion that the church and saints have had a good deal to do with it, for they expect every one to give alms to the church and make it one of the first religious duties. The beggars of Manila are found upon every street, at every bridge and gate and church door, in the markets and other business houses. The professional beggar is up at daybreak and stations himself on the street or elsewhere in a squatting position, with his hands extended and eyes closed uttering a pitiful singsong wail. This promptness in the morning is to catch the ladies on their way to mass, as they seldom pass without dropping a few centavos into the palm of the beggar's outstretched hand. The church door is a special location for the beggars to lounge.

The female beggars are pitiable looking hags, and the men are mostly maimed and mutilated specimens of humanity. During the first month or two of our occupation many of the escaped lepers were found engaged in begging, but when the search for these began they hid away, and the other beggars were given a better chance. Among the beggars are many attractive children, and the passer can't help admiring the coal black eyes and listening to the pure accents of these children. Their innocent pleadings will make one give them something, for it is hard to resist such appeals. Besides these beggars who station themselves along the streets, there are others who go among the crowds and solicit alms. It is a common sight to see a blind man or woman being led through the streets by a child and soliciting alms from the passersby and from the crowds in the shops and saloons. No other city in the world has so many mendicants who ply their lowly calling with such consummate craft.

I have seen enough incidents of this peculiar feature of street life in Manila to fill a volume. The other day I saw something I shall long remember. It was down in the Juiapo district. There in the street a venerable beggar had sunk down on the sidewalk and leaned his weary back against the wall, he eating a bit of cold meat and a crust of bread given him by a soldier. He was not alone, nor was he accompanied by a child, as many beggars are. His only companion was a dog, which put his long nose up between his master's knees in sign of expectation. Nothing could shake his faith, as he knew that his master would not forget him, and he did not. The poor mendicant divided his scanty lunch with his dumb companion.

Another scene which I shall never forget was one witnessed in the outskirts of the city only a few days ago. As I was passing along a street I saw a poor, miserable woman sitting on a stone with an infant in her arms. As I passed she arose and intercepted me, holding out her hand for money. When I hesitated a moment, her pleadings were incessant, and, although I understood not a word of the Tagale language, the appeal was most eloquent, but not to be compared with her thanks when the solicited coin was given.

The beggars all have the look of despair down to a fine point, and since we have taken possession our free hearted boys have been most generous, and the great army of beggars has reaped a harvest.

There are many queer things to be seen in native streets. It is a very easy matter for one to lose himself on nearly any of these streets. Many of them have a queer way of coming to a sudden end against some quaint native building or gray old stone wall. There are narrow pavements on both sides of nearly all the native streets, and these are scarcely two feet wide, so that a pedestrian always walks under the overhanging second story of the buildings. But most foreigners usually take the middle of the street when they walk, which is very seldom, owing to the cheap and efficient cab service.

The old city and the San Miguel district, the fashionable district of New Manila, have some fine streets, but perhaps the most delightful street of the entire city is the great thoroughfare which, under various names, encircles the entire new city from near the Pasig around to the bay. This street cannot be said to be famous for its exclusiveness, for it is alike the resort of the lowliest and the wealthiest, as it intersects Binondo, Tondo, Santa Cruz, San Sebastian and San Miguel.

One of the most interesting institutions to be seen about Manila is the matadero, or native slaughter house, where water buffaloes, horses and dogs are prepared for market. This institution is located in Binondo, near the railroad depot. The building used as an abattoir is about 300 feet long and over 100 feet wide. On either side of the main room rows of rings are fastened to the stone floor, and to these the animals are tied when the slaughter begins. Above the rings and extending over the whole space of the ceiling are horizontal bars, with forks attached, to support the beef and other meat after they have been prepared for market. During the day everything is kept neat and clean, but it is not so at night. The enclosures used as pens for the buffaloes, cattle and horses are turned into sleeping apartments at night, and here the weary native laborers dream away their sleeping hours.

Most of the work about this establishment is done in the early part of the night, and, entering the building at 9 p.m., amid the intense confusion one finds himself in a perfect babel of noise. The natives running about talking loudly and gesticulating wildly, the cattle bellowing, the horses whinnying and the pigs squealing produce a very bedlam. Occasionally the roar of a bull rising above the din and mingling with the chorus of weaker sounds adds to the already deafening noise. As the animals are tied to the rings already mentioned, this din gradually subsides, and the natives cease their outlandish shouts for a time. The beasts stand meekly awaiting their fate. Everything is made ready, knives are sharpened, buckets prepared, ropes secured, and all the men rest a minute until the gong sounds. Instantly the scene, which but a moment ago was peaceful, is changed to the wildest disorder. Cows, buffaloes and ponies drop on all sides. The men, armed with small axes or short spears, knock the animals on the head or stab them at the base of the brain.

The blood of horses, cattle and water buffaloes is all collected in one vessel, and this mixture is made into a kind of jelly. It is amusing to see the natives skin the animals. They make a bungling job of it. With the hide the outer layer of meat is taken off, and afterward native boys strip this from the hide. Next comes the work of disemboweling, and after the entrails are removed they are taken to another room and there prepared for food by native women. Every part of the animal is used. Even the hoofs are taken to vats and the gelatin extracted. After the carcass is quartered and hung upon the hooks it is taken off the bones and then sent to the native market houses. About 200 animals are slaughtered nightly.

To Americans horse meat is something new, but to the Spanish and natives, who endured the siege when rats sold for a peso, this meat is a luxury. Most of the ponies slaughtered are old and unfit for any service. They bring only about 10 pesos at the matadero. It is amusing to watch the processes of butchering a pony. With the Chinese horse meat is a favorite. Dogs are killed on a different plan. Of the smaller animals which enter the slaughter yard the pig is the only one which can make any pretensions to being fat. Such are the scenes about the place where is prepared the meat eaten by the 300,000 people of Manila, but this is only one of many queer and interesting institutions to be seen in the capital of the Philippines. Manila.--WILLIAM GILBERT IRWIN.  Manila