Beautiful Philippines: A Handbook of General InformationPhilippine Islands. Commission of Independence
History
Beautiful Philippines: A Handbook of General Information
Philippine Islands. Commission of Independence
Philippines -- Description and travel; Philippines -- Economic conditions
Further on to the left on this same street, is the Central Observatory
of the Philippine Weather Bureau. This intensely interesting
institution is open to the public on Tuesdays from half past 2 to
half past 4 in the afternoon and on Saturdays from half past 8 to
half past 11 in the morning. It is one of the oldest and best of
its kind in the East, having been founded in 1865 by the Jesuits
and operated continuously since then, even in 1898, while hostile
armies were contending for the possession of the city. The founder
and director for many years was Fr. Frederic Faura, after whom the
street on which the building stands is named. The present head is
Fr. Jose Algué, who has made for himself a world-wide reputation
as a meteorologist. It is still directed by specially trained Jesuit
priests and supported financially by an arrangement with the Philippine
Government. Its great renown has been gained through its work in the
field of earthquakes and typhoons.
[The Luneta]
At the extreme end of Burgos Drive, the traveler comes out on the
broad expanse of a park, of partly natural and partly made land, on the
inland side of which is the most famous recreation place of Manila--the
Luneta. This is an oval stretch of lawn where, nearly every evening,
the music of the fine band of the Philippine Constabulary or that
of some military organization combines with the sea breeze and the
gorgeous sunsets behind the top of Mount Mariveles to bring together
a crowd so varied and brilliant as to make this gathering one of
the most distinctively picturesque sights of the city. Hundreds of
carriages and motor cars draw up along the curb or make the circuit
of the driveway, while thousands of pedestrians throng the walks and
lawns. It is a gay and cosmopolitan gathering--Government officials,
wealthy Chinese merchants, Spaniards, officers of the Army and Navy,
American women in the light and dainty gowns of the Tropics, and
Filipino women of every class in the picturesque national dress of
gorgeous semi-transparent native cloth, that has caused one observer
to describe them as "jet-crowned butterflies."
On the green of the Luneta facing Manila Bay is the monument to
the national hero of the Philippines--the physician, novelist,
and patriot--Dr. Jose Rizal. It was designed by the Swiss sculptor
Richard Kissling, whose work was selected out of many in a contest
for a substantial prize. The monument consists of a granite obelisk,
about fifty feet high, serving as a background for a bronze statue
of heroic size.
[The Manila Hotel]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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