The Great White Tribe in FilipiniaGilbert, Paul T. (Paul Thomas)
History
The Great White Tribe in Filipinia
Gilbert, Paul T. (Paul Thomas)
Philippines -- Social life and customs
The races of the Santa Mesa Jockey dub are held on Sunday
afternoons. It is a rather dusty drive out to the track. A number
of noisy "road-houses" along the way, where drinking is going on;
the Paco cemetery, where the bleached bones have been piled around
the cross,--these are the sole diversions that the road affords. The
races are interesting only in the opportunity they offer to observe the
native types. Here you will find the Filipino dandy in his polished
boots, his low-crowned derby hat, and baggy trousers. He makes the
boast that he has not walked fifty meters on Manila's streets in the
past year. This dainty little fellow always travels in a carriage. He
flicks the ashes off his cigarette with his long finger-nail as he
stands by while the gay-colored jockeys are being weighed in. Up in the
grandstand, in a private box, a party of _mestiza_ girls, elaborately
gowned, are sipping lemonade, or eating sherbet and vanilla cakes,
while one of the jockeys leans admiringly upon the rail. The silver
_pesos_ stacked up on the table in the center of the box are given
to a man in waiting to be wagered on the various events. The finishes
are seldom very close, the Filipino ponies scampering around the turf
like rats. A native band, however, adds to the excitement which the
clamor at the booking office and the animated chatter of _dueñas_,
_caballeros_, jockeys, and _señoritas_ in the galleries intensifies.
Manila, the City of churches, celebrates its Sabbath in its own
peculiar way. The Protestant churches suffer in comparison with the
grand church of San Sebastian--set up from the iron plates made in
Belgium--and the churches of the various religious orders. Magnificence
and show appeal most strongly to the Filipino. He is taught to look
down on the Protestant religion as plebeian; the priests regard
the Protestant with condescending superciliousness. Until the
transportation facilities can be extended there will be no general
coming together of Americans even on Sunday morning, as the colony
from the United States is scattered far and wide throughout the city.
As his salary increases, the young Government employee looks around
for better quarters. These he secures by organizing a small club
and renting the upper floor of one of the large Spanish houses. As
the young men in Manila are especially congenial, there is little
difficulty in conducting such an enterprise. The members of a lodging
club thus formed will generally reserve a table for their use at one
of the adjacent boarding-houses or hotels.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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