Yesterdays in the PhilippinesStevens, Joseph Earle
History
Yesterdays in the Philippines
Stevens, Joseph Earle
Philippines -- Description and travel
Outside, the audience stampeded, and the man in the river, holding
on to the suction hose, had hard work to prevent being drawn up
through the strainer and pumped out the other end in fragments. All
this took place in a quarter of the time it takes to tell of it, and
events followed each other in such quick succession that the hose had
started to turn over on its back and charge on the engine before one
of us rushed in to shut off steam. The two boys washed into the river
were fished out more dead than alive, but more frightened than hurt,
and the native Philippine policeman on duty at the front arrested
them promptly for daring to be drowned. The boy blown through the
screen-door had his ear badly torn, and was likewise arrested for
not entering the house in a more civilized manner. The natives nursed
their bare feet stepped on in the rush; the Englishmen, who had been
sarcastic several days before, said nothing; but the Spaniards asked
where the collation was, and, waterlogged though they were, began to
eat like good ones. The policeman marched the three boys in undershirts
to the station-house, and next morning the daily newspapers devoted
more space than was usual in describing the wonderful machinery that
came from America, for the benefit of their readers, who, like that
English dude of old, "didn't weahlly dweam that so much wattah could
come out of such a wehwey diminootive-looking affaiah."
Otherwise, in Manila we are now enjoying the so-called veranillo,
or little summer, which every year comes along about the middle of
August, and which consists of two or three weeks of cool, pleasant
weather, that comes between the rains of July and the typhoon season of
September. And fine weather it is, with a jolly breeze blowing in from
the China Sea all day, with delightful afternoons, moonlight nights,
and fresh mornings.
September 20th.
There has been no opportunity to start letters off for the other side
of the globe since the early days of the present month, on account
of a typhoon which has visited our fair capital, and which has so
delayed steamers that all connections seem to have been scattered to
the four winds. I have long been waiting to become acquainted with
one of these aërial disturbances, and at last the meteorological
monotony has been broken.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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