-all go to make up the
throng of the streets.

Most of the houses are two stories in height with arcades or awnings
that shelter the sidewalks. And such narrow sidewalks!--they are hardly
wide enough for more than three people to walk abreast. But even the
business houses are built for comfort. The roof has a broad overhang,
and quite likely there is a covered veranda.

Many of the Filipinos of Manila are educated and prosperous. Their
houses are said to be furnished in European style, and likewise their
clothing. Sure enough everything bears a "made in Germany" mark, but
everything looks distinctly Filipino. The head of the family wears a
suit of spotless white duck, but it has a military cut--and perhaps he
goes about the house barefoot; if so, he knows what real comfort is.

[Illustration: Extracting indigo in Ilocos Province, Philippine Islands]

Mother and daughters wear skirts of beautiful brocaded silk, very wide
and full; above the skirt is a loose garment much like a shirt-waist cut
low at the neck, and over this a lace cape with a wide, flowing collar.
Possibly they wear heelless slippers, but just as likely they, too, are
barefoot--when no visitors are present. Perhaps such suits are not quite
so becoming as the trim, tailor-made suits in New York, but they are a
lot more comfortable.

A short distance from the Escolta, or chief business street, is one of
the many markets of Manila. The whole space is laid off with rows of
bamboo booths. Pretty nearly everything to eat, to wear, or to furnish
the house is on hand--or rather in loose piles--fish, duck's eggs, meat,
rice, pinole, fruit of forty kinds, straw hats, straw sandals, straw
raincoats, tin ware from America, wooden ware from Holland, and clay
stoves "made in Manila."

Every alley has its own wares, and John Chinaman with his baskets
balanced on a long pole puts a finishing touch to the market. A Filipino
cannot be emphatic in an ordinary tone of voice. Buyer and seller work
themselves up to high C pitch until it seems as though nothing short of
a fit would overtake both. Bedlam is turned loose in every part of the
market. Usually a man and his wife are required to conduct the business
at a booth. Their bare feet sticking out from the skirts bob up and
down, beating time to the clatter of their voices.

Here comes a man whose sole stock in trade consists of a single article,
namely, a python. His goods are twined about a pole with a cross piece