Japanese banking-house in the suburb of Santa Cruz.

The Bilibid Jail has been reformed almost beyond recognition
as the old Spanish prison. A great wall runs through the centre,
dividing the long-term from the short-term prisoners. In the centre
is the sentry-box, and from this and all along the top of the wall
every movement of the prisoners can be watched by the soldier on
guard. Nevertheless, a batch of convicts occasionally breaks jail,
and those who are not shot down escape. Gangs of them are drafted
off for road-making in the provinces, where, on rare occasions,
a few have been able to escape and rejoin the brigands. In March,
1905, a squad of 42 convicts working in Albay Province made a dash
for freedom, and 40 of them got away.

With the liberty accorded them under the new dominion the Filipinos
have their freemason lodges and numerous _casinos_. [234] There are
American clubs for all classes of society--the "Army and Navy," the
"University," the "United States," a dozen other smaller social
meeting-houses, and societies with quaint denominations such as
"Knights of Pythias," "Haymakers," "Red Cloud Tribe," "Knights of
the Golden Eagle," etc. Other nationalities have their clubs too; the
_Cercle Francais_ is now located in _Calle Alcala_; the English Club,
which was formerly at Nagtajan on the river-bank, has been removed
to Ermita on the seashore, and under the new _regime_ the Chinese
have their club-house, opened in 1904, in _Calle Dasmarinas_, where
a reception was given to the Gov.-General and the elite of Manila
society. The entertainment was very sumptuous, the chief attractions
being the fantastic decorations, the gorgeous "joss house" to a dead
hero, and the chapel in honour of the Virgin del Pilar.

Several new theatres have been opened, the leading one being the
_National_, now called the "Grand Opera House"; comedy is played at
the _Paz_; the _Zorrilla_ (of former times) is fairly well-built,
but its acoustic properties are extremely defective, and the other
playhouses are, more properly speaking, large booths, such as the
_Libertad_, the _Taft_, the _Variedades_, and the _Rizal_. In the
last two very amusing Tagalog plays are performed in dialect. There
is one large music-hall, and a number of cinematograph shows combined
with variety entertainments.

There are numerous second- and third-rate hotels in the city and
suburbs. The old "Fonda Lala," which existed for many years in the
_Plaza del