room,
and are raised about six feet from the ground. Under the house is kept
the live stock. When the family has a horse or cow or carabao the house
is ten feet from the ground, and these animals are stabled underneath.
In nearly every house or yard may be found a game cock tied by the leg
to prevent him from roaming and fighting.

In most of the houses that the cars passed in the big native quarter of
Tondo, furniture was scanty. Usually the family has a large dresser,
which is ornamented with cheap pictures, and the walls are frequently
covered with prints in colors. There is no furniture, as the Filipino's
favorite position is to squat on his haunches. In many of the poorest
houses, however, were gramophones, which are paid for in monthly
installments of a dollar or two. The Filipinos are very fond of music,
and the cheap gramophones appeal to them strongly. Nearly every Filipino
plays some instrument by ear, and many boys from the country are expert
players on the guitar or mandolin. On large plantations the hands are
fond of forming bands and orchestras, and often their playing would do
credit to professional musicians. The Constabulary Band, recognized as
the finest in the Orient, has been drilled by an American negro named
Loring.

In the Santa Mesa district are the houses of wealthy Filipinos. These
are usually of two stories, with the upper story projecting far over the
lower, and with many ornamental dormer windows, with casement sashes of
small pieces of translucent shell. In Manila the window is provided to
keep out the midday heat and glare of the sun. At other times the
windows are slid into the walls, and thus nearly the whole side of the
house is open to the cool night air. Many of these houses are finished
in the finest hardwoods, and not a few have polished mahogany floors.
Bamboo and rattan furniture may be seen in some of these houses, while
in others are dressers and wardrobes in the rich native woods. These
houses are embowered in trees, among which the magnolia, acacia and palm
are the favorites, with banana and pomelo trees heavy with fruit.

[Illustration: PLATE XVII

A Glimpse of the Escolta,
Manila. The Escolta,
Only Four Blocks
In Length, Is the Business
Street in Manila.
Clarke's, the Restaurant
and Tea-House in the
Foreground, Is the
Favorite American
Headquarters in
Manila]

[Illustration: PLATE XVIII

Old Church a