Manila

Manila (by English people often spelt Manilla), chief town of the Philippine Islands (q.v.) and, till the blockade by a United States fleet in May 1898 and the subsequent American occupation of the Philippines, capital of the Spanish possessions in eastern Asia, stands on the east side of a wide bay on the SW. coast of Luzon, 650 miles SE. of Hongkong, with which it is connected by telegraph (1881). It is divided into two portions by the little river Pasig. On the south bank stands the sleepy old town (founded in 1571 by Legazpi), surrounded by crumbling walls, with tolerably wide straight streets crossing each other at right angles. Here are the archbishop's palace, numerous churches and monasteries, the cathedral, mint (closed in 1889), university, Jesuit observatory, arsenal, and the barracks of the Spanish garrison. On the north bank are the modern suburbs, Binondo, &c., the commercial and native quarters, with the palaces of the governor-general and the admiral of the station. The city is liable to visitations of earthquakes, typhoons, and thunderstorms of exceptional violence: for instance, a violent earthquake did great damage in 1880, whilst a hurricane in 1882 ruined half the city. For this reason many of the old stone houses and churches are in ruins, the streets are lighted, not with gas, but with kerosene oil lamps, and most of the newer houses are built of wood. The native houses are generally constructed of bamboo and thatched with the leaves of the nipa palm. Glass is not used in the windows, but the flat shell of a large oyster, and the window-frames all slide horizontally. This is to exclude the great heat, the mean for the year being 82° F.; but during the rainy season (May to November) it ranges from 65° to 68°. The total population is estimated at nearly 300,000, for the most part native Tagals, though there are some 25,000 Chinese, large numbers descended from these two races, and about 5000 Spaniards. The people are fond of dancing and music; but the predominant passions of the native population are cock-fighting, carried on in licensed cockpits, which yield a large revenue to the government, and betting and gambling. Almost the only industry is the manufacture of cigars, which employs 21,000 women and 1500 men. The harbour is not very safe during south-west and north-east winds, although shelter is afforded by a small breakwater, and improvement works were in operation for ten years until suddenly stopped in 1889. Large ocean-going vessels anchor at the naval station of Cavite, 2 miles SW. A railway, 120 miles long, from Manila to Dagupan, was opened in 1892. Since 1893 the city has been lighted by electricity. The principal port of the Philippines, Manila has an export trade valued approximately at £3,400,000 annually, and an import trade that falls but little short of that figure. Sugar, hemp, cigars and tobacco, and coffee account for three-fourths of the exports, and cotton goods, rice, wine, silk, and flour figure most prominently amongst the imports. Nearly one-half of the trade is carried on under the British flag, one-fourth under the Spanish, and one-seventh under that of the United States. The Spanish authorities were very jealous of foreigners settling in Manila, especially of Chinese. The city suffered from a great fire in 1893, shared in the revolution that began in 1896, and saw in its harbour the destruction of the Spanish fleet by the American commander Dewey in May 1898. For Manilla Hemp, see ABACA.