Unofficial letters of an official's wife [by] Edith Moses.

UNOFFICIAL LETTERS OF

Of this rambling low structure we caught only a
glimpse as we drove past it. We finished our day
on shore with a drive around the Luneta and saw
Manila society in full force, driving slowly around
the band stand or racing up and down the Malecon
drive. It is surprising how rapidly the little ponies
carry one over the ground, although they are scarcely bigger than burros. The Malecon looks out
across the bay to Mariveles and Corregidor, and is
a delightfully cool place after a hot day. At the
end of the drive is the Anda monument, an ugly
and unimposing memorial to the Spanish governor
who opposed the English in 1762, when they gained
possession of the Philippines.
Fort Santiago looked mediaeval but not imposing.
They tell me there are secret dungeons and torture
chambers behind the gray walls. One of the Filipinos who came out to see us yesterday had been
confined by the Spaniards in an underground prison
in the city wall, where he stood several days in
water a foot or more deep. Neither the fort nor the
walled city is a defense for Manila, but both are
picturesque, and the drawbridges and bastioned
gates are in a perfect state of preservation. Think
of America in possession of the finest walled city
now intact!
The sun was setting as we drove over the Bridge
of Spain, the lamps were lighted and a continuous
procession of vehicles was crossing it, which made
IO