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

AN OFFICIAL'S WIFE

placed a quantity of gifts for Auria, who from the
bed watched the lighted candles.
A friend who has children told me a story to-day
of the pathetic Christmas letters she had received
from America lamenting the toyless condition of
the little ones in " the far-away heathen land " to
which they were exiled, and of the box of gifts on
which she had been obliged to pay a high duty when
everything it contained could have been duplicated
on the Escolta, probably for half their cost in
America.
One of the jokes of the season is a Christmas
party which was the result of this lack of knowledge of conditions out here. Pascuta de la Natiz'idad,
as they call Christmas, is one of the most popular
holidays of the year. As early as two weeks before
Christmas, in all the squares about the churches,
booths are erected for the sale of all imaginable
European toys and notions. Every man, woman,
and child in Manila knows about Christmas gifts,
and among the wealthy families extravagant and
beautiful presents are exchanged. Everyone who
has ever been employed in any capacity during the
year in one's house has hopes of an "aguinaldo,"
which is a Christmas present. Little poems are left
at the door to remind you of your duty to these
various persons; trees "made in Germany" are
lighted on Christmas Eve in many houses.
All innocent of this a benevolent American lady.
I95