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

UNOFFICIAL LETTERS OF

Saturday, November 15, I902.
ON Friday night we decided that we must start
for Manila the following day. General Bell
arranged to go with us, and, hearing that the town
of Lipa proposed to give us a " baile," we thought
it would be interesting to accept the invitation and
stay overnight in that town.
Ever since coming to the Philippines we have
heard of the splendors of Lipa. Formerly the inhabitants were rich and lived in great style. Society
was very gay, and the diamonds of the ladies of
Lipa were celebrated throughout the Archipelago.
The source of all this wealth was coffee. About ten
years ago a pest killed the plants, and since that
time the splendor of Lipa has gradually decayed.
During the insurrection Lipa was one of the towns
that gave most trouble to the Americans. The inhabitants aided and encouraged their people in every
way, and General Bell was obliged to shut up a large
number of citizens and keep many more under strict
surveillance. This made the people of Lipa bitter
against the army. The Americans gave a ball after
the pacification of Batangas when General Wheaton
and General Chaffee went through Lipa, but none of
the ladies of Lipa's four hundred was present, so
General Bell was curious to see who would attend
our ball.
It was arranged to leave Batangas about three
o'clock in the afternoon and drive in the Dorety
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