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

AN OFFICIAL'S WIFE

his pay was stopped as the church work did not
flourish. In the mean time he had established a
reading room in his house, and had started sociables
and little entertainments among the soldiers. He
found some employment in town and keeps his mission going. There is a much better attended and
more interesting service in the walled city, but I told
Elena that we were evidently doomed to listen to
this man's aimless meandering because he was good
and poor and was delighted to see us. The Episcopalians are trying to build a church in Manila and
have collected over five thousand dollars toward it.
It is said that immediately the committee selects a
piece of ground and begins negotiations to buy it
the friars stop the sale. They are determined not
to let a Protestant church be built if they can prevent it.
The improvements in our house are progressing
slowly. The electric lights are not yet in and the
plumbing is only half done. We have been unpacking some of our possessions and find that they
suit our house very well. In Japan we bought
some bronzes and china, and in Hongkong we purchased tables, chairs, a cabinet, and desk of black
wood. These, added to rattan chairs and sofas,
furnish our living room. Last week we heard of a
Spaniard who was selling out his goods and we
bought sixty-four plants. Among them were some
handsome palms. They are in ornamental pots and
3'