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

UNOFFICIAL LETTERS OF

presidente, who has seven daughters. They are
pretty girls, and have agreeable manners. Auria
was made happy by the gift of a toy nipa house and
a pink jusi dress. We returned to the Sumner to
dress, and in the evening went on shore to a banquet
given by the town in our honor. We were invited
at half-past seven, but it was nine before we sat
down to dinner. This was caused by the too great
politeness of the presidente's wife, who came to
meet us at the landing, escorted us to the club, and
then went home to dress. This took her so long
that everyone was out of patience.
Finally dinner was announced, and we filed in.
In every town we have surprises, and in this place
the table arrangements were different from any we
had seen before. There was a small table placed
at the upper end of the room. At one end was
placed the wife of the presidente of Cebu, at the
other end was Mrs. Taft, while Judge Taft sat on
one side midway between the two ladies. They were
so far away from each other and everyone else that
conversation was impossible, so they sat and ate
their dinner in solitary grandeur. The dinner was
long; there were thirty-two different courses on the
bill of fare. The members of the club waited on
the table, and in consequence we were badly served.
A noted Filipino judge, solemn and sedate, supplied
us with knives and forks. He carried them off and
wiped them on a towel behind the door, and then
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