Baguio City

“ Baguio, now the summer capital of the Philippine Islands, the “Philippine Simla,” as it is so often called, lies at the top of what has become justly celebrated as “the magnificent Benguet Road,” the building of which has been the subject of more controversy than almost any other one thing that American authority and enterprise has accomplished in the Islands. ”

“ To experience Baguio and to see the rapid improvement of visitors there is to be convinced that it is a delightful and beneficial climate. To appreciate the full degree of its delights it is only necessary [486] to compare in one’s own experience (not in weather reports) a hot season in Manila and one there. To appreciate its benefits it is necessary to compare in one’s own experience (not in statistics) the appearance of health of the people seen at the two times and places. ”

“ No visit to the Philippines is complete without a trip to Baguio, the summer capital. It is reached by train and automobile in less than a day. Here one is just at the edge of the wild man’s country and may go to villages of the Benguet Igorots in an automobile.
Starting at Baguio, one may take one of the most wonderful horseback journeys in the world over the “Mountain Trail” to Cervantes in the neighbouring sub-province of Lepanto and thence to Bontoc, the capital of the Mountain Province. ”

“ An outdoor amphitheatre which seats a thousand persons has been built at small expense by taking advantage of peculiarly favorable natural conditions. Filipino teachers share the pleasures and benefits of the camp with their American associates, and the “assembly” certainly does great good.
During the hot season of 1908 the Bureau of Lands transferred a number of its employees to Baguio, quartering them in tents. This was done in order to ascertain the practical effect of sending American and Filipino employees to this mountain resort. ”

“ People of this class are much interested in the establishment of Baguio as a summer capital, and when the road is completed a town will spring up, made up of comfortable residences, of a fine, extensive army post, and sanitariums for the relief of persons suffering from diseases prevalent in the lowlands. It is the hope of the government that the Roman Catholic Church will send American priests as it has sent American bishops to the islands, to assist in the moral elevation of the people. The fear of the effect of the climate has kept many from coming. ”

“ In the event of its failure to do so, it must pay a monthly penalty amply sufficient in amount to cover the cost of maintaining the Benguet Road. Baguio will continue to develop steadily until the railroad is opened and then will go ahead by leaps and bounds. It is sure to prosper because it meets a very real and very imperative need. ”

“ His subsequent occupancy of the latter building involved a real personal sacrifice.
In 1908 a modern hospital and the governor-general’s residence were completed. No other government official is furnished a free house. All have to rent government cottages or stay at hotels, unless they choose to build [468] for themselves. The policy of giving the governor-general an official residence in Baguio is in accord with that which gives him one at Manila.
In April, 1908, there was opened a “Teachers’ Camp,” to which came American school teachers from all over the islands. ”

“ It knows no race or creed, and Filipinos take advantage of its privileges quite as freely as do Americans. Representatives of every nationality in the islands may be found on its golf course on a pleasant afternoon. It is the common meeting place of Baguio, and hardly a day passes without the giving of some pleasant luncheon or dinner in its little living room or in the outdoor space covered by an overhanging roof at its eastern end. No more democratic institution ever existed. ”

“ There seems never to have been a time when this tribe was organized under a single leader as was the case with the Bagobo. Each district is so isolated from the others and the population so scattering that any such development has been barred, and hence the people of each river valley or highland plain have their local ruler. The power of this ruler is real only so far as his personal influence can make it so. He receives no pay for his services, but his position makes it possible for him to secure the help of his fellows when he is in need of workers or warriors. ”

“ The Buso-Child
Datu Ayo was a great man among the Bagobo, well known throughout the mountain-country for his bravery and his riches. He had gathered in his house many products of Bagobo workmanship in textiles and brass and fine weapons. At his death, human sacrifices of slaves were offered up for him. It was not many years ago that he went down to the great city of the dead, and many of his children and grandchildren are living now. His sons like to think about their father's renown ”

“ The field is administered by the Country Club, and is open to the use of the public for any form of amusement which will not interfere with its use for polo. The detractors of the government have neglected to mention that the cost of its construction and maintenance have been met from the private funds of Mr. Forbes.
Returning now to the story of the growth of Baguio, the next step forward was the construction of an official residence for the governor-general, for which $15,000 were appropriated. Mr. Forbes had not the slightest personal interest in this appropriation. ”

“ In connection with the subject of health, reference should be made to the province of Benguet and to Baguio, the capital of that province. The secretary of commerce and police will refer to the work now being done in the construction of the Benguet road from Pozorrubio, through Twin Peaks, to Baguio. There have been serious engineering mistakes made in the road, and it is proving to be much more costly than was expected; but when completed its importance in the development of these islands can hardly be overestimated. ”

“ No man can do his best work, either physical or mental, if he is hot and uncomfortable. The same feeling of lassitude and indisposition to exertion is experienced at home during the hot summer, which after a few years here becomes chronic.” [484]
“It is a matter of official recognition that government employees need to get away from the heat of Manila each year, hence the removal to Baguio.
“It is likewise commonly recognized that many women and children become so run down and debilitated as to need to go to Japan, Baguio or the United States. ”

“ Forbes formulated a plan for the construction of a group of government buildings, a mess hall and a large number of small and inexpensive cottages for rental to government officers and employees so that the executive offices of the government might be transferred to Baguio during the heated term and it might become the true summer capital of the Philippines. ”

“ I went for a little drive yesterday evening, through the old Spanish Intramuros, the Walled City, within the high old walls, which stand in a neglected moat, and are all covered with moss and grass and trailing weeds. The narrow streets are cobbled, and the quaint houses, with deep, barred basement windows, have a delightful air of repose, after the half-finished, skin-deep, hustling modernity of Americanised Manila. The whole quarter seems a far more appropriate setting than the rest of the town for the “mild-eyed lotus eaters,” which the Filipinos really are by choice, nature, and instinct. ”

“ In 1574 it was visited by a German traveller, Rauwolf. "The village of Elugo," says he, "lieth on the place where formerly old Babylon, the metropolis of Chaldea, did stand. The harbour lieth a quarter of a league off, where-unto those use to go that intend to travel by land to the famous city of Bagdad, which is situated further to the east on the river Tigris, at a day and a half's distance. ”

“ Whole families sometimes fight to settle their own quarrels, or even those of their ancestors. They are armed with poniards, and defend themselves very skilfully against the blows of their adversaries with large shields made of elephant’s hide. I have been assured that they are not accustomed to make slaves, but kill their prisoners without mercy.
The Bagos have no king; each village is governed by the oldest of the inhabitants, who settles their disputes, though they have, like the Landamas, a Simo, who performs the functions of chief magistrate upon important occasions. ”

“ Many people bought land and put up little bungalows. A teachers' camp was started by the Bureau of Education for American teachers from all over the Islands, where they had not only rest and recreation but the mental brushing up of good lectures after months in lonely stations.
When the Democratic Administration began its changes in the Philippines, government offices were ordered to be kept in Manila throughout the year, consequently only the higher officials were able to go to Baguio, with a result patent to every one in the lessened efficiency of the force. ”

“ So, as soon as was compatible with the somewhat deliberate Filipino courtesy, they started toward Bago, the whole population of the barrio watching them disappear through the trees. They soon struck the road and swung upon it. The sun, still low, dealt gently with the new arrival, and the country was beautiful. To their left the flashing-green rice-fields sloped toward the sea, and the shimmering waters showed here and there through the curtain of palms. To their right the high sugar cane, serried and plumed, throbbing mysteriously with small animal life, walled the view. ”

“ Santa Fé, also known as Santa Fé de Bogotá, was for a long period the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. After the War of Independence the name was changed to Bogotá—from Bacatá—the name of the old Chibcha capital, where the zipa, the most powerful of the Indian caciques, at the arrival of the Spaniards, had his official residence. The city is nearly two miles in length and of varying breadth. Its present population is nearly one hundred and twenty-five thousand. ”

“ In describing the epicentral regions, the present distribution of the Archipelago into provinces has been used throughout the catalogue. This division is shown on the first of the two maps of the Philippines which accompany this catalogue (Plate I) . As to the designation "Benguet" occasionally occurring in the text where provinces are enumerated, but not found on the map, we beg to offer the excuse that the region thus named is exceedingly well known in the Philippines as it contains Baguio, the health resort of the Islands. ”

“ The building of a school for constabulary officers, to which young men arriving from the United States are sent before entering upon active service, crowns another hill and commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country.
Several business concerns, such as the Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas, have erected rest houses for their officers and employees, while the number of attractive private homes increases as rapidly as the supply of building materials will permit. Filipino residents of Manila have recently invested more than a hundred thousand dollars in Baguio homes. ”

“ There is always a tendency to remontar amongst them, and sometimes nearly all the inhabitants of a village take to the woods and hills. Yet, secure from attack, the number of converts steadily increases. The Baganis have become gobernadorcillos, and their chief vassals tenientes, jueces de paz, and cuadrilleros. Some of the old Baganis who were well off were so anxious not to be behind the Visayas, that they sent to Manila for hats, black cloth coats and trousers, and patent leather shoes, to wear on the great feasts of the Church, and on the occasion of the annual village festival. ”

“ The Manila and Dagupan Railway company extended its road up to the point where the Benguet Road begins and thus a way was opened into the only region in the Philippines where one may find really invigorating air. And while the road was building Baguio development began. A United States Army Camp was established on a ridge overlooking a wide range of pine-covered hills, and a hospital was erected for the accommodation of invalid soldiers who, before these facilities for taking care of them were provided, had always, at great expense to the government, to be sent back to the United States. ”

“ THE TOWN OF BAHIA.
The town of Bahia looks very beautiful from the sea; but on entering you find it dreadfully filthy. The stench of the lower town is horrible. Even the President's palace is a dirty and wretched-looking building: his salary, I understand, is 600 pounds a year. By the last returns the population of the town was 120,000, 100,000 of whom were blacks. All the burdens here are carried by slaves as there are no carts and the breed of horses is small, being perfect ponies. ”

“ Ibagué, capital of the province of Tolima, claims 2300 “souls.” The count takes much for granted. It is a peaceful, roomy little town on a gentle, grassy slope where every resident has ample space to put up his chalky little straw-roofed cottage, yet all toe the street line, as if fearful of missing anything that might unexpectedly pass. ”

“ From twelve o'clock till four the little town of Montefiano, nestling among the lower spurs of the Sabine Hills, had been as a place from which all life had fled. Not a human creature had been visible in the steep, tufa-paved street leading up to the square palace that looked grimly down on the little township clustering beneath it--not even a dog; only some chickens dusting themselves, and a strayed pig. ”