Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 December 1900 — CHRISTMAS. IN THE PHILIPPINES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CHRISTMAS. IN THE PHILIPPINES

VER in the Philippines Christmas fill comes with the same regularity that it dawns on us. To be sure, lying as the chief Island does within a few degrees of the equator, they have none of the blizzards which frequently make the good people here thankful for abundance of coal when Christinas conies. Over there a man is not seeking to demonstrate how many clothes of a clearly defined weight he can wear; he is rather envious of the one who can boast a set of linen pajamas as his sole covering. But It is Christmas just the same, for the almanac does not lie and the world revolves as regularly there as in our own State. Over there on Christmas day the thing the man most needs is a big hunk of ice. This is a dainty much prized and many a man will gnaw it on Christmas with a fervor chill inspiring to him who eats his Christmas dinner in the city of Manila. Several thousand men from the States will eat Christmas dinner twelve hours and fifteen minutes before the clock iu the steeple informs the good people of this region that noon on the Christinas natal day has come. The boys in the army will see and feel the sun, will meet him in his travels some 12.000 miles nearer the turning point than their friends. They have acquired an intimacy of acquaintance with the sun over there which Is undreamed of here. One can scarcely realize that as he lings the stove on Christmas day and blows upon red fingers before he can remove his ulster that a brother, may be, or a son is sitting at ■5 feast with nothiug on above his waist hut an undershirt and growling that samp regulations prevent his removing that. What will the boys have for Christmas? Manila is crowded with packages

for the troops in the field Uncle Sam gave public notice some time ago that ships would sail for the Orient and that friends of the troops could- avail themselves of the chance to seud over remembrances. Caution was given in the matter of what to seud and how to prepare it. Then Uncle Sam said every effort would be made to deliver the goods on arrival in Manila. Almost every vessel flying tlie Stars aud Stripes which has sailed since about Nov. 1 has carried huge cargoes of things for the men in the field. Refrigerator ships have crossed the ocean to give them fresh meat nnd ice, the one thing they most need. Men in the field doing war duty are enters. They ask for food to the exclusion of almost everything else. Pretty keepsakes are prized for the remembrances they recall, hut these may be lost in the first skirmish. But a bit of solid enjoyment in the fortiLof a chicken makes the soldier contented aud full of fight. Many Christmas parties will be organized in Luzon* Troops have been cut into small detachments to chase the Filipinos to their inner fastnesses, so that each little patty will be a Christmas party by itself, Every jnnn who can will take a haud In the preparation of the tndbl. “Cookie” will .be Hie most important man iu the detachment. He will be besieged by others willing to show their skill at turning ouFfllshe* where the materials are scant and the variety limited. One will be adept at decorations Kings will come out of ppekets, greens will lie picked up and n bovver he built where the men mny sit together and enjoy the good things they have. In a short time what may ha ve been a wilderness nuy blossom with good cheer, for nobody loves good cheer more than 0 soldier and none enn equal him at improvising it. Most of the boys will have received something to remind them of home by the time Christinas dawns. Money for the most part was sent by fathers and brothers, for money in Luzon as elsewhere is the most useful of eommoditie*. Food stuffs sent could hardly arrive in eatable condition, but the cash can supply every deficiency. Turkeys abound in the Philippines, or did before the Yankees arrived with their taste for turkey. Turkeys cost a lot of money, •onie $0 Mexican or $3 American. But,

if in the field those hoys will eat turkey without cost, as a skillful shot can provide a mess with all the turkey and ducks that mess can eat and nobody be much the wiser. Ducks and poultry are plentiful and can be had in the same manner. Indeed, every house with a yard against the Pasig river has its patero or duck yard. The villago of Patero is named because it is essentially a breeding ground for ducks. Roast duck is well qualified to make a hungry soldier forgot the lack of the noble American bird. Meats brought over from Australia and kept frozen, mutton, lambs, etc., in the carcase are in the market and can be purchased for a trifling advance over the home market. These are all iu reach of those not “living off of the country.” Those who forage off of the enemy have plenty of mangoes, a fruit much loved of those in the tropics. Bananas are plentiful and luscious. a bit of ice, some rice, mangoes, bananas, raisins, sugar, coffee, a slyly captured turkey or duck and a few such things as are desirable, the Christmas dinner of the boys need not bo too scanty to be enjoyed. But should it be but a pot of- rice or a bunk of fat meat, the lads will take what comes without murmuring, although they will Swell on what has been the custom “back at home in the States."

A CHRISTMAS DINNER IN THE PHILIPPINES.