CHAPTER IX

ASSORTED JOBS IN THE PHILIPPINES

THE Philippines proved to be a prolific field for jobs. It was our plan to settle in the Islands for several months and add to our exchequers before going on to India and Europe. Richardson held down three jobs during our three months' stay and for a few days drew pay from them all at the same time. I filled one position and declined two others. The American who couldn't get work in Manila at the time of our visit deserved to starve to death.

Many of the old Spanish laws are still in force and, before I could transact any business, I had to comply with the insular regulations and get a _cedular_ or license. This certificate costs two pesos and must be held before carrying on any financial negotiations.

I was now ready to look for a job. The first day I had a chance to sign on as a government teamster caring for and driving a pair of mules at sixty dollars a month. I did not accept this position, but held it in reserve in case I couldn't land anything better. The second day, the city editor of the _Cable-News American_ said that he had an opening as a reporter at eighty dollars a month. At last I got in touch with the Bureau of Education which I learned wanted a man in its industrial department. Four others had been under consideration for several days for the position when I arrived on the scene. I interviewed the director, Mr. Frank E. White, a charming man who has since died and, as I made a favourable impression, he asked me to call again.

My application was considered for a week and I conversed with several of the authorities of the Bureau. I didn't like the long time employed in coming to a conclusion on my case, for I expected to remain in Manila only a few months--a fact which I had to keep a secret to have any one hire me.

One afternoon during these negotiations I was on the Luneta attending the daily concert of the Philippine Constabulary Band, when I was startled by a war-whoop. I looked up to see a sturdy figure dressed in the white of the tropics bounding towards me. It was Richardson who had just arrived in Manila from China. It was the first we had seen or heard of one another for three months. That evening we spent several hours relating our experiences since we separated.

The next interview with the Bureau of Education was the final one. My qualifications evidently satisfied the authorities for Mr. White opened the conversation by saying:

"Well, we have decided to take you on, Mr. Fletcher--on one condition."

"What is that?" I asked.

"That you will remain permanently," responded Mr. White.

After all the days of negotiation the job now hung in the balance, for I intended to stay only three months at most and I wanted to be free to leave at any time. I couldn't afford to let this information loose or all would be lost.

"I can't agree to anything like that, Mr. White. I assume that you reserve the right to discharge me if my services are not satisfactory and I want the same privilege to quit if I find that I don't like the work or can't get along with you or your assistants," I said.

"Of course we take such matters into consideration," replied Mr. White. "You may go to work at once if you wish."

"There is one little matter which has not been mentioned yet," I added.

"What is that?" enquired the director.

"Compensation," I smiled.

"Two hundred pesos a month," said Mr. White with a laugh. This amount is equivalent to one hundred dollars.

"That is satisfactory," I concluded and was conducted into the department where I was to work. Now that I had the job I at once began to figure out how to get rid of it when the time came. A few minutes before I had been wondering how I was going to get it.

The Bureau of Education is one of the main divisions of the Insular Government and employs nearly two thousand men and women, the large majority of whom are scattered throughout the Islands as teachers. The head office in Manila has about one hundred and twenty on its staff, and these are divided among several departments. The Division of Publications and Industrial Information was the title of the department in which I was to work and my duties consisted of issuing bulletins, editing text-books, publishing the _Philippine Craftsman_ (a monthly magazine of the Bureau) and preparing the annual report. This last embodied about fifty financial and statistical tables and twenty or more graphic charts showing the work accomplished by the Bureau during the year. This annual report turned out to be the main part of my duties and I was assisted by eight Filipinos who compiled most of the tables under my supervision. As the Governor-General of the Islands put in a rush order for this report my assistants and I were compelled to work until eleven o'clock each evening for about a month.

Immediately on his arrival in Manila Richardson started to look for a job. The first day, he met a friend from the Hawaiian Islands who was in the Philippines representing the Honolulu Planters' Association in obtaining Filipino labourers for the sugar plantations in Hawaii. This man said he would have a position open in a few weeks. Richardson informed him that he could not wait and would have to get something at once. The Hawaiian planter then agreed to take an option on his time at thirty dollars a week until a vacancy occurred. Richardson accepted this and remained in Manila to await developments.

The duties of the job for which Richardson was slated consisted of visiting several of the islands in a small steamer, manned by a Spanish captain and crew, and gathering labourers who would be taken to Manila and thence shipped to Honolulu. He was to have a motion picture apparatus, with an operator and lecturer who would accompany him in his visits to the small villages and towns and after showing the natives the wonders and advantages of life in Hawaii sign them on and ship them out.

During his wait in Manila Richardson was afflicted with the common tropical malady of dengue and was confined to his bed for ten days. Dengue is a sort of tropical grippe which is conveyed by mosquitoes and attacks its victims by means of a fever, rash and sore bones in every part of the body. Probably its most aggravating features are its after-effects, for a severe case often leaves the patient in such shape that it requires several months to recover normal health. Fortunately Richardson, due to his rugged constitution and to the fact that his attack was comparatively light, was soon convalescent and recovered without the usual lingering after effects.

Richardson soon received word from his Honolulu planter friend that he was to report in Cebu, a town on the island of the same name about five hundred miles south of Manila. He took an inter-island steamer and in a few days reached his destination and was ready for duty. He expected to go to work at once. But the man in charge at Cebu informed him that he was not needed and instructed him to return to Manila. There was a hitch some place. After some difficulty about expense money, which the Cebu man refused to pay and which was adjusted satisfactorily to Richardson by wiring to the Honolulu representative in Manila, he returned north, arriving on a Wednesday morning. He was paid off until the end of the week, which made a total period of one month at thirty dollars a week with no work and an interesting trip with all expenses to Cebu and back.

He began, Wednesday afternoon, to look for another job and by evening he had obtained a position as shipping clerk for a wholesale grocery house at one hundred dollars a month. He went to work the next morning--Thursday. That evening, after dinner, he received a letter from the Bureau of Public Works, to which he had made application the afternoon before, which stated that he was wanted to go to the island of Mindanao, a thousand miles south of Manila, and take charge of the construction of several concrete bridges at a salary of one hundred and twenty dollars a month and expenses. This offer was especially tempting, not only for the increase in salary but for the opportunity it offered him to see more of the Islands--the motive for which he was travelling. The position called--so the man at the Bureau of Public Works stated--for a knowledge of structural engineering, cement work and drafting. Richardson was not an engineer and knew nothing about such subjects.

"What, do you think of my accepting this job?" asked Richardson of his travelling companion when he had finished reading his letter aloud.

"Take it," I said.

"But I don't know anything about structural engineering," he replied.

"What difference does that make? All jobs sound harder than they really are. Suppose you accept it and they find in a couple of weeks that you are no good and fire you, what do you care? You will be a thousand miles farther along on the trip at their expense," I said rather emphatically.

"All right," said Richardson. "To-morrow I will notify the grocery people that I intend to quit in the evening and I will sail for Mindanao on Saturday."

Richardson severed his connections with the wholesale grocery house the following night and began making preparations for his departure south. It will be remembered that the salary from his first position continued until the end of the week. He received pay from the grocery store for Thursday and Friday and his wages from the Bureau of Public Works began on Friday morning. He therefore drew pay from all three jobs on Friday.

Richardson didn't know a transit from a trombone and he knew no more about cement than a hair-dresser but, provided with a technical hand-book, he sailed, certain that he would be a competent engineer by the time he arrived at Zamboango on the island of Mindanao--in about a week. I saw him off and interestedly awaited word from him as to how matters would turn out.

I had rented a large room in the Imperial Hotel, one of the quaint old adobe Spanish buildings with iron-barred windows and folding doors, in the Intramuros or walled city. I had been living in this room for a few weeks when the proprietor, evidently thinking that it was too large for one person to occupy, placed another man in it without consulting me. As the new arrival appeared a good fellow, and also because I received a reduction in my rental, I made no objection. My new roommate was a man about thirty years of age by the name of Edwards. He had been a second-class yeoman in the United States Navy and, after serving several years, had bought his way out. According to his own statement he had enjoyed the reputation of having been the biggest drunkard in the Asiatic Squadron and in this contention he was upheld by members of the navy who knew him. He now, however, had been on the water wagon for six months and intended to remain there.

It was only a few days after the advent of Edwards that the proprietor, evidently still considering that the room was too large to be wasted on two persons, intruded a third. This man's name was Lakebank, and since (as in the first case) he appeared to be a decent sort of chap and the proprietor again reduced the rental, we concluded to allow him to remain. We all, however, agreed that he was to be the last. Lakebank was a rough, uncouth fellow with one of the finest dispositions in the universe and a heart as big as the ocean. He was chauffeur for one of the high officials of the Insular Government. The three of us got along very well together.

One evening as Edwards and I were eating the eternal chicken dinner of Manila, Lakebank arrived with a most disturbed look in his face. His eyes were nearly popping out of his head. I at once saw that something was wrong and enquired what the trouble was but received only a wink in reply. I took the hint and put the matter off until after dinner. Lakebank, who was very nervous and excited, then informed me that he had seen a man on the street, that afternoon, whom he recognised as his sister's husband and who, nine years ago in the United States, had left her on the night of the birth of their little girl. Later it was discovered that he had gambled away all her savings. He had never been seen or heard from, and was supposed to be dead, until Lakebank came face to face with him on a _calle_ of Manila. Lakebank learned that his brother-in-law was going under the assumed name of Polly.

We discussed the matter for some time and I offered a number of suggestions as to how to handle the situation. The next day, Lakebank, acting on our conclusions, went to the office of Mr. Polly, who had a good position with the Insular Government, and stated that he wished to speak to him alone.

"Go right ahead. Everything my stenographer hears is confidential," said Mr. Polly.

"No, I want her out of the room," insisted Lakebank, "for I have something of a very serious nature to say to you."

"Don't mind her," repeated the man, "I assure you that everything you say will be kept a secret."

"All right then," and looking him squarely in the face Lakebank said, "I am James Lakebank, your brother-in-law. Your name is Ham, not Polly."

"Yes, yes, you are right; no one should be present," muttered Ham nervously and, as he staggered towards the door, he added, "Come with me." The two men left the office and wandered out on the street, both in silence, until they came to a secluded spot in an adjacent lumber yard where, sheltered from view, they sat speechless.

"What are you going to do about it?" Lakebank finally asked. Ham then opened his heart and in tears stated that he had never spent such remorseful years in his life as those which had elapsed since the night he left his wife. He explained that he went directly to Chicago, enlisted in the army and was detailed to Manila, where he had been ever since. He said that if his wife were willing he would join her again and to show his good faith, would give Lakebank five hundred dollars to send her so that she could come to San Francisco and meet him there. If she did not want to see him, she could keep the money for whatever purpose she wished. He enquired affectionately about the little girl who was born the night he deserted and whom he had never seen. He stated that he had saved several thousand dollars and that, if it was his wife's wish, he would return to America, resume his right name, join her and begin life all over again.

Lakebank did not know whether his sister would forgive Ham, or not, but informed him that he would write her of their meeting. The case interested me and I was eager to know the outcome. It would take several months for letters to be exchanged between Lakebank and his sister and the matter would not be settled until nearly a year after my departure from the Islands. Many months afterwards I heard from Lakebank. Ham returned to America, met his wife and little girl in San Francisco, were reunited and were happily situated in the States.

One evening I was much surprised to see Richardson come bounding into my room.

"Where did you drop from?" I enquired, astonished.

"Just blew in from Zamboango," said Richardson. "I have had enough of these islands. Are you ready to beat it to-morrow?"

"Any old time suits me. To-morrow if you say so."

"All right, to-morrow we go."

Richardson then related his Mindanao experiences. On his way south on the steamer he did all he could to prime himself full of engineering knowledge. He discovered among the passengers an engineer whom he put through a severe cross-examination. After seven days he arrived in Zamboango and, reporting to headquarters, was instructed to go to the Insular Penitentiary about twenty miles down the coast. At the prison his duties were outlined to him. What a drop from structural engineering they were! His "bridge building" consisted of acting as foreman in charge of one hundred and twenty convicts who were hauling wheelbarrow loads of sand and filling in a gulch near the prison buildings.

The penitentiary was situated on the shore of the island of Mindanao and was one of the Insular Government prisons. The institution consisted of several one-story, cement-walled and thatch-roofed houses which, in addition to containing the cells for the convicts, had rooms and accommodations for the guards and officers. The prisoners were largely recruited from the Moro tribe, nominal Mohammedans, with whom the United States has had much trouble. There were also a few Filipinos and a number of Chinese.

Richardson was comfortably situated in one of the cottages which were provided for the officials of the prison. The entire group of buildings was within a few hundred feet of the ocean and was buried in a luxuriant jungle of palms and evergreen trees of the tropics.

Each morning at six o'clock the convicts, attired in their striped uniforms, were conducted by a number of armed guards to a ravine across which the prison authorities had planned to build a bridge. The preliminary work of filling and grading was being done and it was to oversee this work that Richardson was assigned. All day long, under the tropical sun, he supervised the hauling, filling and levelling. It was a position a ten-year-old boy could have held. As the work progressed he, no doubt, would have had to use his knowledge of bridge construction. Fortunately, for those of posterity who are destined to use this bridge, he did not remain to complete the work.

Ten days on the job and he was notified that he was to be transferred to another part of the Islands. He was instructed to report to Manila for orders. His removal was due to the fact that the Manila office had sent six men to Mindanao when only four were needed and as he was the last to arrive he was naturally the first to go. He took a boat and reached Manila after an absence of one month during which he received one hundred and twenty dollars and expenses and two thousand miles travel, visiting many of the island ports _en route_.

As the Bureau of Education authorities had assumed that unless something extraordinary happened I was a fixture in my position, I expected to be thrown out when I notified them of my intention to leave. It also would look as though I were afraid that I could not pass the civil service examination which was scheduled for the next day and which I had to take to become a regular employé--for I was only a temporary man up to this time. The shortness of the notice might also cause trouble for, as we were to leave the Islands that day, I could give only a few hours' notice. On second thought I concluded that the Bureau could not justly object for I had come at a time when it was badly in need of a man to issue the annual report and I had finished this volume, having put in much overtime on it without extra remuneration.

However, everything passed off smoothly and, instead of being forced to stay or being kicked out, I was treated with the greatest kindness and consideration by every one from Director White down. I never before left a position with so much good will on the part of my employers. Mr. White expressed his regret and stated that he had planned to soon promote me and give me an increase in salary. He added that if at any time he could be of service to me I should not hesitate to call on him.

That evening Richardson and I sailed in the hold of a ship for Hongkong. After travelling through Japan, Korea, China and the Philippine Islands we left Manila with more coin than we had when we departed from Honolulu eight months before. We each were now worth about eight hundred dollars.