Manila
Manila names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Manila the capital city of the Philippine Islands
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the capital city of the Philippine Islands. It is situated in latitude 14 deg. 35' N.; longitude 120 deg. 58' E. It lies on both sides of the Pasig River which flows westward. The city has a frontage of four miles on Manila Bay on the west coast of Luzon. The police district of the city includes about thirty-two square miles. Manila proper is a walled town on the left or south bank of the river. This walled town was the old Spanish capital. The Spaniards resided here. A moat runs from the river around the foot of the wall to the river again. Water from the river enters the moat at the upper or east end, and flows around the wall into the river again. Up to 1852 the drawbridges were raised and the gates were closed at nightfall for fear of the native attacks. The area within the wall is divided into fifty-six blocks by streets running at right angles to each other. The buildings are of two stories built in Spanish fashion. The most important of the Spanish structures are a cathedral, various convents and monasteries, schools, the University of St. Thomas, the hospital, and the palace. The last named was the residence of the Spanish governor and contained the government offices. A lofty monument to Magellan stands in a square facing the river. The Bridge of Spain, a modern stone affair of several arches, spans the river; this and three other bridges afford access to the section known as Binondo on the opposite or northern bank. The European and American retail shops are here. They occupy a street known as the Escolta. Chinese shops line the Rosario. The wholesale warehouses front the north bank of the Pasig between the Bridge of Spain and the bay. Vessels coming in from the ocean are guided by lighthouses to and through the entrance, which is twelve miles in length. The bay or harbor is 120 miles in circumference, and is large enough to shelter the navies of the world. In 1907 there were 223,542 inhabitants, a growth of 6,000 a year during the previous four years. The city was incorporated by the American government in 1901. The management rests in a board of three members appointed by the governor with the advice of the Philippine commissioners. Thirty per cent of the expenses are paid by the central government; seventy by local taxation. The task before the Americans and the progress made are described by Dr. Heiser, chief quarantine officer: There was no sewer system in Manila, with only the conduit method of disposing of waste of all kinds. In the city itself are thirty-one miles of canals which were nothing more than open filthy water courses into which all waste material was thrown. The water supply for the city came from a river along the banks of which 10,000 people lived and daily polluted its waters. Four thousand lepers roamed at will, and the insane were chained to stakes with dog chains. Cholera, when it became epidemic, would carry off hundreds of people, depopulating whole villages at times. Today dozens of artesian wells exist, and in many localities the death rate dropped as much as twenty per thousand after the use of this water. A new gravity water system which brings water from an uninhabited water shed was completed in July, the old water shed having been patrolled by United States troops to prevent its pollution. The canals have been dredged and cleaned of the filth of centuries. A new sewer system for Manila, constructed at a cost of about $2,000,000, will be ready for use next year. A modern ice plant produces daily 100,000 pounds of ice and 5,000 gallons of distilled water, which is sold by the government at a nominal charge. A leper colony has been established and all but 1,000 of the estimated 4,000 lepers have been brought there. The free distribution of quinine has greatly reduced the amount of malaria; diseases like beri-beri have almost been eliminated, and cholera is so well under control that only dozens die now where hundreds died before. And what is more important, the disease can be eradicated from a province in a few weeks. The discovery and active treatment of one cause of a high death rate, that due to intestinal parasites, has brought about an astonishing drop in the death rate.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the chief town of the Phicapital of Luzon; on lippine Islands and of a wide bay on the S. W. the E. side S. E. of Hong coast of Luzon, 650 miles city it has been con- Kong, with which since 1881. It is dinected by telegraph by the Pasig rivvided into two portions stands the old town er. On the S. bank Legazpi), surrounded (founded in 1571 by by crumbling walls, with tolerably wide, straight streets crossing each other at right angles. Here are the archbishop's palace, numerous churches and monasteries, the cathedral, university, Jesuit observatory, arsenal, and government offices. On the N. bank are the modern suburbs, the commercial and native quarters. Under American rule the general aspect of the city has greatly changed. Suburbs have been developed along modern lines, and many important public buildings have been erected. The most important industries are the manufacture of cigars, furniture, shoes, and manufactories of hemp. The harbor has been enlarged and dredged and accommodates the largest vessels. A railway extends from Manila to Dagupan, a distance of 120 miles. The principal port of the Philippines, Manila has an export trade valued approximately at over $50,000,000 annually, and an import trade that falls but little short of that figure. Sugar, hemp, cigars and tobacco, and coffee account for three-fourths of the exports, and cotton goods, rice, wine, silk, flour, machinery and metal goods are the chief imports. On the morning of May 1, 1898, after war had broken out between the United States and Spain, was fought the battle of Manila Bay. On May 4 Commodore Dewey seized the arsenal. Manila was invested by American troops June 30, 1898, and on Aug. 13, after an organized attack by sea and land and two hours' hard fighting, it surrendered and the flag of the United States was raised over the city for the first time. Pop. (1903) 219,928; (1920) 266,943.
Manila a commercial fibre obtained from the stalk of the
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a commercial fibre obtained from the stalk of the wild plantain of the Philippine Islands. This plant is related to the banana family. It is called Manila hemp, but the term hemp is, of course, a misnomer arising from the use to which the plantain fiber is put. The manila plantain has been introduced into India, Borneo, and Japan, but the supply of fiber for the trade is still derived entirely from Manila, whence the name. In growth, the stems of the leaves sheathe or overlap, forming a sort of trunk. When the plant is three or four years old it is cut off near the ground. The blades of the leaves are cut away, and the sheathing trunk of the leaf stem is slit into strips. These are scraped by hand until the pulp has been removed, leaving tresses of tough fiber. It varies in color from a creamy white to a reddish tinge. The combed fibers are from six to twelve feet in length. The Philippines weave the finest quality of fiber into a sort of cloth much worn by the natives. It is mixed frequently with cotton. The coarser qualities are washed, dried, sorted, and baled for export. The United States buys about $10,000,000 worth of manila a year. It makes the strongest and most durable hard rope known. It is stronger even than hemp. A well made inch rope will sustain a quiet weight of 7,000 pounds. See Sisal
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's counted 223,542 inhabitants in 1907, Manila was still the walled Spanish town of Intramuros plus the shops of the Escolta; today the city proper holds roughly 1.8 million people and the surrounding metropolis about 13 million, among the densest urban areas on earth. Nearly everything the old accounts admired was destroyed in February and March 1945, when fighting between American and Japanese forces flattened Intramuros and killed some 100,000 civilians; the cathedral was rebuilt in the 1950s and the walled district has been under restoration since the late 1970s. The Philippines became independent in 1946, and Manila even lost its status as capital to newly built Quezon City from 1948 until 1976. Manila Bay, which Aiton's said could shelter the navies of the world, is now better known for its pollution and for long-running court-ordered clean-up orders.
Written for this edition, 2026.