418
ILOILO
the principal seaport and seat of the government of the province, Iloilo is much smaller than many towns in its vicinity. The harbour is well protected and the anchorage good, the island of Guimaras forming a sheltered passage. The depth of water on the bar at the entrance to the creek or river Iloilo is about five fathoms at low water, but at a short distance within it decreases to fifteen feet and then deepens again. At spring tides the whole_ town is covered with water, but notwithstanding this it is a very healthy place. The high ground of Guimaras forms a kind of funnel with the Panay shore, and the result is that a calm is of rare occurrence, there being almost always a breeze of some kind. The N. E. breeze blows very strongly. It is much cooler in Iloilo than in Manila. The port is as yet neither properly buoyed nor lighted, but a light- house is being erected on the south-west point of Guimaras. The better class of houses in Iloilo are built on strong wooden posts, two or three feet in diameter, that reach to the roof, stone walls to the first floor, with wooden windows above and an iron roof. The poorer class of dwellings are flimsy structures of nipa, built on four stout posts. The roads and bridges are in a deplorable condition, and quite impassable in the rainy
season.
The principal manufacture in Iloilo for local consumption and export to Manila is that of pina, a cloth very finely made from the fibre of the pineapple leaf. Another cloth called jusi is woven from silk, and is made in white and colours.
The country round Iloilo is very fertile and is extensively cultivated. The annual crop of sugar is estimated at about a million piculs. Tobacco is also largely cultivated. Rice is grown on a considerable scale, but locusts are very plentiful in the island and often do great damage to the cane and paddy.
Typhoons frequently work great havoc. Earthquakes, however, seldom occur. Iloilo is about 250 miles distant from Manila.
Iloilo has greatly increased in importance of late years. The chief article of export is sugar, of which about 110.000 tons were shipped in 1889. The total imports in 1890 were $5,180.436 compared with $3,762,102 in 1889, and the exports $4,846,498 in 1890 as against $5.897.396 in 1889. The principal traders are Chinese mestizos, who are very numerous in the port.
The island of Negros is extremely fertile and contributes three-fourths of the sugar shipped from Iloilo, the quality of which is excellent.
DIRECTORY
GOBIERNO POLITICO Y MILITAR
JUNTA DE SANIDAD Presidente-El Gobernador Vice-Presidente-El Capitan del Puerto
Gobernador--General de Brigada E. S. D. Vocales-El Administrador de la Aduana.
GOBIERNO POLITICO Y MILITAR
Oficial a sus ordenes-A. Rodrigues
M. R. Blanco
Secretario E. Adriano
Auxiliar-M. Martinez (fomento)
Comandante-N. Fousdeviela
AYUNTAMIENTO
Presidente Nato-Capitan General V.-Presidente-M. R. Blanco (gobernador) Priméro Alcalde-F. Lizarraga Segundo Alcalde S. Ordás Tercér id. -I. de la Rama Sindico-V. Mapa
Regidores R. Sotelo, F. Calho, M. Feaño, F. Gutierrez, J. Carballo, J. J. Peña, J. Regalado, A. Asencio, F. S. Zoboli
JUNTA Subalterna de AlmONEDAS Presidente-El Gobernador de la Provincia Vocales-El Juez de la. Instancia, El Ad- ministrador de Hacienda Publica, El In- terventor de Hacienda Publica
El Medico Naves. El Medico Militar, El Medico Titular, El Juez, El Comandante Jefe del 10. Districto de Guardia Civil El Cura Parroco, El Capitan Jefe de la fuerza de Carabineros. El Ingeniero Jefe de Obras Publicas, El Subdelegado de Veterinaria, El Subdelegado de Farma cia, S. Arnaldo, en representacion del comercio, J. Juille, en representacion de los proprietarios
Secretario-Auxr. de Fomento, J. Martinez
JUNTA DE INSTRUCCION PRIMARIA Presidente-El Gobernador Vocales-El Juez de la. Istancia, El Cura Parroco, El Administrador de Hacienda Publica
COMANDANCIA DE MARINA Capitan del Puerto-C. Delgado