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MANILA
Manila is the main terminal of the Manila Railroad Company, with lines from northern to southern parts of Luzon. Several provincial roads enter the city, thereby making motor vehicle transportation feasible. Electric tramways run in the principal streets of the city and its suburbs.
The population of Manila, according to the Philippine census of 1918, is 285,306, Of this number, 259,437 are Filipinos, 17,760 Chinese, 2,916 Americans, 2,050 Spaniards, 1,612 Japanese, 664 British, 201 Germans, 121 French, 71 Swiss, and the rest of other nationalities. There are 20,379 people to the square mile.
The area of the city of Manila is 13.72 square miles. For all administrative and other municipal purposes the city has been divided into the following 14 districts:- Tondo, San Nicolas, Binondo, Santa Cruz, Quiapo, San Miguel, Sampaloc Intramuros (Walled City), The Port, Ermita, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, and Santa Ana. Tondo is inhabited by natives of the working class and is the most thoroughly Oriental. San Nicolas, Binondo, and Santa Cruz are the business districts; Intramuros, the extant example of a medieval town; while The Port with its piers, warehouses and other shipping facilities is the commercial Manila of the future. San Miguel, Ermita, and Malate are the residential districts.
The total length of the streets and roads in Manila is 232,217 kilometres. Some of these are wide and handsome avenues, of which the Luneta, Taft Avenue, Rizal Avenue, P. Burgos, Azcarraga, Isaac Peral, A. Bonifacio Drive, Katigbac Drive, and the Cavite Boulevard are the most notable. The width of the streets varies from 10 to 15 metres, while that of Cavite Boulevard is 75 metres. Fir trees, cassia, acacia, and walnut trees are found along the borders of many of the streets. The paving is mostly macadam with some asphalt, some wooden blocks and some cobbles. The Escolta in Binondo is the main business street, and in it most of the American and European stores and bazaars are found. The Rosario, another broad thoroughfare in Binondo, is occupied chiefly by Chinese shops and is a busy quarter. Rizal Avenue is a growing business centre.
Among the parks, whose total area is 1,143,727.09 square metres, are the famous Luneta, Mehan Gardens, Plaza McKinley, Harrison Park, and Burnham Green. There are monuments to Dr. José Rizal, the foremost Filipino hero and martyr, on the Luneta: to Legaspi and Urdaneta, the soldier and the priest, respectively, who implanted Spanish sovereignty in the Islands, facing the north end of the Luneta; to Magallanes (Magellan), the discoverer of the Islands, in Magallanes Landing; and to Anda at the foot of A. Bonifacio Drive, Charles IV. in Plaza McKinley, Benavides in Plaza Santo Tomas, and Queen Isabela II, in Malate.
Foremost among the hotels, and ranking as one of the best in the Far East, is the Manila Hotel. Other hotels of importance are the Luneta Hotel, St. Anthony Hotel, Delmonico Hotel, Hotel de France, Oriente Hotel, La Palma de Mallorca Hotel, and Mignon Hotel. Of the important buildings, mention may be made of the Ayuntamiento, the Malacañang Palace, the University of the Philippines, the Philippine Normal School, the Philippine School of Arts and Trades, the Bureau of Science, the Philippine General Hospital, the Army and Navy Club, Elks Club, the Y.M.C.A., the Masonic Temple, Pacific Building, and "El Hogar Filipino" Building. The total number of buildings in Manila is 9,963.
On account of their architecture and interior decorations, the churches in Manila are among the chief objects of interest. The largest is the Catholic Cathedral in Intramuros. The city has also charitable institutions, prominent among which are the Hospicio de San José, an orphan asylum and home for aged women; the School for the Deaf and Blind; the San Lazaro Hospital for the insane and those suffering from contagious diseases; and the sanatoria of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society.
Manila is the educational centre of the archipelago. The city has many schools, both public and private, and their number is increasing. Several private colleges have sprung up in Manila within the last few years. Five schools for vocational education are maintained here by the Insular Government. The University of the Philippines-embracing the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Law, Medicine and Surgery, Engineering, Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, Education, Schools of Forestry, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Fine Arts, a Graduate School of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, and a Conservatoire of Music-is located in Manila. Another high institution of learning is the University of Santo Tomas, managed and maintained by the Dominican Fathers. In this there are Schools of Theology and Church Law, Jurisprudence, Notarial Law, Medicine and Pharmacy.