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ILOILO.
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 piña, 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 Govern- ment have recently very heavily taxed all kinds of industry, which tax is severely felt, as hitherto there had been comparative freedom from such imposts. Each native above the age of 14 pays tribute the men $4.03 and the women $1.03 per annum.
The country round Iloilo is very fertile and is extensively cultivated. The annual crop of sugar is estimated at about a million picule. Tobacco is also largely culti- vated, but having until 1882 been a Government monopoly which had to be sold at a fixed price, it has been greatly neglected and is of poor quality. Improvement in the cultivation may now be expected. 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 visit the port about once a year and 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 98,750 tons were shipped in 1883, chiefly to the United States. The export has doubled itself during the last years. The principal traders are Chinese mestizos, who are very numerous in the port. There is a tradition that the town of Iloilo was once peopled by Chinese, and many of the inhabitants bear Chinese names.
The island of Negros is extremely fertile and contributes three-fourths of the sugar shipped from Iloilo, the quality of which is improving very much every year. The imports in 1882 reached a value of $1,198,594, and the exports $3,416,769.
DIRECTORY.
Colonial Government.
GOBIERNO POLITICO Y MILITAR. Gobernador--Miguel Rodriguez Aguilar Auxiliares de Fomento-V. Gay, F. Gomez,
E. Moriñigo
ALCALDIAS MAYORES.
Juez J. M. Llaser
Promotor Fiscal-M. Torres > Doilo Notario-M. G. Medina Juez-V. Para
Promotor Fiscal-F. Lamas > Pototan Escribano-M. F. Mata
ADUANA Y ADMINISTRACION DE HACIENDA PUBLICA.
Administrador-José Pastors Interventor J. R. de Romero Oficial 50-R. Telles Almacenero--A. Saliro
Vista de la Aduana-J. M. Jalon Auxiliar de Vista-P. E. Lopez
GEFATURA DE OBRAS PUBLICAS. Ingeniero Jefe-E. Trompeta Ayudantes-M. de Camara, V. Rodrigo
JUNTA DE SANIDAD.
El Gobernador del Distrito
El Capitan del Puerto
El Administrador de la Aduana El Medico Titular
CAPITANIA DEL PUERTO. Capitan del Puerto-A. M. de Ory Ayudante
SEMINARIO CONCILIAE de Jaro. Rector S. Serrallonga
Vice Rector-J. Miralda.
Procurador-J. Jaime
Catedraticos-F. Saez, J. San Andreu
ABOGADOS.
C. Pineda, V. Massa, E. Valenciano, D.
Romero
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