Chapter XVII: Baguio and the Benguet Road (2)

It is fortunate in a way that the boom did not come quicker, for the hard truth is that up to date the rapidity of the growth of the summer capital has been determined absolutely by the local lumber supply. The original Filipino hand-sawyers were ultimately replaced by small portable mills, and these in turn by large modern mills to which logs are brought by skidding engines or overhead cables, yet it is true to-day, as it has always been true, that no sawmill has ever been able to furnish dry lumber, for the simple reason that the green output is purchased as fast as it can be sawed.

For a time the lumbermen took advantage of the necessities of the public, but when timber on the government concessions first granted them had been exhausted and they applied for new cutting areas, my turn came. I fixed maximum prices on lumber which they might not exceed without forfeiting their concessions. I also fixed a minimum annual cut which they were compelled to make, and imposed a regulation providing that at least half of the total cut should be offered for sale to the public.

There is no justification for the claim that Baguio is a rich man's city. The town site is very large and can be indefinitely extended. Good lots may be had at extremely moderate prices, and the cost of houses is strictly a matter of individual means and taste. A large section is given up to small dwellings for Filipinos. The man who earns his living with a bull cart has no more difficulty in establishing a home there than does the Filipino millionnaire, and rich and poor are building in constantly increasing numbers.

While experience has taught me that I cannot convey by words alone any adequate conception of what Baguio is like, I must nevertheless here make the attempt.

Twenty-one miles of well surfaced roads wind among its pine-covered hills and afford beautiful glimpses of the luxuriant vegetation along its numerous small streams. There are building sites to suit all tastes, and each house owner is convinced that his particular location is better than that of any one else. One spring supplies exceptionally pure water sufficient for the needs of at least ten thousand people, and an abundant additional supply can be obtained when needed. The scenery is everywhere beautiful, and in many sections truly magnificent.

Gently rolling hills enclose valleys with sides sometimes steep and precipitous and sometimes gently sloping. The country is watered by numerous streams bordered by magnificent tree-ferns, and by trees, shrubs, and plants requiring a large amount of water, while the dry hillsides bear noble pines standing at wide intervals and often arranged as if grouped by a skilled landscape artist. During the rainy season they are covered with ferns and orchids, while exquisite white lilies, larger than Easter lilies, dot the hillsides. The dense _cógon_ of the Philippine lowlands is absent. Bamboo grass or _runo_ occurs sparingly in the immediate vicinity of streams and springs, but the hills are covered with a short grass seldom more than knee high, so that one may ride or walk over them in almost any direction with comfort. A system of excellent horse trails affords communication with neighbouring provinces where one may see wonderful tropical vegetation, magnificent scenery, strange wild peoples, and the most remarkable terraced mountainsides in the world. These regions may be visited with safety and comfort, as public order is well-nigh perfect and rest houses have been provided at reasonable intervals on all important main trails.

The delightfully cool climate of Baguio makes active outdoor exercise enjoyable, and insures the speedy restoration to health and vigor of persons suffering ill effects from tropical heat, or recuperation from wasting diseases. Open fires are comfortable morning and evening throughout the year, and the pitch pine wood burns beautifully. Except during typhoons the rainy season weather is delightful. When one wakens in the morning the atmosphere and the landscape have been washed clean. The air is clear as crystal, and mountain peaks fifty or seventy-five miles away stand out with cameo-like sharpness. The needles of the pines fairly glisten and their delightful odor is constantly in one's nostrils. The whole country is green as a lawn. Roses, violets, azaleas, "jacks-in-the-pulpit," and several kinds of raspberries and huckleberries, all growing wild, make one feel as if back in America. One may visit the neighbouring Trinidad valley and see cabbages and coffee, bananas and Irish potatoes, flourishing on one piece of land. Strawberry plants imported from America bear continuously from December to May. Fresh vegetables of all sorts tickle palates which have grown weary of the canned goods of the lowlands.

Anywhere from twelve to three o'clock, the clouds begin to roll in and heavy showers fall, usually lasting until nine or ten at night. Then the stars come out. The next day is like its predecessor.

After the first rains, which usually come about the middle of April, there is as a rule a month of beautiful weather with very little precipitation. Then the rains begin to come steadily again, and keep it up until the end of the wet season, falling in the manner already described so that one can get one's outdoor exercise in the morning, while the afternoon showers are conducive to industry.

The following table shows the average maximum, minimum and mean temperatures for each month of the year, the figures covering the period January, 1902, to January, 1908:--

Month Average Average Mean
Maximum Minimum
°F. °F. °F.
January 75.1 50.2 63.3
February 75.4 45.8 61.6
March 77.5 49.4 64.1
April 78.2 51.9 65.7
May 77.7 54 66.2
June 77 56.8 66.2
July 75.9 55.9 65.4
August 76 54.9 65.1
September 75.2 56 65.2
October 76.4 53.8 65.1
November 76.4 49.8 64.1
December 76.1 50.3 64.1

All of the above figures are for temperatures at a height of six feet above the ground. Temperatures nearer the ground are decidedly lower. It has been found that in the Baguio plateau the lowest temperatures correspond to the deepest valleys. In such places white frost is not rare during the months of January, February, and March, while on the tops of hills the temperature is milder, frost being almost unknown. During typhoons conditions do not differ essentially from those experienced elsewhere in the islands, except that the rainfall is exceptionally heavy.

Major-General J. Franklin Bell, who has given special attention to mountain resorts the world over, vigorously asserts that Baguio has no equal on the globe. Certainly the climate is more nearly perfect than any other of which I have personal knowledge, and the delightful coolness and the bracing air afford heavenly relief to jangling nerves and exhausted bodies, worn out by overwork and by a too prolonged sojourn in tropical lowlands.

One of the very important things about the Baguio climate is its marvellous effect upon victims of tuberculosis.

Persons suffering from this disease in its earlier stages may confidently look forward to restored health if willing to live out of doors under the pine trees, and there have been a number of extraordinary recoveries among those in advanced stages.

A series of little cottages which can be thrown wide open have been operated for some time in connection with the government hospital, in order practically to demonstrate the effect of the climate on tuberculosis victims.

The results are conclusive, and whenever funds are available there should be established a settlement of such cottages on some one of the numerous good sites sufficiently removed from the town to avoid any possible danger of infecting healthy persons. There should also be a large mess hall from which good nourishing food can be served, and plenty of level ground on which tents can be erected during the dry season. Baguio's potential importance as a resort for victims of the great white plague justifies every cent of expenditure necessary to make it readily accessible.

The Sisters of the Assumption have erected a handsome building which serves as a rest house and a girls' school. The sisters known as the "Belgian Canonist Missionaries" are erecting a building which will afford them a place to come for recuperation when wearied by strenuous work in the lowlands, and will make it possible for them to open a school for Igorot girls, which they are planning to do.

Bishop Brent has established an excellent school for American boys, situated on a sunny hilltop. The instruction is very good, the food excellent, and a healthier, heartier-looking lot of youngsters than those who enjoy the privileges of this institution cannot be found anywhere. There is abundant opportunity for them to play basket-ball, tennis and golf. Some of them indulge in polo, playing on Filipino ponies.

Bishop Brent also has a mission school for Igorot girls, and plans to open a boarding school for American girls in the near future.

The Belgian missionary priests, locally known as the "Missionary Priests of the Church of San Patricio," have their headquarters at Baguio, where the chief of their order resides and where they come occasionally for rest and recuperation. Archbishop Harry has a modest home on one of the numerous hilltops.

The building of a school for constabulary officers, to which young men arriving from the United States are sent before entering upon active service, crowns another hill and commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country.

Several business concerns, such as the Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas, have erected rest houses for their officers and employees, while the number of attractive private homes increases as rapidly as the supply of building materials will permit. Filipino residents of Manila have recently invested more than a hundred thousand dollars in Baguio homes.

But this is not all. No description would be anything like complete without mention of a unique structure which is certain to become famous the world over. It has been built under the immediate supervision of Major-General Bell, who has given freely of his time and thought to make it the extraordinary success which it is. I refer to the wonderful amphitheatre which stands at the side of the official residence of the major-general commanding the Division of the Philippines. Advantage has been taken of the existence of a natural amphitheatre with remarkable acoustic properties. Man has added what Nature left undone, and the result is an imposing and beautiful auditorium capable of seating four thousand people, throughout which a whisper can be heard. It is utilized for religious services, concerts, lectures, theatrical performances and other public entertainments. No charge is exacted for its use, but if an admission fee is collected, a liberal percentage of the proceeds must go to some worthy charity. It has been terraced in stone by Igorot labourers; the trees originally standing in it have been protected, and tree ferns, shrubs and flowering plants have been added. The result beggars description, and photographs do it scant justice.

Igorots from Bontoc, and even Ifugaos, now visit Baguio with increasing frequency, attracted by a large market established especially for the benefit of the hill people, where they may sell their manufactured articles or agricultural products, and may purchase at moderate cost the commodities which they need. The Benguet Igorots do not raise rice enough for their own use. Formerly they had to make up the shortage by eating _camotes_, but they have now become so prosperous that they can afford to buy rice, which is carted in over the Benguet Road.

There are promising gold mines close at hand. Their development would have been impossible had not the construction of the Benguet Road made it feasible to bring in the necessary heavy machinery.

Some of the fruits, many of the flowers and practically all of the vegetables of the temperate zone can be advantageously produced in Benguet. They are being shipped to Manila in steadily increasing quantities.

One would gather from the criticisms of the enemies of the Philippine government that the Benguet Road was a pleasure boulevard. The government motor trucks transported over it during the last fiscal year 22,390 passengers and 7696.24 metric tons of freight.

Railroad corporations are inclined to be a bit soulless. The Manila Railway Company is extending its line to Baguio by means of a branch leaving the main line at Aringay. The building of this extension is now [514] fifty-five per cent completed, and the company is bound under the terms of its agreement to finish the road by August, 1914. In the event of its failure to do so, it must pay a monthly penalty amply sufficient in amount to cover the cost of maintaining the Benguet Road. Baguio will continue to develop steadily until the railroad is opened and then will go ahead by leaps and bounds. It is sure to prosper because it meets a very real and very imperative need.

In this connection the following extracts from a letter of August 7, 1913, from the director of medical services in India to the department surgeon of the Philippines are of interest:--

"In reply to your letter of June 31st I attach a statement
showing the number and location of the hill stations in
India with the approximate capacity of each, and their height
above sea-level.

"With regard to your inquiry regarding the number of cases
treated in these sanitaria we use these hill stations not
only for the treatment of convalescents, but also for giving
healthy men an opportunity of spending the Indian hot weather
under the best climatic conditions procurable. To this end,
so far as is practicable, all units are sent to the hills for
the first hot weather after their arrival in India, and they
are thus able to settle down to their new conditions of life
without being immediately exposed to the trying and enervating
environment of a plains station in the summer months. We also
send as many soldiers as we can of the older residents from
hot stations to summer in the hills.

* * * * *

"Practically all soldiers' wives and families are given an
opportunity of a change from the more unhealthy stations to
the hills during the hot weather.

* * * * *

"Our experience shows that the following cases are most
benefited by a change to the hills:--

"1. All cases of malarial fever and malarial cachexia.

"2. Patients recovering from acute diseases.

"3. Convalescents after surgical operations.

"4. Cases of anaemia and debility.

"5. Cases of chronic venereal diseases.

"6. Neurasthenics."

Not only are all such cases greatly benefited at Baguio, but patients suffering from dysentery and chronic diarrhoea are also greatly benefited and often cured by a sufficiently long sojourn there. This is the experience of the civil government at its hospital and of the military authorities at the Camp John Hay hospital, according to General Bell.

Continuing the quotations from the letter of the director of medical services in India:--

"We have found that by the judicious use of hill stations
for convalescents both the invaliding and death rate of the
British troops in Indian have been enormously reduced and the
efficiency of the Army has been increased with a considerable
financial saving to the Government.

"It is advisable that all troops and families should be
accommodated in huts, especially during the rainy season in
the hills, but there is no doubt that they are benefited by
the change even if they have to live in tents and are thereby
exposed to considerable discomfort."

The importance attached by the British to hill stations is shown by the fact that there are no less than 29 in India, their height above sea-level varying from 2000 to 7936 feet. Of these eleven have no permanent accommodations and are used for men only.

I add the following extracts from a letter of Major P. M. Ashburn, Medical Corps, U.S.A., president of the army board for the study of tropical diseases:--

"A man can remain in the tropics indefinitely without being
actually sick, if infectious diseases are avoided. This is fast
leading to the fallacy that we can advantageously remain many
years in these latitudes. The fact that while a man may never
be sick, he yet may have his physical and mental vigour greatly
impaired by prolonged exposure to heat is thus lost sight
of. No man can do his best work, either physical or mental,
if he is hot and uncomfortable. The same feeling of lassitude
and indisposition to exertion is experienced at home during
the hot summer, which after a few years here becomes chronic."

"It is a matter of official recognition that government
employees need to get away from the heat of Manila each year,
hence the removal to Baguio.

"It is likewise commonly recognized that many women and
children become so run down and debilitated as to need to go
to Japan, Baguio or the United States.

"It is often true that monotony and discomfort are the cause
of nervous and mental breakdown, witness the often-mentioned
insanity among farmers' wives and the nervous breakdowns
attributable to pain and strain, even though it be, as in
many cases of eyestrain, so slight as not to be recognized
by the patient."

In short, it is the monotony of a tropical lowland climate which makes an occasional change so imperatively necessary. Shall residents of the Philippines be forced to seek that change, at great expense of time and money, in Japan, the United States or Europe, or shall we make and keep available for them a region which admirably answers the purpose, distant only half a day's travel from Manila?

I give extracts from a memorandum of Col. William H. Arthur, Department Surgeon of the Philippines, which are important in this connection:--

"3. Experience has shown that long residence in the Philippines
has a marked effect on the mental and physical vigour of people
not born and raised in the tropics. This is manifested in many
ways, and men, women and children who are not actually ill,
seem to lose their energy, become listless, irritable, and
forgetful, and find the least exertion burdensome. This is
much aggravated in the hot season, and very few individuals
manage, without permanent mental and physical deterioration,
to live through many hot seasons in the plains.

"4. There are in the Philippine Islands two places where
relief from these conditions can be found:--(1) Camp John Hay,
near Baguio, in the mountain province of Benguet, Island of
Luzón; and (2) Camp Keithley, in the Lake Lanao District of
the Island of Mindanao. Camp John Hay, in the province of
Benguet, is in the mountains at an elevation of approximately
5000 feet and is 175 miles from Manila, most of which distance
is covered by railroad. Within 18 months it is expected that
the railroad all the way to Baguio will be completed.

"5. Experience has shown that a large number of cases of
disease or injury, or patients convalescing from surgical
operations, recover much more rapidly in the cool mountain
climate of Baguio than in the depressing heat and humidity of
the plains. Before the establishment of this mountain refuge
from the heat of the plains, many cases of this class were
transferred to the United States that are now brought back
to health at Camp John Hay and Camp Keithley. The beneficial
effect of the change in climate is particularly noticeable in
people who have become run down after one or more hot seasons
spent at the lower levels.

"6. The great value of a refuge in the mountains from the
effect of prolonged heat is shown in enclosed reports, which
indicate the classes of cases especially benefited, but there
are a great many others not reported and not actually sick
but whose vitality and resistance are more or less diminished
and who find great benefit from an occasional sojourn in the
mountains of Benguet or the highlands of Mindanao, especially
during the hottest part of the year."

I have quoted thus at length from communications of a distinguished British medical officer, of a well-known and able special student of tropical diseases, and of the ranking United States army surgeon in the islands to show the consensus of opinion among experienced experts as to the necessity of hill stations in the tropics. I might give numerous additional similar opinions of equally competent men but will only add two more statements of Major Ashburn, the latter of which seems to me admirably to sum up the situation:--

So firm is my belief in the efficacy of the place that I have
at considerable expense kept my two sons in school there,
instead of keeping them at home in Manila at no expense
for schooling, and so satisfactory has been the result in
normal, vigorous growth and robust health for both boys,
that I consider the money so spent about the best investment
I have ever made.

* * * * *

I state all this to show the faith that is in me. To experience
Baguio and to see the rapid improvement of visitors there
is to be convinced that it is a delightful and beneficial
climate. To appreciate the full degree of its delights it
is only necessary to compare in one's own experience (not
in weather reports) a hot season in Manila and one there. To
appreciate its benefits it is necessary to compare in one's
own experience (not in statistics) the appearance of health
of the people seen at the two times and places. As recent
work on beri-beri has clearly shown the vast importance in
diet of substances formerly not known to have any importance,
so, I think, are the factors in climate not to be recorded by
wind gauges, thermometers or other meteorological instruments,
and factors in health and efficiency not recorded in books
on physiology, bacteriology, pathology or health statistics."

Let no one think that the summer capital of the Philippines has been built solely for the benefit of Americans. The Filipinos need it almost as much as we do, and many of them profit by the change with extraordinary promptness.

It is really almost incredible that such a place should exist within eight hours' travel of Manila, and every possible victim of tuberculosis in the islands, which means every inhabitant of the lowlands, has a right to demand that it should be made, and kept, readily accessible. Existing accommodations are nothing like adequate for the crowds which desire to take advantage of them during the season. Hotels are filled to overflowing. There are always several different applicants for each government cottage. Many persons who would be glad to spend the hot months in the Benguet mountains find it impossible to do so, because they cannot obtain accommodation, and at present many more are obliged to shorten their stay in order to give others a chance.

In the early days, when we were facing unforeseen difficulties and discouragements, I was for a time the one member of the Philippine Commission who was really enthusiastically in favour of carrying out the original plans for the summer capital. It was then the fashion to charge me with responsibility for the policy of opening up communication with the place and for the mistakes made in the construction of the Benguet Road, although I had never had any control over the road work and had been one of five at first, and later one of nine, to vote for every appropriation found necessary in order to complete it.

It was the enthusiasm of Mr. Forbes which at a critical time finally saved the situation, and now that Baguio has arrived, and the wisdom of the policy so long pursued in the face of manifold discouragements has been demonstrated, my one fear is that he will get all the glory and that I shall be denied credit for the part which I actually did play in bringing about the determination to establish quick communication with one of the most wonderful mountain health resorts to be found in any tropical country, and in giving that determination effect. But I have had a more than abundant reward of another sort. My wife, my son and I myself, when seriously ill, have been restored to vigorous health by brief sojourns at this one of the world's great health resorts.

It has been very much the fashion for Filipino politicians to rail at Baguio, and now that the dangerous experiment of giving them control of both houses of the legislature is being made, they may refuse to appropriate the sums necessary to make possible the annual transfer of the insular government to that place. The result of such a bit of politics would be a marked increase in the present extraordinarily low death rate among government officers and employees, American and Filipino, [515] beginning in about two years, when the cumulative effect of long residence in the lowlands makes itself felt.

Meanwhile, Baguio can stand on its own feet, and if, as the politicians suggest, the government buildings there be sold at auction, purchasers for all dwelling houses should readily be found. Too many Filipinos have learned by happy experience the delights of this wonderful region, to let such an opportunity pass. Baguio has come to stay.