The Housing problem solved

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: The Housing problem solved
Creator: Goldilocks
Language: English
Year: 1937
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Fulltext: 22 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL January, 1937 The Housing Problem Solved By Goldilocks During the past year the resident population of Manila has enormously increased, owing to a variety of reasons into which we need not enter here, and has now reached what I believe the scientifically minded refer to as the “saturation point”. In other words, Manila is full up. Not only is every available house occupied, but the owners of new houses being built are simply inundated with applications from prospective tenants. All hotels and boarding houses are full to capacity and many of their rooms are more like school dormitories than hotel bedrooms, as they are being made to take as many beds as they will hold. With the Eucbaiistic Congress due to commence in about a fortnight’s time, we are threatened with the invasion of several thousands more people. Estimates vary as to the exact number to be expected but it is generally accepted that the present population of Manila will be about doubled during the period of the Congress. But no matter what the numbers may be, the fact remains that MANILA IS FULL UP right now, and all these visitors will expect to be accommodated somewhere. It is not yet too late to put forward a few sugges tions as to how this problem could be tackled. It is known that certain passenger vessels will berth at Pier 7 as floating hotels for the duration of the Congress, so why not go a step further and rig up shelters along the roofs of all the piers? These pier pent-houses, though not as lux urious as the ocean liners alongside, could also boast that their guests would enjoy “glorious sea breezes and unrivalled views of the sunsets for which Manila is so justly famous,” etc., etc. They would also be conveniently situated for all the ceremonies taking place on the Luneta. Of course some of the roof dwellers might be so foolish as to sleep lying along the length of the piers in an east-and-west line, nautically speaking, in which case they would roll off. Bales of hemp could be placed at frequent intervals down below to ease the landing of those, who elect to come down to ground level in this manner. Another suggestion is that the cinemas should remain open all night. They would be available from 11 o’clock at night until 8 the following morning and would provide shelter for large numbers of people. With the seats tipped up there would be plenty of floor space, and think what a fine address for the pilgrim from the far distant Batanes, say, if, when writing home to his friends, he could head his note paper The Loge, Capitol, Escolta, Manila! Similarly all office buildings could be placed at the disposal of the visitors after business hours. Imagine what a thrill it would give some hacendero to sleep in a bank with his head on his overdraft, surrounded by adding machines and current account ledgers, with a picturesque Indian watchman on guard at the entrance. I flatter myself that my own private office could be turned into a very attract ive boudoir for half a dozen young ladies if they didn’t object to sleeping under my desk and on top of a filing cabinet. The sales charts and other statistical data which now decorate the walls could be replaced with looking glasses and a few saintly pictures in order to make the place appear more homely. My one stipulation would be that they should clear out at least an hour before my arrival in the morning to give the janitor time enough to sweep up the powder, ends of lip-stick, etc. But perhaps those attending the Congress will forego the use of rouge and lipstick for these few days. There are still other sources of shelter which have not been tapped. Why not close to traffic some of the quieter streets in the residential districts and put the space thus gained at the disposal of pilgrims as camping grounds? Presumably we may expect fine weather, so that sleeping in the open would be no particular hardship. Then again, trams, busses and taxis, upon return to their garages and car barns at night, could be turned into dormitories. Large parties from the same town in a province might like to engage a tram and so be together for the whole of their visit; honeymoon couples could share a baby taxi, and so on. As the population of Manila is expected to be doubled, would it not be possible to double its present housing capacity and arrange for one family or one half of the inhabitants to work (Please turn to page 27) ASIATIC AGGREGATES, Inc. Consulting • Mining • Mechanical Engineers 507 Philippine National Bank Bldg. MANILA Tel. 2-28-13 GUTIERREZ, GUTTRIDGE & BRIMO STOCK & SHARE BROKERS MEMBERS: MANILA STOCK EXCHANGE 104 Calle Nueva (Comer Escolta) and at Manila Stock Exchange P. O. Box 389 Manila Cable Address “GUBRI”. Manila Codes Used Bentley’s & Private t i ( 2-35-22—2-12-92 Office Tels. ' 2.35.23_2.25.,4 Manila Stock Exchange Tel. 2-12-63 FRANCISCO GUTIERREZ SAENZ ALBERT S. GUTTRIDGE JOSEPH A. BRIMO IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL January, 1937 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 27 The Housing Problem . . . (Continued from page 22) at night whilst the other half slept, then the night workers could return home to rest in the rooms just vacated by their opposite numbers. It would be rather like on board ship where you have the watch on deck and the watch below. I have not gone into detail in any of the above schemes but present the ideas to the authorities for what they are worth, observing, however, that patents have already been applied for. Should all these plans fail, and as a last resort, why not freeze the Pasig and Manila Bay solid, leaving sufficient traffic lines for the ingress and egress of shipping? Scientists can achieve almost anything these days, so surely a little thing like this would not overtax their ingenuity. With the whole area of Manila Bay as a camping ground there would be prac tically no limit to the crowds that could be accommodated, and the cooling breezes off the ice would add considerably to the comfort of thousands of people attending the ceremonies on the Luneta. With regard to the feeding of our visitors, this will present almost as difficult a problem as their housing, and it will be interesting to see how th(> authorities will cope with this task. I have only one suggestion to make. As traffic will lx* prac tically at a standstill during the period, all service stations should have their tanks cleaned out and refilled with milk, beer or drinking water to be served through the pumps. What about a Shell Shandygaff or a Socony milk shake? AGU INALDO ‘AGU INALDO STOCK. AND BOND B KO KE XS . MEMBERS-INTERNATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE .. 465 Son Vicente-corner T-Pinbin . Manuel S.Rush'a '-h*. 2I6JI-2I632-2I6B IT IS A J Conditioned! How a Newcomer Looks at Philippine Mining By H. Z. Peters Editorial Note: The author of this article was a consulting mining engineer in the United States for about 10 years, when he entered' the financial and organization phase of the industry. He engaged in this work for some 12 years, and came to the Philip pines a month ago. Mr. Peters recently opened an office in Manila, and is engaging in financial and organization work for himself and for his own clients. His remarks on the mining situation and on promotional activities as they concern mining stocks are peculiarly' appropriate since Mr. Peters owned his brokerage company in Sail Francisco and was a member of the mining stock exchange there. I find the mining situation in the Philippine Islands most interesting. The production of the Islands as a whole has had a very steady increase over the past couple of years until at this time approximately twenty mines are producing in excess of 1*4,000,000.00 a month. All information I am able to secure in the short period of time I have been here convinces me that there is an opportunity of finding and developing an additions,1 number of producing properties, some of which may become as important as those which are at this time pt5ducing substantially and profitably. I have been particularly interested in a comparison between the mining and stock activities here and similar activities which I have witnessed in a number of so-called boom mining camps and localities in the United States. While there are quite a few points of similarity, I have noticed many different conditions existing here than any I have seen before. In the first place the huge capitalization of many of the corporations insofar as the number of shares is concerned, together with the very small par value of the shares of these companies, has impressed me, I may say, quite unfavorably. I have yet to hear any satisfactory explanation of these very large capitalizations. I have also been impressed with the very large number of claims on acreages held by many of the mining companies. CAMAHORT & JIMENEZ STOCKS and BONDS MEMBER MANILA STOCK EXCHANGE 34 Escolta Tel. 2-34-81 P. O. Box 54 5 Lines IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL