The Philippines

 

CORREGIDOR
is a two-square-mile mountainous island at the entrance to Manila Bay. The site of Fort Hughes, a U.S. Military Defense Unit with extensive tunnels through the mountains, the island was originally fortified by the Spanish in the 18th Century. It became a U.S. military station in 1900 and, after invasion by the Japanese in 1941, was chosen as a major defense position which was the site of a famous battle in 1942. The electric tram system, which opened in 1910, was operated by soldiers of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. Eleven passenger cars ran on a winding network of lines connecting the docks and wharves with the barracks, schools and administrative offices. One line ran through a tunnel. The postcard shows Topside Station.

 

 

MANILA
is located on the Island of Luzon on the east shore of Manila Bay. It is the principal port and commercial, cultural and industrial center of the Philippines. Founded in 1571, Manila became an important commercial center under Spanish rule and was captured by U.S. forces on Aug. 13, 1898, during the Spanish-American War. A horse tram system was opened in the 1880s and a steam tramway ran north to Malabon. The electric tramway system opened on April 10, 1905, and by the 1920s had 17 routes, 33 miles of track and 110 cars. Thirteen cars served a separate 12-mile interurban line to Pasig. Service ended in 1944 during the Japanese occupation. The postcard shows a tram in the silk-stocking district.

 

 

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