and they immediately took charge of the Manila Post-office, which was opened for business on the 16th.  The Custom House was opened on the 18th, with Lieutenant-Colonel Whittier as Collector, and the Internal Revenue office, with Major Bement as Collector on the 22nd.  Captain Glass of the Navy was appointed Captain of the Port, or Naval Officer, and took charge of the office on August 19th.  The collections of customs during the first ten days exceeded $100,000.  The collection of internal revenue was small owing to the difficulty and delay in ascertaining what persons had or had not paid their taxes for the current year.  The administration of Water Works was put in charge of Lieutenant Connor, of the Engineers, on August 25th, the Provost Court with Lieutenant-Colonel Jewett, Judge Advocate United States Volunteers, sitting as Judge, was appointed and held its first session on August 23rd.

The Provost Marshal General has charge of the Police, Fire, Health and Street Cleaning Departments, and the issuing of licenses.  The Guardia Civil, or Gendarmerie of the City, proving indifferent and inefficient, they were disarmed and disbanded; the 13th Minnesota regiment was detailed for police duty, and one or more companies stationed in each Police Station, from which patrolmen were sent out on the streets to take the place of the sentries who had constantly patrolled them from the hour of entering the city.

The shops were all closed when we entered on Saturday afternoon, the 13th; on Monday some of them opened, and by Wednesday the Banks had resumed business, the newspapers were published, and the merchants were ready to declare goods at the Custom House, the tram cars were running and the retail shops were all open and doing a large business.  There was no disorder or pillage of any kind in the city.  The conduct of the troops was simply admirable, and left no ground for criticism.  It was noted and commented upon by the foreign naval officers in the most favorable terms, and it so surprised the Spanish soldiers that a considerable number of them applied for permission to enlist in our service.

At the time I left General McArthur fully established his office as Provost Marshal General, and was organizing one by one the various bureaus connected with it, all with United States military officers in charge; the Provost Court was in daily session, sentencing gamblers and persons guilty of petty disturbances, and a military commission had just been ordered to try a Chinaman accused of burglary.

In various public offices I collected the following Spanish funds: 

At the General Treasury $795,517.71
At the Mint 62,856.08
At the Internal Revenue Office 24,077.60
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$882,451.39

Of this amount there was in

Gold Coin $ 4,200.00
Gold Bars 3,806.08
Silver Coin 190,634.81
Copper Coin 297,300.00
Spanish Bank Notes 216,305.00
Accepted Checks 170,205.50
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$882,451.39