The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-04-16

A Country Where Women Excel the Men
In Shrewdness.


A Country Where Women Excel the Men
In shrewdness.
The Siamese consider themselves to
be handsome race, and in their opin-
ION their women are more beautiful
than those of any other country. La
Loubere, French writer, says that he
once exhibited to the Siamese the por-
traits of some celebrated beauties Of the
court Of Louis XIV, and was COM
PEELED to acknowledge that they ex-
cited no admiration whatever. A large
French doll. however, which he pre-
sented to one of the princes. was pro-
nounced model of physical perfec-
ton, and he was assured that woman
OF such a form and with such exquisite
features would command high price
IN the royal city.
The native women of Siam are GER
tainly remarkably handsome, and,
though somewhat diminutive. they are
naturally graceful in their movements
and excel the men in intelligence and
shrewdness. They are cashiers in al
most every native establishment, and
are considered to be safer guardians of
the money-box than the proprietors, or
even their own husbands, to whom they
dole out the copper OTIS or silver fuangs
with frequent precautions and admonl-
tons. although, in accordance with
Eastern ideas, they are regarded as in
ferior to men In every respect, there
are few countries where they so thor
mghly demonstrate and maintain their
equality as they do in Siam. In every
well-organized and properly conducted
business-house they are acknowledged
to be indispensable, and nearly all the
multitudinous native hongs and retail
establishments at Bangkok, as well as
those in the remote provinces of the
by them.
They seem to possess genius for
trade, and are marvelously successful
in all kinds of mercantile pursuits. AS
saleswomen in the native shops they
are precise and persistent In making a
bargain, and always win their custom
ers by genial craftiness that is too
fascinating to resist and an unaffected
plausibility that disarms suspicion.
The Chinese merchants who settle in
Siam and engage in trade have a keen
appreciation of these qualities, and Sc
lect Siamese women for their wives in
preference to those of their own race,
who are seldom capable of becoming
anything but toys and menials. Thus,
with the Eurasians on the one hand and
Che Siamo- Chinese on the other, that
section of the far East is being gradu-
ally peopled by new-formed races in
which only few distinguishing traces
of the ancestral types will ultimately
be found.
Siamese women are an important
factor in the body polite. In the
state, as we'll as in the household, she
performs a part which commands the
respect of even those who pretend to
despise her sex. In the palace her will
is "the power behind the throne greater
than the throne itself" Her Majesty,
the Queen consort, though unpro-
claimed as the royal spouse, is, never
theless, practically supreme in infu-
ence, if not in authority. She is less
beautiful than some of the inmates of
the royal mansion, but more noted for
her ability and intelligence than any of
the women that surround the court.
The young King has been devotedly
attached to her from his boyhood, and
denies her nothing that his generous
nature can bestow to complete her hap
piness.
1t is even asserted that he would
abolish the time-honored custom of the
country by casting aside his other wives
if she demanded it. She is his constant
companion at home. and always accom-
panies him on every journey, and, ]
was informed by missionary lady who
has been frequent visitor at the palace
for many years, that in the affairs OF
state he relies more upon her judgment
than upon the service of the members
OF the privy council, who are presumed
to be skilled in the subtle art of diplo-
macy and statecraft Besides being
amiable, intelligent, frugal, and indus
trious, she is gifted with good sense
and endowed with other admirable vir-
tues. When Mrs. Grant was presented
to her in the private audience chamber
of the royal palace she conducted her
self with a SIMPLICITY and dignity OF
manner that could not have been sur
passed if she had been a well-trained
scholar in the school of etiquette. =
Foreign letter.