Morning journal and courier., 1885-08-01
FAR DISTANT SIAM.
Life i'm the Ambitious and Filthy City
 of Bangkok.

FAR DISTANT SIAM.
 Life i'm the Ambitious and Filthy City
 of Bangkok.
 From the Washington Correspondence to Cincin-
 natl Times-Star.l
 Gen. J. A. Haldeman, the first United States minister to Siam, and the only one, is in the city just now. He is here on @ leave of absence, for he finds it absolutely necessa- " to come home and escape from the climate and other uncomfortable features of life in Sian tI have been in bad health," he said to your correspondent, as he sat in his com fortable room at the Arlington. ''It is 8 hard sort of life to lead there. The climate is very hot, and the surroundings anything but healthful or comfortable. There is no drainage in the city of Bangkok, where I was located, and the city is filthy as the river on which it is situated, and on which 8 part of it foats."
 ''Is Bangkok floating city then?"
 'In part, yes There are good many houses built on rafts. The city, you see is on both sides of the river, and extends out into it. The heat there is so intense that there is necessity for fighting it in every way possible and 50 many houses are built on these rafts. The houses are of bamboo,
 
 the city is so much on the water and in it that very large share of the travel and traffic about the city is done in boats. There are few carriages belonging to the king and his chief officers, and to the English and other Europeans there, but they are few. Very much of the travel is, as I have said I, done by boats. It is not always the most agreeable, for the river is as filthy as the land You meet dead horses and dogs and filth of All sorts floating down the river, and perhaps an hour later IA you congratulate yourself that 1t has gone by forever, you meet 1t floating back with the rising tide. Ics, there is almost everything there includ- ing cholera, which is almost always present II greater or less degree"
 "What sort of people are they, gen. .rallyF'
 Mixed, very much mixed. Of course the Julk are Samese, but there are many thou. 5ands of Chinese, q sprinkling of English and other as relates to Siam. The Sianese, 1t is believed, are originally of the same stock as the Chinese but 20 far back that the resetn- blattce is not striking They eat rice the satfte IS the Chinese d6, but fi6t in tie aaffe 3ay, for the Ghihathaii eats it with his chop tieka, while the Siaihese eats 1t with tfis ltigtts, takihg f tip atta ett 6f ths aish with
 iie efid If ltis fingers, tttd s6 conveying 1t 6 bis H6Hth: fiffsi 6t e8atss, fefefs t8 tHe sjitliH8ii bsebie; Fhs bettef eiasa, tbe king Afa thg8G HeaF him, aRd shs EeaitHier aHa t8fe intelligent, i've II BtettF e99d styie aHd ltFe RiaHE 8f ttie methods 8f the Europeans, fF8m whom they have learned iHaHg 9f the :4stgms 9f their home life, and fr9Fa ths missionaries, who have introduced 2 good many 9t the sans arts ef civilization"
 "There are some Europeans there, thenF
 H0h, yes, hundreds of them, though many, lf course, are mere adyeptursrs, and not a class of people that it is pleasant to meet as representatives of one's own civilization. There are no more, perhaps, than 100 or 200 English speaking people in Bangkok, not native to that country, who are especially agreeable associates" {"
 "What sort of a man is the king, persoa- ally|
 "A rather intelligent, bright young man of B, small in stature, with black mustache hair parted in the middle, black eyes, good address, and easily approached. I had no difficulty in reaching him when I 80 desired. He seemed rather glad to receive visits of this nature, and was by no means so exacting or ceremonious as he was reported to be. For instance, I was told that must never turn my back on him while in his presence, as it was very grave breach of etiquette. Well, I was not accutoomed to this sort of thing. am, as you see, very large man, weighing some 234 pounds, and for me to go backing about and running the risk of stumbling over something is quite danger ous, as well uncomfortable. So I said that it was not the custom in our country and was not done in audiences with our Pres ident, and while l was quite willing to give the king all the honors we pad our Presi- dent at home I would ask to follow the cus- tom of my country. So, in my audiences talked until had said all I wanted to say and without waiting for the king to termin- ate the interview in the formal way they have there, rose, took leave in the usual S,f orF1S and hAxxy to and walked to the door, where turned and bowed again before passing out. This sort of performance astonished the Europeans there as well as the natives very much, but it seemed to please the king. He was al ways very cordial to me, shaking hands with me after the English fashion when called talking pleasantly and quite unreservedly and at one time, when on an elephant hunt, I was not only invited to be member of tht royal party, but was given a. seat beside the king"
 ''How does the king dress?''
 'After the English fashion, with coa closely buttoned, a sash, some decorations the throne he wears different dress, al embroidered coat and curious high pointed cap, sort of a crown, which gives him rather curious appearance to those unaccus toned to the sight"
 'FAnd the people, how do they dresss" ''The better classes wear a sort of coat, cloth fastened about the waist and tucked down between the legs and fastened to th' belt at the back, and in some cases shoes ana [ stockings. The masses, however, omit botl | the shoes and stockings, wearing simply ths | garments of which 1 have spoken. Tn weather there, you see, is very hot and cloth \ ing is a burden. Nobody wears linen O ! cotton shirts there except on extraordinary | occasions, simply thin woolen shirt nex ! to the body, with linen outer clothing" Dr. Green stopped Digging. | from the Boston Record.l Dr. Samuel A. Green, whom everybod. ! knows and likes, and whose recent appoint 1 rnent to the State board of health, lunac.. ! and charity puts the right man in the righ ! place, is, as is well known, jealous antiqua rian and archeologist, who is especially in l terested in the aborigines and early settler l of this country. A story is told of his expe rience at Mount Desert before that lovely is ! land had become the resort of fashionabl pleasu1 e-seekers. In those days visitors ar irving by steamer had to wander about il ! search of the landlords of the primitive ho | tels who were strangely indifferent to tn | convenience of their guests. Leaving hi | baggage on the wharf, Dr. Green sought ou ! one of the hostelries and finding nothin ! better to do obtained shovel and began t dig in an adjacent mound, which, from it ! appearance, suggested to him an aborigins ! origin. While engaged in this work a we | man rushed out furiously from the hotel an