Mexico weekly ledger., 1886-10-21
ORIENTAL ORTHODOXY.
Descriptive Letter From the American
Minister to Siau-The Peculiar
Currency Of that Far-eR
Country, cot.

OOuntIy, ects
correspondence OF the Ledger.
BANGKOK, SLAM, Aug. 25.-Your
letter was received . few DAYS since
and / will endeavor to secure you
some of the round coin of This coun-
try, but they are no longer coined BY
the government, the fat coin taking
their place, and for sums less. Then
a triol, (6oc,) copper coin, is usually
called an oft; halt otis are termed
soloti. There are one, two and four
oft pieces. The two Oft piece i
called pi, and the four OFT piece is
called sang pi and is about the size Of
dollar. The value Of the ott l.
nearly one cent The silver coin il
the fuong, 2 1-2 cents, or 8 otis; 90
lung l6 otis, and the triol or bolt,
"a otis or 60 cents. They also have
gold coin, same weight as silver coin,
but none are in circulation, and can
only be obtained as coins. Their
value is about twenty times that Of
silver. A number Of gold mines are
successfully worked in Siam, and the
metal is used In the manufacture Of
idols, ornaments and jewelry, such 40
gold vases, go5lets, tea pots, cigar
and butter boxes, and cnspidors,
which the king presents to his high
officials and distinguished guests.
There are silver mines here also, but
have not learned anything about
them. Not long since the small
change Of Siam consisted of a spd
of sea shell called coury, and
government fixed their value at 81
for fuong, s otis. As 1t was i'm
possible to get along with such q
cumbrous currency, il it could be 20
termed, lead pieces were introduced,
but the government gave them too
great value and soon the country
was flooded with counterfeit, SO this
had to be discontinued and the pres
ent copper coin took their place. The
bullet-shaped coin do not have any
thing on them but the government
stamp, and q great many bad ones
were put in circulation by the
Chinese. The mint is in the palace
grounds and the metal used is mainly
Mexican dollars, three of which make
five trikols. Before re-coining them
the dollar is placed in an even and
burnt, SO that IL any are of base metal
they would melt and thus the coun.
: terfeit be detected. But I presume
you are tired Of hearing about the
coin Of this section, which are about
as hard to get hold Of as that Of
Uncle Sam.
So far 1 am delighted with Siam,
and know Of no section that has
; fairer prospect Of prosperity before
1t. The people are careless, happy,
indolent race, but the Chinese make
up for their lack Of energy. They
are the workers of the East, taking
hold of everything, and some Of them
are very worthy, and truly hospitable,
, comprising over half the population
! Of the city. Yesterday, while walk
, ing in the new road, wide street
macadamlzed for about SIX miles, I
noticed about dozen different kind
Of costumes-Malays, Hindoos, Cey-
lonese, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese,
Loos, Siamese, Csmbodians, etc, and
I they presented singular appearance
. as they walked along talking their
. peculiar dialect, and made one re-
, alize that he was long way from
q home. The Siamese are. q very
/. religious people, charitable, and keep
, up their priesthood by charitable con.
, tributions, which the priests collect
n daily, going from house to house,
q and you can see persons taking IN
a contributions to the Wots or temples,
n accompanied with bouquets Of flowers,
as the people are passionately fond
: Of flowers, weave them into coronets
q and wear them on their heads and
decorate their persons. As they are
very fragrant (the flowers We mean)
7 they shed a subtle perfume as they
pass along.
I, There are about four hundred
a white people here, and they are very
!, sociablc, having entertained Mrs.
Child and myself at dinners and balls,
and on Saturday afternoons we drive
k to the kings garden, q lovely place,
d handsomely laid off in walks, and b
l. said to contain the finest collection
# Of roses in the world, also large
9 collection of orchids and other rsr
y flowers. Attached to the garden, III
l. annex, is menagerie, containing
r. some rare animals, but no white
n elephant. The visitors amuse them
g selves by playing lawn tennis, croquet
+ ETC., in which the Primes take hand
and drinking champagne. tea, or whai
they like, restaurant being located
on the grounds.
% Keep the Cockrell boom booming
Is and believe me yours,
1t j. T. CHn.b.