The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-05-18

| the twisting OF bamboo wlthes tighter an
tighter about the head until the prisone
confesses, and another is the whipping
with the bamboo of the man stretched ou
at full length and his skin pulled taut b,
men at his head and heels. The prison
of Siam are horrible dungeons, some o
them hanging over the water, and tn,
forcing of convicts to work in heavy chain
is so common that you meet them con
staptly on the street, and this not alone O
men but of women as well.
His Majesty's name is perhaps the
longest of any m5narch in the world. L
contains ffty-seven letters, and he is called
Chulalangkorn for short, He has ter
different names in addition to this, and the
full names of the royal family would,
doubt not, fill column of this newspaper
The Queen is not far from twenty years Of
age, she rules the harem, aud she is very
pretty Siamese girl Her complexion is .
light brown, and her oily black hair, about
two inches long, stands straight up and
is combed backward from fair, open fore
head She has beautiful eyes, wears dia,
mond earrings and diamond pendant at
her neck, and her fingers are covered with
precious stones She smokes cigarettes,
as does also the King, and she ehews the
betel-nut, making her teeth as black as jet
and her lips stick out. The Siamese say
that any dog can have white teeth, but
that it is only those who are rich enough
to afford the betel-nut who can have black
ones. Black teeth are sign of beauty
here, and all the ladies of the harem chew
and smoke
| visited the storehouse of the Purveyor
to the King. 1t Is an English establish
ment, but its business is to sell TO the palace
and to the harem the various articles they
need 1t has hundreds of balls and play
things, which are brought from Europe for
the royal babies, and the clerk tells me that
there is not a fancy French plaything or
amusement Of any sort that Is not sold to
the palace | was shown about hundred
dozen little China spittoous about the size
of a shaving mug. These were beautifully
decorated, and some of the pictures were
by native SiameSe artists sent to Europe to
be painted upon them. | bought one dec
GRATED with a picture BY Siamese Prince,
and | was told that these spittoons are used
BY the ladies of the harem to spit in while
chewing this Disgusting preparation of the
spongy betel-nut, mixed with rosetinted
lime aud fine-ent tobacco. ! talked with
the dress maker as to the fashions affected
by the Kings wife aud his scores Of con-
cubines, and was told that the ladies of the
harem prefer Siamesc dress, and that their
fayoritc costume Is the surong or waist
cloth, to which they add loose jacket
trimmed with Swiss embroidery aud Gov
cred with bows Of ribbon set on in rows.
Commonly they wear neither shoes nor
stockings, and the chief Lex decoration Is
an anklet of gold They have some for
eign costumes which they put on when the
court photographer takes their portraits,
bat their common attire is more that of
iewelry and bracelets than Of silks or satins.
These ladies of the harrem are the most
noble ladies' of Siam.
An ENDLESS NUMBER or WIVES.
The last King had wives from China and
India, and he was anxious TO add we'll
bred English girl to his gallery Of beauties.
lie had, il is said, chances 10 secure one or
two French maidens, but he had so much
trouble with the French that he declined
to receive them. Once in the harem, it is
impossible for woman TO get out, and IN
the ease of slirtations the offending woman
is In danger of being put TO death. Many
of the girls gamble, and some of them do
fine embroidery and fancy work. Some
become jewellers and others make articles
and sneak them out of the palace to be sold.
The women are not kept in separate palaces
and each does not have an establishment Of
her own as in Japan After the age Of
twenty-five, if they have no children, the
older women become the waitins-maids Of
the younger and the stock is replenished
continually. The present King shows no
inclination 10 come down to the American
wife principle, aud during his present
visit TO the interior he has taken a couple
Of score Of his favorite women along with
him. The Amazons have, am told, been
done away with at the palace The last
King had them, but though looked
through the best ef pebbled glasses for
them durigs my visit TO the palace | saw
aot one.
The palace of the King at Bangkok was
built only few years ago. Ii looks much
like one Of the great palaces of Europe. Ii
has several stories and under the bright
rays Of this Siamese sun it seems to be
made of marble. \ closer inspection shows
that the marble is stucco, aud the golden
elephants, each about half life-size, which
guard the entrance, change as you come
near them from massive gold TO iron gilded.
Wide stairways lead by marble steps
through these into great vestibule, the
ceiling of which is about forty feet high,
and the walls Of which are hung with old
Siamese armOr. At the right of this is the
Kings audieuee-hall His throne is bed
and he lies on his arm or sits Siamese
fashion, a IA Turk, while he receives his
royal Council and discusses the matters Ot
the Kingdom. The Ministers and mobiles
sit on leather-cushioned benches, and the
portraits of Siamese heroes, in oil, by Eu,
ropean artists, look down upon them from
the walls. Just back of the King there l.
A portrait of u shaye-headed, crooked
mouthed, pale-faeed, halG-naked Ruddhist
priest. 1t is the high priest of the king
doG, and thus the proceedings go on undei
the very shadow of Buddha himself. The
priests, by the way, claim that the roya
family are lineal descendants of Buddha.
A GLIMPSE OF THE PALACE.
On the other side of the yestibulo is ;
grand receptiop-room fully as wide ant
nearly as loug as the Fast Room of tn
/ White House at Washington, This
paved with marble Mosaic, and its higl
ceiling, twice as high as that of the Eas
Room, is gorgeously decorated with cary
ings of gold Brilliant chandeliers hans
down from it, and about the walls are oil
paintings of the royal family, and the onl
woman's face among them is that of tn
present Queen, whose sweet face looks dow
beside those of the Kings brothers, an
has the best light and the place of homo
of the whole ROOM The furniture of thi
room is European, and the treasures c
Europe have been ransacked to fill il
There are rare vases from Dresden, filigre
work from Venice, and richly-carved gol
from Siam, Through this room and o
into third grand reoept:on-room we wer
with the Siamese noble. Here the Kin
received, the day before he left, the Au
trian Prince whom | have met during m