The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-05-18
VOL. XXIV.-NO. %.

Frederick, the late Emperor of Germany,
among the many oil-paintings on the wall,
The audience-chamber or rather the
throne-room of the King, is a grand hall
/ with ceiling made of many -colored pieces
of glass, and producing the same effect as
the glass wall which Tiffany built between
the vestibule and the long corridor of our
White House. The light shining through
it was made of jewels, and the room is
lighted from the top. This ceiling is, l
| judge, fifty feet from the floor 1t is
vaulted, and the walls below are frescoed in
gold. Three immense glass chandeliers
like those of the East Room of the White
House hang down from this ceiling, and
these were made for the palace of the En-
peror Of Austria, but were bought by the
King of Siam. The floor is of marble
Mosaic and the King SIS on great chair
or rostrum at the back. Five steps lead to
ii, and beside him are the kingly umbrellas
and over him a nine-story pagoda-ike crown
of white and gold Around the room there
are gold trees and gold bushes, and the
leaves of these are of pure gold, while their
trunks are heavily plated. There were,
perhaps, dozen of these on each side of
the room, and they ranged from the size of
Christmas tree down to that of small
currant bush. These are the offerings of
the rulers of the various provinces under
the King. They make these presents of
gold trees every year, and some of them are
worth fortunes. Not few were of silver,
and the silver trees were placed on one side
of the room, while those of gold were placed
on the other
THE SACRED WHITE ELEPHANTS.
Siam is known as the land of the white
elephant. The elephant is the imperial
animal of the country, and you see his
picture upon all of the flags. The old coins
of the realm have an elephant upon one
side of them, and the white elephant is here
sacred. Heis supposed to be the embodied
spirit of some king or hero, and the people
formerly worshipped him, and they do so
to some extent now. Before going to see
the palace had read glowing description
of the white elephant of Siam. Iexpected
to see his tusks bound with gold, to find
golden chains about his neck, and superb
velvet coat of purple, fringed with scarlet
and gold, over his snow-white body. What
l did find was four wild-eyed, scraggy-
looking elephants with long tusks and with
skins not much whittier than those you see
in the American circus. The only white
part about them was their long tapping
ears, which seemed to be afflicted with the
leprosy. The remainder of their skins had
the whiteness only of disease, and was
told, as a rule, the white elephants of Siam
are mad elephants.
These beasts were in dirty stables, and
they were chained by tae feet to great
wooden posts They had dirty keepers,
and there was no sign of royalty about
them. Their keepers fed them some grass
while we were present, and they performed
some ordinary circus tricks for us. The
glory of the white elephant has in all pro
liability departed, and the elephants of the
interior of Siam are made TO work quite as
hard as their brothers all over the world.
One of the punishmeuts of Siam is making
convicts cut the grass for these royal ele-
plants. One of them killed his keeper
the other day, and the same holy beast
made a snap at me with his trunk when |
entered his Stable.