New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-07-02
THE SIAMESE CAPITAL.
A CITY OF STRANGE CONTRASTS AND MANY
PHASES OF LIFE.

PHASES OF LIFE.
There few cities In the far East more IN
tcresting to the observer than the capital OF
Siam, which now bids fair to be the scene oil
war Indeed, the whole country is full OF plct-
uroe1ue contrasts. in the strange mneling OF
civilization and barbarsm. The latest products
of scientific invention are found side by side with
the most primitive and antiquated manners ana
customs Imagine, for example, the stable OF
the sacred white elephant lighted with electric
lamps That is a specimen Of tho grotesqle
mixtures of new and old TO he found everywhere
in siam Il is 30 with the people themselvfs
Most of them know nothing but the TRADITIONAL
Iorr of Siam Yet ever since the present King
assembled the throne as a lad, in 1868, Slarnese
students have visited England. have deem edn-
Gated at Oxford, have joined the bar, ana nave
been trained for the navy. English ana Danish
officials have been employed in the Slamesc
service in the education Of princes, and IN inc
telegraph and postal Offices. The King, a man
Of liberal views and fine disposition. has recoe-
nizcd and encouraged in every way the miro
dnction Of Western advantages, and IN some
respects the Siamcsc might hope to emulate the
civilization Of Japan But, perhaps from ciina'l''
perhaps from racial. idiosyncrasy and lntermar-
ragr with Chinese, they are hindered ny con-
4orvatIsm Of indolencn which must always pre-
cont their acquiring the full benefits Of Western
culture. The veneer Of civilization in dress ana
habits they quickly acquire, as they do European
languages, but in their own homes they, as Bacon
has il, revert TO their customs
Bangkok, the capital of Siam, has been termed
very unhappily the Venice of the East. Perhaps
as regards smells lin which alone there Is any
comparison between them it would have been
tho Rano
But even then an outrageous ailront would have
been offered to Venice 1t Is useless even to at
tempt description Of the smells of Bangkok.
To do so would require a quarto volume, to cata-
logur them would require the services OF an ana
lytical chemist. and 10 read the account OF them
would leave the reader in blissful ignorance OF
his subject The streets are the repository Of
every form Of refuse and are never swept or
cleaned by hand Of man. II is appalling 70 con-
tcmplatc what must he the death rate In a city
inhabited by $4,000 to 10000 persons, espe.
cally in periods of great cholera epidemics, such
as attend a failure in the wet seasons. Eastern
drouths are frightful calamtics. weak mon
soon means insufficient rainfall for the rice crop.
The cool season. November 10 January, is foowe
by the terrible hot season, during which never a
drop of rain can be looked for. The river Menam
-" Mother Of Water"-polluted by every concelv-
able or inconcovablc abOminatiOn of animal and
vegetable matter the rottng cOrpses OF men and
carcassos Of beasts is very low il Is. moreover
tidal M Bangkok and its postilential waters, with
their hIdcous fiotsam, driven back every high
tide by the waters of the and rendered dan
gerouSly brackish. The stream is the color of
pea soup Fill the Jar and stir the water with
piece Of alum. and in ten minutes 1t VIII be as
clear rs IN" pnrest spring water; all IFS suspended
matter will have sunk 10 the bottom into thick
gray stratum. But Woe to the stranger mad
enough 10 taste the CLASSY poison Let him
first say his prayers. and then "Goo1by." If il
DO considered that the natives drink this fetd
liquid without any such precautions as even the
clearing alum il may he imagined what cholera
outbreak means They die by hundreds daily.
The vulturcs and parahs cannot devour the bodies
fast enough; the river cannot carry them down
against the tide 4 truly terrifying picture is
that of an Eastern city in cholera epidemic. As
a matter Of fact, cholera is always an endemic,
and 80 loses It's tcrrors for the apathctic native
until II be upon Linn.
Bangkok itself lies thirty miles up the Menam.
A. pak-Nam river mouth or rather water mouth
Is the custom house, and here The traveller
catches sight Of the first specimen OF Siamese
architecture in the phra dee or spire of a tenn
BE erected in the middle Of the estuary. As one
,,yanccs ND the river native roofs and the spires
II other temples peep out among the palm orchards
until. having rounded Bangkholem, the towering
phra'ch'dccs Of Wat Chang and Wat Phar'koh
hu,st into sight Here. too at BangkhOlem one
gets his first explanation of the comparison las
ba. been said. a very absurd one with Venice.
Here he secs the banks of the broad river linel
with floating houses and pile houses. The pile
lie Emo hot-
rc,cmb,d these Thatched with palm rattan,
built ON high piles Grivcn into the soft alluvian
river bed. these floating houses accommodate
very largo part of the population, and before In"
usc Of carriages and carriage roads they contained
still greater part They extend for several
miles not only on the banks Of the main stream,
bat on the numerous klongS or canals which are
cut for draining purposes into the country. Here
~, river shops. and from time to time,
passes up stream, he comes 20 talaht, or river
market Everything l. To be bought Blrmng-
ham ware. lamps, plate hou>cwliery, watcr-jars,
tgcr-skins, carpenters tools, in short, whatever
l. 10 he purchased in the city bazaars Is also to
be- bought in the floating shops. Nor are there
wanting women pcdlers, who III their little canoes
r sampans paddle everywhere crying fruit, cakes,
brtcl md other refreshments of painful aspect,
and doing, apparently, good trade from morn
ing to night This river life is very curious
study, and no one knows Bangkok proper who has
not studied IL. \ strange medley. Here lie the
loatmcn of 4 rrince a>ircp on rickety landing
stage awaiting orders. Here two nondcscripts
playing chess violently on the platform of float
mg house. Here comes long slmpan full Of
yellow rohcl priests, respectfully fcrrei across
the river to their temple. Here are four or five
Cinnamon bathing with the greatest decency and
decorum and here huge cargolightcrs laden with
rice slowly forge their way down to steamers at
the wharvcs.
Decidedly the river life Of Bangkok is that
10 be- most especially studied. For il is dis
tinctly unique in the East. Nistors.and, on
the whole, these are fairly numerous from those
who visit Sngaporc-tob often neglect the river,
and devote too much of their stay To the society
Of European residents ashore legations, clubs,
hotels are 10 be- found everywhere, and the sights
Of the city on shore can be easily sen in two
or at most, three days But he who would
study the best aspect Of native SiameSc life