St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-10-21

| his court, his attendants his throngs of
servants, and is treated like a prince.
The White Elephant is an albino, not
com letely white, but here and there
having spots of cream color over his
otherwise dusky hide. re- Emerald
Idols temple is wonderful structure of
the utmost magniiiccncc, the doors and
much of the wall being plated with gold.
| The idal itself is said to be solid C:Icr-
aid twelve inches high by eight wide,
the hair and dress of the rude figure
being made of gold studded with precious
gems.
Siam is one of the least known of the
great countries of Asia 1t lies at the
lower part of the peninsula Of farther
Siam. Tho mighty river Menam runs
through it from north to south aud the
| whole country is a network of canals
In the winter large part of it is covered
with water and the people go from house
| to house and from place to place in
boats.
Siam is about four times as big as the
State of New York; it contains about
10000, 900 people, and the country and
the people, body and soul, belong to the
king The king has the right to every
mans labor, and any woman whom he
calls upon must enter his harem. He
has the most arbitrary power of any
king of the East, and he is one of the
rich monarchs of the world.
THE ROYAL PALACE.
His palace in Bangkok is magnifi-
cent structure, with golden elephants
guarding its entrances. 1t has twenty
five acres of ground about it, and it is
said that 5000 people live within the
palace walls.
The king is said to have 800 wives,
but the queen, who is the chief of these,
is his ma jesty's half sister. She is very
bright woman and has made herself
noted for her charity. She rules the
harem and smokes cigarettes.
Siam is the home of Buddhism. There
are $4,000 Buddhist priests in the ST.
alnese capital, and these are of all ages,
from 1G to 80. They 90 about with
shaved heads and yellow stripes of cloth
wound about their half-naked bodies,
and they chew the betel and smoke
cigarettes as they 60 begging from house
to house.
Chululong Kom, the king, is one of
the brightest of Asiatic rulers and has
done much to advance civilization in
Siam. He has put telegraph lines
throughout great part Of his kingdom.
There is now street car line in Bank
kok and the city has electric lights
1t used to be that the money used in
Siam was cowrle shells, or silver and gold
buttons. The king has adopted Il coin
age, making money much the same as
that of ours. He has mint of his own,
and he imports Mexican dollars and re-
casts these into coins for the use of his
people. The unit of value in Siam is the
the size of half dollar.
He has post office department, and
Siam belongs to the international postal
union The king talks English, and he
is thinking of building railroad which
will open up the interior of his rich
kingdom Siam is full of valuable re
sources. 1t has mighty forests of teak
wood and it's mines contain the finest of
gold and silver.
The king has an income of about
$40, 100000 year, aud he is said to have
about $50, 600 stored away in his
Golfers. He has his own secretary of the
treasury, ,but he signs all the checks him
self, and is said to be very fine business
man. He has his cabinet, just as our
president has, and he has his war depart
ment, state department, interior depart
ment and agricultural department.
His country is divided up into forty
one provinces, presided over by COVER
nors, and he runs things to suit himself,
making such appointments as he chooses.
THE BURDEN OF TAXES.
The people of Siam are taxed for all
they are worth. Everything under the
sun has to pay a percentage to the gov
eminent. A great part of the revenue
of the king comes from the gambling
establishments. The people are a nation
of gamblers and the gambling taxes
bring in $500, 600 year. The taxes are
all farmed out, as are also the people,
who as slaves of the king are ordered to
work for him part of every year
1t is only the Chinese who are not
subject to such service, and they are re-
leased from it by the payment o. a poll
tax. There are many Chinese in Siam,
and it is said that they are fast swallow
ing up the country.
The king of Siam is very anxious to
strengthen the relations with foreign
powers. He realizes the danger which
constantly menaces his country from its
position. It is the meat Of
the sandwich of farther India. One slice
of this sandwich belongs to France, and
includes Cochin China. The other slice
belongs to Great Britain. and it takes up
the provinces of Burmah. Siam lies in
the centre, and it is richer than either.
Both France sand England are land
hungry, and they look with greedy eyes
upon Siam. 1t is one of the richest plums
which still hang on the tree of barbarism
in the far East.
The army is nothing to speak of. |
Every man has to serve the state for |
three months in the year, but there is no |
armed militia. In case of war with |
England or France Siam could not do |
much, and its chief safety lies in the fact
that neither of these great countries
wants the other to have it. Probably |
eventually it will be divided between
them. The king of Siam. is still q
young man. He will be 40 years old |
21. He is not over five feet |
high, but is very straight and we'll
formed. In his court dress he wears g.
vast fortune of jewels.
His head is crowned with a golden
pyramid of Jewels. He puts on unon |