The Indianapolis journal., 1893-07-24

dong n great deal TO civilize them. Before
his second coronation 1878 all natives
who approached the King had TO do so on
oil fours. They had to raise their ha nds in
alteration TO him and bump their heads on
the mats before him. The King did away
with all that. and he has introduced the
American nandshake into his reception of
foreigners. he gives receptions to foreign
ers and be speaks the English tongue.
though he never does this when noted for
eigners have an audience with him. He
has brought the telegraph and the teie-
phone into Bangkok. has established
street-car line. and lights his harem with
electric llghte.
Tue King of Siam is Buddhist, and be
was for some time q buddhist priest. as Is
the custom with all men in Siam. Every
one Is expected at s0me time 10 enter the
priesthood. and this royal monarch. with
his millions OF treasure, his scores of wives.
and hIs Sl0.00.0OO a year. once shaved his
head and DomInally gave uD his crown and
his harem TO wear q yellow cotton scarf
about his waist and 60 70 fasting and pray
ing. The SIsmese priests are picturesque.
as well as devout The priesthood Is use
full TO married men. man can be di-
vorced whenever he likes by entering the
priesthood for a month or so. Mobiles do
not require any such formality.
The great event in the life of q Siamese is
the function of having bis hair cut. This
Is sometimes a great event In the life of
American young man also. On the top of
n Slamese baby's head certain lock of
hair Is preserved. ALI the rest of the head
70 shaved, but this lock Is kept sacred until
DO reaches the age when he officially passes
from boyhood to manhood. Then of comes
the lock. The celebrations attending the
hair cutting or the present King lasted
three days.
The King of Siam has a very large sssort-
ment or wives. but he Is so high and
mighty that he must marry no body be-
meath him in rank, his only equals being
his own family. His regular official Queen
NJ usS. therefore. always be his half-sister.
The Queen Is not far from twenty years of
age; she rules the harem, and che is q very
pretty Siamese girl. Her CONF plexIon is a
hight brown. and her oily black hair.
about Two inches long. stands straight
mp and is combed backward from q
fair. open forehead. She has beautiful
eyes. wears diamond earrings and has q
diamond pendant at her neck. aud ner fin
gers are covered with precious stones
She smokes cigarettes does also the
King. and she ohrws the betel nut. making
her teeth "a black as JET. and her lips stick
out. The Sismese 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.
The debtor GLASS of Siam afford great
contrast TO all this gorReOusness. They are
stripped naked and chained To heavy logs;
are compelled to work as slaves The In.
terest on money Is so high In Siam that
when man once gets In debt the most he
can possibly hope for by the hardest kind
Of work is to pay the interest on what he
owes. This has discouraged industry and
has encouraged the practice of allowing
women TO do the work. Man. being proud
and ambitious. soon tires of industry in
dulRed for it's own sweet sake.
The temples and palaces of Siam
BtSuctures OF complicated magnificence.
Witnesses In the courts are tortured In
very ingenious ways. Certain classes are
prohibited from testifying They include
drunkards. gamblers. virgins. execution
ers. beggars and persons W bO cannot read.
When they whip q man they stretch his
skin from his head TO his heels to make the
blows effective.
The sacred white elephant. for which
Siam is famous. If he ever did amount TO
anything. has gone all to pieces. He is at
present a many. scrsggy. wIld-eyed Great
ure. with nothing white about him but his
ears. which seem to have leprosy. His
keepers are dirty, he is not bound with
golden chains. and the only thing royal
about him is his bad temper.