Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-01

forehead 10 high and his ewes are slightly
almond in shape. He has little mustache and
thickest OF stiff black hair. He is very fond OF
his wife, mean his half-sister wife, and he
makes a great deal Of the crown prince. The
crown prince is still a boy, but he has been
shown q number Of times to people and he 10
said to have remarkably good sense. Just out
side OF Bangkok there is palace which belongs
to him. and the boy is being educated in such
a way that he will probably make fit success
sor Of his father.
sIAMEsE WOMEN.
wonder whether the members of the lega-
ton will ever bring their wives to Washington?
II they do we will have decided sensation pro-
vided they come in their native costume. Tho
common Siamese woman wears only q suronT
and Turkish towel. The surong goes around
her waist and between her legs, and the Turkish
towel Is wound about her bust and shoulders
Now and then sine takes off the towel and is
satisfied with the surong. She rarely we srs
shoes, and girl under eight years old often
wears nothing buta string around her waist.
The better classes wear more costly clothing,
and some Of the ladies have strip Of thin cot
ton which they wear tightly around the body
under the arm pits and fasten with knot just
over the bust, leaving the shoulders and neck
entirely bear. Some OF the ladies of the harem
wear npon state occasions European clothing,
and others add to the surong loose jacket
trimmed with Swiss embroidery and covered
with bows Of ribbons set on in rows. They
all wear bracelets on their wrists
and ankles on their legs. and not a few Of them
are quite pretty. The Siamese girls are the most
graceful women in the world. Their joints are
very supple and a part Of their education is
made up OF bending their joints back and forth
to make them 80. They are all short haired,
and when young they are as plump as par
their own beautiful land. As they grow older
they become wrinkled and ugly, and the most
OF them ruin their teeth from chewing the
betel Only the fewest OF them are educated,
and don't think that they would be happy in
our high French-heel shoes and they would
die if bound in by our corsets and crinoline
One OF tho prettiest women in Siam is the
queen. She has short hair, like her Siamese
sisters and her teeth would be pretty if she
were not addicted to betel nut chewing She
Is OF nearly the same age as the king and it is
said that her marriage was to certain extent
marriage Of love. 1t seems strange to think that
man should fall in love with his sister,
but you must remember that the King Of Siam
came OF family of eighty-four children and he
had thirty-four half brothers and forty-nine
naif sisters The custom of Siam requires that
the royal blood shall be kept pure, and for
years the kings have. l am told, married their
sisters. 1t is considered an honor among the
noble families OF Siam to have daughter in
the harem of the king. and the only woman that
the king cannot marry by the laws OF Siam is
MS mother. His court is one of intrigue and
plotting. and a government officer who has a
daughter in the harem can thus better hold the
friendship of the king and can keep himself
posted on all that is going on in the palace.
The last king had wives from China and India,
and he wanted to add an English girl to his
gallery of beauties. The women Of the harem
live to certain extent together in the palace.
and they are considered passe at the age Of
Twenty-Five At this time, if they have no
children. they become the waiting maids Of the
younger wives Of the king. and the stock is re-
p!enished yearly with the flower Of the beauties
OF SIAM FRANK G.. CARPENTER