Passaic City record., 1893-08-26

network OF waterways about the CITY.
The religion of the people is
Buddhism. Nearly all men of the
upper classes enter the priesthood for
a short time, and by custom no one
can ascend the throne who has not
been mendicant priest.
The temples are very striking OBJ
iects seen from afar, and some of them
are beautiful, but generally, as is the
case with most things Oriental, dis
tance lends enchantment to the view.
Upon near inspection it is found that
there is great deal of tinsel about
them, and their gaudy, cheap orna-
mentation does not favorably impress
the American. They are not neatly
kept, and the visitor picks his way
through rubbish heaps to the temple
entrances Here come the people in
swarms to pray and to listen to the
monotonous chants of crowds of lazy
priests. The lower part of the edifice
contains the images of Buddha, and
all around the pagoda are buildings
devoted to the service of the priest
hood. The most famous temple in all
Siam is the Wat Cheng, opposite the
royal palace. It lifts its sacred spire
200 feet from the ground, and every
inch of its irregular surface is covered
with glazed and colored ornamental
tipn, while little bells hang from every
possible projection, and every zephyr
sets them tinkling.
Another famous temple contains the
mammoth sleeping Buddha. The re-
clining statue is eighty seven feet long.
The most interesting temple In Bang
kok is the temple of the Emerald God
within the royal enclosure, devoted to
the use of the Kings family. 1t is
most ornate, is filed with the rarest
specimens of Oriental and European
art, and, crowning all, is the little
emerald Buddha, only foot high, a
solid mass of diamonds, sapphires and
other gems. Several far loftier temples
in Bangkok cost 100000 apiece, but
the private temple of the King, sur
passing them all in magnifcence, cost
100000
Buddha priests in yellow garbs are
seen everywhere in Bangkok. They
are not permitted to work, and many
young fellows enter the priesthood
simply because they are thus sure OF
an easy, pampered existence. On the
ground beside this old fellow you see
the bowl with which he saunters out
in the morning to collect his daily
bread, or rather rice, and leaning
against the tree is his large umbrella.
When a woman ladies few spoonfuls
of rice into his bowl he hides his face
behind fan, for fear the lsdy's charms
may interrupt his contemplation OF
holy things.
Bangkok is lighted by electricity and
has a system of electric street railways.
Great strides in education have been
made in the last few years The Gov
ernment is a monarchy, the rei9ning
monarch having the right to nominate
his successor from among his sons.
Legislative power is vested in the King
in conjunction with council OF minis
tiers, most of whom are his half broth
ers.
Slams military force consists of
standing army of $4,000 men, and the
people generally are liable to be called
out as required, but there is no armed
militia. Every male inhabitant over
twenty -one years old is obliged to serve
three months year. There are, how
ever, good many exemptions from
this rule. These include members of
the priesthood, the Chinese settlers
who pay a communication tax, slaves,
public functionaries, the fathers of
three sons liable to service, and those
who purchase exemption by fine Of
from SO to 81 month or by furnish
ing a slave or some other person not
subject to conscription as substitute.
The Government possesses upward of
80, 900 stand of arms, beside consid-
erable stock of cannon. The army is
largely officered by Europeans and has
been very largely increased of late
years, both in efficiency and equip
ment.
The naval equipment consists of two