Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-07-27
EAWS REPRESESIATIYE IN CHICAGO SPEAKS
BIS MIND.
Natives Are Fighlsrs-h a Land Battle They Will
Eat tie Europeans -Phra Suriya NutVar
Royal Commissioner, Declares Hims,k


sence Of Frenchman prevented Phra
Nutvatr from putting bis threat Into
execution forthwith and giving can
nibalistic seance then and there.
Possessed ei a keen intellect Is this
Orientalist from the little kingdom
which France, with her bulky warshipS,
DOW threatens Yesterday he was clad
Ia American apparel, which hung TO his
form with that Outre loOseness seen in
al denizens Of the LeVant where they
adopt occidental dress. His feet rested
on q priedieu, and bis dark face was bu-
ried 10 q large map Of the far East. Hts
hair Is raven black, Intensified by oil.
He speaks excellent English, and dis
played q sharp knowledge Of American
methods OF conversation, as shown In
the interrOgatOry half Of the interview.
CALLS THE FRENCH UN6RATEFUL.
''See,n be said, motiOnlng a reporter
forThe Inter Ocean 20 she map over which
he was pOring. "YOu can see for your
self how outrageous the demands Of the
French are.
ssHsre are the two principal streams
uf Siam running North and South, at
their mouths quite 3 distance apart, but
At their sources very near together.
The one on the West Is the Menam-
near the mouth Of which Is situated
Bangkok. The one on the East is the
Mekong, to the North running In the
Siamsss kingdom, but South m Anam
and CambOdia, French territory.
THE ungrateiul Frenchw Phra Nat
yair exclaimed, his black eyes snap
ping. Three years ago" be explained,
'Hls Majesty, she King Of Siam, gave
the French permission 70 explore the
upper Mekong. Now, then, they have
taken advantage Of him by selecting
desirable points along that river and
laying claim 80 them. This Is the cause
Of the whole trouble. France wants
the river MekOng. She wants IL to tap
the commerce OF TOnQuin and injOre
the English trade, which comes down
the river Menam entirely at present III
France cam break up England's trade
in Siam and at the same time divert the
French peoples eyes from the odorous
scandals at home, she will have gained
her object"
''Can France do it?'
'sNo, sir. We have q standing army,
armed with Manchester magazine rifles.
On theland we are equal TO she French.
Our men can endure the fevers and
heat, the latter reaching 100 degrees
Fahrenheit at this season. We have no
Warships. We do not need them. Siam
is naturally protected Shadows and
shoals surround all our coast liaes and
it will be i'm possible for LARGE boats TO
get near enough to lombard our cities.
The uext move Of the French will be TO
lombard Bangkok, the capital. see
they are depending CO the monsoon to
p a-'araa<-s ArxssFss Sufficiently 20 allow
-. 20 get over the shoals. They will
be disappointed ia that The monsoon
will not do II.
SAYS sIANIEsE ARE FIGHTERS.
"The French cannot land their troops.
The country between Cam0odia, their
position, and Bangkok is overgrOwn
with brambe and swamps, They can
not land IN Burmah, for that is En-
glish."
''But II the French should land in
Bangkok proper"
"Let the French put so much as q
foot on Siamese land and We will eat
them up."
care tSs SAmese fghters?"
"Wa-sle. We haven't had a war In |
100 Isars. The last was when the Bur |
mSSe invaded our country and con- |
Huered the whole kingdom, destroying /
our ancient capital, Yuthia, the ruins |
OF which can now be seen q few miles /
above Bangkok. But we reclaimed our /
country and set up new dynasty, Of |
which the present king is the fifth rep |
resentative.
The only fight we have had recently |
was with band of Chinese marauders |
who swept down on Us three years ago. |
We scattered them without the least /
trouble"
$40 you believe the English will take /
any part Ia the troubled"
II cannot say. The territory the /
French demand, while almost a third OF /
Slam, is uprOductive aud sparsely pop /
ulated But It is a demand the King OF |
Siam could not submit TO and retain his /
honor. We will fight rather than give |
up the MekOng district. This is GER |
tain.
CHANCE FOR ENGLISH INTERFERENCE. /
when the King refused France its /
demands, do you not think the King /
had some assurance from the English |
that they would back him up in his |
standp'
! II do not know"
"SOme private aSsurance?"
1T would not be private II knew
H., and Phra Nutvatr smiled at his own 1
Quip.
"There Is one thing that makes me
believe that the English will not allow
the French 70 20 TOO far. The posses
sion Of the Mekong by the French will
ruin English trade. Ii cannot hurt
Siam. Siam herself ships but little.
She can live on her own products. But
we In the East have learned not to de-
pend TOO much on foreign aid
"BangkOk is a walled city, fortified
with Krupp guns aud heavy ordinance,
and the French would have q hard time
touching il on account Of the shadows
of the coast. III they dare come on
land, the laud which our men know,
every foot, we will whip them worse
than they have ever been whipped be-
fore. Aud more. IN France should
CONQUER SLAM, she would never keep US
subjugated like England has Burmah
and India. We are not that kind Of
people.
''The Siamese," Phra Nutvatr ex-
dained, "are said TO be mixture OF the
burmese and the Chinese. We are the
syindependent kingdom In the world
ere the Buddhist faith is kept pure
unaduterated. The Chinese Buddh-
IS mixed with superstition and Con-
nism-the Mohammedan belief has
out much Of midas Buddhism !
Dynaniite Factory Goes Up.