The free press., 1895-09-26
EMERGED PALACE
Ingenious Oriental Scheme for De-
flying the Heat.
A Glass Residence at the Bottom
Of a Lake.

The problem OF how to keep COOL
in summer offers wide range of glo-
rious possibilities, but probably the
most extraordinary meth cd ever heard
of is that of the King of Siam. This
ingenious gentleman escapes tho tor
rid rays of Old Sol by depositing
himself for hours at time In the
cooling if aqueous embrace Of lake.
There he sits in q house of glass as
comfortable as can be, while the pond
lilies droop, and the furnace-like heat
spreads itself all over his dominion.
The King, in the interests of suffer-
ing humanity, did not copyright this
interesting idea, and it has been
adopted by the Prince Khan Aryanluh,
of India. The Prince has magnifi-
cent summer villa on the bottom of
lake on his ancestral estates at Agra.
The question of ventilation has
been already attended to by the king
ly inventor. He pumps air from the
surface through enormous tubes and
manages to keep up constant circu-
lation. AS it is for himself alone, the
room is but twenty feet square by fif-
teen feet high. With the exception
of the floor, it is entirely of heavy
plate glass closely fitted into steel
frames. The floor is of wood and
steel, and directly under it is o second
or false floor, into which are stored
weights of stone. When floating all
these weights are removed, but when
His Majesty desires a cooling, tons OF
them are rolled in, and the room
slowly and silently sinks, until it rests
upon the bottom. 1t is then at a
depth of about twenty feet, and so ar
ranged that an abundant supply OF mir
is obtained from numerous tubes lead
ing to the surface. BY means Of other
tubes he is enabled to hold CONVERSE
ton with those in the royal palace on
shore, and also to transact state bust
ness.
The furnishings of this submarine
castle are as lavish as those of the i'm
perial palace. Every chair, table and
divan is inlaid with gold and heavily
studded with precious stones. The
ornaments, statues and minor fur
nishings are of ivory, and the back
of the royal chair is emblazoned with
q coronet of emeralds.
When his majesty desires to return
to the surface the weights are quickly
rolled out upon q sunken raft by
means of levers worked in an ante
room, and the room is drawn up, as
if it were IN elevator, by means Of
cables and hosting apparatus oper-
ated from above. The raft bearing
the weights is afterwards drawn up by
the same method. The whole affair is
as simple as it is ingenious
Prince Khan Aryanluh, of India,
has submarine room equally as gor-
geous. To him, however, the idea Of
living under water is not as marvel
lous as to the King of Siam, as the
water has been the Princes home from
childhood. His home, and the home
of his father, the royal palace at Agra,
is built entirely on the water, and
access to it is only possible by boat.
In magnifcence and CANDY grandeur,
it probably eclipses anything known
to the civilized world.
It's decorationsin in ivory and precious
stones alone are worth over $40, 900,
900, and it has 1000 rooms. 1t is
known as the pearl palace and was
built exclusively for the ruling mon
arch, his family and his wives. Twenty
thousand men were employed on it
for twenty-five years. 1t is built in
the form of an irregular octagon, is
of pure white marble, and so lavishly
is the main hall decorated that the
whole of the Koran is said to be
written in precious stones on the
walls. New York World.
War an Expensive Luxury.