The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-07-26
Highest of all in Leavenng Powe-Lates U.S Report
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ABSOLUTELY PURE

LOOKING Vi tne young alllnalS nave Deen
noosed, the rest or set at liberty Yet, in
spite of this rough treatment, wild ele-
plants show no sign of diminutiOn.
White elephants are too valuable to be
allowed to risk injury in the scrimmage
that takes place at the gate of the corral;
too profitable to their captors to await the
annual hunt. As soon as one of them is
seen, the swiftest of the tame elephants of
the district is chosen to carry his pursuer.
Armed with a lassO, the hunter scOurs the
forests of the hill country where the beast
that moment he never leaves the trail un-
til the moose has been drawn tight about
the hind leg of the flying quarry. To ex-
perlenced elephant hunters the rest is easy.
Shackled to two tame elephants, the cap
tive is escorted down the river to Bang
kok, whittier the news of his capture has
preceded him. The new ideas from the
West, that are so fast obliterating the land
marks of old Siam, have not impaired his
value, although he Is doomed to stand idle
in the palace stables instead of honorably
carrying the king at the head of a victor
ious army. The fortunate captor still re-
ceives knighthood and grant of money.
At the present time the king has five
white ele 3hants, one of which is no larger
than pony, and hideous piebald of
brown and black. They are to Siam what
the lion is to England, the national en-
blem, and they give their name to the most
honorable order of merit in the gift of the
king. White elephants were the cause of
the first humbling of Siam by Burmah. In
1913, King Maha Jak-ra pad c'King of the
white elephants'') owned no less than sew
en-, and the fame of this vast wealth reach
ed the king of Burmah. ENJOYS were sent
to beg two out of the seven for their mas
ter and within few months of their re-
pulse Burmese army encamped at the
gates of the city of Ayuthia. Taken by
surprise, the Siamese king was fain to meet
the invader at a spot without the walls,
where an image of Buddha was set up and
priests sat on lofty seats as assessors in
the dispute. The Burmese king now de-
manded a warindemnity of four elephants,
and the kings eldest son and chief minis
ter, who had counselled him to deny the
suit of the ENJOYS, as hostages. To all
these humiliating demands the king of ST.
am was fain to agree.
The history of Siam is full of tragedy.
Dynasties have changed, and with every
waded to the throne through blood. Even
the legitimate succession of sons to their
fathers was not always unstained by blood
she'd Until lately it was not the custom
for the king to nominate his successor.
The eldest son of the principal queen usu-
allv succeeded, but since the king had more
than one wife of high rank, it was difficult
to distinguish between the claims of their
children. Success fell to him who had the
most powerful adherents, and these, for
their own safety, compelled their protege
to inaugurate his reign by executing his
rival brothers. Princes of the blood had
the distinction of being executed in more
painful way than the common herd of NAL
efactors. The ordinary criminal received
the apologies of his eXecutioner seated
cross legged upon the ground. Until he
gave h is pardon for the liberty that was
to be taken with him, the execution could
not go on; but, so courteous is the Siamese
nature, that there is no recorded case of
the pardon being withheld from interested
motives The victims ears were then
plugged with clay to deaden the sound of
the executioner's approach; and, as he sat
with bowed head the swordsman drew
nearer and nearer in sort of convention
al dance, and at last seryered the vertebra
at a single stroke Then he rushed off to
the nearest temple to be purified, leaving
his assistant to lift the prone head, and
finish the business with his knife. The
blood of princes was not shed; their life
was beaten out of them. Tied up in kind
of sack, they were fastened to short post
with cross beam under their chins Four
men armed with bludgeons then ran upon
them from behind, each dealing them a
heavy blow on the nape of the neck. The
ouivering bodies were seized and flung
sack and all, into the river. Such were
the privileges of being born in the purple
The King of Siam is probably the most
absolute monarch in the East, and of all
forms of Oriental government his is the
least arbitrary and oppressive. His liber
al policy may be traced to his father, King
Maha Mongchut, the friend of Sir John
Bowrng. His death in 1868 put an end
to remarkable career Early in life he
had entered a monastery to escape from
the turmoil of politics, and during long
life of meditation and study he had
learned before he came to the throne the
vanity of human greatness and the true
functions of king. Convinced that the
happiness of his people would be in pro-
portion to the wisdom and knowledge of
their rulers, he established school for
those of his cighty-onc children who were
most likely to profit by education. The
passion of his life was the reformation of
the Buddhist ritual, and when he came to
the throne he brought about a reformation
without the prosecutions or dissensions
which, i'll Christian countries, have al
ways accompanied the separation of sects.
While establishing the reformed Buddhism
as the State religion of Siam, he left those
who preferred the more Ornate and ancient
form of worship to follow their own bent
without hndrance-Minister Magazine
Vinegar used to wash the wall before
papering will help the paper to stick.