The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-20

ing was made of brick or stone covered
with plaster. 1t was. however, very I'M
posing. 1t covered vast area Of
ground and rose to the height of three
tall stories before the high-ridged roof
began. 1t had many Steeples and tow
erS, and the wide StairWays which led
to the front door were guarded by inn
mense elephants Of some metal plated
with gold. Passing by the golden ele
plants went up the steps and entered
the kings council chamber He has
here a, throne which looks for all the
world like a bed, and upon it l was
told that his majesty, as rule, sat
with his legs crossed like a Turk while
he received his cabinet ministers and
discussed matters relating to his king
dom. l learned that the chief work OF
the palace was done at night under
the rays of the electric light, and that
the king and the cabinet ministers did
a large part of sleeping in the day time.
On the opposite side OF the hall L saw
another large room.
This was the kings reception room
for foreigners. 1t is gorgeously fur-
nished and contains rare vases from
Dresden, beautiful carvings from ia
pan and China and some WonQerfuI
gold work from the jewelers. OF siam.
There were elephants tusks, beaut1-
fully polished. standing here and there
in the corners, and oil paintings look
ed down from the walls. The next
room into which l was taken was the
most wonderful l had ever seen. 1T was
the throne room, where upon great
state occasions the king receives min
listers of state. The room covers
vast extent, it's ceilings being at least
fifty feet from the floor. 1t is no lon
ger than the east room at the Whlte
house and as wide as theater AT
the back there is rOStrum. upon
io1, IL, e,;4 4 n
golden chair, under royal umbrellas
upheld by servants. Around the room
running along the walls and extend
ing some distance out from the ends
there is very thicket Of golden trees
and bushes. These little trees have
their trunks and branches plated With
gold. The leaves are Of solid gold, as
are also the smaller tWigS. They are
made by the cunning gold workers of
the different provinces, and are sent by
the governor and subordinate officials
in different parts of the kingdom as
presents to his majesty. On one side
of the room | saw a number OF silver
| trees among the gold ones and it
seemed to me that the amount Of metal
required to make them must have been
worth a fortune.
QUEEN AND THE HAREM.
1t is according to law for the king to
take one of his half sisters as wife
and to make her his queen. This keeps
the royal family comparatively pure,
as only her sons can ascend 70 the
throne. The present queen is, l am
told, about fifteen years younger than
the king. She is said to be very pro
gressiVe woman, and to help him con-
Siderahly in the management of his
government. She directs his house
hold establishment and rules the har-
EN-. Her majesty is a fair type of the
Ct-1n "a hos
light brown complexion, oily black
hair, which is cut short, and which
consists Of black bristles, like those Of
a shoe brush standing out all over Ter
head. Her majesty smokes cigarettes,
as do all the ladies Of her harem, and
she is very fond Of chewing the betel
nut. Betel nut chewing is common
among all classes in Siam. This nut
is the green nut Of the Areca palm. III
some respects it makes you think Of
green walnut 1t is cut into little
pieces and mixed with tobacco and
the cud which Siamese ladies chew
with more gusto than any of our
American girls chew wax.
Betel chewing is far more disgust
ing than wax chewing. AS the air
betel chewers masticate their tooth
some cud it's juice cOlors the saliva red,
and their mouths seem to be filled with
blood. Their teeth become as black as
jet and their lips are turned dark
brown. Black teeth in Siam are
sign Of beauty. The people have
saying that any dog can have white
teeth but it is only those who are rich
enough to afford the betel nut Who can
have beautiful black ones. Not only
the queen, but also all the ladies Of The
harem chew. I visited a large store
right near the palace, which furn shes
the ladies much of their finery, their
sweetmeats and their articles of to:iet.
Among other things which are sold
are betel spittoons. These are little
cups about the size of shaving mug
Every one Of the kings wives has
one or two, and each lady keeps one
always by her side. lifting it to her
lips from time to time and squirting
out into 1t her surplus saliva. Every
lady Of the harem has also her netel
box. This is for the materials of chew
ing. Some Of the boxes are of silver.
! and those Of the king and queen are
set with jewels. During my stay in
! the kings store L asked some ques-
lions as to the fashions affected by the
queen and the other ladies of the
harem. I was told that the favorite
costume of the kings wives is the SUI
rcng Or waist cloth, falling to the
knees, and jacket of silk l saw
many OF the jackets in this store They
were loosely made, and were decorated
with ribbons and Swiss embroidery.
The man told me that most Of the
women preferred to go barefoote1. and
that most of them wore anklets OF gold
The king keeps between one and two
hundred ladies in his harem. They are
) selected from the best families Of the
country, and / was told that the mobiles
Of the court were anxious to have tneil
daughters taken up by the king. as
through them they were able to secure
| fat jobs and official favor The rules
governing the kings household estab-
lishment are very rigid. No woman,
| can go outside the palace without his
| permission, and her days of royal IA
| Vof are usually short. After the agt
! OF twenty-five, II a woman has not had
! chlldfen, she becomes one Of the wait
ing maids of the younger wives new
! girls being brought in every year. The
last king had an even larger harem
| than the present one. His wives rann-
] from China and India, as well as Siam
! and he was anxious, it is said TO add
some well-bred English girls to hi,
| gallery Of beauties
MODERN PROGRESS IN SIAM
With SO many wives, you would think
I the king would be abe to do little ont
side his own family. He does a great
j deal. He has a cabinet of twelve nom
i DerS and many subordinate officials
although he settles the most important
matters himself. Not a dollar can go
out OF his treasury without his sig
nature. While I was in Bangkok a
/ young American who had been teach
ing the kings children, wanted his sal
| airy. The treasury officials knew that