The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-26

4 Settlement in Siam where No Man
But the King May Enter.
From Tho Now York Post

4 Settlement in Siam where No Man
But the King May Enter.
From the New York Post.
Siam, July 15.-strange tales have been
told of Bangkok, and more are yet to tell
Not the least remarkable of it's many Gu
rious institutions is the so-called city of
Women" which-like wheel within a
wheels situated in the heart of the
Siamese capital. A passing tourist might
not even dream of its existence, and from
its peculiar nature, it frequently remains
a terra incognta to many persons hong
resident In Siam.
1t is well called the City of Women, for
it's entire population is made up of indi-
viduals of the 'urquiet sex" The very
hewcrs of wood and drawers of water,
even the guards, police and night patrol
are stalwart Amazons. and for any man
but one to cross the boundary line except
by the special permission of that one) is
sure death. The one exception is His
Majesty, the Slamese monarch. This city
IS simply a vast seraglio, and its entire
population, estimated by some at about
5000, is composed solely of the wives and
concubines of His Majesty, with their
numerous children, guards, slaves, and at
tendants.
II is not to be imagined that the King
can know even small proportion of these
unhappy women by sight much less that
he feels the slightest interest In their
lives. Aside from the fact that for one
of them to rebel against her fate would
be instantly to bring down upon her the
royal displeasure, she may have absolute
ly no connection with her owner. She is
a mere useless belonging. 1t is a part of
Slamese regal dignity to possess several
hundred wives and concubines, and SO
even Chulalongkorn l., the most progress
i've monarch that Siam has ever had, has
not found 1t inconsistent with his greater
enlightenment to continue this custom of
his ancestors.
The Kings Family.
Many of the Kings women belonged
to his immediate predecessor, and We're
inherited by him with the other goods
and chattels pertaining to the crown.
The present monarch is said to have sew
enty brothers. and any number of sisters,
so that II would seem not unreasonable
to infer that the late lamented king his
father, must have left several hundred
survivors in the City of Women. These,
with the women already attached to
him as crown prince, must have been
given the young king to start with a fam
lily quite large enough to satisfy the most
ambitious Mormon in our own country.
In such state of affairs, as it would
manifestly be impossible TO secure the
royal and marital honor in any other
way, the kings women are secluded in a
small district. and strictly guarded by
jailers of their own sex. discipline must
be maintained"
OF course not all the children born to
the king are regarded as being of the
blood royal. The majority of them may
have certain social position, but are of
no political Importance. Only the sons OF the
true queens, the kings head wives are
considered of royal lineage and are eligi-
BILE to the crown. The succession to the
Siamese throne is not necessarily hered-
itary nor always determined by right of
prirnogeniture-the kings brother may be
preferred to his son-but usually the
kings eldest son by. his first, or head
queen, is regarded as his fathers proba-
BILE successor, and receives the honor due
to a crown prince. AS the head queen
must be a full princess of the blood it
follows that the royal consort-as in
Ptolemaic times-is the kings half sister,
and the crown prince his nephew as well
as his son. The head queen has royal
honors paid her. and is a person of the
highest consequence, and often of con-
siderable power and influence. Some
times the respect in which she is held
might seem to have its disadvantages. 1t
is said that the sister and first queen of
the present king was allowed TO drown
when the state barge upset, because no
man dared to touch her sacred person.
AS the queen was a favorite wife, it is
easy to fancy that the king would have
pardoned breach Of etiquette in order
to save her life, but the attendants found
it very convenient and plausible ex-
cuse for their cowardice
Maintaining the Royal Harem.
The cost of supporting a household large
enough to form city by itself would be
sufficient, one would think, to beggar even
the king of a country where living ex-
penses are reduced 10 a minimum. But
His Majesty's mobiles and prominent sub
jects have discovered most considerable
and original way of relieving their rulers
necessity. 1t is customary for any one
who wishes 10 do so 90 present his young
daughter, or a handsome slave girl. to
the King, along with other more valua-
BILE presents, and, lest his gift may prove
In any way burdensome to the royal re-
cipient, 10 assume the entire cost of her
support while i'm his harem. This, gem
crosby is, of course, not wholly disin-
terested. The King appreciates the deli
cate attention 90 begin with, and then,
If the maid Is bright and beautiful, there
Is always the possibility that she may
chance 20 find favor in the eyes of her
high-born husband. when she may repay
her father, or former owner, for the
honor he did in giving her away to such
an exalted parsonage. She may speak a
good word for him in the royal ear or
snatch some concession for him from the
royal hand.
II is stated by the people In Upper SIAM
or Lao, that, when the home supply Is
not sufficient, agents are sent from Bang
kok TO procure the material for these
presents from the tributary provinces in
che north. These agents come suddenly
up the river, enter unsuspecting villages
and kidnap the most attractive girls
who from that day are lost 10 sight in
the crowded Cky OF Women. The dnugh-
ter Of the late tributary chief Of Chieng-
Mai, the pretty Princess Dah-rah q. e.
Stella star, was taken to Bangkok to
serve as a pledge OF her fathers fidelity
and Il is said leads most unhappy life
there, and pine continually for her freer
northern home and her accustomed food
The Lao tribes do not eat the rice, famil-
lar 40 US By the names OF "Chinese" rice
which Is used In Bangkok. Their rice r.
plutinous, and OF an altogether different
aayor. and a. u grows only on tho up-
lands. cannot be raised IN the nat. mnrshy
districts surrounding The delta OF the Ma