The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-05-18

AT the same time the Crown Prince took
the wheclbarrow and wheeled 1t about
twenty-five yards along the nne of the read
and dumped out the earth. This was to
show that the King and the court were
thoroughly interested in the undertaking."
Tell me something about korat, the ter
minus of the road" said l..
"Korat is a big city surrounded by rich
plains. 1t is a great center of trade. 1t lies
les miles from Bangkok and in the past
about two weeks have been required for the
trip between the two places. BY the rail-
road 1t is made In ten hours. They are now
!, extending the railroad on to the north, and
it will eventually connect with C~hiengmai.
the great center of trade of Northern Siam.
From there a line will eventually connect
1t with the Burmese railroads now being
built toward China. l doubt not that in
time the Chinese and Transsiberian sys-
tens will be connected. so that one may
really 60 from Paris to Bangkok by rail"
Another railroad is to be built from
Bangkok westward down through the Ma
lay peninsula to the Strait of Malacca. We
have a road from Bangkok to Paknam, on
the Menam River, and all together we are
gradually becoming a railroad country
Where does Siam get its railroad ma
terials?"
so far most of them have come from
England was the reply. There is no rea-
son why the United States should not sup
ply its share. Our country is such that
4 VIC Httu llldIs III 4LiStS anu you EATneTlCdlS
are now doing much in furnishing bridges
for the world. l see no reason why you
should not compete as TO our locomotives
and other rolling stock. and in even taking
contracts for the construction of the roads,"
Twenly-Eight Electric Plants
In Bangkok Alone.
DO you use much electricity in Siam"
1--WE have twenty-eiSht electric plants in
Bangkok alone. We have one incandescent
electric light plant which furnishes 1900
lights. 1t originally belonged to the Eng
lish Brush Company and is used for light
ing the Kings palace and for the use of the
public. Il was one time operated by an
American engineer named Bennett and an
American syndicate. but was later on sold
to a Danish company. which now manages
it. The most of its supplies were pur-
chased from Europe. but some from Amer
lea.
The Danish company now owns the
electric railroads. 1t has a tramway seven
and one-half miles long in operation and a
track of three and a half miles more is
under construction. 1t advertises that it
Will supply electric power throughout the
city and it expects to run a lin. of auto
mobiles in connection with its street cars.
In addition to this there are private plants
the equipment of which IS largely Ameri-
can. You can now reach almost any part
Of the city or suburbs by street cars"
Give me some idea of Bangkok. Mr..
LOTUS. Our people think the town IS made
up Of houses floating on the water"
That is so only to a limited extent"
was the reply. The city lies on the Menam
River. extending for miles up and down
both sides of 1t. There is a large boat popu-
lation and perhaps @.0D people who ac-
tually live in houses anchored to posts in
the river 50 that they rise and fall with
the tide. Many of these houses are of
large size. They are built upon RATS and
tute. however. but a small part of Bang
kok. The palaces of the King are of great
extent and in many respects are as fine as
the great buildings OF Europe.