The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-29
OLDEST REALM
 ON EARTH
NEW KING HAS BEEN CROWNED IN
 LUANGPRABANG.
Quaint Province FlOurishes in Far-OR French ndO-China-POtentate Is Borne in Gorgeous PFo-
 cesiOn by Subjects.

| Chicago Chronicle.
 l On March {, when tho foremost re- public in the world was assisting by every known means of joyous enthu- siasm in inaugurating a President. on | the other side of the world the French | republic was crowning a king. The | photographs of this remarkable event have just been received, for Luangpra- | bang, which is the short name for this Kingdom of the Far East, is a rather l inaccessible place, and such modern | means of conveyance as steam or eleo- l tric railways have not yet marred It's pristine splendor
 LuanEprabang Is the oldest and most modest realm in the universe, and It's new king is a young man with pro- gressive ideas. who intends that the world shall become better acquainted with his quaint little Kingdom. The full name of this French Indo- Chinese province Is euphonious and de- scriptive but, alas! 1t is unfltted for the modern commercial and busy world When the king makes his speech to the senam, or the upper assembly, he refers feelingly to his country as Lane- sang Hornkhamuong LuangprabanB {, which to a casual listener, unacquaint- ed with the beauties of the Laotian lan- guage, seems toabe the acme of force ful profanity. But 1t is no such thing;
 
 fact than the poetical reference to the state as the Kingdom of the million elephants and of the white parasol. There is no doubt of the white parasol. It is a concrete substance, but the mill lion elephants is simply an oriental ex- aggeration, intended not to deceive, but to ornament a prosaic tale.
 Has Population of 10000.
 The little kingdom, which has an area of about 10000 square miles, or little less than that of Belgium, has population estimated at 10000. It is officially under the protection of Pra- bang. the miraculous Buddha, and for centuries 1t has disputed with the kingdoms of Siam and Vientiane the su- premacy in the region of the Thais of the Indo-Chinese peninsula.
 His majesty. Sisavong Yong, king of Luangprabang, has just passed his twentieth birthday, and, although a younger son of the late King Zachar- inc, who died last year, was selected by the French Government as a ruler, owing to several reasons. The chief of these. naturally, was that the young prince had been educated in France. having spent two years in the Ecole Coloniale, Paris. He speaks French f1uently and has imbibed French Ideas, and IL is these Ideas the French Gov ernment hopes to see him plant among ms people to the mutual adVantaBe or the king and the French Republic. which exercises the authority of a pro- tectorate over the Kingdom.
 Another reason given for the selee- ton of Sisavong over Tias Mana Ou- pahat, called the second king of the country of the Laos, was that Oupahat did not necessarily stand to succeed the old monarch and that King zach- erine desired that his younger son should be his successor. Notice of the selection of a king was given to the senam, the high assembly of the realm, which was permitted to believe that 1t had followed the late kings wishes and had made the selection itself. Tn it's choice the senam received hints as to the line of its procedure from the French commissioner. who is a kind of ambassador to the king from the French Governor of the Laos.
 Great Coronation Festivities.
 So when the assembly of Luangpra- bang finished it's work and reported 1t had elected a king word was sent to Mount Vientiane. where the Governor has his residence, and preparations for the coronation quickly made.