Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-14
KING OF SIAM IN PARIS
SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF
FAR EASTERN RULER.
Special. Cablegram to The Star.

Special. Cablegram to The Star.
PARIS. July 13.-The King of Siam has
been a welcome visitor here in France as
we'll as at most of the European centers.
To the general regret his majesty Is not
accompanied by the Queen Of Siam. who
Is one Of the most picturesque Of royal
consorts. Queen Pongsi. who lives a Sc
cluded life at Bangkok. wears Siamese
dress. which includes a close-fitting tunic
with lace and frills. silk knickerbockers.
white silk stockings and black patent
leather shoes with gold buckles.
The ruler of Siam generally wears STA
mese clothing when at home, but when he
travels he abandons silk jackets and knee
breeches in favor OF European dress.
The kings own education was supervised
partly by an English governess and partly
by Buddhist monks. He has shown him
self a capable monarch and has largely
accepted the ideas OF western civilization.
Small in flfure, dapper in dress. with an
olive complexion. black hair and mustache.
King Chulongkorn looks much like Jap
elephants and the number of his relatives.
Besides Queen Pongsi, who is first
queen" there are eighty other wives and
his offspring are said to number seventy
two.
His majesty has fifty brothers and SIS
ters and even a larger number of uncles.
The whole royal family inhabits an i'm
mense palace town at Bangkok.
Chulaiongkorn," which is family name
like Guelph. He is simply called the
king or more often 1.-The supreme king"
He takes delight in eccentric wagers and
collector of match boxes. He never misses
new variety and his representatives are
always sending him these from all parts
OF the world. Several years ago. while
Id.
of a former visit to London so the story
goes, he saw some one drop match box
from the top of omnibus and at once
to the horror of his escort dived among the
traffic and King Chulalongkorn returned
triumphant to the pavement with muddy
match box between the thumb and the
finger of one Of his new kid gloves.
Woman Suffrage In France.
Woman suffrage apparently does not
make the progress in France that 1t Is
making in England and other parts of the
world. Thirty women made a demonstra-
ton on the boulevards the other after
noon In favor Of female suffrage. They
drove along in open vehicles brandishing
paper banners on which were inscribed the
words Women ought to vote" and scat
terng broadcast printed appeals to men,
bers of their sex for their support of the
movement. The whole thing went off very
tamely, many of the passersby indulging
in hooking remarks at the expense Of these
particular suffragettes.
Americans will naturally care to know
more about the land of revolt and poetry
the revolt Of the French winegrowers
against the authority Of the central gov
was largely confined to the department of
the Herault and the Aube. These two prov
inces are on the shore Of the Gulf of Ly-
ons and they form part of the ancient king
IF q yUh iCh law bafu cac
cony on the west and Provence on the east.
The whole Of this great stretch Of coun-
try in the south of France has history Of
marked turbulence and equally marked ro-
nance. Provence and Languedoc are
closely allied ethnologically and the people
of both provinces speak the ancient Prov
encal language.
Two Famous Heretics.
1t is curious to note that two Of the most
famous heretcs that France has given to
the world have both lived at Languedoc
The great humortst Radicals was a student
at the University of Montpelier in 1880 and
his life is largely associated with the dis
trict. and Auguste Comte the inventor of
Mr.. Frederick Harrison's Religion of HUI
manity was also a native of the same
town.
AS for poetry, one of the most famous
kings of Provence was Rene, himself a
poet, and who surrounded himself at Aries
with court of artists and philosophers.
Heresy has more than once found a home
in these particular provinces and as con-
verse it Is interesting to note that Avignon
which was for years a refuge for the popes
is PrOvencal town
The very region seems to reek with ro-
nance. One thinks of Gascony and at the
same time thinks of the boastful, pictu-
rescue. fndomitable heroes of many a stir
ring story. To Englishmen Gascony spells
the incompatible d'Artasnan and the equal
ly famous Cyrano de Bergerac.
Carcassone. Froix, Arles-the very names
of the towns where the recent revolt of the
peasantry against the authorizations of the
wines has alarmed even the French govern
ment-the very names suggest Dumas. or,
at any rate. Stanley Weyman, while near
Avlgnon there Is a town of Tarascon that
brings to mind the immortal Tartarin the
Don QuiXote of an unromantic age.
AS for Narbonne. it was the birthplace of
three Roman emperors. one martyr and al
least two famous troubadours. 1t may be
true that France gets it's revolutions by
telegraph from Paris during these latter
days. but to forget the wine-growing prov
inces is to forget much that figures in the
glory not only of the wines and the wars
but the poetry and the rebellions of France.