The Caucasian., 1913-07-20

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stepmothers and other relatives In
equal proportion. The late King Chu-
lalongkorn, father of the present mon
arch, had upward Of 600 wives. Each
one Of the wives left on an average
two children who grew to adult age.
Many of the children died while quite
young, and the bodies of these little
dead children were kept by the king in
one Of the halls of the palace in num-
bered caskets.
The present kings father, aside from
looking after and taking care Of his
600 wives, provided for all the living
wives Of his predecessors, and altogeth-
er this group of wives formed little
city Of about 5000 women.
Likewise the duty of caring for the
wives Of his predecessors fell upon
Variiravudh, the number of whose
wives is increasing by leaps and
bounds each year. Aside from caring
king of Siam is called on to take care
of his hundreds and hundreds of broth
ers and sisters.
The present king, who has been sole
" responsible for many of the recent.
reforms which have come about in
Siam. was educated in England and
does not cherish some of the old Sia-
mese customs and beliefs. He is now
advocating other reforms in his coun-
try. The king is an excellent 1inguist
and speaks several different languages
fuently. He has recently written
book dealing with the peculiar customs
of his peculiar country.
The people of Siam in very ancient
times killed off their king about every
year. However, about 800 years ago
king arose who objected strenuously to
this custom and had the courage to
offer other suggestions which in the
end prevailed and which put an end
to this custom Of sacrificing the king
Of the country.
The king Of Siam Las difficult task
in distinguishing between his brothers
end sisters. OF course it would not
be possible for him to remember the
names Of each one of thousand rela-
tives and know each of them we'll He
has hit upon a unique scheme, and
each brother. and sister wears tag
around the neck. Each tag bears
letter and number. For instance. the
sons of royal mothers are lettered A.
and then follows q numeral. The sons
of nonroyal mothers are lettered B.
with a numeral Likewise the daugh-
ters of royal mothers are lettered C.
followed by numeral. and the daugh-
ters Of nonroyal mothers are lettered
one carries this tag around the neck.
and therefore the king may disffn-
guish at a glance which one it is he is
talking to. The tag is made OF gold
In this manner also he Is able to tell
and remember which Of his brothers
and sisters are not behaving properly.
and an official call down follows mis-
behavior.
In Siam one Of the most peculiar
customs is for every city and town to
send Its most beautiful maiden to the
kings harem as an offering each year.
It Is necessary for the king either to
accept her as one OF his wives or else
provide another man for her. Like
wise any and every unmarried woman
In the kingdom has the right to In
scribe herself on the list OF royal
wives
The distinction between royal and
nonroyal wives IN Siam is great one.
Many wives of ordinary birth are moth
Ing but slaves and are not allowed to
90 out Of the royal Enclosure. It should
not be surmised that the king does NOT
make use Of all Of bis wives. To be
sure. no one has right to tell the
king what he must do or what he
ought TO do for It would be grave
reflection on bis powers Of half broth
er Of the sun. etc.