The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1920-08-19

and spoke it 1uently-so fuently that she became
the go-between and interpreter for Siamese nobil-
lily and many of the other young European ladies
who, like herself had married the blueblOOds OF
Siam. She was the first of their number to don
the Siamese costume and wore it with such grace
that the others followed, and not long ago
the queen mother delighted to see all OF
the foreign princesses" appear before her. rObed
in the brilliant-hued dress of her court.
OF course, being a foreigner and not being
equal in blood TO her royal husband, it would be
impossible to think that of her two sons
should possibly the Siamese crown And so
the choice may be the third of the late King
ChulalOngkorn and his royal spouse the late queen
mother, who before her marriage known as
Princess Sawa Pa POngse This third son, Prince
NakOrn Rajasrima, like his brother the king is
unmarried. His younger brother, however, is
married, and rnarried to a half-sister, daughter
of King ChulalOngkOrn. His issue, therefore,
would be in line for the throne.
What may work great change in the policy
of the king at the present crisis is the fact OF
the death of the queen mother, who died last
November ard was cremated last month. She
was woman of great character and her opinions
had weight with her son. the king. As child
she a brilliant creature-in both mind and
body. Long before she was chosen to be the
queen OF her royal brother she eager to learn
everything that brother learned and nothing
was too hard too difficult for her impatient
and impetuOus mind
In after life the little princess proved to be all
that she had promised child. lover of the
beautiful she demanded and had about her the
beautiful things of life. Not only flowers and
cOlOrs and jewels for the body did she demand,
but flowers and colors and Jewels for the mind.
Never before had the young women of Siam so
universal opportunity for study The queen
mother built school after SchoOl-schOOls for the
princesses-Over which her own niece was placed
as school mother and for the staff of teachers
of which she searched England. Europe and Amer
lea. Not content with this she instituted other
schools for the others-girls who had royal
blood In their veins, but who had brains in their
heads-prinary schools, graded schools, high
schools.
Long before the war she had become interested
in hospital work and had hospitals for the
of Siam as plentifuIly scattered throughout her
kingdom as had her royal husband planted hos
pitfalls for men. And, when Siam entered the war.
it the queen mother who started the Red
Cross work and gathered around her the chief
women of the nation. Not content with the hos
pitfalls already built she built still another
larger and better equipped than any other in the
kingdom, and for it she sent TO the uttermost
parts of the world for the best in every depart
ment
When the young king overthrow all precedent
and declared that he would not marry any OF his
-ssters-that he would not tolerate the royal
harem-and that rather than this he would
main single, It the queen mother who stood
bv him and who assisted him in bringing ont the
women of the court and compelled them to be
recognized part Of the scheme OF things.
At his majesty's coronation ceremonies the young
women of the rcuTt-the kings half-SiSterS and
others who would naturally have become men,
bers of his househOd-were. for the first time in
Siamese history, at the royal ball. in the
theaters. at dinners and other royal public func-
lions 1t the young king who decreed the
new order, but it the faithful queen mctfer
who made the order a practical factor in
the life of the Siamese court.
Siam is a tiny little kingdom, cunnfngly
tucked away under the caves Of greater China that
the average globe trotter passes it by without sc
much as a backward glance. But he who does
stop fingers and lingering. is lost in the lure of
the luxury OF this diminutive AstetIc paradise
For Siam is the richest country of its size in the
world and those who have lived there longest
claim that it is most fascinating.
The capital OF the state, Bangkok, is situated
on the Menan Chao Phya (''the Royal Mother of
Waters'). a stream that rising up in the teak
forests of the North cuts in twain both the courl-
try and its capital and broadening its banks flows
majesticaily past the fishing villages. past the
paddy fields and empties into the Gulf of Siam
The capital is ten miles upstream. a city of
nearly nine hundred thousand persons. It is call
ed the Venice of the East and it has more canals
than its namesake in the Adriatic-
The Siamese are sOft-voiced. pIeasure-lovfne
people; the corners of their mouths turn up-they
always looking for something better