The Dolores star., 1920-08-13

ana spoke II turntly-S0 nucntly that she be'a"'
the go-hctw""n nnd Interpreter for SinmeSe noo'l-
itN and many Of III" other young European Indes
who. like herself. had married the blu"-boods "t
Siam. She was III" first Of their number 10 d"h
the SianeSe costume and wore II with such grace
that the others soon followed. and not long ago
the queen mother was delighted to see all OF
the Foreign prnCeSSeS" appear before her. roh""
In the briant.hucd dress uf her own court.
OF course. being foreigner and not being
equal in blood To her royal husband. il would be
i.rfpossre To think that one of her two Sons
should possibly the Siamc>e crown. And :"
tne choice may b" the third of the late King
'mlalongk"rn and his royal spouse the late queen
mother who hcfor" her marriage was knowi hs
Princess S;rwa I'n IongSc- This third son. Prince
Nukorn RalasIima. Ike his brother the king. Is
unmarried. His younger brother, however. IS
married. and married to half-Sist"r daushtcr
of King ChulHlOngkurn. His iSsue therGo oEe,
would h" in lin" for the throne
What may work great chang" in the rolicy
az the king nj til" present crisis iS tn" fact of
III" death of the queen mother, who died last
November and crrmated last month. She
1'hS woman of great character and her opinions
md weight with her son. the king As child
sne brilliant creature-in both mind and
body. Long hefOre she chosen to be the
queen of her royal brother she was eager to learn
everything that "brother" learned and nothing
wnS too hard difficult for her impatient
and imDetuouS mind.
In after life the little princess proved to be all
that she had promised US child. A lover of the
beautiful. sh" demanded and, had about her the
beautiful things of life. Not only flowers and
col"rs and jewels for the body did She demand.
bnt flowers and cOlorS and Jewels for the mind
Never before had the young of siam
universal opportunity for study. The queen
mother built school after school-SchoolS for the
princeSS"s-or"r which her own niece was placed
''S"hnoI mother" and for ~" stan Of teachers
Of which she searched England. Europe and Amer
i'm Nnf. sitl Sh.. Inst ,tf.I
schools for the others-glrs who had no royal
blood in their veins but who had brains in their
hendS-prnary schools. graded schools. high
schools.
Long before the she had become Interested
in hospital work and had hospitals for the women
OF Siam plentifully scattered throughout her
kingdom had her royal husband planted hos
pitalS for men. And. when Siam entered the war.
II was 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 1t she sent to the uttermost
parts of the world for the hest in every depart
ment
When the young king overthrow all precedent
and declared that he would not marry any of his
half-sistcrs--that he would not tolerate the royal
harem-and that rather than this he would re-
main single. 1t was the queen mother who stood
bv him and who assisted him in bringing out the
women of the court and compelled them be
recognized ms part of the scheme of things
At his ma jesty's coronation ceremonies the young
women Of the rCuit-the kings half-sster and
others who would naturally have become mem
hers of his househod-were. for the first time in
Siames.- history. at the royal bali. in the
th"Hters. at dinners and other royal public func-
tions 1t the young king who decreed the
order, but It was the faithful queen mother
who made the new order u practical factor in
the life Of the Siamese court
Siam is tiny little Kingdom so cunn!ngly
tucked away under the caves of greater Chinn that
the average globe trotter passes II by without so
much as II backward glance. But he who does
stop fingers. and lingering. is lost In the lure of
the luxury Of this dimnutivn Asatic porndisa
For Siam Is the richest country Of its size IN IN,
world, and those who have lived there LONGEST
claim that 1t is most fascinating
" The capital of the state, Bangkok is eIt,o,o,
on the Mennm Chno Phya ("the RovnI Motber =.
Waters). stream that rising up In tho tsol
forests of the North cuts in twain both tbe co,.
Try and its capital and broadening its banks eo,,
mh1esticaly past the fishing Villages post tho
paddy helds and empticS into the f;uIf NJ S,
Ihe capital is ten miles upstream n c,tv -,
nearly nine hundred thousand persons II is oo,,
ed the Venice Of the Fast and 1t has por. oo,,
than IT'S nnm"snke In the Adriatic
The Siamese nre soft -vo,c.d ,,
people; the corners Of their mouths tur, M, ,.as
are always looking for something better ''