The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1920-08-12

2ZZzL2RI2T
and spoke it fiuently-so fuently that she became
the go-between and interpreter for Samese nobil-
fty and many of the other young European ladies
who, like herself had married the blue-bloods of
SIAM She was the first of their number to don
the Siamese costume and wore it with such grace
that the others soon followed and not long ago
the queen mother was delighted to see all OF
the foreign princeSses' appear before her, robed
in the brllliant-hued dress of her own court.
OF course, being a foreigner and not being
equal I'm blood to her royal husband, it would be
impossible TO think that one of her two sons
should possibly the Siamese crown And so
the choice may be the third son of the late King
Chuaongkorn and his royal spouse the late queen
mother, who before her marriage was known
Princess Sawa Pa Pongse. This third son, Prince
Nakorn Rajasrima like his brother, the king, is
unmarried His younger brother, however. is
married. and married to half-sister, a daughter
of King Chulalongkon. His issue, therefore,
would be In line for the throne.
What may work q 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 and was cremated last month She
was woman of great character and her opinions
had weight with her son, the king. As child
she brilliant creature-in both mind and
body. Long before she was chosen to be the
queen of her royal brother she was 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 as child. A 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 an opportunity for study. The queen
M hu of SchO or
prncesses-over which her niece placed
school mother" and for the staff of teachers
OF which she searched England, Europe and Amer
ica Not content with this she instituted other
schools for the others-grls who had no royal
blood in their veins, but who had brains in their
heads-prmary schools, graded schools, high
schools.
Long before the war she had become Interested
in hospital work and had hospitals for the women
of Siam as plentifully scattered throughout her
kingdom 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
half sisters-that he would not tolerate the royal
harem-and that rather than this he would re-
main single, II the queen mother who stood
by him and who assisted him in bringing out the
"women of the court and compelled them to be
recognized ms a part of the new scheme Of things.
At his majesty's coronation ceremonies the young
women OF the court-the kings half-sisters ana
others who would naturally have become mem
hers of his household--were for the first time in
Siames- history. seen at the royal ball. in the
theaters at dinners and other royal public func-
tions 1t was the young king who decreed the
new order hut II the faithful queen mother
who made the order a practical factor In
the life of the Siamese court
Siam Is tiny little kingdom so cunningy
tucked away under the caves Of greater China that
the average globe trotter passes 1t by without so
much as backward glance. But he who does
stop fingers and, lingering, Is lost In the lure Of
the luxury OF this diminutive Aslatic paradise
For Slam 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 Menam Chao Phya ("the Royal Mother OF
Waters"), a stream that. rising up in the teak
forests OF the North. cuts in twain both the coun-
try and its capital and, broadening its banks flows
majestically 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 1t is call
ed the Venice of the East and It has canals
than Its namesake In the AdrIatic
The Siamese are soft-voiced pleasure-loving
people; the corners OF their mouths turn up--they
are always looking for something better