Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1920-08-17

and spoke it fuently-so fuently that she became
the go-between and interpreter for Siamese nobh-
ity and many of the other young European ladles
who, like herself, had married the blue-blOods Oh
SIAM She was the first of their number to doh
the Samese costume and wore 1t with such grace
that the others followed. and not long ago
the queen mother was delighted to see az OF
the foreign princesses" appear before her, roDed
in the brilliant-hued dress of her own court
OF course, being a foreigner and not being
equal in blood to her royal husband it would be
impossible to think that one of her two sons
should possibly wear the Siamese crown. And 80
the choice may be the third of the late King
ChulaOngkorn and his royal spouse the late queen
mother, who before her marriage was 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 married to half-siser a daughter
of King Chulalonglorn. 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 cremated last month She
was woman of great character and her opinions
had weight with her son, the king. AS a child
she was a brilliant creature-in both mind and
body. Iona 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 a 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
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-grls who had royal
blood in their veins, but who had brains in their
heads-primary 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 plentifuy scattered throughout her
kingdom as had her royal husband planted hos
pitfalls for men. And, when Siam entered the war
it 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 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
haIem-and that rather than this he would re-
main single it was the queen mother who stood
nv him and who assisted him in bringing out the
"women of the COURT and compelled them to be
recognized as part of the new scheme of things.
Ar his maiestys coronation ceremonies the young
women Of the rcurt-the kings half-sisters and
others who would naturally have become MEM
hers of his houSehOld-were. for the first time in
SianlrS4. history seen at the royal ball, In the
theaters at dinners and other royal public fnnc-
tions 1t was the young king who decreed the
new order hut it was the faithful queen mother
who made the new order a practical factor IN
the life of the Siamese court.
Siam is a tiny little kingdom cunningly
tucked away under the caves of greater China that
the average globe trotter passes it by without so
much as a backward glance. But he who does
ston fingers and lingering. Is lost in the lure Of
the luxury of this dimMtiye Asiatfc 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 capta of the state Bangkok is situated
on the Menam Chao Phya ('the Royal Mother of
Waters'0 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
maiestically 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 Samese are soft-voiced pleasure-lovfng
people the corners of their mouths turn up-they
are always looking for something better
foot when 70 be aimed at or counters to ba won