The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-12-04
Or. Marion B: Palmer De-
3 scrlbes Interesting Habits
Of Natives Of siam.


iilisaiopaty and college instructor,
Hhe save many other interesting
iacts IN DESERT hing the people and
their cpStoms IA Q lecture IN First
Presbyteri9n Church last evening.
Vp.tn;date America had importing
me hebbR q dRir cI1stou that was q
.eenturg old IN Siam and IN fact
20 distastetjil 10 the new king OF
siam who IS an absolute monarch,
that he Is educating the women Of
tliat country 70 discard this habit,
Doctor Palmer lntimatel.
Hlsproporticns and crudities Of
the Hilcted white elephant aA 1t APP
PEARS on the national nag in for
eign countries has SO aroused the
wrath Of the king that he has sent
that Dag into discard while wan.
dering on foreign strand and has
adopted his own personal flag the
coiors o. which are red, white and
blue. The red and white stripes
appear At the top and bottom with
a blue strip Of the same size as
one Of the combinat lions OF the red
and white stripes, The flag with
ti,h white elephant he uses athome
however Doctor Palmer said.
II Is easy 20 determine where a
woman lives In Siam because those
Who live in the various sections
and cities OF Siam have their own
particular, weave In their dresses,
welch they adhered to. Siamese
believe in varied dresses. especial
W the upper classes who have a
different colored dress for every
day IN the week. Some OF tho
sarnents are noted for their sim.
plieity, while others are most lay
ish, dealing with silks and satins,
which makes d varied wardrobe
expensive.
: Doctor Palmer attired number
az tho hoys and girls Of the local
CONGREGATION in the apparel Of the
Siamese and they stood on the
platform as he explained the dress
IN detail.
Fear IS still apparent among all
the natives because Of the vista.
tion Of the Bengal tigers, which
are noted for their ferocity, Doc
tor Palmer continued. AS a mat
ter Of fact, the tiger visits cities
OF 10000 or more and because OF
The frailty OF the houses 1t IS diff.
flcnit 20 keep him away. Doctor
Palmer cited the fact that on one
occasion one was shot int Braham
Probably one OF the interesting
ieatures Of die address was the
keen interest that the missionary
and his family have in the work
IN Siam. They have been there
Tor probably sixteen years, and
they are anxiously looking forward
10 their return, to Siam In, Feb
tuary. The only hardship they
laye IS leaving their children In
AineSlca to be educated. Doctor
PALM lrs in a very interesting way
told OF the first trip to Slam and
now Il required six weeks travel
through the jungles lin small
boat that had to be propelled by
Kpan power, natives using large
EtciSs to push 1t. That trip has
now been facilitated by a two
days travel by q modern passen.
ger train out OF Bangkok, the cap.
ital city. Trains only run In day
lime there. So
lhslneerfty Pointed Out
Atlength the missionary told Of
the Interesting customs of the
people. at the outstart he said he
had been interested In missionary
work since he was IL years old,
and he gave his mother credit for
fostering this devotion. He asked
How many Christian parents are
doing that with their children to-
day9 ne made the point that IN
dealing With, foreign people and
religions iit Is not advisable to
ridicule their religion because they
have nurtuFed this for centuries
ind centuries: He outlined the
fact that the Christian religion
gtyes them something positive and
aiiays their fears Of evil spirits
and other hobbies Of the Brahman
faith In q very interesting way
he told Of the ten commandments
OF the Brahman religion and the
insincertty Of their priests.N
Great difficulty IS experienced
in learning the language OF the
siamese, Doctor Palmer continued.
Il bears some relation to the
Chinese but Is not as difficult as
mat Each word has. different
sounds. some as many as seven,
differentiated by the shades of
emphasis and gutteral sounds ap.
Piled. Many humorous incidents
we're experienced by many OF the
missionaries new In the work; he
lie told how some had asked
natives 70 saddle the dog instead
81 the horse; etc. It Is inspiring
10 hear the natives rehearse the
good hymns Of the church, which
the early missionaries fortunately
taught them, he remarked. 4
Superstitions Numerous
The Brahman faith teaches that
lthou shalt not kill animals"
This, he showed, was only lived
up to BY triekery and chlcanery.
For instance, o Brahman will not
kill an animal, but he will pay
4 Chinese or some other nation
atty to do II for him. He will go
fishing and catch fish and let
them die on the bank, but he does
not want to assume the respons.
ibility Of killing them himself. The
nafiyaa once a wear sail little