The Washington times., 1932-08-26
BY FRANK BUCK
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

IN siam LQe White eIepldLlG
is worshipped as a sacred ami
NAL possessing divine affilia-
tions. The king houses several
of them in Splendor near the
palace in Bangkok. A retinue
of servants attends them and
they are given titles designat-
ing them as members of roy
atty. When i'll they are minis
tered to in a manner leaving
no doubt that there are no
higher-ranking mobiles in the
land. Should death occur, one
of the court dignitaries-a
brother noble-takes charge,
and, after impressive religious
ceremonies. has the animal Gre
mated.
In Burma the white elephant
is also regarded as a sacred
beast, but it is not worshipped
as fanatically as was the case
in the bygone days when the
country was an independent
state ruled by its own king. A
British colony today, Burma
still makes a big fuss over it's
white elephants, but nothing
compared with what she used
to do when she was her own
boss. In those times, according
to a venerable soldier of fortune
ian old friend who claims to
know and ought to-, these
freaks of nature were decked
out in robes of velvet and gold,
studded with precious stones.
1t was one of the duties of the
royal choir to sing to them at
REGULAR hours. The kings cabi-
net would even consult the ami
mails on important government
tai affairs, graVely setting forth
their problems and interpreting
various movements of the white
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES of the
trunk, legs and tail-aS indiCat-
Ing the course to be pursued in
the matters of state under dis
cuSSion.
Ddu hangover
While it is true that the
Burmese have sobered some
what on the subject of white
elephants, they still have a bad
hangover. I discovered this
shortly after cabled my agent
IN San Francisco to see how
lar I could 60 in bidding for
the Katha catch. I figured
that if I were high enough I
could land the coveted albino.
My agent cabled back that I
could safely bid as high as
$4,000. This I did. The reply
was as complete a rundown
as anyone has ever given me.
1t was to the effect that my
unflattering offer could not be
take seriously. Did 1 realize
that the animal was insured
for $4,000 British pounds? Evil
IDENTIFY I did not appreciate the
value of white elephant.
However, that did not matter
for. regardless of questions of
price. the reVered creature could
not be taken out of the coun-
try. To permit such thing
would be an act of sacrilege
which could only result in all
those involved in the transac-
ton mourning the wrath of the
Vengeance-Seeking gods. Would
I please refrain concluded the
keddah Walla) from making
any more of my offers, which
were not regarded as compli-
mentary since they implied
that the owners of the sacred
beast could be persuaded to be-
tray the Burmese people by
parting with a priceless religi-
GUS asset?
Juicy Murders
So that was that. I recall my
amusement over the broad
hints that something would
surely happen to the person
that took a white elephant out
of Burma. 1t wasn't difficult
to remember juicy murders that
had taken place in Siam as a
result of efforts to sneak white
elephants out of the country,
but so long a time had elapsed
since I had heard of a throat
being slit on this account in
Burma that I couldn't help
thinking the corralmaster was