The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 83

I I A Firl-Cla Royal Dancer in Her Pagoda Hat and Gold Lace Costume. One of the 3,000 Dancing Wives in the King Siam't Harem. ii I I 1 i LJ I If I If I Urn. Jr II 1P' WheB He Picked! Wives, Nearly Upset His Yomiig 'Siamese Beauties to Share wrf feilv i. SMmnmjm Wtff a r' m-'A.

-L A linf A Group of King Vajiravudh' 6 Slave Wive, from the Women's 'W -J1 JjMfik lWVaa ')? City at Bangkok. He I. He.i- i -'fi'4 tv 'Wk 1 tating About the Expense of f.j. 5 (SSWfe ti Taking Fir.t.CI. W.v fj.

fm iffr )- Royai sisters. lilrlP 7m He Ha. Hundred, of if V-PrY Non-Royal Birth. HISl MWTTO i "-C Shown Under 'iil 'T SVf 7 UT StL7 0 I Umbr.lU. W-OCXl 1 If om Who The King of Siam.

Enthroned on account of a series of caves filled with stalactites, which when lighted up give the appearance of endless diamonds. At Bangkok are kept in a splendid park the famous sacred white elephants, upon whose happiness and well-being the life of the King ii said to depend. Owing to their rarity white elephants rank with the royal jewels as valuables. Extraordinary reverence is paid to them because of the belief that a white elephant will be the incarnation of a future Buddha. They are believed to bring good luck to the King and blessings to the country.

Hence they are treated as half divine and royal honors are paid to them. A white elephant ranks far above a king's wife in Siam. The white, elephants are kept in a vast temple or "wat," built especially for them. Each elephant has its own apartment and pergonal keeper, and over these by royal appointment, are several supervising noblemen of the The elephants IC) 1921. IntsrnatioDil Ftature Service.

Inc. Expected Him as Husbandh Continues from Preceding Tag. The KingEometimc3 gave one of hit wives away as a great favor to a subject or a distinguished 'foreigner, but any -wife who attempted to escape was liable to cruelly tortured and executed. To a good American who knows the difficulty of maintaining one wife in comfort the thought of keeping 10,000 must appear staggering. Siamese wives have not hitherto demanded the same luxuries as American women, but even their requirement ire necessary, and silk Etockings are expected by the better classes.

It Is a realisation of this fact that has made the pres- King so doubtful about polygamy. One result of the Siamese royal domestic, ystem has been to produce an enormous lumber of children. The King's grand-ather had eighty-six first-class children, is father had two hundred sons and hree hundred and fifteea daughters of all classes. All these children are necessarily a great 'mrden on the King, even' though he is 'heoretically the possessor of all the wealth, the country. The girl children have not iltherto received much more than their ilothes, but they are getting the habit of xpecting more.

The children of slave vives are not, strictly speaking, entitled anything, but even they are growing xacting. A King of Slam is not familiar with the ooks of most of his children. When a new; aby Is born to a slave wife a palace func-ionary hits his head on the ground nine Jmes and announces the news to Hi3 Maj-jety. The baby derives a certain sacred-less from the fact that the King is the lather, although the mother is nothing, but event is so common that His Majesty scarcely be expected to pay much at-ention to it. When he says "Bring me the baby to play with," it is understood that any one of two jr three hundred babies will do.

The present King and ten of his young brothers were sent to Europe, where they jnjoyed the highest education obtainable. Most ef them went through Eton, England's most aristocratic school. After that they were divided up among the English, and French universities and military academies. This educational undertaking cost the King of Siam millions of dollars an-nually. One of the young princes carried his European education to the point of making love and proposing marriage to a lovely operatic star.

This, of course, was not without expense. As a boy the present King played foot-jall at Rugby, in England; learned to fence, ride and swim; entered into tournaments Df golf and tennis, flirted and wrote love lyrics. Later he went to Heidelberg, where he crossed swords with the German stu-lents and drank and sang his way Into the learts of his fellow-workers. The King's mother. Queen Sowabha Pangsi, who was also his father's sister, vas considered the most remarkable wo-nan among the entire harem.

Extremely ond of color and Jewels, she decked her-i elf with vast quantities of flashing gems, her hair she wore a diamond pin which leld in place a gold tiara. Around her and covering her bOBom and shoul-. ers were innumerable chains of gold, tudded with stones Of value. On her slender wrists were fully a dozen olden circlets, and on every finger were rom three to four rings. Her body was ncased in a cloth of gold garment, held in lace with a band of gold fully three inches width.

On her feet were pointed slip-ers literally covered with pearls. Around each bare ankle was a priceless nklet of gold, with heavily carved ends. eated upon her chair of red and with a urtain of cloth of gold at her back she resented a picture of wondrous barbario eauty. While the royal princes were being edu-ated in Europe there were the fifty-three ttle sisters at home, not to mention the ave children, to be cared for. The royal 'sters were beginning to learn about the onders of Parisian costumes and lingerie id to clamor for them.

High-class Siamese have the interesting habit of wear-ig ellk breeches and stockings, but this not prevent their clothes from cost-ig much money. As a result of these conditions the King is thousands of female relatives to care His rcyal sisters are considered too calted to marry anyone but a king. King Vajiravudh appreciates the effort vr- hi3 little dancing girls to please, but he ilks at the thought of hundreds of expen- ve "noble" wives. The King has hitherto maintained an mazon bodyguard of one thousand picked omen of great strength and determina- "on. They protected the King at all times, him in war and acted as epers harem.

King Vajiravudh, Whose Disinclination to Take the Traditional Number of Wives Has Nearly Caused a Revolution in Siam. His An( cestors' Always Had at Least 10,000 Wives. The commander of the Amazon regiment, known as Ma Ying Taphan, or "Great Mother of War." acted as Judge over all offenders in the harem. In the hall where she sat in judgment there was a trapdoor which opened on the dungeon below where the wretched offenders were confined. She ordered flogging for minor offences and torture on the rack, flaying alive, burning alive and other dreadful punishments for the more serious offences.

The chief royal wife had the rank of "Superintendent of the Royal Cuisine." This was a highly important position, because the Siamese had shown extraordinary ingenuity in poisoning the King. In spite of all precautions the older brother of the present King was poisoned a few years before His Majesty ascended the throne. In the interior of the country the King possesses a wonderful residence called the "Diamond City." This receives its name Through the Harbor of Bangkok. to get a closer view both of the girl and of the fruit, each perfect of its kind. I found, 'however, that the fruit was not real only an Imitation.

was a casket of pure gold, the lids of which were inlaid with rubies, which looked exactly like the seeds or the pomegranate when It was made to open and shut at the touch of. a small spring and was most exquisitely moulded into the shape and enamelled with the tints of the pomegranate. It was her betel-box. "'Where did you get this I inquired. "She turned to me-with a child's smile upon her face, pointed to the lofty chamber of the King, and said, 'My name, you know, is Tuptim' (Pomegranate).

I understood the gift." This poor girl afterwards ran away from the harem to join the young man she loved a Buddhist priest named, Balat--was captured, and In spite of the efforts of Lady Leonowens to save her was dreadfully tortured and then executed," Solemn Procession of Royal Barges expression, who, with a clumsy club, was pounding fragments of pottery urns, vases and goblets for the foundation of the Wat (or Temple) Rajah Rah ditt Sang. "Very artless and happy she seemed and as free as she was lovely, but the instant she perceived that she had attracted the notice of the King who presided at the laying of the foundation of the temple and flung gold and silver coins among the workmen she sank down and hid her face In the earth; forgetting or disregarding the failing vessels that threatened to crush her; but the King -merely diverted himself with inquiring her name and parentage, and, someone answering for her, he turned away. This is all that there is said of, her. "About three months or so later we met again in the same place. I was passing through to the schoolroom when I saw her joyously exhibiting to her companions a pomegranate which she held Jn her hand.

It seemed to be the largest and finest fruit of the kind I had ever seen, and I stopped on His Greatest Barge, Leading a are not really white, but either a light gray or a gray of a pinkish hue. Their eyes are pale and resemble those of a human Albino. They are fed on the tenderest of grasses, herbs, sugarcane and a special large biscuit, and for drink they have the purest of water into which fragrant blossoms are thrown. The extraordinary marriage customs of Siam have been described authoritatively end in much detail by Lady Leonowens, who was English governess to a few of the late King's children. She tells us how most of the Siamese families respectfully offered their prettiest, daughters to the King's harem, and that whenever an exceptionally pretty girl was seen anywhere by the King or his officials she was seized and taken to the harem without ceremony.

Lady Leonowens relates the terrible tragedy of a lovely girl who was carried off to the royal harem:" "I met a young girl- of fresh and striking beauty and delightful piquancy of ways and Great Britain BUhts Beserrcd. uA (ii --JV:.