Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 290, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1915 — RULER OF SIAM HAS RESOLVED NEVER TO WED [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

RULER OF SIAM HAS RESOLVED NEVER TO WED

Educated in Europe His Mind Revolts at Requirement to Marry Sister. ILLITERACY UNKNOWN THERE Country Has Compulsory Education, Military Service and Religious Service Women Unusually Free In Biam, But Polygamy Prevails. Port Worth, Tex. —The king of Slam Is a sad, sad king. Not on account of the war, for the conflict has not had the slightest effect there; not on account of his finances, for'he receives $3,000,000 annually. But because he is doomed to live an unmarried life while his father before him had 300 wives. The Siamese monarch has refused to marry of his own free will, for the inexorable law of that country says that a king must marry either a sister or a half sister; he may not have for a first wife a person lower in rank. But the king recently has announced that he prefers to remain single than to marry his sister, although he has a romance on with a celebrated and beautiful Oriental dancer of Bangkok. { Advice to this effect has been brought here by Frank Huffman, formerly of Fort Worth, but for the last sixteen years a resident of Bangkok, where he is publisher of the Daily Mail. For many years the Siamese wondered why their ruler never married, but the foreigners knew. Now that he has told them the natives are amazed. “Not marry a sister? What a funny king!” they are saying. Idea Revolts Him. But the king, whose name is Mana Majiravudah, spent ten years In England and graduated from Oxford, and is as polished, refined and western as

any European ruler. And of course while in England he learned that to marry one’s sister is abhorrent, and he will none of it He must abdicate if he would marry the girl he loves, but the king is sensible, likes his people and will not desert them; so he has chosen to live single. He is now thirty-five years old. Siam has compulsory military service, compulsory religious service and compulsory education. While the active standing army is no greater than 50,000, all male Siamese are required to enlist for two years’ field service and then spend two months of each year in the reserves or “continentals,” after which they pass into reserves, ready to be called % to the colors in case of war. This Is the plan just indorsed by President Wilson to a certain extent, except for the compulsory feature. Every youth at twenty-one years must enter the priesthood whether it be for life, a few years or three months. The usual erm of “enlistment" in the priesthood is three months. The religion is Buddhism. Before entering the priesthood the young man must clear himself of all debt, otherwise he is forbidden to enter the temple. Any creditor who releases a man about to become a priest will “make merit” in future life. Illiteracy Unknown. "Although Slam may be regarded as one of the semi-civilized nations, Illiteracy there is unknown; every Inhabitant can read and write,” says Huffman. “In childhood they must go to the temples and the priests teach them.” While the Siamese are most friendly and hospitable, they are below the Chinese in thrift and intelligence, Huffman says. He says the Chinese are one of the most intelligent .races on earth. Regarding women, Huffman says that they are unusually free in Siam, but that polygamy prevails. The husbands keeps his wives in the back

yard, where ho has a house for them. The richer the man is, the more wives. When a man “goes broke” he lives with and off of his friends until he gets on his feet again. “And yet,” says Huffman, “the Siamese do not mix like we do. They do not call on each other or dine with each other, and foreigners do not call on them. Their chief outdoor sports are kicking the rattan ball and kite flying. A circle of men or boys will form and keep the ball going without touching it with hands. Expert performers will keep the ball in the air half an hour, knocking it with head, elbows, knees and feet, but never touching it with hands. In kite flying rival parties will send up a male and a female kite, so called, the male being the larger. A line is drawn on the ground. The male tries to grab the. lady kite and elope with her across to his side of the line. The female flyer also tries to abduct the male to her side. Whichever is able to carry the other wins.”

Marriage Customs. Huffman says the young Siamese swain never calls on his sweetheart at her home; that would be impossible. He sees her outside and they begin a flirtation. Then they meet often, and may even elope and wed. But usually the marriages are arranged beforehand. The bridegroom gives the parents what is called “milk money” for the bride. This is to pay them for the bride. When they marry they live together in the parents’ home for a year, then go to their own home, and perhaps the parents will return the “milk money” to let the young couple buy furniture and get a good start. Huffman employs more than one hundred on the Dally Mail, all but four being Orientals. He issues both an English and a Siamese edition. The typesetters are paid from $lO to S4O per month —good wages in Siam. “The same motion picture plays are exhibited over there,” said Huffman, “and they are attended by crowds of the natives, who enjoy the pictures with keen delight. “It is very difficult to tell the men from the women, for all wear a sort trousers or skirt that gives you no chance for distinguishing. The Siamese takes a roll of silk about three and a half yards long, wraps it around the body, rolls up the loose end tightly and then, bringing it between the legs, fastens it securely to the waist in the back. Elephant Lore. For a while Huffman had charge of timber work in a teakwood forest where elephants are employed. He has had much experience with the big beasts. “Some of them are harder to ride than a bucking bronco,” he said. “Some elephants will shake their heads when the rider straddles their neck. The rider will be thrown from side to side so violently that he will be sore for a week afterward, sore enough, maybe, to keep in bed. Then there are a few elephants that shrink their skin to make it uncomfortable for the rider. This is worse than ever, for it makes the rider quiver violently from head to foot and dazes him. The female is more docile than the male. We used them to carry logs to the river and then work them down stream. Sometimes when we would have a jam we would send in a strong elephant to break up the logs.” When three or four years old the elephant becomes rather mischievous. At that age it may stand five feet high and is very heavy. Often they will run dovra ® man, give him an affectionate slap with the trunk on his back, then run away squealing in delight. But the gentle little slap usually makes a man take the count. Once in a while, Huffman says, an elephant will kill and eat a man. He says he knew of such a case.

King of Siam.