A PALACE UNDER WATER.

Western Star, Issue 1300, 27 March 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

A PALACE UNDER WATER.

The problem of how to keep cool in summer offers a wide range of glorious possibilities, but probably the most extraordinary method ever heard of is that of the King of Siara. This ingenious gentleman escapes the torrid rays of Old Sol by depositing himself for hours at a time at the bottom of a lake. There he sits in a house of glass as comfortable as can be, while the pond lilies droop and the furnace-like heat spreads itself all over his dominion. The King and bis royal retinue, ensconced in the lake, live anew the life of Poseidon the Greek god of,the ocean, and hiß wife, Amphitrite, who dwelt iu their fabled golden house under the seas, at Aegae, of the Homeric Isles. The question of ventilation has been already attended to by the kingly inventor. He pumps air from the surface through enormous tubes, and manages to keep up a constant circulation. As it' is for himself alone, the room is but 20ft. square by 15ft. high. With the exception of the floor, it is entirely of heavy plate glass 'closely fitted into steel frames. The floor is of wood and steel, and directly under it is a seond or false flooo into which are stored weights of stone. When floating all these weights are removed, but when His Majesty desires a cooling, tons of them are rolled in and the room slowly and silently sink? until it rests upon the bottom. It is then at a depth of about 20 feet, and so arranged that an abundant supply of air is obtained from numerous tubes leading to the surface. By means of other tubes he is enable to hold conversation with those in the royal palace on shore, and also to transact State business. When His Majesty desires to return to the surface the weights are quickly rolled out upon a sunken raft by means of levers worked in an ante-room, and the room is drawn np, as if it were an elevator by means of cables and hoisting apparatus operated from above. The raffc tearing the weights is afterwards drawn up by the same method. The whole affair is as simple as it is ingenious. In this fairy-like chamber the the king passes the long hot afternoons. The white hot light of the blazing sun, cooled by its passage through the waters, penetrates the transparent walls with a softness the exquisiteness of which cannot be described, and in magic tints sheds a chaste lustre over the entire environment, making it gorgeous beyond the dreams of the mermaids and naiads of the deep. Could one of these maidens of classic lore gaze through the translucent sides of this water palace she would see its sayal master reclining at ease, lulled to repose. by the gentle murmur of rippling waters the languorous music of his pretty attendants. Or he might be reading a report from some functionary high in the State. Unfolded to his gaze there is a marine-like panorama on which the eye never tii«s of feasting Richly tinted fishes move slowly through the green waters, so near that tbe band stretched eut couli almost touch them. Little fleets of water warriors glide past majestically,, and ever and anon there is witnessed a battle royal between opposing forces or the fierce struggle of a larger fish destroying its smaller prey. Overhead the blue tiutc-d sky is strangely changed by the intervening waters, and clouds and shadows put on new shades. Truly, a more beautiful ceiling for a palace could not be painted by man, and the walls afford vistas of new delight on every side. The King of Siam, the inventor of this submarine device, is a wonderful person. He is a young man, but despite his tender ago, has 600 wives. Notwithstanding this large assortment, however, he is so sacred and mighty that he must marry nobody beneath him in rank, and his only eqnals being members of his own family his official wife must, therefore, be his half-sister. She rules the harem, wears diamond and emerald rings on every finger, and ruby bracelets around her ankles. She occupies her time in smoking cigarettes and chewing the betel nut, making ber teeth as black as ebony. This pleases the king, who says that anybody can have white teeth,but only monarchs who ara rich enough to afford the betel nut can have black ones In looking at this semi-heathen king it is hard to bulieve that he is the saered raler of over eight millions of people, and still harder to appreciate his absolute power. The whole people are his slaves, and his simple word inflicts instant death on any man, or robs him of his daughter.