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Show . THE SUNDAY HERALD; SUNDAY, 2 ft -- r I'Bt S V "T l' lor M kWager.by Het Muter. '"' Was: the Most Exciting Game in. the" if : vai A' iry i . V stepped In. ' 5! K' 1 'MX 'I . "v r J W Sru'lH Kong, Discing Cirl of M at t4 1 ipl' "Xiii NOVEMBER-1513- V is 1 4i V - By W. B. SEABROOK. . ' . BANGKOK,' Siam. . MAHA' MAJIRAVUDH, with' fjINO V unanimous approval of his, cabinet the and". , deputies, has just promulgated a rigid law - making jfish fighting a felon in Siam, punish--j. abfe by ten years in prison. ' It was not out of consideration for the fish, which fight like finny tigers and tear each other r t4 ribbon until one of them is slain, but because rambling, the great Siamese national pastima and vice, had became centered la these fantastic combats, and had led to bankruptcies and cfuor- - ' rels among the rich, and thousands of minor Anuredies among the poor.' tftt. . i. learned to whom sh? r' nas a passion ior Derail iae epical oiaraese had been transferred, Mrill Jae bet pn anything-,-fro- m a horse race' to w c and how, he - was deatbA-an- d the- data of hts .j , filled with rage; , ha will risk everything ha owns , v., t . . He first appealed Up unt4 a few yers ago, iie great national . , to the law, but dts-, gambling game was , cock-- f iehting. and the covered that the transfer papers y (Siamese fieri tin cocks, sourred with razor-shar- n rv-'-- : were. ppgu!art eiid that be had ,. -staeV were among the most famous is fail- no , This' method ' recourse! ; . .Che world. , j . ( was made a criminal " ing, he made a public scandal Finally, in friends of and it, through is aa lt 'offehse; today in almost all eivilited ' if" t,, coflrt, stirred up a royal invesu- countries except Meaico,' and the resoureeful r..Tr, f ration. i conAh e Substituted of game f'plakat," sportsmen in ;. ,The K'm(j had "no personal st awting of duels to the death, in a big glas bowl, hn& TITVpr pVpTT seen " .-. rrirl W4tr-? etaenfighttng-fis- h. jj of whole herr but the row revived the auegtion i . The combats were gust as violent and exciting the gambUng evil in Siam and m this he was aa dog--f ight or cockfight, iumished thrilling 9 ' is a he progressive and vitally interested for eport and an ideal uncertainty to gamble on. H r- intelligent young ruler who is doing everything m The fish which is used, known scienwically as he make his country prosperous, moral should. masters , VBetU 8plendes Pugnax," ia a famous denizen !. arid can to dancing IkTrVrif- - "..' '-... modern. be put in pnwii. This, 9f the fresh water streams of Asia, about the' not was he To the father'seJamors particularly of course, was not true, 7 IrtlLfllN W.v? 'but. armed with the aire of a large gold-fisThe old man was howling that his f sympathetic. Old Ganawa Lan. had a and miniatr teeth and speed jceurag-oaaugnter. naa Deen put nut rut "the girl ira as . aquatic tiger.i-,.- . nke on a alt.ve the up a slave. He had simply gambled two ,. r v l ,. ..i, and that auction'tslockj contract wvolvmg her uroiewwiaii. males sua pat in ' bej.-had slaveiy long u M, vi a abolished in Siam, and " he had , put nto ttaimng her. they attack, and the two that both But.th Jung soon discovered thst V fight ; with the speed of lightone of h uW ning until wofl ano ipst arouna tne giaaa nef. . , them is slain. " 1 .1 . 1 'iiA"' f- m -- "They fonnd thousands of Siamese of .every station in life bettiag sans ranging from - . gafaf - . , ;r - 1 eopfr I1 , loraiLl-li-tti- t W , . , . - and worry, tear and rate until the fiiis are mere " Hons. vrrA " I .y to a scanoa nauiitiusja serous ' to net. S ' !i l Annntnm ' who -- i r HH4Hiai anil - ' BUM g, I . : k ' N 't t " : ' r,' t. ' ir'"it '3 7 Vs v - . x - 1 y-- k , ; i'- - ." : V v ;--f - H .;- nt - ( . . ' -- 7A -- ''V- '." t - V-,. v ,xt rf eNxitement, betting suma rang- -' me from eopper yen to stacks or gold ana worl th 3 mselvos into orgiastic frenzies over. the '''Ing i . . . i deperat'' miniature battles, was a fascinating fight. not only for the datives but for Stray tourists, who would coma .upon .. these ftsh flghts either by accident or ;, tlirough having been told about them. ' ,i From a great centor beam in the roof,- a big ti 'U I'J ifcf.r ' ' J ff- v c t . -- S.- ( ''.n' v Z ' - - VV v- w i-. - V . : ' ' . " J. . , r r ! .V.v W.7XiV,7ii'Cl L" 1. ' ' ' r i,i-f'll-- 1st .. ' har, coloring etc.r hose who for not close enough ,fter ach combat.: The Investigators ,discovsrrd 4it battle of this sort were umng everVinieht. In a hun ed different placesBang- irom sue oig vk, taiiKiiiK eaters and expensive; cafes, Bordid little- - dives in the .3ms, and tiwpaswion of mbling which they aroused is more virulent' and wide-rea- d than it had ever' been in - t days of the Jow aboliahed! ; . , . i . ' , -- T. ... ... ,i. ...... . t ... .... .... ... , turned up stories tl 'i men who had lost houses i farms and become tenni!ess their devotion o the excit-battl- , . .1 ' left Ul are na film. Ir.rmn I announce ment of which fish wpnt is made had : do. 7hey as a by a rl-- Jfrora.anothc, bet they rum mmor ditlurencea In sun. ,..vT 5a - inner. is cre fully .removed vtB . identified, 'only die also a. liUl later. from . i:s wounils. these . pmuais are an. a loss to iWKien- (and how the native onlookert an distinguish one little duel , - Jf , Aif sir tsparate V ' . Sbrunfdare Uieir movements become. all but in- t;sible streaks of irri descent , p nxHienly, after perhap i. V? " .W,V-'-- . - , S-- 4 X- - i1 V V .i-.- 1. in an uproar f - ' '1 Oelow Splendent Pvgnaxi he Fighting Fish of-- Siaib, Whose Battles to the Death Took on the Proportions of National Spectacles. 1 ,4 Siamese ' anmi a UJ. bUV . ' Girl .. - jjaha If Majiravudh,r King of Siam, .Who Has Had trknsparent bowl was suspended "'ofi' a chain. This was the "ring" into which the two combatants were thrown. ' i The "betta pugnaxor fighting fish,' is normal brown like a trout, with stripes like a; bass. But as soon .as they are thrown together and each serisee the presence of an enemy,, their pigmentation undergoes a chemical change similar to that of chameleons, or hs a human being; goes rea witn anger or vaie irontiear.' .They become blazing, flashing gems ef Scintillating colors.' ..Their stripes change to red, green, orange and purple, r. Some hunutes are spent in, sparring for' && xlinch, and- frpenittgt one fin or another, gill, they by acizing But do am punish ready , t V . Thfc arousi The f fathei bira. boun al starvation, losing their ger eamingiL in the. same ', and of other 'cases where icing girls had been put up stakes under circumstances eh more unsavory than the who;, are . pate thc ka g, rn enforcement vep this atteupted reform has ie interest in the betta pugnaz. ltsperate Tighter,, bat a good are of the family, devolves upon t builds the tiny, raftrlike nest, y secretion, on which: the eggs who watches qvef the eggs, iff them from enemies. , Qnly v been hatched and. the young 'M fend for themselves. use. . These fish exist only of Eastern Asia, and art on j.c Jeale . . Of course there k general. against im,bling.; la sny h hi i omm, jub( git lotre is s w in the; United, Stpte aud .WRJand, and a law of that sort s always hard to enforce. . he Siamese Government could av crime, It made u years in prison, and has -- are i . v. e in the gloss bowls of poor laborers. :whp 'had heir wives and children face mentioned.,1- 1 IrClIlltJ f I;111UU9 4MMln This particular girl, Nika Me. Xong. . had teen apprenticed by her father to'a famous teaener, Ganawa Lan. Slavery has been abolished in Siam. but an apprenticed dancing girl can be "bought," and "sold", and transferred in the same way that a professional-baseball player ot athlete can be ,bought, and "sold"' in the United States. Canswa Lnr an able dancing teacher,9 but a passionate gambler, became a devotee of. and persistently picked the wrong fish, until he, was on the verge of ruin. Hoping to get soma of his losings back in a single desperate coup, he put up his most leautfui and talented pupil, Nika Me a-- sum of money -KongVTB that would equal about $4,000 and lost The srirl was won bv another master of dancing John Li; a Chinese Eurasian, of' when P her lather reputation-an- d rites, ' Aft I n. ; ok, .. . . i Dancing , in 61am may be ;c,i. .. t.w. p.w in an Important peis National Festival and oi Ceremonials. eellent family. 1 Dancing girls, figure 'in" the 'court cere, m tnrtnisala -- f W-'- ng lrJ? . VUM.1VH on, nobody knows J4a Kong, was put up living stake, loser who I nothing else .rui, J,v:,,vf " iB.n-i.g- but the King him, self has brougnt Mt to a sudden end following .thejextraordinary revelations of a young ; dancing girl named Nika . - . ' proporuons. ' s' HAJft'JWVTW w "k muu or;iue theaters wiiere a . , w"','., ,w wu w take wwmr uiouiaB(, oi Siamese oi every, .. ja" Wi ur lue, iiuui uic, iiu,vM uic uuuiL iwiB.-ssiuitc- . f xVTT Tk - 1 juv, Thousands of people, rich and poor alike, flocked to wateh thaae nightly contests Jn si hundred theatreav eaf es and gardens, win-nland losing sums that ranged Irons fortune to the small day's of a wagea lsiborer or coolie. How long It might have gone i,' r. , .'.' - . ,."A,r?f,J. , , , oi ke . h, to stacks 4iJ -- , yen old and working themselves Into lastlc frenzies over tha minUlut battles," cock-fighti- ' ana Ainerwa,. ,.,,, ay L as |