The Siamese And Their Ghosts

The firet thing an orthodox Siamese does in the morning is to scare away the family ghosts who may have gath■ered about the old place in the night. Letting off crackers is an effectual means. At the New Year all the ghosts come trooping to their former dwellings. For three days they have" their fun. At the end of the time the priests and their flocks flre guns and use other devioes for getting rid of them. A Siamese is coffined face downward, so that the ghosts may not neak back through the dead man's mouth. The coffin is taken out through a hole in the wall, and carried several times round the house, in order that the ghost may be put off the scent, and not venture to vex his fantily.