pass were converted into a road for camels and artillery. The Swatis and Yusufzais, numbering 30,000 fighting men, prepared to resist the British columns in accord with Umra Khan, who attempted to proclaim a jehad or religious war, but was not supported in this by the Mollah of Manki. The Malakand pass was the only strong position. Reaching this point after three days' march, Sir Robert Low sent one of his three brigades to the Shahkot Pass for a diversion, while with another under Col. Waterfield he ascended the Malakand. The British worked their way slowly onward, shelling with mountain guns the Swatis out of the stone breast works behind which they were posted, and sweeping the road and the heights with machine guns. The other brigade came up with artillery at a critical bend in the road where the Swatis had placed their strongest defenses, and where they terrified the troops by rolling pieces of rock down upon them. The Gordon Highlanders, the Scottish Borderers, and a regiment of Dogras here charged up the hill and dislodged with their bayonets the Swatis, who fought stubbornly until they were taken in the flank by the Guide Corps, when they fled, leaving the pass in the hands of the British. The latter lost 11 killed and 33 wounded, including 8 officers. The brigade constituting the advanced guard encountered 5,000 Swatis, who blocked the road to the Swat river and fought another sharp battle, which was ended by a dashing cavalry charge of the Guides. Over the river a trestle bridge, succeeded later by a permanent suspension bridge, was built under a heavy fire, and after crossing the river a Bengal regiment charged and routed the enemy, and Chakrana was occupied, while the Scottish Borderers, fording the river farther up, took Thana fort, where a brother of Umra Khan was in command. The Swatis and Bajaul tribesmen, after being defeated, made their submission and settled down at once, and Umra Khan's followers dwindled as the British advanced. On April 13 the Guides were attacked by the enemy, and Col. Battye, the commanding officer, was killed. The force retreated, but resumed the advance almost immediately. The second brigade attacked Dir, capturing the fort by storm, with the garrison and its commander, Umra Khan's brother Mohammed. Gen. Low gained the friendship of the Khan of Dir in order to get his assistance in relieving the beleaguered garrison at Chitral.

Umra Khan's force, reduced to 600 men, of fered slight resistance to Sir Robert Low's column, which advanced to Miankalai, the principal town of Bajaur, skirmished with the enemy for two days, and on April 18 prepared to attack Munda, the chief fort; but they found it deserted, Umra Khan evacuating the country with all his men. He threw himself upon the protection of the Ameer at Cabul, who upbraided him for his wrongdoing, but accorded him the hospitality that he claimed as a Mohammedan. He gave him two villages, but on complaints from the British placed him under guard.

Col. Kelly had by this time reached Mastuj and relieved the garrison, which had been closely invested for eighteen days. He pushed on, defeating the enemy at Nisagal on April 13, and approached Chitral simultaneously with some

tribesmen from Dir whom Gen. Low had taken into his service and sent ahead in all haste to raise the siege. Sher Afzul's forces, thus caught as in a vise, melted away. Sher Afzul, with his principal lieutenants and about 1,500 men, was surrendered to the Khan of Dir. The relieving force from the north arrived before Gen. Gatacre with the advanced guard of Gen. Low's force had crossed the Lowarai pass. The casualties sustained during the investment were 39 killed and 62 wounded. The total cost of the campaign exceeded £1,000,000.

The British, being now established as masters of Chitral, deposed the Mehtar Amir-ul-Mulk and carried him off to India as a prisoner of state. In his place they set up his brother Shujaul-Mulk, who was only nine years old, but was the last remaining legitimate son of Aman-ulMulk. Sher Afzul was captured with his brothers and thrown into prison.

The future of Chitral was made the subject of a long controversy by the Indian statesmen and strategists. The Indian Government officials and the army officers in India generally favored its retention, although this would require the building of a road over the mountains and entail an addition of 3,000 men to the peace strength of the Indian army and a permanent increase of £250,000 in the annual budget. The reason that a British garrison was originally placed in Chitral was that, after Col. Yonoff had made a reconnoissance in the northern part of the country in 1891, Russian journalists boasted that in the event of a war between Great Britain and Russia a small force could cross the Hindu Kush at this point and start a rebellion against the British rule in Cashmere and the neighboring countries. Some of the British, military men were now convinced that Chitral was of no strategical value, but that, having once established themselves there, the British could not now retire without weakening their prestige along the whole frontier. The Chitrali tribesmen continued to attack the British posts that were established in the country, and the Liberal Government decided to withdraw as soon as the operation could be carried out consistently with dignity and safety. To hold Chitral without a permanent road from Peshawur was out of the question, and such a road could not be built and kept open without breaking faith with the tribes, to whom Gen. Low had given the assurance that no occupation of their country was intended, nor without subjugating those tribes, the Swatis, Yusufzais, Bajauris, Mohmands, and Bunerwals, numbering over 60,000 fighting men. The Liberal Government in England having resigned without taking any definite steps to carry out their decision, their successors determined to give more study to the problem, meanwhile continuing the military occupation of Chitral. They decided to retain the country, promising the Indian Government that the army would not be increased and that only one native regiment would be added to the garrison previously posted in Gilgit and Chitral, native levies being depended upon to guard the road between Kila Drosh and the Swat river, for which a shorter and easier route was found than that followed by Gen. Low's expedition. As soon as was practicable the British troops would aban

don the country west of the Panjkora river, comprising the former dominions of Umra Khan, the northern part being added to the territory of the Khan of Dir and Bajaur restored to tribal government.

Waziristan.-The survey and establishment of the agreed boundary between Afghanistan and Beloochistan necessitated the military occupation of Waziristan by a large force under Sir William Lockhart. Flying columns went through the country in January, 1895, and destroyed the villages of the Mahsuds, whose mollahs and chiefs had opposed the British occupation. The Waziris also fired upon them, and were punished by the destruction of their habitations and the confiscation of their cattle. The Waziris paid the fine that was imposed upon them and delivered up their arms. By the middle of February 350 miles of the border were demarcated, up to Chaman, half way to the Persian frontier. The Maliks, representing the Afghan Government, concurred in the line as surveyed by British officers. After the northern section, from Charkiaghar to Mount Laram, on the northern border of Waziristan, had been demarcated the commissioners returned to India in April.

ALABAMA, a Southern State, admitted to the Union Dec. 14, 1819; area, 52,250 square miles. The population, according to each decennial census since admission, was 127,901 in 1820; 309,527 in 1830; 590,756 in 1840; 771,623 in 1850; 964,201 in 1860; 996,992 in 1870; 1,262,505 in 1880; and 1,513,017 in 1890. Capital, Montgomery.

Government. The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, William C. Oates; Secretary of State, James K. Jackson; Treasurer, J. Craig Smith; Auditor, John Purifoy; Attorney General, William C. Fitts; Commissioner of Agriculture, H. D. Lane; Superintendent of Public Instruction, John O. Turner; Adjutant General, Charles P. Jones; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Robert C. Brickall; Associate Justices, Thomas N. McClellan, Thomas W. Coleman, James B. Head, and Jonathan Haralson; Clerk, Sterling A. Wood-all Democrats. Finances.-The total bonded debt of the State on Oct. 1, 1894, was $9,299,400, of which $8,345,400 are payable on July 1, 1906, and $954,000 on Jan. 1, 1920. Under act of the Legislature these outstanding bonds may be increased by $249,600 to exchange for old bonds, as follow: Class A, bonds bearing 4 per cent. interest till July, 1896, and 5 per cent. thereafter, $195,600; Class B, bonds bearing 5 per cent. interest, $18,000; and Class C, bonds bearing 4 per cent. interest, $30,520. All bonds due in 1906 were issued in 1876; those due in 1920 were issued to retire the 6-per-cent. bonds of 1880. The annual interest charges on the bonds now outstanding aggregate $377,756. In January, 1895, Gov. Oates reported that in addition to the regular bonded debt of the State there were liabilities amounting to $3.214,356, comprising bonds in favor of the Agricultural and Mechanical College past duc, $253,500; indebtedness of the State to the State University for which the latter has never received any evidence, $300,000; indebtedness of the State to the public schools on account of the "sixteenth section trust fund," $1,991,770; and principal of money deposited

with the State by the United States Government in 1836, subject to be called for at any time, on which the State pays 4 per cent. interest, which goes to the support of the public schools, $669,086. The Governor urged the Legislature to enact a sinking-fund law, by which the State debt might be gradually extinguished, and to amend the refunding act so that the bonds may be subject to call for redemption after ten or twenty years. He indicated measures which, in his judgment, would reduce the aggregate interest charged by $140,000 per annum.

Valuations.-The total assessed valuation of taxable property in the State in 1894 was $243,171,677, the tax rate was 5 mills, and the amount of taxes $1,217,281. The assessed valuations in 1893 amounted to $260,172,590, and the taxes to $1,302,473, also on a 5-mill rate. In 1891 taxable property reached its highest valuation in the history of the State ($275,316,491), and in 1893 the tax receipts were the largest.

Banking. According to the last published report of the United States Comptroller of the Currency, Alabama had, on Oct. 31, 1894, 27 national banks. The combined capital was $3,694,000; amount of United States bonds held to secure circulation, $1,108,500; excess of such bonds beyond requirement, $378,750; amount of coin and coin certificates held, $594,869; notes issued for circulation, $7,035,860; redeemed, $5,839,647; outstanding, $1,196,213; and loans and discounts, $6,388,466. The State banks numbered 11, and had a combined capital of $592,400, resources of $1,213,108, deposits of $340,889, and surplus and undivided profits of $122,697. There were 4 savings banks, with combined capital of $380,000, resources of $855,420, deposits of $368,051, and surplus and profits of $64,513. Six private banks had a total capital of $437,500, resources of $1,042,515, deposits of $450,242, and surplus and profits of $118,222.

Education.-The State appropriation for public schools is about $500,000 per annum, exclusive of the poll tax, which if fully collected would make the amount about $750,000. The Governor, in a special message in January, called attention to the State's indebtedness to the school funds, reviewed the condition of the various institutions, and urged the imposition of a specific rate of taxation for schools, to be separate from other State taxes, believing that such taxation would be met more willingly by the people when they could see just how much they were paying directly for educational purposes and how much from the general fund as interest on the school trust funds. The following are the appropriations for the principal institutions: Agricultural and Mechanical College at Auburn, $20,280; normal college for whites at Florence, $7,500; normal college for whites at Troy, $3.000; normal college for whites at Jacksonville, $2,500; normal college for white girls at Livingston, $2,500; normal college for the colored at Montgomery, $7,500; normal college for the colored at Huntsville, $4,000; and the normal college for the colored at Tuskegee, $3,000. Besides the State appropriations, the Agricultural and Mechanical College receives annually from the congressional land grant under the

Morrill bill about $11,000; the agricultural experiment station connected with the college receives annually under the Hatch bill about $15,000; and the normal schools receive annually from the Peabody fund an aggregate of $3,500; one of them from the Slater fund, $2,500; one from the Morrill fund, $8,000; and all. from cities, towns, and tuition fees, a total of about $70,000.

Railroads.-On Dec. 31, 1893, the total single-track mileage was 3,627-89; during 1894 five lines added a total of 145 to their mileage; and on Dec. 31, 1894, the aggregate mileage was 3,642-39. The railroads represented a total capital investment of over $117,750,000; had a funded debt of nearly $60,000,000, and an investment in roadbed and equipment of over $106,000,000; paid for interest on bonds over $1,500,000; and had net earnings of nearly $1,500,000.

The Iron Industry. According to the report of the United States Geological Survey on "Mineral Resources" for the year 1894, issued in 1895, Alabama ranked third among the States in the production of iron ores. The total output was 1,493,086 long tons, or 12.57 per cent. of the whole production of the United States, valued at $1,210,895. Of this total, 1,182,362 tons, or 79-19 per cent., was red hematite, and 310,724 tons, or 20-81 per cent., brown hematite. Although the State has an abundance of iron ores close to the coal basins, it has so far made no Bessemer pig iron, the ores exploited being too high in phosphorus. The average value of the iron ore in 1894 was 83 cents a ton, somewhat less than in the preceding year, but greater attention was being paid to the grading of ore used in furnaces. Manganese ores are found in the Murphrees valley, from 50 to 150 feet above the black shale of the lower siliceous group, with some traces in the La Grange sandstone. Dr. E. A. Smith, the State geologist, believes that the great bulk of these ores will be found in the Sand valley and on the northwest side of Red mountain; that the discoveries so far made are in the main accidental; and that probably the larger portion of the deposits that exist are as yet undiscovered. In October, 1895, the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company received a telegram from the Carnegie Steel Company, of Pittsburg, Pa., saying that 5,000 tons of low silicon iron, made of Alabama red ore, and shipped to Pittsburg, had been thoroughly tested and found to be in every respect suitable for direct conversion into steel. An additional shipment of 20,000 tons of the same grade was ordered. The results of this experiment remove all doubt as to the ability to make steel from low silicon Alabama iron, which is the product of ordinary red ore-a fact heretofore disputed. The production of iron ore in 1895 was expected to exceed the output of the preceding year, as the mines were being taxed to their utmost to supply the demand, the furnaces and mills were running on full time, and the railroads found it difficult to supply cars for the products.

Coal.-State Mine Inspector Hillhouse reported in October, 1895, that, from figures at hand and close estimates on the production for November and December, the output of coal for the year would be 6,000,000 tons, or 750,000 tons

in excess of that of 1893, which was the largest production in the history of the State to that time, and almost 2,000,000 tons more than were mined in 1894. All the old mines and many new ones were being worked to the utmost. Cotton and Woolen Mills.-A census of the cotton and woolen manufacturing interests of the Southern States, in April, 1895, showed that Alabama had 26 mills, operating 164,898 spindles, 2,756 looms, and 517 cards. Twenty-one mills had a capital investment of $3,678,000. The largest cotton-mill plant was in Huntsville, which was capitalized at $650,000, and had 25,000 spindles and 750 looms. Other plants were capitalized at $500,000, $300,000, and $250,000 each, and 7 at from $200,000 to $100,000 each. Besides the mills then in operation, 11 others were being constructed, one at Gadsden to employ a capital of $600,000 and operate 25,000 spindles, and a similar one near Rome, both belonging to Massachusetts corporations.

Taxable Manufactures.-In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, the collections of internal revenue aggregated $112,582.45 from the following sources: Distilled spirits, $51,490.85; tobacco, $15,458.31; fermented liquors, $38,451.49; oleomargarine, $5,609.60; and penalties, $1,572.20. The same sources yielded a total of $88,719.83 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895. The number of tobacco factories in 1894 was 47. which had a total output of 5,243,693 cigars; and of grain, molasses, and fruit distilleries, 105, of which 100 were in operation, producing 17,850 gallons of distilled spirits and 36,465 barrels of fermented liquors.

Agriculture. The United States Department of Agriculture reported as follows on the principal crops of 1894: Corn, 2,537,249 acres, 34,760,311 bushels, value $18,422,965; wheat, 50,274 acres, 417,274 bushels, value $325,474; oats, 371,996 acres, 4,910,347 bushels, value $2,504,277; rye, 2,145 acres, 28,529 bushels, value $27,103; potatoes, 5,913 acres, 254,259 bushels, value $223,748; and hay, 72,803 acres, 195,112 tons, value $1,855,515; total value, $23,359,082. The same authority reported the cotton crop of the year as 825,746 bales, and the New Orleans Cotton Exchange reported it for 1895 as 1,000,

000 bales.

Live Stock.-In January, 1895, the United States Department of Agriculture estimated the number and value of farm animals in the State

as follows: Horses, 123,400, value $5,769,369; mules, 125,936, value $7,265,473; milch cows, 317,978, value $3,434,162; oxen and other cattle, 545,134, value $3,738,913; sheep, 326,640, value $474,804; and swine, 1,680,816, value $5,385,336; total value, $26,068,057.

Political.-At a conference in Birmingham, Nov. 13, it was decided that the Populists should co-operate with Republicans and other antiDemocrats in the next State campaign.

ALASKA. The Territory known as Alaska was ceded by Russia to the United States in a treaty concluded March 30 and proclaimed June 20, 1867. in consideration of the payment of $7,200,000.

Boundaries.-The main body of the Territory is bounded on the east by the one hundred and forty-first meridian, on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by Bering Sea and

margin of this great Piedmont ice sheet is heavily covered with stones and earth, on which grow dense forests.

The snow line, or lowest limit of perennial snow, in the St. Elias region is about 2,500 feet above the sea. Below the snow line, in summer, every mountain spur and every island in the ice is covered with a luxuriant growth of brilliant alpine flowers.

In central and northern Alaska glaciers are absent; but beneath the forests in many localities, and under the luxuriant moss of the low, flat, swampy lands, known as tundras, that

forests are dense. The trees are frequently fine, and reach a height of 150 feet. Beneath the forests and extending above the timber line the ground is deeply covered with moss and luxuriant ferns. The majority of the trees are spruce, of which 2 species, the Menzies and the Mertens, are about equally abundant. Cedars are plentiful, the most valuable being the yellow cedar, celebrated for the beauty and durability of its fine yellow and fragrant wood. This is especially valuable for shipbuilding, but unfortunately the supply is limited. The timber laws in force in the older portions of the United

fringe the coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, the soil is always frozen. The depth of this subsoil ice is known in some instances to exceed 200 feet.

Forests. In southeastern Alaska the upper limit of timber growth, or the "timber line," is at an elevation of 4,000 feet, but it decreases in elevation when followed westward along the coast. At the base of Mount St. Elias it is only 1,500 feet, and it reaches sea level on the Alaskan peninsula. Kodiak island, the Aleutian Islands, and a belt of country about 100 miles broad fringing the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean (the tundra belt), are treeless. Throughout the southeastern portion of the Territory as far westward as Yakutat Bay the

States have not been extended to Alaska, and the forests are still practically untouched. A few sawmills have been established to meet the local demand for lumber, but exportation is prohibited.

In central Alaska, and especially in the region drained by the Yukon, the forests are dense, but of small growth. The trees are mostly white spruce, and of minor value for lumber. Cottonwood and small willows grow along the streams, but hard-wood trees are wanting.

Throughout the Territory berries of many kinds including huckleberries, salmon berries, black currants, dwarf raspberries, and strawberries-grow luxuriantly, and are largely used by both the natives and white inhabitants.