Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-04-07

proving i 70 be s. considerable value Is
as after all. Without going into details
Is to the value 81 the country when devei-
oped. as shown BY late explorations. tits
worthy ofnote that The seal fisheries row
yield the government revenue OF about
$500, 900 per annum. AS this i the in
terest, ct three per cent, Of SO. O00. 900.
and Alaska cost the United States 81, 900.
600, it will be seen that the revenue from
the seal fisheries alone more than pays the
interest on the investment.
All that can be said about education ii
very large portion Of Russia is that it
does not exist. There is no national
provision for the teaching Of the masses
in the rural districts, and though NUM-
cipaI authorities in towns have the power
to establish schools, they have hitherto
exercised it very sparingly, Towns,
however, in the sense in which the word
is understood in America; are hardly to
be found in the dominions of the car.
The two capitals stand apart, Of course;
besides these there is not q single city ia
the whole Of Russia which would be
deemed large town in America. Only
twenty have population exceeding So
900, and only $50 count more than TO-
900 inhabitants. Not more than one Ia
eight Of the so, 600, 900 who make upshe
subjects of Alexander III. can be called
townsnlan. The remaining seven
eighths Of the people are jewellers in
isolated village communities.
Mr.. r. Villiers, the well known artist
OF the London Illustrated Necs, accom-
panied the English commissioners to
Abyssinia, and he gives an interesting
account of the customs of the peoples
He states that they are great consumers
Of milk, but never use Il in fresh con-
dition. They do not artiicially sour it,
but the vessels in which it is placed are
never cleaned, and thus Immediately
when the fresh milk in poured into
these. fermentation commences. Meat,
Of which the Abyssinians arc great con-
sumers they eat raw. and when guests
are invited to sit down OF feast bull
lock is slaughtered in an adjoining apart
ment as they wait. and strips are cut off
while the flesh is still hot--sometimes,
indeed, before the animal is absolutely
dead. In eating, the native puts one end
of strip of meat into his mouth, hold
ing the other in his left hand, and with
his sword or dagger cuts of piece by
piece close to his nose, cutting from left
to right.
No enthusiasm is manifested by the
troops sent out from France to fight in
Tonquin. On the contrary, it is a Job
from which they would rather be ex-
cused, and the officers, cognizant Of this
fact. treat the soldiers as convicts. The
French transport Canton, with 1900
men of the Foreign Legion, recently ar
rived at Singapore, leaving the following
day for Tonquin. While at Singapore
eight men jumped overheard and swan
ashore. One of them, an Italian. told
pitiful story of their treatment on board
the Canton. He had been condemned
to twenty-five days imprisonment in
irons for having accidentally dropped
his sword overheard while on sentinel
duty. The other seven escapes were
Germans. and the sentinel, as we'll as the
captain, fred at the swimmers, but with
out hitting any of them. Every trans
port touching at Singapore loses men
and several men have been shot dead or
wounded in their attempt to escape. This
shooting Of men in British waters has
been complained of TO the home govern
ment, and the captains of the transports
have concluded hereafter not to allow
any Of the soldiers on deck while in
foreign harbor. but to have them cooped
up below like slaves.