Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-24
OTHER LANDS THAN OURS.

down or provided for a very respectable
navy. as navies Of most countries 60. From
the public dock yards two 15.OO0-ton battle
ships, one 9.S0O-ton armored cruiser and
two 5,sSO-ton protected cruisers were
launched. From private yards were
launched four 9,S00-ton armored cruisers,
besides a number Of submarines and tor
pedo boats. At present there are on the
blocks five 16,S5O-ton battleships, one $500
ton armored cruiser, six t0,200-ton armored
cruisers, two 135O0-ton armored cruisers,
four 300O-ton third-class cruisers, two
I,070-ton sloops, four 1.6O0-ton scouts
seventeen torpedo boat destroyers four
torpedo boats and four submarines. Ships
that are completing comprise six 14,00O-ton
battleships, thirteen armored cruisers,
ranging from $500 tons to IA 100 tons, and
two sloops. The ships that we're completed
and commissioned during the last year
comprised one battleship OF 10000 TONS
! three Of $4,000 tons, four armored cruisers
Of 10000 tons and one of $4,000 tons, one
| sloop and two 'gunboats The greatest sue
cess Of the year was the armored cruiser
King Alfred, which maintained a speed OF
2S,465 knots with S1,o71 horsepower, its
coal consumption at full power being 1.S1
pounds per hour per /. h, p. This estab-
fishes that King Alfred could go from
England to Australia at fifteen knots an
hour without recoaling.
Among other signs Of unquiet and dis
content in the Russian empire is a curious
| exodus, for the purpose of evadlng mill
| tary service, of Tartars from Crimea into
Turkey. 1t was found necessary not long
] ago to put a large steamer on the line
running from sevastopol to Constantlnople
| In order to accommodate the increasing
number of emigrants. Moreover, the Tar
tars are using other opportunities for es-
| cape and the Russian authorities have
found it necessary to lay special injunctions
upon all local fishermen forbidding them
| to assist the fugitives in their flight They
say that they do not regret the departure
of the Tartars, as it makes room for more
desirable Russian peasants, but feel com
miseration for the emigrants, who are
going from bad to worse, and certainly the
Tartars are grossly mistaken II they ex-
pect to find Turkey land overhowing with
milk and honey. The suggestion has been
made by the Mahommedan priesthood that
| all Tartar recruits should be enlisted In
one special regiment, and 1t is believed
that this would remove many sources CT
discomfort, but the authorities fear that II
they made an exception of this sort In favor
| of the Mahommedans it would not be long
before similar privileges would be de-
manded for the Jews. The Novoye Vremya
says that a remedy must be sought in ed
ucation.
Compulsory free elementary education
having been established in France in 1882.
the conscripts drafted into the army, and
born within the last twenty-five years, have
passed through the communal or other
schools. Thus Frenchmen who cannot read
and write are becoming rarities. Captains
in various parts of France last year sub
jected the conscripts drafted into their
companies to a sort of examination, which
proved that nearly every man was fairly
proficient in reading, writing and arith-
metic But beyond this the ignorance of the
great majority OF the men was astonishing.
According to the Revue Pedagogique, a
captain of the Fifth army corps, Of which
the headquarters are at Orleans, where the
population is supposed to be rather above
the average in intelligence, discovered that
two OF the forty-four conscripts drafted
into his company were completely illite-
rate. The others could read and write
fairly we'll, and the greater number could
solve problem of arithmetic correctly
Having ascertained these facts the cap
tain assembled the conscripts, and giving
them pen and paper asked, them to, write
as full answers as they could to three
questions "What do you know about Joan
of Arc?" "Of what does tie national fete
of July IA remind your What do you
know about the war OF 1902" 1t was found
that more than half the conscripts knew
nothing at all about Joan Of Arc, that
three quarters were ignorant of the event
commemorated by the national fete, and
that two-thrds had no knowledge what
ever of the Franco German war Of 1870
! The publication of this fact has caused
somewhat of a sensation.
, Steadily and methodIcally Russia is con-
tinuing its preparations for tightening iti
grip on Manchuria. The Russki Invalid q
' st. Petersburg publishes an order Of the
, minister OF war dwelling upon the impor'
( tance OF having a supply of officers &C
a quainted with the local languages among
the troops stationed in the Amur territory
and announcing that arrangements have
I been made at the Oriental Institute II
. Vladivostok for the instruction of fort!
officers in the Chinese, japanese, CoreaI
and Mongolian languages, as well as II
French and English. The course Of in
struction will last four years and tel
officers will be admitted every year II
order 10 STUDY the ldLBudBes CnOSeu ~
them by the general in command Of th
Amur military district. There will b.
no entrance examination. The officers Sc
G lected for these courses will enjoy variou
privileges, among others. annual allowance
q of 120 roubles for books, and 200 rouble
for travelling expenses For every montl
o which they spend abroad during leaves o
a absence in order TO perfect themselves il
;. their languages they will receive an add
e tional allowance for living expenses.
d The insecurity Of the Prussian author
4 tiles in the matter of the suppression o
d deulling is amusingly apparent in tn
h answer Of the minister Of war to memo
n rial addressed to him by German students
?, The latter desired an arrangement b
a which duels between officers and student
/, should be fought with the sabre rathe
" than with the pistol. The minister Of wa
o says that he recognizes in the attituce q
! the students a general desire to avoid af
g fairs with officers, a wish which, he says
is reeiprocated in the army. The locatio
i Of garrisons in university towns, he point
IS out was arranged with the object Of Civ
= ing students a convenient opportunity {
IS serving their year with the colors. On tn