The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-06-18
FACTS ABOUT SERvIA.
King Peters Kingdom Com
prise7 Is,63o Square Miles.
LITTLE OF THE LAND CULTIVATED

LII i LII VI 14B LAM OIA4Ah a "A LII
only About a Third Is Tined-Nain
Crops Are wheat, Maize, Meadow
Grass ana PIums-The Pig Is the
CHIEF source Of Commercial wealth.
one Principal Railway.
The kingdom Of seryia, the scene of
the recent tragic assassination Of its
king, queen aud some ministers Of
state, Is situated in the interior Of the
Balkan peninsula, south Of the Save
land the Danube. being bounded by Ron
mania and Bulgaria on the east and
Bosnia on the west, says the Philadel-
phia Public Ledger Including the por-
tions added by the Berlin treaty Of
1878, it comprises 1850 square miles.
The kingdom has a population Of
100000, Of which $4,000 reside in Bel
grade, the capital, which is situated
on the Danube river The state re-
igion is Greek Orthodox According
to the official census reports, there
were in Servia IN 1895 2.2S1, 0ls Greek
Orthodox communicates 10l4ll Roman
( Catholics, 1,002 Protestants, 5,102
| Jews and 14,414 Mohammedans.
IN 1874 only per cent of the popula-
ton could read and write; in 1884, 10.
per cent; in 1880. IA per cent The per-
centage Of illiteracy is being reduced
rapidly, for elementary education is
now compulsory.
For governmental purposes the coun.
try IS divided into seventeen depart
ments or provinces. The constitution
voted by The national assembly, or
skupshtina, in 1850 continued in force
kantil 1894, when it was repealed By
King Alexander and an older constltu-
ton adopted in 1860 was revived. IN
April, 1901, the crown granted the
people a new constitution. which was.
however, revoked by Alexander in the
coup Of a few weeks ago.
NO country is more deserving Of
| being called d democracy than Servia, !"
said De Lavelye after returning from
a tour of the Balkan states. The Turk
ISL beys having been driven away in
the wars Of independence. the servian
peasants found themselves absolute
owners OF the lands they occupied
without any one above them Each
family owns the ground it tills and
with the most primitive tools draws
I'from 1t a livelihood In the country
there are few day laborers, for no
Servian cares TO be another mans serv-
ant Even the cooks and table wait
ers come, as a rule, from Hungary or
Croatia. When d farmer Is not able
to attend to his own crops lie turns to
his neighbors, who gives him a help
ing hand, and at the close Of the har-
vest they all join in friendly feast.
The holdings vary In size from ten
to thirty acres. III 1897 the number
Of proprietors was za3,421 The chief
crops are wheat, matte. meadow grass
for forage and plnms, tile latter ex-
ported largely in the form Of marina
lade. which enjoys high reputation.
Only about a third of the country IS
/ cultivated much Of what remains
being under wood
4 The pig has been to Seryi2 like the
/ herring to Holland. the chief source
Of her commercial wealth Innumer-
able herds of these animals, almost
wild. fatten in the glades of the vast
oak forests Of the central part Of the
country. Before the day Of American
bacon they used to be driven in great
herds to the Danube, to be exported
( TO Austria and Hungary. Still, in 1900
there were nearly 100000 hogs in
Servia. and a considerable number are
sent away each year for foreign con
sumption, though the trade Is Of less
importance than formerly Some dis
tricts are famous, too, for their horses.
oxen and sheep.
There are almost no manufactures
in Seryia except -four mills and brew
cries Various kinds Of Ignite and
7 coal are mined in tolerably large guam
I titles, and other minerals are found
I though nowhere abundantly. The inn
port trade in 1901 was valued at A.,
o35. 42s dlnars, or about $55,000,oo0
and the export trade at about $780,
100000.
Seryia has one principal railway
line. go miles in length, and several
branch lines. of highways there are
3,4a5 miles. The navigation on the
Danube mostly in the hands Of for
eign steamship companies, is Of com
mercial Importance to the kingdom.
The country has 126 post Offices and
1850 miles Of telegraph lines. The full
war strength of servia, counting in
the militia. is probably about 100000
men.
waOdmen IN Camp.
indianapolis Ind June 1.-THE thir-