The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-11

Elementary education is enforced nom- inally for boys from to Il years of age and for girls from to 10. There are 36,- 230 schools of various kinds which have about 1, ,331, 200 pupils, or one out of twenty four of the population.
 Only small portion of the arable land Is under cultivation from want of good roads and means of conveyance; besides that tlthes are levied on all pro- duce and custom dues for exportation from one province to another The result Is, that the farmers raise only enough corn for their. own consumption and tha [ Turkey buys her wheat and flour from Russia and Austria-Hungary.
 All Mussulmans over 20 are amenable to military service and are only exempt after they have passed the age of forty. But all inhabitants of Constantinople, even Mussulmans, are exempt from serv- ing in the army.
 Turkeys war strength may be seen from the following figures Infantry, 1SoS battalions, S56,500 men; cavalry, 105 regi- ments, comprising 6l,000 men; artillery, 1850 guns, 63,000 men; engineers, S9 com- panies, 74O0 men. making total of 9S7,OOO men.
 Her modern navy consists of six cruis- CTS. 9200 tons each; two torpeo boats launched in 1S90 and four large torpedo boats of which two are up to date.
 The Ottoman Turks lived originally in central Asia, where they were members of a race related to the Mongols, branch of the Ural-Altai family. Under their first Sultan. Othman, who ruled from 18S- 1926 they founded realm in Asia Minor, but soon extended it into Europe enter ing Armenia. With the capture of Con stantinople in 1453 they succeeded to the Byzantine empire and their rule at it's zenith, during the sixteenth century ex- tended over the greater part of south eastern Europe and much of western Asia and northern Africa, but they have lost Hungary. Roumania- Servia, Greece and practically Bulgaria and Egypt, etc. The Ottoman Turks are Sunnite Moham- medans. and regard the Sultan, who is the supreme head of the church and re- cognzed as such by all Mohammedans, as representative of former caliphs.
 One of the most important industries of Turkey lies in it's fisheries; the income from the Bosphorons Straits alone rep resent yearly value of 25o,0o0 pounds sterling.
 Imports and exports of the Turkish em- pire are each estimated at from 20 to 2S millions sterling year.
 Turkeys principal products are tobac- co. cereals of all kinds. cotton, figs, nuts almonds. grapes, olives and all varieties of fruits Coffee, madder, opium and gums are largely exported In. 1900 fot chests of opium or, lo5.@o pounds. were sent from that country, Carpets also form an important article of export and are made on hand-loolns.
 Turkeys Immediate possessions in Eu- rope aggregate to @. $50 square miles, with d population of 6,190.200; in Asia, OS6l0 square miles. population. ls,S9s,ae and in Africa, 39s 800 square miles, popu- lation, 100000, Her dependencies are as follows: Bulgaria dncluding eastern Roumelia) with an area of sl, 200 square miles and population, 3,744, 300; Bosnia ana Herzegovina, laS0o square miles. popuia- ton 1.591 100; Crete, 3Sso square miles' Sl0,000 populations Cyprus, 3llo square miles. population 2s7ooo; samos, iso square