AFGHANISTAN. 



ALABAMA. 



Quetta continuation was determined upon, an 

 immense number of laborers were set at work 

 in the Harnai Valley, with the intention of fin- 

 ishing it in one season. 



Zhob Valley Expedition. On the pretext of 

 guarding the railroad works and assisting in 

 the construction, a large military force was 

 massed upon the Afghan border. The real 

 object was probably to impress the Afghans 

 with the power of Great Britain, and thus in- 

 sure the safety of the frontier commission, or, 

 in case of Afghan treachery, to anticipate any 

 action of Russia, and march at once into Af- 

 ghanistan. The raids of a robber chief on the 

 railroad works gave occasion for a further dis- 

 play of military power. After the departure 

 of the boundary commission, a column of about 

 six thousand choice Indian and European 

 troops, under Brig. -Gen. Tanner, advanced 

 into southern Afghanistan to chastise the ma- 

 rauders. The chief offender was Shah Jehan, 

 head of the Sarun tribe of Kakar Pathans, in- 

 habiting the Zhob Valley, a fertile mountain 

 district, about one hundred miles long and 

 twenty broad. There are seven Kakar tribes, 

 all claiming descent from the family of Saul, 

 the Jewish king. Their facial type is clearly 

 Semitic. The Saruns, under their arrogant 

 chief, who boasts the proud title of King of 

 the World, are at war with all their neighbors, 

 and have repeatedly provoked and defied the 

 English. The punitive expedition set out about 

 the beginning of October. Sir Robert Sande- 

 man accompanied it as the political representa- 

 tive of the British power. Shah Jehan sent a 

 message offering his submission, but it was only 

 a ruse to gain time; for Sir R. Sandeman's 

 messenger bringing the required assurances was 

 insulted and barely escaped with his life. The 

 tribes of the Bori Valley, after offering resist- 

 ance, surrendered. The Hemzedai Kakars made 

 friends with the invaders, but the Muskheyls 

 and Kiligais, after sending conciliatory mes- 

 sages, refused to make terms. When the col- 

 umn entered the Zhob Valley, Shah Jehan re- 

 tired to a strong position, two days' march from 

 Akhtarzai, prepared to resist the British troops 

 with a few hundred of his stanchest followers. 



The watch-towers and towers of refuge form 

 a peculiar feature of the landscapes on the bor- 

 ders of Persia and Afghanistan. These were 

 built as a defense against the raids of the Tur- 

 komans, who until recently were in the habit 

 of sweeping- down suddenly upon people at 

 work in the fields, and carrying them off for 

 slaves. One of the strongest is Lasgird, shown 

 in the engraving. It is a fortress, about two 

 hundred yards in diameter, with very thick 

 walls, mainly of earth. It has vaults of brick- 

 work, and over them are brick stables and 

 dwellings, with balconies made of stumps of 

 trees overlaid with branches and floored with 

 dry mud. There were strong stone doors and 

 other means of protection. The pyramidal 

 structure at the left of the picture is the vil- 

 lage well. 



ALABAMA. State Government. The following 

 were the State officers during the year : Gov- 

 ernor, Edward A. O'Neal, Democrat; Secre- 

 tary of State, Ellis Phelan ; Treasurer, Freder- 

 ick H. Smith ; Auditor, Jesse M. Carmichael ; 

 Attorney- General, Henry C. Tompkins; Su- 

 perintendent of Education, Henry 0. Arm- 

 strong. Judiciary, Supreme Court Chief-Jus- 

 tice, Robert C. Brickell ; Associate Justices, 

 George W. Stone and H. M. Somerville. , 



Coal and Iron. In 1872 Alabama mined only 

 10,000 tons of coal. In 1879 this had increased 

 to 290,000 tons. In 1880 about 400,000 tons 

 were mined, and in 1884 it was estimated that 

 the output would reach 1,000,000 tons. The 

 demand is constantly ahead of the supply. 



The markets of Mobile, New Orleans, and 

 Texas are using Alabama coal, and its use is 

 steadily increasing at all of the Gulf ports ; and 

 in the interior of the cotton States, in the small 

 towns and on the plantations, where wood has 

 been the sole fuel, coal is now sold at low 

 prices. In Alabama there are seven distinct 

 kinds of coal, all bituminous. Alabama has 

 cannel-coal within its borders ; large free-burn- 

 ing lump-coal; coking and gas coals in abun- 

 dance ; and coals that for steam purposes are 

 equal to the celebrated Cumberland, or to the 

 best Scotch coals. 



The product of iron and steel in Alabama in 

 1870 amounted to 7,060 tons ; in 1880, to 62,- 

 986 tons; and in 1883, to 125,000 tons. 



Lumber. In 1880 it was estimated that there 

 were 15,000,000,000 feet of long-leaf pine tim- 

 ber standing in Alabama. The lumber indus- 

 try in the section of the pine belt west of the 

 Escambia river shows a healthy and steady 

 increase during the past ten or twelve years, 

 which is strikingly manifest in reference to 

 the export of hewn square timber, as is shown 

 by the following exhibit of the production from 

 the year 1880 to the close of the present busi- 

 ness year : 



Of shingles, mostly cypress, an average of 

 3,500.000 are produced every year. A con- 

 siderable quantity of timber from the western 

 confines of the pine region in this State finds 

 its way by the Esquatawba river to the mills 

 at Pascagoula. Shipments of square timber 

 from the upper part of this district are made 

 northward by the railroads. Its whole produc- 

 tion in lumber and timber does not fall short 

 of 60,000,000 feet, board measure. The for- 

 ests fronting Mobile bay have in a great meas- 

 ure been destroyed by the production of naval 

 stores. Not less than 600,000 acres of fine 

 timber-lands have been given over to destruc- 

 tion by the methods followed in the prosecu- 

 tion of that industry during the twenty-five 



