AFGHANISTAN. 



ANGLICAN CHURCHES. 



pedo-destroyer Epee, and was attached to a float- 

 ing buoy or " deviator,'' which kept it at a uni- 

 form height of 100 feet above the water and, to a 

 ui-tain extent, made it possible to regulate the 

 direction of the flight. Some 200 pigeons were 

 used to keep up communication with the shore. 

 At ten o'clock on the morning of Sept. 22 the 

 balloon \\as siht-d by the captain of an Italian 

 \r--el i!.! miles southeast of Palavas. Eventual- 

 Iv. however, a contrary wind caused the at- 

 tempt to be abandoned, and the balloon was 

 brought to earth at Marseilles, between Cette 

 iiiul Ade. 



At the meeting of the French Academy of 

 Medicine held in Paris in August, 1902, Dr. 

 Naugicr asserted that he had made experiments 

 demonstrating that a balloon ascension acts on 

 the human system as a powerful tonic, causing 

 -in li a multiplication of the red corpuscles of 

 the blood that the condition persists for many 

 after an ascension. He further stated that 

 five such excursions, each of two hours' dura- 

 tion, would be more beneficial to an anemic or 

 a consumptive than a sojourn of three months 

 in the mountains, and that he should request the 

 municipal council to provide a large balloon, 

 capable of taking into the upper air daily 50 

 patients or children who are too poor to afford 

 a change of climate. 



AFGHANISTAN, a monarchy in central 

 A-ia. lying between Russian Turkestan and Brit- 

 ish India. The reigning Ameer is Habibullah 

 Khan, born in 1872, who succeeded his father, 

 Abdurrahman Khan, on Oct. 1, 1901. The area 

 of the country is estimated at 215,400 square 

 miles, the population at 4,000,000. The revenue 

 is uncertain and fluctuating. Although the rule 

 of Abdurrahman was more energetic and sys- 

 tematic than that of his predecessors, the ha- 

 kiniH, or governors, and other officials practise 

 extortion and peculation. The cultivators pay 

 to the Government from a tenth to a third of 

 the produce, according to the amount of irri- 

 gation. The Indian Government grants to the 

 Ameer an annual subsidy of Rx 180,000. Abdur- 

 rahman formed a regular army on European 

 models, consisting of 37,000 infantry, 7,000 cav- 

 alry, and 300 guns. In the arsenal at Kabul are 

 manufactured magazine rifles, cartridges, and 

 breech-loading cannons. Wheat, barley, and leg- 

 umes are winter crops, and rice, millet, and 

 corn are grown in summer. The land is culti- 

 vated by the owners or by tenants who pay rent 

 in money or in kind or who hold it on the 

 niituinr system. Agricultural laborers are free- 

 men who work for hire, or serfs. Asafetida is 

 gathered in great quantities and exported to 

 India. Castor-oil and madder are also exported, 

 and preserved fruits, which are consumed largely 

 in the country, as well as fresh fruits, in which 

 Afghanistan abounds, including apples, pears, 

 almonds, peaches, quinces, grapes, figs, plums, 

 apricots, pomegranates, cherries, and mulberries. 

 Silks, sheepskin coats, fabrics of camel's hair 

 and cashmere, rugs, and rosaries are manufac- 

 tured. The trade with Bokhara and Russian 

 territories is growing, while that with India and 

 with Persia shows no increase. Exports from 

 India to Kabul in 1001 were valued at Rx 299.051, 

 and imports into India from Kabul at Rx 187,550. 

 The exports from British India to Candahar 

 were Rx 214.310, and imports from Candahar 

 int.. India Kx 353.281. The imports from India 

 insist of cottons, indigo, sugar, and China tea. 

 The exports from Afghani-tan to India are fruits 

 and nuts, wool, silk, hides, spices, grain, ghi, 

 aaafetida and other drugs, vegetables, tobacco, 



cattle, and horses. The trade with Bokhara i& 

 about 4,000,000 rubles each way. 



The internal peace of Afghanistan was threat- 

 ened by a complication of intrigues in the- 

 months preceding the ceremonious installation of 

 the Ameer Habibullah, on March 20, 1902. Mo- 

 hammed Ismail, son of Ishak Khan, who con- 

 tested the throne with Abdurrahman, was sus- 

 pected of designs on Afghan Turkestan in co- 

 operation with other exiles in Russian territory. 

 Habibullah's cordiality toward the Haddah Mul- 

 lah, whose influence nearly embroiled Afghanis- 

 tan and India on the occasion of the frontier 

 troubles in 1897, was one of the manifestations of 

 a desire to conciliate the fanatical element and 

 put forth prominently the spiritual attributes of 

 Afghan sovereignty. Bibi Halima, the widow of 

 the late Ameer and mother of Mohammed Umar 

 Khan, was dissatisfied because Habibullah did 

 not consult her in political affairs, as he was 

 enjoined to do in his father's will. The new 

 Ameer's younger brother, Nasrullah Khan, was 

 at variance with him also. Mutinies occurred 

 among troops that had not been paid. The 

 Ameer appointed a council to assist him in the 

 administration of the country. The coronation 

 took place without serious disturbance. The 

 Hadda Mullah went to Kabul, where a new code 

 of laws to be promulgated by the Ameer was 

 submitted to him for revision. The Ameer gave 

 permission for political refugees to return to Ka- 

 bul, but withdrew it in deference to the opinion 

 of Umar Khan, Nasrullah Khan, and others. 

 The Ameer's Council of State was composed of 

 leading members of the various tribes. Another 

 step in the direction of organized government 

 was the appointment of a person learned in Af- 

 ghan customs and Moslem law to assist each of 

 the provincial governors in the administration 

 of civil and criminal justice. Cases of impor- 

 tance are referred to the Ameer and the Council 

 of State at Kabul. The soldiers received their 

 pay, which w r as in arrears since the death of the 

 late Ameer. A plan for the reform and reorgan- 

 ization of the army was adopted. The pay of 

 men in active service was raised, and at the same 

 time the strength of the regular army was in- 

 creased. Two points on routes leading from 

 India into eastern Afghanistan were fortified and 

 permanent garrisons were stationed there. 

 ALABAMA. (See under UNITED STATES.) 

 ALASKA. (See under UNITED STATI>.) 

 ANGLICAN CHURCHES. Statistics. 

 The statement of the voluntary offerings of the 

 Church of England for the year ending Easter r 

 1901, reported for the Church of England Year- 

 Book shows that the contributions for general 

 purposes and for parochial purposes exceeded! 

 those of the preceding year by about 7.000, and 

 reached a total of 7.728.134. The preceding 

 year had shown an increase of 300.000; but 

 reference was made in the statement to circum- 

 stances that might have justified the expectation 

 of some falling off. An increase of 48.000 in 

 the contributions for the maintenance of primary 

 schools was perhaps the most noteworthy item, 

 and was in fact six times the total increase for 

 the year: so that on the whole there had been 

 some falling off in other items. The contribu- 

 tion to foreign missions was 824.038; the local 

 contributions to the support of the clergy had 

 l.een 828.(i84: and 108.797 had been raised by 

 the central and diocesan societies for the assist- 

 ance of the clergy at home. (509.089 had been 

 contributed for general home missions, 505.040- 

 for philanthropic work, and 1,170.390 for ele- 

 mentary education. As a whole, the gifts for 



