patients had exceeded 200. A "Rural Health Retreat" was also sustained at St. Helena, Cal. A the meeting of the European Missionary Council, held in Great Grimsby, England, in September and October, 1886, reports were made of the condition of the denominational work in the Scandinavian countries, in all three of which were 22 churches, 602 members, 809 Sabbath-keepers, 288 Sabbath-school members, 9 ministers, and 16 colporteurs; and $1,223 had been realized from tithes and donations. Tent-work had been carried on in England-not so successfully as in the previous year-and in France and Italy.

General Conference.-The twenty-fifth General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists met at Battle Creek, Mich., Nov. 18, 1886. Elder George I. Butler presided, and presented at the opening session, reports on the work of the denomination in the United States and foreign countries. Besides missions in various parts of the United States, special accounts were given of missions in Australia, South Africa, England, Scandinavia, and other parts of Europe. Attention was invited to the Maoris of New Zealand as a suitable people among whom to establish a mission, and to the expediency of publishing a paper in their language. The reports were accepted by the Conference as indicating a more rapid spread of "The Third Angel's Message" than had ever been known before, and, with the "persecutions to which the Seventh-Day people were subjected," of the approaching culmination of the Adventists' work. The hearty Christian sympathy of the Conference was tendered to the brethren who were suffering persecution, and they were urged, with "others upon whom the same things may come, to be in nothing terrified by the adversaries." It was resolved to begin labor among the Hollanders in the United States, and the publication of a paper in the Dutch language was advised. The publication of a book of plans for buildings for church societies was directed. Resolutions were adopted recommending to persons in charge of city missions, to introduce foreign departments into their work; that all persons connecting themselves with missions, 66 should, before going, bring their wearing apparel into harmony with the teachings of the Bible, and the testimonies on the subject"; that at each camp-meeting at least one session should be devoted to the subject of education, and special effort should be made to induce youths to attend the denominational schools; directing the establishment of a Labor Bureau at Battle Creek; advising the opening of missions in South Africa, South America, and British Honduras, and calling for $100,000 during the year, in addition to pledges already made, for missionary operations; recommending the institution, at the denominational schools and academies, of special courses for young ministers and persons engaged in evangelistic labors; especially

insisting upon the importance of the health and temperance branches of the denominational work; relating to the appointment of reporters of the proceedings of camp-meetings, and other meetings, with reference to securing the critical correctness of translations of denominational writings into foreign languages; declaring the rebaptism of persons who have been "properly baptized" before "embracing the message," not to be necessary; and approving a publication called the "Chart of the Week,' as "an incontrovertible testimony to the unbroken continuity of the creation week, an unanswerable argument to the Sunday theory, and a positive proof of the perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath, showing, that out of more than one hundred and fifty languages and dialects, the large majority recognize Saturday as the Sabbath."

AFGHANISTAN, a monarchy in Central Asia. The ruler, called the Ameer, is Abdurrahman Khan, who was placed on the throne by the English after their conquest of the country in 1879. He receives a regular subsidy of about $50,000 a month from the Indian treasury, and is under a treaty engagement to follow the advice of the Viceroy in his relations with foreign powers, while the British Government is under obligation to give him military assistance in case of an unprovoked aggression on his territory.

The Ghilzai Revolt.-Abdurrahman has made use of the money and arms given him by the English in an endeavor to establish a firm authority over his immediate subjects, the turbulent and independent Afghan tribes. The Ameer, a man of stern and resolute disposition, was guided in his policy by the conviction that Afghanistan would lose its national existence in the conflict between Russia and England unless the tribes were united and controlled by a single autocratic will. The tribes have never been subservient to a central authority, and are unwilling to pay taxes, or to recognize any master superior to their own chiefs. The Ameer imposed a tax of ten rupees on every marriage of a daughter and every son born, and five rupees on every widow married, every girl born, and every man migrating to India for employment. The attempt to exact imposts stirred a section of the Ghilzais-the strongest and most independent of the Afghan tribes-into rebellion. Some of the southern Ghilzais expelled the Ameer's officers, and rose in arms in the autumn of 1886. The Afghan commander-in-chief, Gholam Hyder Charkhi, marched against the insurgents, and was successful to the extent of securing the safety of the road between Cabul and Candahar. During the winter, military operations could not be carried on; but in the spring of 1887, the revolt broke out afresh, and extended to most of the Ghilzai tribes south of Ghuzni.

The Ameer, who already possessed a good disciplined army, well armed and drilled, provided with artillery, and commanded by faith

ful lieutenants, whose fortunes were bound up in his own, prepared in the early spring for a vigorous campaign against the insurgents, and for the defense of his frontier against any sudden movement of Russia. He raised new regiments, mostly among the Duranis of the Candahar province, called on all his subjects over eighteen years of age to enlist in the army, and issued a manifesto, which was at first reported to contain the proclamation of a Jehad, or holy war, but which was really a statement of the dangers arising to Afghanistan from the rivalries of European powers, and a patriotic and religious appeal for union and loyal submission in face of the national peril.

The disturbances were begun again near the close of March by the Hotak section of the Ghilzais, holding the country about Khelat-iGhilzai, who seized some officers sent from Candahar to levy fines, and killed the governor of Maraf who was leading a force against them. Sikundar Khan marched from Candahar with a large force for the purpose of occupying the hilly district of Attaghar, where the defiance to the Ameer's authority occurred. It is situated about one hundred miles east of Candahar, and the same distance north of Quetta. The Ghilzais in the neighborhood of Ghuzni also rose in great force about the 1st of April, and held the road between Cabul and Candabar. Gholam Hyder Orakzai moved out from Ghuzni against these insurgents, who were assembled at Mukur, about a third of the distance between Ghuzni and Candahar. The Andak and Tarak tribes fell upon Gholam Hyder Khan, who was in pursuit of a rebel chief, and killed him and 200 horsemen. To avenge his death, Purwana Khan, who, though not a soldier by profession, was held to be the ablest of the Ameer's generals, was sent with 3,000 men, and was defeated at Nani, a short distance to the south of Ghuzni. The force led by Gholam Hyder Orakzai had an encounter with the rebels, who were driven back upon the hills, leaving the road to Candahar free again; but the general was afraid to pursue, and, fearing that they would return to the attack, intrenched himself in the plain. Sikundar Khan was attacked by the Hotaks on April 12, and compelled to retire from the Ghilzai district, and go into intrenchments near Maruf, so as to maintain his communications with Candahar through the Durani country. The Ameer's troops were beaten at first, and some of them fled to Khelat-i-Ghilzai; but the rest finally made a stand, forming a breast work of their camels. All the sections of the Ghilzai tribe south of Shutargardan Pass joined in the rebellion, as well as the Jaowri Hazaras. The Hotaks and Andaris took the lead, but the movement spread to the Tarakhis and the Tokhis. Troops were withdrawn from the Jelalabad district to be sent against the southern insurgents, and presently the Shinwarris, who had been uneasy for some time, and whom the Ameer's commander-in-chief was trying to

pacify, broke into open revolt when the Ameer's officials attempted to enforce the payment of taxes. Abdurrahman, who is afflicted with an organic disease, fell ill about this time. Secret intelligence passed between the insurgents and various pretenders to the throne, especially Ayub Khan, who was interned in Persia. About the end of April a defeat was inflicted on the royal troops by the Shinwarris near Jelalabad. Two other attacks were made, and some damage inflicted by the rebels on the forces in the south. On the 15th of May Gholam Hyder Orakzai effected a junction with Sikundar Khan, and their combined forces, estimated at 4,500 infantry and cavalry, with 8 guns, encamped at Karez-i-Ahu, at some distance from Attaghar, where they were confronted by 4,000 Ghilzais. The opposing forces remained for several weeks in their respective camps. The Ameer's troops made raids through the Hotak country, burning villages, and even destroying the fruit and almond orchards, which are the main source of wealth of the inhabitants. Finally, Gholam Hyder Orakzai moved northward to prevent a junction between the Tarakhis, who were gathering in large numbers, and the Hotaks. When he had gone, the rebels plundered the Durani villages of Maruf. Gholam Hyder went first to Shinkhai to reopen communications with Ghuzni, and on June 11 moved eastward to disperse the gatherings of Tarakhis, Tokhis, and Nasiris in the plain north of Lake Abiistada. On the 13th he met them at a fortified position called Katalkhan, and was repelled Three days later he marched against a force of Tarakhis and Nasiris, and defeated them, killing 300. In June a Ghilzai chief named Tamar Shah, who was second in command, led a mutiny in the garrison of Herat. A regiment of Ghilzais attempted to kill the governor and seize the town. The mutiny of other troops was arranged, but the governor attacked the regiment that took the lead, and drove them from the town, after the mutineers had provided themselves with breech-loading rifles and cartridges from the arsenal. A detachment was sent from Candahar to intercept them, but they succeeded in joining the main body of the rebels at Nawai Tarakhi. Their leader fled toward Persia, but was captured and sent to Cabul. There were many encounters between the Ameer's forces and the rebels. The latter ventured several times to attack the troops on the plains, but lost heavily. The Ameer had proclaimed them outlaws, and the heads of the slain were sent by the hundred to Cabul. The troops dared not attack them in the hills, and were kept busy marching and countermarching to defend the points that were successively threatened. Gholam Hyder attempted to cut off the Andari mutineers when they moved southward from Nawabi-Tarakhi to join the Hotaks and Nasiris at Attaghar. A combat took place on July 25 at the pass of Kotal-i-Ab, by which the

road from Khelat-i-Ghilzai crosses the Sura mountains. The rebels had fortified the pass, and were there in considerable force, but were outnumbered and gave way before re-enforcements arrived, after inflicting heavy losses on the royal troops. There was another fight on August 3, in which the Ameer's general was worsted and forced to retire to Khelat. A large part of Abdurrahman's army was composed of Andari Ghilzais, and military discipline was not strong enough to overcome the spirit of the clan. No Ghilzai troops were sent against the rebels. After the mutiny of the Andari regiment, the other Cabuli troops in Herat were sent out of the town. The ringleaders of the mutiny were captured and sent to Cabul, but the Ameer did not dare punish them, for fear of provoking a general mutiny of their fellow-tribesmen, with the exception of Taimar Shah and two other officers, who were executed for holding treasonable correspondence with Ayub Khan. The Herat garrison was recruited from the neighboring peoples, who can not be relied on for soldierly qualities, nor for loyalty to the Ameer of Cabul. The attempt of the Ameer to awaken a religious spirit in the northern Afghan country with the help of the mollahs was a failure, for his despotic rule was thoroughly unpopular, and the friends of the pretenders drew an effective contrast between his and Shere Ali's reign. The Duranis of the Candahar province had thus far escaped the Ameer's exactions, and were still faithful; yet the attempt to raise fresh regiments among them was not successful, because they are averse to a military life. The bulk of the Ameer's army remained in the north, where, notwithstanding the re-enforcements sent to the southern garrisons, Gholam Hyder Khan had about 20,000 regular troops, while the forces under Hyder Orakzai and Sikundar Khan numbered about 7,000 men, and the garrisons of Ghuzni and Candahar, 5,000. The Shinwarris, led by the Sirdar Nur Mohammed Khan, who, after first gaining possession of the Khost district, joined them with a large body of recruits, held their own country against the forces sent against them from Jelalabad by Hyder Gholam Khan. The British Strategic Railways.-The rails of the Sibi and Quetta sections of the Sind-Pishin Railroad via the Harnai route were joined on March 14, 1887. The alternative Bolan road was still far from complete. The line over the Harnai Pass is a superior engineering work, comparable, except in the point of length of tunnel, with any of the mountain railroads of Europe. The highest point is 7,000 feet above the sea. By means of the Quetta Railroad the Indian Government is enabled to place all the supplies for an army of 100,000 men within one hundred miles of Candahar. Surveys have been made for a military road from Dera Ghazi Khan through the Bori valley to Pishir. A short line of railroad from Peshawur to Jamrud on the Afghan frontier, at the entrance of

the Kaiber Pass, is in progress. Two branches of the Quetta line extend across the Pishin valley to Gulistan and Kiela Abdula, at the foot respectively of the Gwajja and Khojak Passes in the Khojah Amran range. The expenditure on the Harnai and Bolan lines, from 1885 to the close of the financial year 1886-'87, was about $19,000,000. Surveys for the extension of the line beyond the Khojah Amran mountains have been made. The route over the Khojak Pass is the more direct one, while the Gwajja Pass presents fewer engineering difficulties. To extend the road into the country of the Afghans, the British must be prepared to carry out a military occupation, which they are not likely to undertake until a crisis in Afghan affairs renders it necessary. The Duranis attacked their stations and survey parties several times in the early part of 1887. The Ameer appointed khans in that district who would be favorable to the English, but he has no power to facilitate the entrance of their railroad into Afghanistan, and only incurs the contempt of the Afghans by his subservience. On January 8 the Duranis, with the concurrence of the Governor of Candahar, attacked the post of Kiela Abdula, with the intention of killing the British political officer and the engineer of the railroad. They did not find those officers, but destroyed the telegraph, and killed the local khan and one hundred railroad laborers. When work was begun on the extension of the road from Gulistan to Chaman Chauki, the head of the Khojak Pass, every one from Quetta was required by the Governor of Candahar to find security for his future conduct.

The Trans-Caspian Railway.-The strategic railroad from the Caspian Sea across the Turkomanian desert, which was begun in 1880, was completed as far as the Oxus in the spring of 1887. It is to be continued thence to Samarcand, a total distance of 1,335 versts from the coast. The island of Usun Ada, twelve miles to the west of Mikhailovsk, was selected as the starting-point, neither Krasnovodsk nor Mikhailovsk being suitable on account of the steep hills surrounding the one and the shallow harbor of the other. Usun Ada harbor has twelve feet of water. It is eighteen to twenty hours by steamboat from Baku. The foundation for portions of the road running across the shifting sands between the coast and Kizil Arvat, about two hundred versts, was made by watering the sand with sea-water, and laying over it clay dug from the steppes. There were as many as 5,000 Russians and 20,000 Asiatics employed on the work at one time. The naphthasprings, which are as numerous and productive on the eastern shore of the Caspian as in the Baku district, supply an abundance of astatki for heating the locomotives. A line of rails runs from the station of Bala Ishem to the petroleum-springs, from which the fuel is brought, only thirty-five versts away. There are five wells opened, yielding 5,000 poods of naphtha daily. Between the oases of Akhal and Merv

the road passes through a level country, which, notwithstanding some strips of desert, presented no serious engineering difficulties; but between Merv and Chardjni it had to be laid across a waterless desert, a length of 232 versts. At Dushakh, where the line turns eastward toward the river Tejend, a branch line to Herat, by way of Sarakhs, will be constructed some day. The Oxus at Chardjni is one and a half verst wide, and is crossed by a steam ferry-boat.

Beyond Chardjui a steppe, twenty versts across, required large quantities of water, taken from the Oxus, to fix the deep, shifting sands. Through Bokhara the line is traced along the edge of the cultivated country, so as not to interfere with the irrigation-works. The time required for the journey from Tiflis to Samarcand will be about three days and a quarter. The railroad already constructed enables the Russians to transport troops and war material from Odessa or any other point in Southern Russia to the Tejend in five days, and thus reach Herat sooner than could the English, even after extending the Indus Railroad to Candahar.

The Council of the Empire appropriated the money for the extension of the railroad to Samarcand. Gen. Annenkoff went to Asia in July, 1887, to prepare for the construction of the last part of the line, which could not be begun before autumn, but will be completed before the summer of 1888. The portion of the line running through Bokharan territory is 300 versts; and that in Russian Turkistan beyond, eighty-five versts. Before this last section of the railroad was begun, the military center of Asiatic Russia was transferred from Tashkend to Samarcand.

Russian Occupation of Kerki.-The town of Kerki, situated on the left bank of the Oxus, on the main road between Bokhara and Herat, was occupied by a Russian detachment under Gen. Ozan Tora, commander of the Samarcand army in May, 1887. This fresh advance of the Russians caused much disquiet in England, and increased the difficulties of the Ameer's position in Afghanistan. Yet no question of an encroachment on Afghan territory could be raised, because the Afghans, who succeeded in extending their sway over Maimena and Andkhoi, never held Kerki, nor brought under their rule the Ersari Turkomans inhabiting the district, which formed a part of the outlying dominions of the Emir of Bokhara. The Russians did not proceed to occupy the place without the latter's consent. Kerki is an important strategical position, and brings the Russians in contact with the discontented Turkoman and Uzbeck subjects of the Ameer. The British Government was informed of the intended occupation a month before it was carried out, the Russian Foreign Office declaring that it was done in order to protect the flank of the Asiatic Railroad.

Ayub Khan.—When Yakub Khan, the son and

successor of Shere Ali, abdicated in 1879, after the murder of Sir Louis Cavagnari, his brother Ayub declared himself the enemy of the English and of his cousin Abdurrahman whom they set upon the throne. He led the Afghans, defeated Gen. Burrows on July 27, 1880, and besieged his forces in Candahar until, on Sept. 1, he was in turn defeated by Gen. Roberts. For a year thereafter he kept up a rival government at Herat, but was finally driven out by Abdurrahman, and fled to Persia, where he was arrested at the instance of the English, and kept interned at Teheran, the British Government paying $60,000 a year for his maintenance. The surveillance grew less strict, as Russian influence gained the upper hand in Persia. He has kept himself in communication with the exiles from Afghanistan and the discontented sections of Abdurrahman's subjects. In August, 1887, Ayub made his escape from Teheran. The Shah issued orders for his apprehension to the local officials between the capital and Afghanistan, but he fled in another direction, and arrived in safety within Russian dominions. In October he was heard of in the neighborhood of the Russo-Afghan frontier, and was supposed to be engaged in fomenting a revolt against his cousin in the Herat province and Afghan-Turkistan. Another influential agent for stirring up rebellion in Herat is Iskender Khan, who was appointed governor of Penjdeh in the spring of 1887.

Dhuleep Singh. The Russians found a new ally, who may be put forward at a convenient juncture as an Indo-Afghan pretender, in the person of the mediatized hereditary Maharajah of Lahore, whose ancient dominions embraced a large part of Afghanistan as well as the entire Punjaub. When the Punjaub was annexed to British India in 1849, the enormous private treasure of the Maharajah was confiscated. Dhuleep Singh, who was an infant at that time, has several times appealed to the British Government to make restitution of the fortune, but has been told that the allowance of £40,000 a year on which he was induced to live in England was sufficient for the wants of a private individual. He settled on an estate in Norfolk, abandoned the customs and religion of his forefathers, and became thoroughly Anglicized and a popular country squire; but his expenses exceeded his income, and, when he had run deeply in debt, he petitioned to have his allowance increased. The rejection of his suit impelled him to assume a political role and become an instrument of Russia in stirring up disaffection among the Sikhs in Northern India. He left England in 1885, for India, but was not permitted to land. Returning to Europe, he was joined in Paris by an Irish revolutionist named Patrick Casey, passed through Berlin under the latter's name, lest English machinations should thwart his purpose, and arrived in June at Moscow, where he took counsel with the editor Katkoff, and was warmly received by the Panslavists.

The Frontier Negotiation. The advance of Russian troops up the Heri Rud to Pul-i-Khatun, and up the Murghab to its junction with the Kushk, defeated the expectation of the English to draw the frontier line of Afghanistan as far north as Sarakhs and Sari Yazi. When, by the battle of Pul-i-Khisti, the possession of Penjdeh passed into the hands of Russia, the contention for an ethnographic frontier was more nearly realized. The interrupted negotiations were resumed after the Ameer had publicly declared that the place was not worth fighting for; and when the Zulfikar difficulty was arranged to the satisfaction of the Russian Cabinet, Sir Peter Lumsden was recalled, and the British boundary commission was divested of its imposing political and military character. Col. Ridgeway and Col. Kuhlberg, the newly-appointed Russian commissioner, proceeded to survey and mark out the frontier on principles that had been settled upon in London. There were differences of opinion regarding the Kaissar pasture-lands in the Maimena district, but no serious disagreement arose until after the commissioners had reached Andkhoi. Between there and the Oxus Col. Kuhlberg contended that the line should be drawn to the mound of the saint called Ziarat Khoja Saleh, whereas Sir West Ridgeway claimed for the Ameer all the country south of Kham-i-Ab. The difficulty was referred, as had been arranged for cases of divergence on questions of principle, to the home governments, and, the surveys having been completed, the commissioners returned to Europe in the autumn of 1886. The negotiations were continued in St. Petersburg in the spring and summer of 1887. Sir West Ridgeway, after receiving full instructions from his Government, proceeded thither early in April. The principal negotiator on the Rusgian side was M. Zinovieff, the head of the Asiatic Department in the Russian Bureau of Foreign Affairs. Col. Kuhlberg and M. Lessar also took part in the conferences on behalf of Russia, while Captains Barrow and De Laessoe assisted Col. Ridgeway. The conferences began on April 23. At the earlier meetings both parties adhered firmly to their claims in respect to Kham-i-Ab. The Russians were the less disposed to give way, because the progress of the Ghilzai rebellion raised doubts as to whether Abdurrahman would remain on the throne to receive the benefit of their concessions. The negotiations were interrupted in May, and the English commissioner, after references to the British Foreign Office, and informal discussions with the Russian representatives, returned to London in the beginning of June, to communicate the Russian views and ascertain the maximum concession that his Government was prepared to make. He returned to St. Petersburg with a proposition to compensate Russia for the relinquishment of her claims to Khoja Saleh and the district on the Oxus, which the Ameer, who had it in

actual possession, insisted on retaining, by ceding a tract of pasture-land that was much desired by the Saryk Turkomans of Penjdeh, situated in the Kushk and Kashan valleys. They formerly possessed this district, but were ousted in 1886, notwithstanding the protest of the Russian commissioner, because the London protocol of June 5, 1885, assigned the territory to the Ameer. The St. Petersburg Government accepted the offered arrangement, and conceded to the Ameer the territory around Khojah Saleh, which, by a strict interpretation of the agreement of 1873, would have fallen to Russia, but which was occupied by Afghan Uzbecks, receiving in return the restoration of lands necessary for the sustenance of the Saryks and the development of the town of Penjdeh. The extent of the land restored to the Turkomans is 825 square miles, bringing the Russians 11 miles nearer to Herat. The extent of the disputed Kham-i-Ab district is 770 square miles, but it is at present more productive than the lands between the Kushk and the Murghab conceded to Russia. The final protocol was signed at St. Petersburg on July 22, and ratified on August 2. The southern limit of Russian territory on the Oxus is Bosaga. The frontier delimitation extended over three years. The boundary-line, 355 miles in length, was drawn through a wild and previously unknown region. The first portion running from Zulfikar to Maruchak is 120 miles, and the other, reaching to the Oxus, 235 miles. There are no natural boundaries for any part of the distance, yet both Afghans and Turkomans are said to have respected the pillars erected by the British and Russian officers.

ALABAMA. State Government.-The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, Thomas Seay, Democrat; Secretary of State, C. C. Langdon; Treasurer, Frederick H. Smith; Auditor, Malcolm C. Burke; Attorney-General, Thomas N. McClellan; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Solomon Palmer; Railroad Commissioners, H. C. Shorter, W. C. Tunstall, L. W. Lawler; Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court, George W. Stone; Associates, David Clopton, H. M. Somerville.

Legislation.—The Legislature, which met Nov. 9, 1886, concluded its session on the last day of February, 1887, when it expired by limitation. Perhaps its most important act was an amendment to the law regulating the rights and estates of married women, which aims to rescue from almost hopeless entanglement a large part of the property of the State. The old law was characterized by the Governor in his inaugural as "a means of fraud to the wicked and a snare to the unwary. It is the result of the work of different epochs, and is largely patchwork." By the amendment, all property of the wife held by her previous to the marriage, or to which she may become entitled after the marriage, is the separate property of the wife, and is not subject to the liabilities of the husband. The earnings of the wife are her sepa