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 GREECE BEFORE THE WAR OF 1 897. 223 Corinth Canal, which Periander dreamed of and Nero began, has been finished. Lake Korais has been drained, not only uncovering pre-his- toric cities, but reclaiming 60,000 acres of rich alluvial soil. The Greek merchant marine con- sists of 120 steamers and 1,000 sailing-vessels and 3 ironclads. With a sea line seven times as great as France's and twelve times as great as England's, Greece maintains 69 lighthouses and is building as many more. The average in cur- rants and vineyards has increased a hundredfold and more since the declaration of independence. Greece offers to every Greek child within the kingdom free public instruction from the primary school to the university. There are 2,278 demot- ic or primary schools, 281 Hellenic or grammar schools, 41 gymnasia, special schools for agri- culture, of war, of the navy, a polytechnion, wherein are taught all arts from chiselling a statue to building a steam engine, and a complete uni- versity on the German model, with 120 professors and 3,500 students. Her little army is smaller than our own (24,- 877 men in 1893) costing only 2,000,000 drachmas a year, her navy only 600,000. Greece alone among European states has ab- stained from following the progress of military