IHSASTKUS IN ism;. 



DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



24T 



12. Shipwreck : 7 vessels lost off the coast of Xew- 

 toundlana. 



14. Washington (State) : highest, most destructive 

 floods ever known; ( J inches of rain fell in eleven 

 days many lives lost. 



17. Earthquake of considerable violence in the 

 south of England. 



18. Drowning accident : 5 persons perish near 

 St. .John's, Quebec. 



1!'. Explosion. Resilza, Russia, fire damp in a 

 coal mine. 40 killed, many more hurt and missing. 



j:i. Floods in Greece, wide tracts laid waste. 



'24. Shipwreck: a steamboat capsized in the river 

 Dnieper, Russia, many lives lost. 



27. Train wrecked, Birmingham, Ala., 17 killed, 

 54 hurt; alleged cause, train wrecker-. 



Js. Landslides : County Kerry, Ireland, house 

 buried, with 9 inmates ; also in Peiago, Italy, village 

 of Santa Anna destroyed. 



31. Deaths by accident in New York city during 

 tin- year, 2,493 (report of Health Department). 



Fires in December : New York city, factory and 

 hospital, loss, $600,000; Newark, X. J., electric 

 power house, $175,000; Rockford, 111., hotel, etc., 

 $180,000; Ottawa, Ontario, business blocks, $27.V 

 000; Xew Orleans, La., grocery warehouse, $155,000: 

 Winston. N. ('.. tobacco factory, $150,000; St. Paul, 

 Minn., business block, $300,000"; Elizabethport, X. J.. 

 sundry buildings, $150,000; Xew Brunswick, X. J., 

 theater, etc., $350,000 ; Buffalo, X. Y.. $150,000 ; and 

 214 others; aggregate loss, $11,862,000. 



Aggregate loss by fire in 1896, $115,655,500. 



Summary of train accidents in December : 29 col- 

 lisions, 60 derailments, 6 others; total, 9o. Killed: 

 43 employees, 17 passengers, 2 others; total, 62. 

 Hurt: 53 employees, 34 passengers, 3 others; total, 

 90. 



Summary of train accidents in 1896: 514 colli- 

 sions. 792 derailments, 51 others; total, 1 ,:>."> 7. 

 Killed: 318 employees, 128 passengers; total, 

 446. Hurt : 601 employees, 618 passengers ; total, 

 1,219. 



DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. The forty-seventh 

 annual meeting of the American Christian Mission- 

 ary Convention was held in Springfield, 111., begin- 

 ning Oct. 19. Mr. J. H. Hardin presided. The 

 statistical secretary reported the numbers in the 

 churches as follows: Of churches, 9,607; of mem- 

 bers, 1,003,672; of Bible schools, 6,657, with 699,- 

 531 pupils and teachers; of Endeavor Societies, 

 3,766; of ministers of the Gospel, 5,360; value of 

 church property, $15,805,447. The national Sun- 

 day-school superintendent reported almost 8,000 

 Sunday schools a larger number than that given 

 by the statistical secretary with 90,000 teachers. 

 The report of the Board of Church Extension 

 showed that 52 out of the 304 congregations which 

 had been aided had paid back all their loans, the 

 amount thus returned with the interest being $57,- 

 130. This board was formed in 1888, starting with 

 a fund of $10,663 and 22 loans in operation. Since 

 then, or during eight years, $119,079 had been 

 added to the permanent fund, while no loss had 

 been incurred. The Educational Board reported 

 progress in the work of collecting and distributing 

 information concerning the educational institutions 

 of the Disciples as an aid in securing their endow- 

 ment and improvement. It contemplated an effort 

 to raise a fund in aid of students preparing for the 

 ministry and of other distinctly religious work. 

 The report of the Board of Xegro Evangelization 

 mentioned substantial advance, with augmented in- 

 come and diminished expenditure. The Southern 

 Christian Institute, at Edwards, Miss., and the Bible 

 school at Louisville, Ky., were increasing in influ- 

 ence. A new school had been started by the colored 

 brethren of Alabama at Mount Willing. The Board 



of Ministerial Relief had received $5,840 and ex- 

 pended $4.422. Counting the children in the 

 preachers' families, it had aided 5lj person-, in- 

 cluding 17 preachers and their wives and 7 widows 

 of deceased preachers. 



The total receipts for the year of (he American 

 Chri.-tian Missionary Society were x:'_'.!t4:!, or $10,- 

 301 more than those of the previous year. Of this 

 amount $1,479 had been contributed by the Ladies' 

 Aid Societies. The debt of $8,667 had been paid 

 and the accounts closed with a balance in the treas- 

 ury. The 47 missionaries had organized 7 new 

 churches, visited 46 new places, and reported 2.0!0 

 accessions by letter and otherwise, and $20,:;'.).") 

 raised on salaries and $10,152 raised for other pur- 

 poses. Progress was reported in the work of city 

 evangelization. 



The previous convention had directed that the 

 headquarters of the society be removed from Cincin- 

 nati, Ohio, to St. Louis, Mo. The legality of such 

 removal was afterward called in question. The 

 opinions of counsel were taken on the subject, and 

 were to the effect that the contemplated action 

 would subject the corporation to a forfeiture of its 

 charter, with loss thereby of the power to enjoy 

 the benefit of bequests which had been made to it 

 and the invalidation of contracts into which it had 

 entered. It would be possible, however, while con- 

 tinuing the chief office at Cincinnati and the ulti- 

 mate control of affairs in the hands of the acting 

 board there to transfer much of the business of the 

 society to any other place where it should be in the 

 hands of subordinate boards reporting periodically 

 to the Board of Managers at Cincinnati. 



The year's receipts of the Foreign Christian Mis- 

 sionary Society had been $93,867, showing an in- 

 crease of $10,553 over that of the previous year. 

 Ten thousand five hundred dollars had been received 

 from bequests and invested. The plan of apportion- 

 ing to the churches amounts which they should be 

 asked to raise was growing in favor. Four new mis- 

 sionaries had gone out to China, and one to India. 

 A missionary had been under appointment to Africa 

 two years, while the committee had been looking 

 for a suitable associate for him. Buildings bad 

 been erected in China and Japan. Eleven places in 

 Turkey returned 28 additions during the year, 645 

 members, 374 in Sunday schools, and 260 in day 

 schools. Thirteen disciples had suffered martyr- 

 dom. Xine missionaries in India reported from 4 

 stations 513 in Sunday schools, 360 in day schools, 

 53 in Christian Endeavor Societies, and 124 mem- 

 bers. Twelve missionaries in China reported from 

 5 places, 86 in day schools, 95 in Sunday schools, 

 92 church members, and 12,392 patients treated. 

 Eleven missionaries in Japan returned 169 mem- 

 bers, 324 in Sunday schools, and 373 in day schools. 

 The mission in Denmark included 2 preaching sta- 

 tions with 3 helpers, 199 members, 34 added during 

 the year, and 100 in Sunday schools, and had raised 

 $800 for self-support and $17 for foreign missions ; 

 that in Xorway, 8 helpers, 24 preaching stations, 

 879 members, 95 additions, 269 pupils in Sunday 

 schools, $1,700 raised for self-support, and $36 for 

 foreign missions. The English Association, Eng- 

 land, included 14 churches, 2,007 members, 313 

 additions, 2,184 in Sunday schools. $13,571 raised 

 for self-support, $1,510 for home missions, and $896 

 for foreign missions. 



The receipts of the Woman's Board had been 

 $61,122. The board sustained 50 missionaries in 

 the United States, India, and Jamaica. Special 

 work was done in the several States under the di- 

 rection of the auxiliary societies thereof ; and gen- 

 eral evangelists were sustained in different parts of 

 the West and South. The board maintained chairs 

 of Biblical Instruction in the Universities of Michi- 



