514 



METHODISTS. 



the American Institute of Mining Engineers, 

 calls attention to the arc system as one of the re- 

 cent developments in the art of metal working. 

 In it the material may be included in the electric 

 circuit or may be wholly without it ; in either in- 

 stance the enormous heat of the electric arc is 

 brought into requisition and utilized. In the 

 Coffin arc-welding system the material is in the 

 electric circuit or independent of it, as the case 

 may require, different processes being applied as 

 may be best suited to the work. The system seems 

 destined more especially to give material aid in 

 work on sheet metal, tubes, and boilers, since the 

 tremendous heat of the arc can be applied where 

 it is most needed. The heating of the material 

 is not dependent upon its electrical resistance or 

 its current-carrying capacity, and perfect con- 

 tact at a joint is not a necessity, while these are 

 points of the utmost importance in operating on 

 such work under the incandescent system. The 

 mechanical application is readily made. 



METHODISTS. General Statistics. The 

 statistics of the world's Methodism, prepared by 

 the special committee on statistics of the (Ecu- 

 menical Conference, held in Washington in Oc- 

 tober, give the following numbers : 



I. Methodist Episcopal Church. The 



" Methodist Year Book " for 1892 gives statistics 

 of the annual conferences of this church for 1891, 

 of which the following is a summary : Number 

 of annual conferences, (including those in foreign 

 mission fields), 131 ; of ministers (including those 

 in full connection and on trial), 15,877 ; of local 

 preachers, 14,202 ; of members and probationers, 

 2,385,916 ; of Sunday schools, 27,273, with 303,- 

 644 officers and teachers and 2,313,844 pupils : 

 of churches, 23,350, valued at $99,277,101; of 

 parsonages, 8,749, valued at $15,236,681. Amount 

 of benevolent contributions : For the Missionary" 

 Society, $1,228,888: for the Board of Church 

 Extension, $311,827; for the Freed men's Aid 



and Southern Education Society, $322,656 ; for 

 the Sunday School Union, $26,138; for the 

 Tract Society, $23,863 : for the Board of Educa- 

 tion (including all sources of revenue), $75,440; 

 for the American Bible Society, $37,317 ; for 

 the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, $263,- 

 660 ; for the Woman's Home Missionary Society, 

 $155,398. 



Board of Education. The total receipts of 

 the Board of Education for 1891 were $74,577. 

 The board has investments to the amount of 

 $226,000. One thousand and sixty-nine students 

 909 young men and 160 young women, all but 

 60 of whom were intending to become ministers, 

 missionaries, or teachers were aided during the 

 year by loans. The whole number aided since 

 the organization of the board in 1868 was 3,818. 

 The whole amount loaned was $49,037. The 

 educational institutions under the care of the 

 Church consist of 15 theological institutions, 

 56 colleges and universities, 53 classical sem- 

 inaries, 10 colleges and seminaries for young 

 women, and 74 schools connected with foreign 

 missions. These return in the aggregate 2,204 

 teachers, and 39,298 students, and $22,780,436 of 

 property and endowments free of debts. 



A meeting of presidents of colleges connected 

 with this Church was held at Cleveland, Ohio, 

 Nov. 10, and discussed the subjects of ' The Es- 

 tablishment and Classification of our Institutions 

 of Learning," " The Methods of raising Funds 

 for creating and endowing Institutions of Learn- 

 ing," " The Methods of raising and appropri- 

 ating Funds for aiding Needy Students," and 

 " Is there a Demand for Institutions devoted ex- 

 clusively to Post-graduate Work ? " A memo- 

 rial was resolved upon asking the General Con- 

 ference to take measures for fixing the minimum 

 requirements for the bachelor's degree in col- 

 leges officially recognized. A permanent " Col- 

 lege Association of the Methodist Episcopal 

 Church " was organized, to which institutions 

 requiring three years of special preparatory and 

 four years of college work are eligible to repre- 

 sentation in membership. 



Church Extension. The General Committee of 

 Church Extension met in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 

 5. The receipts of the board for the year from 

 conference collections had been $145,009 ; from 

 other sources, on general account, $48,779 ; 

 making a total of $193,788. For the Loan fund, 

 to be added to the capital, $52,876; from prop- 

 erty. $7 ; and from loans returned, $65,155, or 

 $118,038 in all ; making the total receipts $311,- 

 826 and showing a net increase of $12,540. The 

 Loan fund had reached a cash capital of $729,- 

 810, and property valued at $22,608, or a total of 

 $752,418. Five hundred and ninety-three churches 

 had been aided during the year, making the whole 

 number aided from the beginning 7.937. Appli- 

 cations were on hand from 317 churches for 

 $143,625. The committee apportioned $309,000 

 among the conferences to be raised for the ensu- 

 ing year's work. 



Freedman's Aid Society. The income of this 

 society for the year ending June 30, 1891, was 

 $322.656, or $56,008 more than in the year 

 preceding. The society sustains 10 collegiate 

 institutions, 1 theological seminary, and 11 aca- 

 demical institutions among the colored people 

 of the South and 3 collegiate and 16 academic 



