DISASTERS IN 180!). 



1HSASTKKS IN isM. A p-iwral survey 

 of disasters during the year shows that storms 

 were unusually frequent anil disastrous. In the 

 I'nited States't lie hurricanes of August and Sep- 

 tember were quite unprecedented in our annals, 

 and ilirouirhoiit the "tornado belt," in the 

 middle section of the continent, wind storms 

 followed one another with appalling violence 

 and fatal results. Conspicuous among prevent- 

 able shipwrecks was the loss of the British battle 

 ship Victoria, and the most notable group of 

 t rain accidents was consequent upon the culpable 

 overcrowding of railways during the closing 

 weeks of the Chicago fair. No general list of 

 miscellaneous disasters can, under existing con- 

 ditions, be more than approximately full and 

 accurate. Current statements and estimates of 

 the daily press must ordinarily be accepted as 

 final. That they are often liable to be at fault 

 is unavoidable. The nearest approach to official 

 accuracy is in the monthly and yearly summaries 

 of train accidents, for which credit is due to 

 " The Railway Gazette." 



January 1. Avalanche: Washington (State), snow- 

 plow wrecked, 4 killed. 



3. Severe cold in Europe, railways blockaded. 



4. Explosion : natural gas, Chicago, several tiremen 

 injured ; another in a Russian mine, 15 killed. 



6. An ice gorge breaks in the Ohio river at Cincin- 

 nati ; many steamboats and other river craft destroyed. 



7. Explosion : natural gas, Pittsburg, Pa., 3 killed, 

 4 hurt. 



8. Another destructive ice gorge in the Ohio at Cin- 

 cinnati. 



10. Mining accident at Penzance, Cornwall, 30 

 drowned. Colliery explosion, Como, Col., 24 killed. 



12. Snow, ice, and intense cold interrupt business 

 all over the Northern States. 



13. Train wrecked in Iowa, 2 killed, several hurt; 

 collision near Chicago, many hurt, some fatally. 



15. An ice gorge (the first on record) forms in the 

 Mississippi at Memphis, Tenn. Trains in collision on 

 the Congo Railway, Africa; dynamite explodes, 50 

 killed. Disastrous storm in England, many ship- 

 \v reeks. 



16. A building falls in Philadelphia, 3 killed ; fire 

 in Philadelphia, several fatally injured. 



17. Fire on a Russian railway transport train, 45 

 soldiers perish, 20 hurt. 



18. Radway accident at grade crossing near , 

 R. I., 8 killed" many hurt. Collision of fire engines at 

 F.vansville, Ind., '! liremen killed, several hurt. Many 

 deaths are reported as the result of extreme cold. 



20. Train wrecked at Peru, Ind., bridge breaks, 2 

 killed, 7 hurt. Severe cold in Mississippi, much suf- 

 fering at extreme southern points. 



21. Trains in collision near Alton, 111., 9 killed, 12 

 fatally hurt, and nearly 100 others more or less burned 

 by blazing oil ; train wrecked near Harrisburg, Pa., 7 

 hurt. 



22. Explosion: oil, Wann, 111., 5 killed, 16 hurt. 

 25. Collision at sea : British steamer Cincona sunk 



by German bark Lake Ontario in the English Channel. 



27. Explosions : a kerosene lamp, in Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., 3 fatally burned ; flre damp in a Hungarian coal 

 mine, 80 killed. 



28. Train wrecked in Illinois, 1 killed, many hurt. 



Summary of train accidents in January : 104 colli- 

 sions. l.">7 derailments, 12 miscellaneous; total. 273. 

 Killed, 38 employees, 11 pacii'_rers; total, 49. Hurt, 

 17<>employees, l.'i.'i passengers. .| trespassers; total, 329. 



February 1. Earthquake and tidal v.ave on the 1s- 

 land <>f /ante, manv lives lost, much property de- 

 stroyed. 



4. Train wrecked near Syracuse, N. Y., 4 killed, 

 2 hurt. Explosion: boiler bursts, Belleville, 111., 3 

 killed. 



5. Floods in Queensland, many drowned, enormous 

 i property. 



7. Shipwreck : Norwegian hark Alice ashore on 

 J.onir I5each, N. .).. ."> sailors drowned. 



N. Train wrecked near 1'asso, 111.. 1 killed, . 'JO hurt. 

 Fire: Kansas City, 4 lives loht. Shipwreck : British 

 steamer Trinaeria, ot!' the coast of Spain. :(7 liven lost. 



\i. Fires: Dover, N. II., insane a.-ylum burned, 44 

 lives lost; Cincinnati. -1 lives lost. 



11. Landslide near \\e-t Rutland, Vt., 12 killed, 

 many hurt. Disastrous ice gorges in many rivers. 

 Disastrous storm at sea; British steamer Pomerania 

 encounters an enormous wave in midoecan, the cap- 

 tain, -i otlicers, 4 of the ere w, and 5 passengers lose 

 their lives. 



12. Unprecedented cold in the Northwest. More 

 earthquake shoeks in the island of Xante. 



15. Electric car wreeked in Portland, Ore., 3 killed, 

 25 hurt. 



13. Accident at a festival in Buda-Pesth, 20 killed, 

 many hurt. Hurricane in Madagascar, great destruc- 

 tion of life and property. 



18. Heavy snow in the Atlantic States, railway 

 traffic blocked for many hours. 



19. Destructive floods recur in Queensland. 



20. Severe storm oft' the coast of Scotland, many 

 fishermen perish. 



21. Train wrecked near Palmyra, N. Y., 3 killed, 12 

 hurt. Mine explosion in Styria, 15 killed, 20 hurt. 



22. Trains in collision near Philadelphia, 4 killed, 

 16 hurt. Train wrecked near Columbia City, Ind., 1 

 killed, 15 hurt. Shipwreck off Cuttyhunk Island, 

 Mass., 5 volunteer life savers drowned in trying to 

 rescue the imperiled crew. 



28. Fire and falling walls in Chicago, 8 killed, 4 hurt. 



During the month the British steamer Naronic was 

 lost at sea with all hands, about 70 men. No trace of 

 her found save a floating lifeboat. 



Summary of train accidents in February: 84 colli- 

 sions, 117 derailments, 13 miscellaneous; total, 214. 

 Killed: 45 employees, 12 passengers, 2 trespassers; 

 total, 59. Hurt : 127 employees, 172 passengers, 4 tres- 

 passers; total, 303. 



March 1. Fire: dwelling house, Greenville, Ky., 5 

 lives lost. 



3. Fire: New York, 5 children perish. Cyclone: 

 Avoyelles Parish, La., 2 killed, manv hurt. Collision 

 at sea: bark Cacique sunk, 13 lives lost. 



4. Several tornadoes in the South, some loss of life, 

 much damage to property. 



5. Landslide near Sandgate, England, the ground 

 sinks several feet, damaging 200 houses. 



6. Hurricane in Madagascar: 10 vessels sink in the 

 harbor of Tamatay, much loss of property and de- 

 struction of human life. 



7. Several severe earthquake shocks in Oregon. Cy- 

 clone in Mississippi, more than 300 families homeless. 



8. Earthquake shocks in New York and Long Is- 

 land. 



10. Destructive fire in Boston, several squares 

 burned, estimated loss, $4,500.000, much distress 

 caused and many lives lost. 



11. Ice gorges and destructive floods in many rivers. 

 14. Explosion in coal mine at Ardmore, Indian Ter- 

 ritory, 9 killed, many hurt. 



15! Violent electrical storms in the Eastern States. 

 A building falls in Chicago, 2 killed, several hurt. 



16. Trains in collision near Lackawaxen, Pa.. 10 

 hurt, several fatally. Fire : Paterson, N. J., 2 killed, 

 many firemen injured. 



18. Fire: Milwaukee, Wis., estimated loss, $500,000. 



19. Fires: Boston, Trcmont Temple burned, loss, 

 $375,000; St Sebastian, Spain. 22 killed. 



21. Fire and explosion: Litehfield, 111., 1 killed, 

 much damage done. 



23. Tornado: Mississippi, several towns destroyed, 

 estimated damage, $2,000,000 ; at least lJ< lives were 

 lost, hundreds injured. Violent wind storms in Min- 

 nesota, South Dakota, atul Wisconsin. Fires: Cleve- 

 land, Ohio, 4 lives lost; Purvis, Miss., probably the 

 work of negro incendiaries, the town nearly destroyed. 



