486 



METHODISTS. 



practical fact, too pure for the purpose. It has 

 been found that a fair percentage of arsenic im- 

 proves the copper used in fire boxes of locomo- 

 tives. Antimony also, when present in proper 

 proportions, strengthens the copper. Bismuth 

 renders it weak, and its prejudicial effects do 

 not seem to disappear even though only a trace 

 is present. 



The name of "iron-silver" has been given to 

 an alloy of iron with other metals generally, and 

 particularly with copper and zinc. Cast iron,' in 

 the form of turnings, filings, or powder, is im- 

 mersed in a bath of hydrochloric acid, through 

 which is passed a current of carbonic acid. Cur- 

 rents of air and steam are afterward passed 

 through the bath, and the liquid is drained 

 through the residue, which is then dried and al- 

 loyed with other metals. The best proportions 

 are : Iron, 85 per cent. : zinc, 24 per cent. ; cop- 

 per, 40 per cent. The color of the new alloy is a 

 silvery white. 



In the course of the experiments that have 

 been made to find an alloy which, while as hard 

 us tungsten steel, should be more malleable and 

 less brittle, attention has been turned to the em- 

 ployment of molybdenum. On account of the 

 expense of the metal itself ferro-molybdenum 

 was employed as a substitute. Under a new 

 process adopted by Sternberg and Deutsche at 

 Grunau. near Berlin, a metal fro,m 96 to 98 per 

 cent, pure has been brought into the market at a 

 practicable price. Their process consists in re- 

 ducing molybdate of lime with carbon. The 

 lime is then separated from the metallic molyb- 

 denum formed by means of chlorhydric acid. It 

 is found that only half as much molybdenum as 

 tungsten is required to produce the same effect 

 on steel. Steel with 2 per cent, molybdenum 

 is silver-white in color, has a velvety fracture, 

 and is extraordinarily hard. 



An antifriction alloy, patented by T. D. Bot- 

 tome, is composed of lead, antimony, tin, and 

 magnesium, which may be combined in various 

 proportions. The inventor's patents cover two 

 different sets of proportions. 



METHODISTS. I. Methodist Episcopal 

 Church. This body includes 121 annual con- 

 ferences, 8 mission conferences, and 7 missions ; 

 in all, 140 annual organizations regularly visited 

 by one or another of the bishops. The " Metho- 

 dist Yearbook " for 1894 gives as the summary 

 of the statistics of all these bodies for 1893 (ex- 

 cept the Congo Mission Conference and 2 In- 

 dian missions, for which no statistics were re- 

 ceived, and 9 conferences of which the statistics 

 for 1892 are inserted): Number of bishops, 18; 

 of ministers in full connection and on trial, 16,- 

 444 ; of local preachers, 14,274 ; of lay members 

 and probationers, 2,524,053 ; of Sunday schools, 

 28,392, with 326,050 officers and teachers and 

 2,411,525 pupils; of baptisms during the year, 

 113,628 of adults and 87,806 of children; of 

 churches, 24,535, having a probable value of 

 $104,754,208; of parsonages, 9,300, valued at 

 $16,200,800. Of the members, 2,260,196, show- 

 ing an increase during the year of 59,115, are 

 registered as in full membership, and 263,857 

 (increase 22,311) as probationers. Amount of 

 benevolent contributions : For the Missionary So- 

 ciety (including legacies, etc.), $1,196,609, show- 

 ing a decrease of $60,764 from the previous year ; 



for church extension, $151,224 ; for the Sunday- 

 School Union, $24,299; for the Tract Society, 

 $23,362 ; for the Freedmen's Aid and Southern 

 Education Society, $108,986; for education, 

 $165,729 (showing an increase of $64,705); for the 

 American Bible Society, $35,444 : for the Wom- 

 an's Foreign Mission Society, $277,290 ; for the 

 Woman's Home Missionary Society, $169,585; 

 total contributions, $2,152,528, showing a net 

 decrease from the previous year of $26,490. The 

 contributions for ministerial support, indebted- 

 ness, etc., include, besides, $10,298,915 raised for 

 the support of ministers, bishops, and presiding 

 elders ; $263,648 for conference claimants (worn- 

 out preachers, their widows and orphans) ; f 5,- 

 384,686 for buildings and improvements ; $1,761,- 

 808 for old indebtedness on church property 

 (leaving as present indebtedness, $9,818,432); 

 and $3,641,917 for current expenses. 



Committee of Church Extension. The annual 

 meeting of the General Committee of Church 

 Extension was held in St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 2 

 to 4. The year's receipts had been : On the gen- 

 eral fund, $182,849; on the loan fund, $149,- 

 730; in all, $332,579. Six hundred and eighty- 

 three churches had been aided, making the 

 whole number from the beginning, 9,083. It 

 was represented in the report that the increas- 

 ing number of new conferences and missions on 

 the frontier, and the increasing number of 

 shelterless congregations and Sunday schools in 

 the West and South, made imperative great en- 

 largement of the means at the command of the 

 board. The sum of $316,825 was authorized to 

 be applied to the work of the society during the 

 ensuing year, and an equal amount was asked 

 from the annual conferences. 



Board of Education. The receipts of the 

 Board of Education for the year ending Nov. 

 29, 1893, were $87,654. Fourteen hundred and 

 sixteen students were aided during the school 

 year ending in July, 1893. The total amount of 

 $461,032 had been loaned, and 5,186 students 

 had been aided since 1873. 



Freedmeris Aid and Southern Education So- 

 ciety. The meeting of the General Committee 

 of the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education 

 Society was held in St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 6 and 

 7. The receipts and expenditures for the year 

 were balanced at $363,763. The total indebted- 

 ness of the society was returned at $174.915, 

 having increased $10,335 during the year an 

 increase not made by the regular expenditure, 

 but caused by unforeseen emergencies. The 

 work of the society is represented by 23 institu- 

 tions (1 theological, 10 collegiate, and 12 acad- 

 emic) among colored people, with 229 teachers 

 and 5,808 students, and 21 institutions (3 colle- 

 giate and 18 academic) among white people, 

 with 110 teachers and 3,257 students. The ag- 

 gregate property of these institutions is valued 

 at $1,808,800. "Biblical departments are main- 

 tained in connection with all the collegiate and 

 some of the academic institutions. Two hun- 

 dred and seventy-seven young colored men were 

 given instruction in theology during the year. 



General Missionary Committee. The General 

 Missionary Committee met at Minneapolis, 

 Minn., Nov. 9. The treasurer reported that the 

 cash receipts for the year had been $1,196,608, or 

 $60,764 less than the receipts of previous year, 



