DISASTERS IN 1898. 



DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



estimated loss, $500,000, about 20 lives lost. Fire 

 at Hang-Kow, China, many hundreds of houses 

 burned, unknown number of lives lost. 



4. Ferryboat capsizes in the Indus, British India, 

 about 100 lives lost. 



8. Trains in collision, Omaha, Neb.. 2 killed, 3 hurt. 



11. Shipwreck : British steamer Mohcgan lost on 

 .Manacle Rocks, 106 lives lost. 



15. Trains in collision, Great Falls, Mont., 2 killed, 

 1 hurt. 



17. Train wrecked, Drawby Junction, England, 9 

 killed, many hurt. Explosion of naphtha on ship- 

 beard ell Margate, 9 killed. 



18. Destructive storms and wreckage on the coast 

 of the British Islands. 



20. Violent storms in Texas, 2 killed, many hurt, 

 rat damage to the cotton crop. 



Train wrecked, Fort Worth, Texas, 5 tramps 

 killed, 3 hurt. 



26. Two steamers in collision in Japanese waters, 

 60 lives lost. Trains wrecked, Omaha, Neb., 3 killed, 

 1 hurt. 



Fires in October: Colorado Springs, hotel, loss, 

 $875,000; Clarkesville, Tenn., tobacco warehouses 

 burned, $575,000 ; Atlantic City, N. J., sundry build- 

 ings, $200.000 ; Tacoma, Wash.", hotel, etc., $200,000 ; 

 Dallas, Texas, warehouses, $150,000 ; South Brook- 

 lyn, N. Y., naval stores, etc., $275,000 ; Vancouver, 

 British Columbia, lumber, $200,000 ; Shreveport, La., 

 druirs. etc.. $175,000 ; and 147 others ; aggregate loss, 

 xT.:>:;!),400. 



Summary of train accidents in October: 111 col- 

 lisions, 105 "derailments, 1 other ; total, 217. Killed : 

 33 employees, 1 passenger, 11 others; total, 45. 

 Hurt, 87 employees, 15 passengers, 8 others; total, 

 110. 



November 5. Faulty structure : roof falls in De- 

 troit, 11 killed, several hurt. 



6. Explosion in the Capitol at Washington, Su- 

 preme Court and adjoining rooms damaged. 



11. Trains in collision, Newport, Pa., 6 killed, 5 

 hurt. Train derailed, Bridgeport, Conn., 2 killed. 



24. Train derailed, Burlington, Iowa, 2 killed, 3 

 hurt. Locomotive explosion and bridge burned, 

 Swallows, Col., 2 killed, 3 hurt. 



26-27. Destructive storm of wind, rain, and snow 

 on the north Atlantic coast. Steamers Portland 

 and Pentagoet lost with all on board, about 180 

 souls. Nearly 200 other vessels were wrecked and 

 about 200 lives lost. 



27. Explosion : steamboat T. C. Walker, Sacra- 

 mento river, California, boiler bursts, 6 killed, 11 hurt. 



28. Explosion : ordnance stores in Havana, 12 

 killed. 



Fires in November: Glen Cove. Long Island, loss, 

 $195,000 ; Sacramento, Cal., railway plant, $500,000 ; 

 Joliet, 111., tin works, $150,000 ; "Canonsburg, Pa., 

 sundry buildings, $150,000; Perry, Iowa, business 

 houses, $337,000 ; West New Brighton, shipyard, 

 $225,000 ; San Francisco, Cal., stores, etc., $1,500,- 

 000; Kansas City, furniture warehouse, etc., $205,- 

 000; and 173 others ; aggregate loss, $10,285,000. 



Summary of train accidents in November: 112 

 collisions. 119 derailments, 8 others; total, 239. 

 Killed : 37 employees, 2 passengers, 9 others ; total, 

 40. Hurt: 121 employees, 46 passengers, 2 others; 

 total, 169. 



December 2. Shipwreck: British steamer Clan 

 Drummond in tin- Bay of Biscay. :!? lives lost. 



3-4. Violent gales on the middle and north At- 

 lantic coasts, much damage on sea and land. 



8. Explosion in coal mine at Wilkesbarre. Pa., 

 13 hurt. 



">. Fire: factories burned,Vllna, Russia, 15 killed, 

 50 hurt, mostly women and girls. 



10. Defective construction : sewer falls in at Bar- 

 celona, Spain, 18 killed. 



13. Explosion : a shell bursts at Kronstadt, Rus- 

 sia, 9 soldiers killed, 10 hurt. 



16. Shipwreck: British steamer Brinkburn, on 

 the Scilly Islands. 



17. Shipwreck : British steamers Pierremont and 

 Ilios in collision in the North Sea ; the Ilios sinks, 

 20 lives lost. 



19. Fire : steamer Cape Charles burned and sunk 

 near Norfolk, Va. 



31. Accidental deaths in the city of New York 

 during 1898. 2,317; sunstroke, 548. ' 



Fires in December : New York, stores and offices, 

 loss, $720,000 ; Los Angeles, Cal., oil works, $225,- 

 000; Terre Haute, Ind., various buildings, $875,- 

 000 : Burlington, Vt., lumber, etc., $250,000 ; Min- 

 neapolis, Minn., grain lift, $200,000 ; Shreveport, 

 La., stores, etc., $195,000 ; and 216 others ; aggre- 

 gate loss, $12,712,100. 



Summary of train accidents in December : 106 

 collisions, 107 derailments, 7 others ; total, 220. 

 Killed : 25 employees, 6 passengers, 1 other ; total, 

 32. Hurt : 127 employees, 53 passengers, 3 others : 

 total, 183. 



DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. The table of sta- 

 tistics of the churches published in the " Independ- 

 ent " newspaper, New York, for Jan. 5, 1898, gives 

 this body 5,922 ministers, 10,088 churches, an 

 1,085,615 members. 



The forty-ninth annual Missionary Convention 

 of the Disciples of Christ met at Chattanooga, 

 Tenn., Oct. 13 to 20, beginning with the meeting 

 of the Christian Women's Board of Missions. This 

 society reported one of the most prosperous years 

 in every department in its history. It had received 

 $74,369 and expended $64,291, aiid had at the close 

 of the year a surplus of $10,078, against a deficiency 

 in 1897. It supported 47 missionaries in the United 

 States, India, Jamaica, and Mexico. Reports \\viv 

 made to the meeting concerning the development 

 among children of interest in missions, orphanages 

 in India, the mission in Jamaica, and "Bible chair 

 work." The last concerned the establishment of 

 chairs of Biblical instruction in certain universi- 

 ties, toward which $10,000 each had been secured 

 for chairs in the Universities of Michigan and Vir- 

 ginia. As relating to this subject addresses were 

 made to the meeting by Prof. C. A. Young, on 

 " Religious Instruction at State Universities," Prof. 

 \V. M. Forest on " Bible Chair Work at Ann Arbor," 

 and Prof. C. W. Kent on " Bible Chair Work at 

 Charlottesville." 



The American Christian Missionary Society (Do- 

 mestic) had received $41,345, a gain of $3,440 over 

 the previous year. The 71 missionaries employed 

 by it had visited 377 places, organized 58 new 

 churches, and baptized 3,886 persons. The sum of 

 $25,192 had been raised for self-support by the 

 stations served by these missionaries. In addition 

 to the domestic missionary work done under the 

 auspices of the national board, 401 missionaries 

 employed by district and State societies had serve 1 

 1,373 places, organized 234 churches and 203 Bible 

 schools, and received 23,604 members, 15,500 of 

 them by baptism. The report represented that the 

 sentiment had grown during the year in favor of 

 unifying the home-mission work of the national 

 and the district and State societies by making ti e 

 State boards auxiliary to the national board and 

 having their work reported to the national con- 

 vention. Forty-two State and district societies were 

 doing home-mission work within their own bound- 

 aries. Contracts for co-operation had been made 

 during the year with 29 of these boards. The 

 action of the convention at Springfield, 111., pr<> 

 posing such co-operation had been generally com- 

 plied with, only one State board having refused o 

 declare itself auxiliary to the General Board, and 



