24:0 EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 



EVENTS OF 1898. 



ville to the upper Ubangi, and when the goods 

 began to arrive on the Mbomu, M. Liotard con- 

 tinued his advance, founding a post north of Semio 

 at Jenia and another at Dem Ziber. Capt. Mar- 

 chand, following with a force of Senegalese soldiery, 

 proceeded to the occupation of Jur Ghattas, near 

 Tainbura. Steamers were brought up in parts on 

 the backs of porters, and were set afloat on the Sueh. 

 Another flotilla was transported by way of the 

 Ml>omu and finally launched on another tributary 

 and brought down to the Nile by the beginning of 

 1898. Kutchuk AH. at the confluence of the 

 Wuaou and Sueh, was the starting-point for the 

 advance to the Nile. The other expeditions organ- 

 ized by Prince Henri of Orleans, Count Leontieff, 

 the Marquis of Bonchamps, and others, which were 

 intended to invade the Nile valley from the opposite 

 direction by the aid of the Negus Menelek and Ras 

 Makonnen "and with the co-operation of Abyssinian 

 troops, failed to carry out their purposes. Capt. 

 Man-hand, however, descended upon Pashoda, and 

 \va< established there when Sir Herbert Kitchener 

 out crcd Omdurman. The sirdar, when he heard of 

 a strange force on the Nile which he suspected to 

 be Man-hand's, sent gunboats up the river to find 

 out. His emissary found Capt. Marchand there in 

 no great strength and Hearing the end of his re- 

 sources (Jen. Kitchener ascended the Nile to Sobat 

 and dispatched gunboats thence toward Meshra er 

 Rek, the principal trading center of the Bahr el 

 Ghazal region, with instructions to establish out- 

 posts. Capt. Marohand during the progress of the 

 diplomatic controversy (see PRANCE) came down 

 from Pashoda on a British gunboat and went to 

 Paris to report to his Government. In the mean 

 time active preparations for war were begun, both 

 in England and in France. 



EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. The follow- 

 ing is a summary of the statistics of this body as 

 they were published in October, 1898 : Number of 

 itinerant preachers. 1,045; of local preachers, 482 ; 

 of members, 115,465; of Sunday schools, 2,140, 

 with 23,288 officers and teachers "and 143.216 pu- 

 pils ; of catechetical classes, 855. with 10,033 cate- 

 chumens; of Young People's Alliances, 974, with 

 32,911 members; of baptisms during the year, 

 1,524 of adults and 6,706 of infants; of churches, 

 1,792 ; of parsonages, (589 ; amount of contributions 

 for missions, $146,645, of which $15,000 were in the 

 form of bequests and special gifts ; total amount 

 of collections for all purposes, $871,311; average 

 amount of contributions per member, $7.60. 



The total receipts of the missionary society for the 

 year ending Aug. 31. excluding $18,842 transferred 

 from the permanent to the current fund, were 

 $171.706, showing an increase of $19,220 over the 

 previous year, and an aggregate of contributions 

 of $1.49 per member. The contributions of the 

 Woman's Missionary Society amounted to $4,131. 

 or $1.63 per member. Of this sum, $1.781 were 

 handed over to the general treasury. The observ- 

 ance of a special general mission day resulted 

 in securing collections of $2,705; the 'Children's 

 Day collections yielded $9,418; and the Young 

 People's Societies contributed $1,980. The 542 

 home missions returned 551 missionaries, 6 missions 

 changed to stations, 24 new missions. 40.559 mem- 

 bers, and 5,240 accessions. The foreign missions 

 returned 103 stations, 128 missionaries. 7 new 

 stations, 13,598 members, and 1,304 accessions. In- 

 eludt-d in the foreign missions are the (iermany 

 and Switzerland Conferences, with IO.'.'.'M members, 

 and the mission in Japan, with 19 stations and 18 

 missionaries, which returned 61 accessions to the 

 church. 



The year's earnings of the Board of Publication 

 were $45,509. 



EVENTS OF 1898. The year was remarkable 

 mainly for its wars and rumors of wars. Early in 

 January the situation in the far East became critical, 

 involving the conflicting interests of the great Eu- 

 ropean powers as well as of China and Japan, and 

 at the same time summary measures had to be 

 adopted for the coercion of the Sultan. A formida- 

 ble insurrection was in progress in northern India, 

 calling for vigorous measures on the part of the 

 British military authorities, and simultaneously the 

 Sudanese dervishes were mustering in unprece- 

 dented numbers on the upper Nile, preparatory to a 

 descent upon Egypt. Into this international med- 

 ley was suddenly projected the Spanish-American 

 War, beginning with the highly dramatic exploit of 

 Admiral Dewey's squadron at Manila, and ending 

 with the equally sensational destruction of Cervera's 

 fleet by Admiral Sampson's, the surrender of San- 

 tiago, and the final collapse of the Spanish cause. 

 The year ended seemingly with an assurance that 

 civilization, as it is understood by the English- 

 speaking races, shall be guaranteed to western 

 Africa and to the late Spanish possessions in the 

 Orient as well as in the West Indies. 



January 1. City of "Greater New York" in- 

 augurated with appropriate ceremonies. Cuba : In- 

 auguration by Spain of a Provisional Government 

 at Havana. Portugal : Opening of the Cortes by 

 King Carlos. 



2. India : A British regiment cut off by tribesmen 

 on the northern frontier. Rome : The Pope observes 

 the sixtieth anniversary of his first mass. Egypt : 

 It is announced that the dervishes are moving to the 

 northward and threatening the British and Egyp- 

 tian outposts. Sicily : Bread riots in the province 

 of Girgenti ; troops called out to preserve order. 



3. Great Britain : The Government officially in- 

 sists that Chinese ports must be open to all powers 

 if to any. China : Li-Hung-Chang recalled to office 

 at Pekin. Philadelphia : Fiftieth anniversary of 

 Girard College celebrated ; Speaker Reed delivers 

 the address. 



4. Washington : More than 1,000 post offices added 

 to the money-order class. Kentucky and Missis- 

 sippi : Meetings of the State Legislatures. 



5. Meeting of the State Legislatures in New York 

 and Massachusetts. Washington : Both branches 

 of Congress reassemble. 



6. Maryland : Meeting of the General Assembly. 

 Massachusetts : Inauguration of Roger Wolcott as 

 Governor for the second term. 



7. Russia and Japan recognize the imperial rank 

 of Korea. 



8. Washington : Secretary Sherman issues an. ap- 

 peal for Cuban aid and appoints a commission. 

 Oklahoma: Two Seminole Indians burned at the 

 stake for felonious assault and murder. Africa: 

 An uprising against British authority in Basutoland. 



9. Cuba: First distribution of supplies for starv- 

 ing natives delivered at Havana. 



10. Paris: Trial of Count Esterhazy for letters 

 published in " Figaro." Ohio : Inauguration of Gov. 

 Bushnell at Columbus. Africa : Fighting in Basuto- 

 land between British and natives. 



11. Washington : Resignation of Civil-Service 

 Commissioner Rice. M. A. Knapp elected chair- 

 man of the Interstate Commerce Commission. South 

 Carolina and New Jersey : Meetings of the Stato 

 Legislatures. Paris : Acquittal of Count Esterhazy 

 on the charge of dealing with foreign governments. 

 M. Brisson elected President of the Chamber of. 

 Deputies. 



12. Ohio: Mark llanna elected United State;! 

 Senator for both terms. Japan : Formation of :i 

 new Cabinet with Marquis Ito as Premier. Cuba: 

 Capture of an American filibustering expedition by 

 a Spanish cruiser. 



