DISASTERS IN 1899. 



eminent, had 575 miles of lines, with 1,067 miles 

 of double wire. 



Dependencies. Denmark has colonies in t 

 West Indies, which once were prosperous, but 

 are no longer a source of wealth and commerce 

 (see WEST INDIES). The Danish possessions on 

 the coast of Greenland, having an area of 46,740 

 square miles and a population of 10,51(5, are vis- 

 ited by Government vessels, which bring the 

 stores 'required and lake away the products of 

 the fisheries and the chase. The imports in 1897 

 were valued at 7(57,000 kroner, and the exports 

 at 3(>S.O<)0 kroner. Iceland is a self -governing 

 dependem v. with an area of 39,75(5 square miles 

 and 70,927* inhabit ants. The imports in 1897 were 

 1..V20.000 kroner; exports, 2.972,000 kroner. 



DISASTERS IN 1899. Absolute accuracy 

 can not be attained in any general list of acci- 

 dents and disasters. The reports published of 

 such mishaps are often to be found only in the 

 telegraphic news columns of daily papers, and, 

 save in the case of very great loss of life or prop- 

 erty, they are not ordinarily referred to again. 

 The Journal of Commerce and Financial Chroni- 

 cle of New York prepares carefully revised lists 

 of fires, and the Railroad Gazette, also of New 

 York, performs a like service for railway acci- 

 dents. The summaries of these, condensed from 

 the columns of the journals named, may there- 

 fore be accepted as not far from correct. In re- 

 gard to marine disasters, only those have been 

 mentioned that have attracted general comment 

 at the time of their occurrence. The long list 

 of missing ships can not properly be inserted 

 here, but it may be mentioned that, on the au- 

 thority of Capt. A. G. Froud, R. N., no fewer 

 than 10 " tramp " steamers left American ports 

 in January and have since been given up as lost. 

 Probably no such losses occurred in any other 

 month of the year, but the record as it stands 

 is sufficiently appalling, since it involved the loss 

 of several hundred lives and several million dol- 

 lars. That reasonable care would prevent more 

 than half of the " accidents " here recorded is 

 probably a safe estimate, and this is notoriously 

 tnie as regards fires, which annually destroy 

 something like $100,000,000 worth of property, as 

 shown by the monthly summaries printed here- 

 with. 



January 1. Sycamore, Ohio, new locomotive 

 engine wrecked on trial trip, engineer killed. 



2. Trains in collision, New Concord, Ohio, 2 

 tramps killed. 



4. Water tank bursts in New York, neighbor- 

 hood flooded, several persons hurt. Train de- 

 railed, Jefferson City, Mo., 2 killed; cause, a 

 landslide. 



5. Shipwreck: British and French steamers in 

 collision in English Channel, 12 lives lost. 



6. Explosion: boiler bursts in a shipyard at 

 Barking, England, 10 killed, 40 hurt. 



7. Landslide, British Columbia: Frazer river 

 dammed, its course changed, and farms ruined. 



8. Trains in collision. Elk Valley, Tenn., 4 

 killed, 2 hurt, 2 locomotives wrecked, much roll- 

 ing stock burned: cause, orders misread. 



9. Trains in collision at Sunol, Neb., and Dunel- 

 len, N. J., 21 killed, 31 hurt. 



10. Trains in collision, Council Bluffs, Iowa, 3 

 killed ; cause, fog. 



11. Train derailed, Ingomar, Cal., 1 killed- 

 cause, stray sheep on track. 



12. Fire: Memphis, Tenn., dry-goods houses 

 burned; loss, $450,000. 



13. Train wrecked, Gilmore, Ark., 1 killed 3 

 hurt. 



14. Train's wrecked at Monks, N. J., Benson, 



N. C., and Lacosti, Texas, 5 killed, 12 hurt. Ship- 

 wreck: British ship Andelina, off coast of Wash- 

 ington, 19 lives lost. 



15. Trains in collision, Angell, Arizona, 1 killed, 

 3 hurt, 2 engines and 12 cars wrecked. 



17. Destructive floods on the Continent and in 

 the British Islands, lasting several days, property 

 destroyed and live stock drowned. 



21. Train wrecked at Great Bend, Pa., 1 killed, 

 2 hurt. 



23. Trains in collision, North Hanover, 111., 3 

 killed. 



24. Train wrecked, Washington, D. C., 1 killed. 



25. Train derailed, Cattaraugus, N. Y., 1 killed, 

 1 hurt. Fire: Wilkesbarre, Pa.; loss, $250,000. 



29. Explosion in a mine at Cartagena, Spain, 14 

 killed. Train wrecked, Coalton, Ohio, 2 killed, 

 U hurt. 



30. Train Avrecked, Larrabee Point, Va., 6 hurt. 



31. Military train wrecked, luka, Miss., 12 sol- 

 diers hurt. 



Summary of traiil accidents in January : 96 col- 

 lisions, 94 derailments, 7 others; total,197. Killed: 

 40 employees, 20 passengers, 3 others; total, 63. 

 Hurt: 80 employees, 93 passengers, 3 others; 

 total, 176. 



Fires in January: Brooklyn, N. Y., furniture 

 factory, $300,000; Troy, N. Y., dry goods, $200,- 

 000 ; Memphis, Tenn., various buildings, $450,000 ; 

 Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, stores, $255,000; New 

 York stores, $425,000; Chicago, 111., lumber, $325,- 

 000. Total fires in January, 244; aggregate loss, 

 $10,718,000. 



February 1. Fire: business houses in Colum- 

 bus, Ohio; loss, $750,000. 



2. Train wrecked by a snowslide, Glenwood 

 Springs, Col., 3 killed, 2 hurt; another at Grand 

 Junction, Iowa, 1 killed. 



3. Trains in collision, San Simon, Arizona, 2 

 killed, 1 hurt; cause, a blinding sandstorm. 



4. Train wrecked, Point Pleasant, N. J., 1 killed, 

 1 hurt. 



6. Trains in collision, Imlay City, Mich., 3 

 killed, 4 hurt. 



7. Fire: Winnipeg, Manitoba, hotel and other 

 property; loss, $450,000. Trains in collision, An- 

 tonia, La., 2 killed, 4 hurt; the engineer's watch 

 being slow was the probable cause of the acci- 

 dent. Collision, Indian Creek, Pa., 1 killed, the 

 wrecked trains took fire and were mostly burned. 



8. Severe blizzardlike storm over the greater 

 part of the United States east of the Rocky moun- 

 tains; traffic everywhere impeded at the North 

 and killing frosts 'in Florida. 



10. Fire: Frankfort, Ky., the Executive Mansion 

 burned; loss, $100,000. Train wrecked, Chicka- 

 mauga Park, Ga., 1 killed, several hurt. 



11. Trains in collision, Butte, Mont., 1 killed, 1 

 hurt; cause, a cloud of steam from a factory be- 

 side the track. 



12. Avalanches at Silver Plume and Colorado 

 Gulch, Col., 24 killed. Fire: Yankton,S. Dak., part 

 of insane asylum burned, 12 lives lost. Severe 

 gales and unprecedentedly high tide along the 

 southern coast of the British Isles, many cattle 

 drowned and property destroyed. 



13. Destructive storm continues in the North- 

 eastern United States, with excessive cold. Earth- 

 quakes in the Middle Central States. Train ac- 

 cidents, most of them caused by the storm, at 

 Fleming Park, Pa., Grove City, Pa., Gallaghers- 

 ville, Pa., and South Unadilla, N. Y., 5 killed and 

 10 hurt. 



14. Trains wrecked at Kenova, W. Va., Charles- 

 ton, S. C., Wissahickon, Pa., 5 killed, 10 hurt. 

 Fires in Philadelphia and Chicago ; total loss more 

 than $1,000,000. 



