Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-09-07
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IT was generally remarked ut the time Of
the earthquake in 1schia that the year 1888
had been full of horrors, casualties and NOR
tai vistations Of all kinds following one an.
other in quick succession and resulting in
destruction Of human life whose sum total is
fairly startling Barely a month has passed
since that time and the death-roll of the year,
from pestilence earthquake, fire and acct
dent, has more than doubled in that brief
period, bringing the grim total far up above
those of previous years a recapitulation Of
the more important Of these events, prepared
by the New York Tribune, may not be the
pleasantest Of tasks, but it may have its les
son, after all
In the opening month of the year the steam
er Cimbria sank, drowning i3t persons 10
or 50 lost their lives in the hotel FIRE at Mil.
waukee 2Gs by the burning of q circus in
Poland u were drowned by the flooding OF
mine in Australia p were killed by a rail
road accident at Tehichipa, in California Is
convicts were drowned by the upsetting of a
hat-boat in North Carolina, and 0 persons by
the sinking of the City Of Brussels and 10
were killed by the explosion OF a niue in Il
linois In February there was the panic in
the Fourth-st school at New York, by which
1G lives were lost. In the Braidwood mine
disaster Il lives were lost, and by floods in
various parts Of the country 90. In March II
persons were burned at brownsville, MINI.
In April POO lives were lost by various lorna
does, and IA persons were killed by the fall.
ing of a hotel in Texas. In May tine Brooklyn
Bridge panic cost II lives, and tornadoos
swallowed up IL, more. In June there was
terrible panic Of children in Sunderland Eng,
in which 2O2 were killed in this country the
total number of deaths reported from floods
and tornadoes was IS. In July there was the
launch disaster at Glasgow where the latest
estimate of the loss put it at 100; - persons
were drowned by the falling Of IL rotten pier
at Baltimore l Z were killed 10y a railroad ac-
cident at Carlyon, n. Y; J. were drowned by
floods at London, Ont. a fire in Hungary
burned 20 Tho month closed with the earth
| quake in Ischia The latest estimates seem
to put the number Of lives lost at between
! 1000 and 1000, though the Cologne Gazette
declares that the number must have reached
| 5000. Other casualties in the Old World not
already mentioned were the loss OF 373 lives
. lIOLl lLt uoAllk uttAs Ou llt coast OF Eng
land during heavy storms; Of 40 by floods
in Germany and Hungary OF 100 by an ava
lanche on Mount Ararat; of 23O by three
| powder explosons-in Holland, and Italy and
at Scutari Of 1872 10y two mine explosions
| at Bessieres, France, and in Sicily. A panic
in factory at Bombay, boiler explosion il
| France, and fire at Dervia, Italy, add lOi
| deaths to the list During the month of Au-
| gust the tornado at Rochester, Mimi, killed
1G persons. scafoldng on the king of Ba-
varia new palace at Lake Chem fell and kill
! ed 23 workmen wounding l others. Twelve
men were hurled down mine shaft in Corn
wall and killed. Two weeks ago the collision
| of the St. German and the Woodburn, of
Eddystone Light, cost Il lives. A number of
fishermen are reported to have been drowned
| of Newfoundland and the month closed with
the terrific climax of an estimated loss of 30, @
! 600 lives-perhaps more-by the eruptions in
Java. Cholera has been raging both in India
and Egypt, and yellow fever has been preya-
lent in Cuba. At the end of July it was esti-
mated that y, 600 persons had died of cholera
in India, and the death rate has continued
heavy. Estimates as to Egypt vary some
what. At the beginning of August the gene
raj estimate appeared to be about II 600, but
the London Daily News puts it at lG, 600. In
the month of August nearly u, 600 deaths in
all Egypt have been reported in cable de-
spatches to this country giving each day s
death-rate. The yellow fever returns are i'm
perfect, but the victims can be numbered by
hundreds.
This enumeration covers, of course, only
the more striking of these visitations Many
are omitted in which the loss of life was less
severe. Very many, no doubt, never reach
the newspaper readers eye at all Complete
as the system of gathering the news of the
world appears to be, much must escape it,
But here We have, merely in u summary Of
notable events, necessarily imperfect, and tax
ing the lowest estimates il each case. rec
ord of the loss in eight months by accident,
fire and pestilence, of more than : !, 600 lives.
How many more a complete enumeration
would show, We can only guess What ser
mon upon the uncertainty and little worth OF
human life