Evening star., 1915-12-31

wage increase Of from IL to Is per cent.
In July the employees of the Standard
OIL plant at Bayonne. N: j.. went on
strike and serious rioting followed.
During the lawlessness which prevail
| ed, two strikers were killed and many
| policemen and onlookers were injured
After week of disorder, wage In
crease was obtained and the strikers
resumed work. July % strike Tor
higher wages and shorter hours at the
Remington Arms works. Bridgeport,
Conn.,, resulted in a victory for the
employees. August =. threatened
strike involving $4,000 workers on
| women's garments in New York city
was prevented by an increase In wages,
Colorado Labor Strife Ends.
In September the long and not infre-
quently violent dispute over industrial
cops itions at the mines of the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company was brought
to an end. John D. Rockefeller, jr..
made an extended visit of investigation
| to the property and as an outcome sug-
gested plan for adjusting differences
which was accepted by the miners in a
formal referendum vote. An agree
ment was signed to maintain the pres
! ent wage scale and the eight t-hour day
until January l, 1913. The demand for
was not granted, but many concessions
were made by the company in favor of
the employees.
| In July miners strike practically
dustry, thereby causing much anxiety
| in British official quarters. The coal
| supply on hand was estimated to be
wholly Inadequate to meet the needs OF
the makers of munitions of war, or
even those of the fleet. After several
earnest conferences between Mr.. Lloyd
| George, the British minister of muni-
| tions. and other cabinet members with
the colliery owners and representatives
| of the miners, the trouble was settled
| July 20, and the men went back to
| work. Further strikes and lockouts
were prohibited by law.
| AS early as June 30 the state of Amer
lean foreign trade showed balance OF
| exports over imports of more than
| 81 ,00o,000,00O. This was a new expert
ence for the United States.
| The yield of wheat for the year, ac-
cording to the latest reports, exceeds
record. A corn crop of 5000. .OOO, ,OOC
bushels al current prices, makes it the
| most valuable ever harvested in the
country. The American oats crop is
also one of the most bountiful on rec
| ord
Horrors on Land and Sea.
| seismic horror which recalled the
Messina earthquake of seven years age
"A
in central Italy. east of Rome, was laid
waste and nearly 10000 lives were lost
In times of worldwide peace such a
natural catastrophe would have held
the attention of civilized mankind for
| many days, but the great war sc
eclipsed the Avezzano affair that little
notice of it was taken outside of Italy
King Victor Emmanuel personally di-
rected the work of rescue and relief
At AVeZzano 90 per cent of the popu-
lation was destroyed, and the property
loss was more than $10o,000.000.
February 10 earthquake, hurricane
and an accompanying tidal wave Wis
tied the American Samoan group and
caused great destruction on the Manua
Islands. In the latter part of June Sc
we're earth shocks were felt through the
Imperial valley, in southern California
July Z a violent storm swept over Mis-
souri,, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana and
left wide destruction in it's wake. July
IA southern China floods destroyed S0,-
were ten feet under water. August 4
a cloudburst at Erie, Pa. flooded a
large area of the city. drowned twenty
five persons and caused great damage
to property. August II an earthquake
shock was felt in Italy, and Vesuvius
Etna and Stromboli became active. Au-
gust 16 a tropical storm which devel-
oped into a hurricane struck the Texas
Nearly 200 persons were the victims of
its fury. and the property loss was CON-
puted in millions. september % hur-
ricane dashed over the lower Missis-
sippi valley and gulf coast. destroying
300 persons and a great amount OF
property.
The most appalling accident in the
ten-year history of the New York sub
way occurred January 6. Poisonous
gases and smoke from fire in the un-
n q rlxr a
lated the passengers of train that one
woman was suffocated and IT. persons
were taken to hospitals for treatment
January II boiler explosion on the
armored cruiser San Diego off the west
coast of Mexico resulted in the death
of six American sailors.
Attempt to Dynamite Cathedral.
March an attempt was made by an
anarchist to wreck st. Patrick's Cathe-
dral, New York city. The same day
there was an explosion of gas in a
mine at Leyland. w Va. and over 100
men were killed outright March 81
was the date of the shocking subma- :
rine accident which resulted in the
sinking of the United States boat F-4
during maneuvers in Honolulu harbor.
Her entire crew of twenty-one was
drowned. 1t was not until August %
that the sunken submarine was re-
hoated. April 3 a Dutch steamer, the
Prins Mauritz. foundered off the Vir-
ginia coast and fifty-nine persons lost
their lives.
On the last day of April a big fire at
Colon, Panama, destroyed twenty-five
blocks, killed eleven persons and en-
tailed a property loss of Sc, 5O0,O 900. May
% England experienced the most con-
siderable wreck in the history of it's
railway system. More than $50 per-
sons. mostly soldiers going into quar-
ters, were killed near Carlisle
The most conspicuous horror of the
year for Americans was the overturn-
ing of the excursion steamer Eastland
at her pier on the Chicago river, July
"a. In broad daylight. few feet from
the shore, S52 persons, largely women
and children out for a holiday, were
drowned. September %. In New York
city. section of street undermined
by subway construction collapsed and
caused the death of seven persons and
injured many others. Three days
later similar cave-in occurred on
Broadway. killing one person and in
juring several others
A tornado of huge proportions swept
Iowa and Kansas, November 10, de-
stroying much property and causing
the death of a dozen persons. October
% parochial school at Peabody, Mass
which was unprovided with fire es-
capes. was burned, and twenty-one
girls lost their lives. A factory fire in
Brooklyn, N. Y, November 6, resulted
in the death of twelve persons.
Advance in Discovery and Invention.
nacnit. xta