The Monticellonian., 1919-01-10
DISAST FRS

Fires, railroad accidents and eXpl0- sions took q heavy toll of human life on land during the year 1918 while the clements combined with the torpedoes of the German U-boats to send thou sands of innocent persons, including women and children, to their death at sea.
 Fifty-two children met death in fire which destroyed a convent at Mon treai. Canada, February IA. February 24 the liner Fiorizel. bound from St. Johns. \. F., to New York, was wrecked by blizzard near Cape Race and 92 lives were lost.
 Seventy inmates of an insane asylum at Norman, Okla, were killed in fire which destroyed that institution April 13.
 On May l the Savannah liner City of Athens was sunk in collision with q French cruiser off the Delaware coast and 66 lives were lost. On May IS nearly q hundred persons were killed by explosions in the Aetna Chemical plant near Pittsburgh. Pa.
 SiXty-three persons, including we'll known circus performers. perished when q circus train was wrecked at Gary, Ind, June %. Fifty persons were killed by the collapse of building at Sioux City, la June 29
 A small factory explosion in England killed 20 persons July 1 and on the fol- lowing day an explosion in a munitions plant near Syracuse. N. Y, killed 16. Eightyzfve merrymakers perished when an excursion boat sank in the Illinois river July :. hundred per sons were killed in collision between two trains near Nashville. Tenn. July 0
 tornado swept a part of Minnesota August 21. killing 50 persons at Tyler and ConnorS.
 During the months of September and October hundreds of persons lost their lives at sea either by accident or by the terpedoing of passenger boats by German submarines. On Sep tember 12 the British steamer Galway Castle was torpedoed and 1s9 persons, including % women and children. Were lost. The American cargo boat ri eonderoga was torpedoed September 80 and 213 persons were lost. A tor pedo boat sank T Japanese liner on Oc- tober and 290 persons were drowned.
 On October fhe United States trans port OTanto was sunk in collision off the Irish coast and 40 persons lost 1 their lives. Four hundred were lost when the British mail boat LeinSter was torpedoed and sunk october 10.
 A series of terrific explosions in a shell-loading plant at Morgan. N. I. on October 3 killed 9f persons and de stroFed I vast amount of property. A severe earthquake which caused the l death of 150 persons WAS reported in Porto Rico October II. Great forest fires ragged in northeastern Minnesota during October. Many towns were de stroyed and about 1000 lives were lost. On October 9 the steamship Princess Sophia was wrecked on the Alaskan coast and 343 were lost.
 NinetY-eight persons were killed No vember l in wreck on the Brooklyn Rapid Transit lines On November 21 about 1.50o persons were reported Killed hy the explosion of German mu- milton trains en route from Belgium to Germany
 One of the most unusual cases in saaritlme history was that of the United States navy collier Cyelops, which disappeared at sea while bound from the West Indies to an American Atlantic port. Announcement was made April Ii that the boat with 293 persons on board. was month over due Not single trace of the boat or it's passengers and crew was ever found. and the fate of the vessel is a complete mystery.