Sentence:  For three years , since the liquor territorial conference , Torrio had , with his elastic patience , and because he knew that retaliation could cause only violent warfare and <WSD>disaster</WSD> to business , tolerated O ' Banion 's impudent double-crossing . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune