An appalling array of facts and figures is the result of but little study and search into the records for the short period from Jan. 1, 1906, to the present time. Disasters and catastrophes of every nature have visited every continent and nearly every country. The following is a partial list, enough to set any one thinking:
Mr. Allen's two-story brick furniture store in Mountain View, after the earthquake.
January 7. Earthquake shocks were felt in eastern Kansas and north-eastern Missouri.
January. During the early part of the month, earthquakes were frequent in Mexico. Floods followed, which ruined crops and did much other serious damage.
January 22. The steamship "Valencia" was wrecked near Cape Beale, British Columbia. 120 perished.
January. Twenty-three deaths reported in Havana, resulting from yellow fever.
January 25. A sharp earthquake, which did considerable damage, was felt in New Mexico and Arizona.
January 28. The naval training station at Newport was damaged to the extent of $100,000 by fire.
January 31. Long and severe earthquake shock in Buena Ventura, Colombia, 2,000 killed. Shock lasted seven minutes. Many villages destroyed.
January 31. Tidal wave followed earthquake, destroying many more villages, killing many people.
Pacific Press engine room, and broken smoke-stack which fell through the roof of the building.
January 31. Earthquake in Ecuador. At least 300 killed.
February and onward. Great famine in Japan.
February 1. A fire in Panama caused loss of $500,000.
February 3. An East St. Louis elevator burned. Loss $1,000,000.
February 3 and onward. Mount Vesuvius in eruption. Four towns destroyed. Naples covered from two to four feet deep with ashes. Hundreds killed, the property loss very large.
February 7, 8. Cyclone and tidal wave in Society Islands of the Pacific. Many islands swept of inhabitants. Property loss $2,000,000.
February 8. Earthquake in West Indies. Many ships lost, with many on board. Also many inhabitants killed.
February 15. Great tidal wave destroyed coast towns of Colombia.
February 16. Severe shocks at Kingston, St. Vincent, British West Indies.
February 17. Shocks in other islands of the West Indies.
March 2. Tornado at Meridian, Miss. Nineteen killed, twenty-four injured. Loss of property $1,000,000.
March 5. Car barns burned in New York. Loss, $200,000.
March 5. About 800 fishermen and their families perished on floating ice cakes in the Gulf of Finland in a severe storm.
March 10. More than 1,200 miners killed by an explosion of gas in a coal mine at Courrieres, near Bethune, in the French coal region.
Corner of the Pacific Press after the earthquake.
March 11. In the foundering of the steamer "British King," off the Massachusetts coast, twenty-seven men were lost.
March 14. Over 1,000 killed, many more wounded, in earthquake in Formosa. 1,200 homes destroyed; loss, $45,000,000.
March 16. More than forty people killed in a railroad collision near Adobe, Colo.
March 19. Six thousand reported killed in earthquake in Formosa.
March. Volcanic eruption on island of Savaii, of the Samoan group. Three villages destroyed by streams of lava.
March 24. Explosion in a coal mine at Century, W. Va., entombs 150 miners.
April 5. Vesuvius still in state of eruption. Five streams of lava. Many towns destroyed. Land covered with ashes and mud. Ruined for agricultural purposes for ten years at least. Naples suffering.
April 14. Another earthquake in Formosa. 1,000 killed. More than 1,000 injured.
April 18. Earthquake shock extending along Pacific Coast. San Francisco, San Jose, Stanford University, Santa Rosa, and
many cities and towns destroyed. Property loss very great. Thousands of lives lost.
April 21. Mariquina, Rizal Province, Philippines, burned. Thousands homeless and starving. Town of Pasil, near Cebu, also destroyed.
Post Office, Rogers' Store, and a large building under construction, Castro Street, Mountain View.
It is utterly impossible to estimate the loss of lives or property in these disasters. Roughly the following figures may be given, not attempting to include the late earthquake on the Pacific Coast, for as yet the figures can not be secured.
