Announcements

314 IMPROVEMENT ERA. and is at present a valued member of the General Board, though unable, owing to his business duties as Medical Superintendent of the State Insane Asylum, Provo, to take such an active part in the work as he did in the early years. The manual idea was first effectively put to practical use in our associations by the outlines made by Drs. Hardy and Brimhall, for the Contributor; the first manual, issued in 1891, was largely written, introduced and ex- plained by Dr. Hardy, who is a man preeminently endowed with the power of organization, classification and arrangement. He has a place for everything, and everything in a place. As teacher, county superintendent of schools, churchman, organizer, physician, and a man of splendid character and good deeds, he stands out a prominent example—a modest and worthy workman. A portrait of the first Secretary of the General Board, Elder John Nicholson, with a sketch by Orson F. Whitney, will appear in the next number of the Era. ANNOUNCEMENTS. The "Era" Story. In response to the notice offering $50 for the best story suitable for the Era, five manuscripts have been received: "The Great Key," by Acorn; "A Week in a Box Canyon," by Henry James; "Florry," by East Lynne; "Satan's Shafts," by Ramondo; and "The Baby Elephant," by Uno Hu. The editors have selected a committee of three readers, and as soon as it shall be decided which story is the best, and most suitable for our magazine, announcement will be made, and the publication will begin. A Thrilling Narrative. "Tiger Hunting in India," is the title of a thrilling narrative which Col. R. M. Bryce Thomas, on request, has kindly written for the boys of Utah, and which will appear in the March number of the Era. Col. Thomas speaks from personal experience. He is a retired officer in the British army who has had over thirty years' service in the Empire, passing from military duty to administrative duty in the interior states of India, in which land he has spent the