---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Elmendorf, H. L.
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 7
number: 3
published: 1904-01
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: 'H. L. Elmendorf, "Something to Read," *Improvement Era* 7, no. 3 (January 1904): 174.'
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0703unse
  transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers.
  identifier: improvementera0703unse
start_page: 174
end_page: 174
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1904-01)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0703unse
  publication_year: 1904
  note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1904, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# Something to Read

<!-- page:174 -->

174 
        IMPROVEMENT 
        ERA.
brawls 
        between 
        patrician 
        officers, 
        he 
        had 
        never 
        before 
        known 
        one 
        to
occur 
        on 
        such 
        a 
        theme. 
        He 
        could 
        scarcely 
        believe 
        that 
        Claudius
had 
        sacrificed 
        the 
        friendship 
        of 
        Decius, 
        and 
        risked 
        his 
        own 
        life, 
        to
defend 
        the 
        honor 
        of 
        a 
        slave 
        maiden 
        of 
        an 
        alien 
        race. 
        He 
        listened
respectfully 
        to 
        the 
        young 
        man's 
        explanation 
        of 
        the 
        brawl, 
        shrugged
his 
        shoulders 
        in 
        respectful 
        doubt, 
        and 
        promised 
        to 
        investigate 
        more
thoroughly 
        the 
        following 
        day. 
        As 
        he 
        turned 
        to 
        go, 
        he 
        asked, 
        "Is
your 
        slave 
        maiden 
        in 
        the 
        camp 
        ?"
Claudius 
        answered 
        in 
        the 
        affirmative.
"Do 
        you 
        recognize 
        her 
        voice?" 
        he 
        asked.
Claudius 
        stepped 
        ouside 
        his 
        tent, 
        and 
        stood, 
        transfixed 
        with
astonishment. 
        Rising 
        on 
        crisp 
        air, 
        the 
        clear, 
        sweet 
        voice 
        of 
        a 
        few
men 
        and 
        women 
        blended 
        in 
        the 
        strains 
        of 
        a 
        Christian 
        hymn. 
        Sound-
ing above 
        the 
        rest, 
        he 
        recognized 
        the 
        voice 
        of 
        his 
        slave 
        maiden.
As 
        the 
        imperator 
        strode 
        away 
        to 
        his 
        own 
        tent, 
        Claudius 
        still 
        stood
in 
        the 
        moonlight 
        listening 
        to 
        the 
        singing. 
        The 
        flush 
        of 
        wine 
        had
left 
        him, 
        and 
        the 
        cool 
        air 
        played 
        upon 
        his 
        brow, 
        soothing 
        his
fevered 
        brain; 
        while 
        the 
        gentle, 
        spiritual 
        music 
        touched 
        the 
        great-
est depths 
        of 
        his 
        soul. 
        As 
        the 
        singing 
        ceased, 
        the 
        young 
        man
wept 
        such 
        tears 
        of 
        mingled 
        grief 
        and 
        joy, 
        as 
        he 
        had 
        never 
        known
before. 
        And 
        still 
        he 
        stood 
        there, 
        while 
        the 
        moon 
        rode 
        through 
        the
heavens, 
        shedding 
        her 
        light 
        upon 
        him 
        like 
        a 
        benediction.
(to 
        be 
        continued.)
SOMETHING   
        TO   
        READ.
A 
        boy 
        of 
        seventeen 
        should 
        intimately 
        know 
        the 
        English 
        Bible. 
        He
should 
        know 
        it 
        as 
        literature 
        quite 
        aside 
        from 
        its 
        religious 
        teaching. 
        He
should 
        know 
        it 
        from 
        having 
        had 
        it 
        read 
        to 
        him 
        from 
        his 
        earliest 
        years,
and 
        from 
        reading 
        and 
        studying 
        it 
        for 
        himself. 
        A 
        boy 
        who 
        grows 
        up
without 
        this 
        intimate 
        acquaintance 
        with 
        the 
        great 
        masterpiece 
        of 
        all
literature 
        is 
        without 
        something, 
        for 
        the 
        loss 
        of 
        which 
        nothing 
        can
compensate 
        and 
        which 
        nothing 
        can 
        replace. 
        It 
        is 
        needless 
        to 
        speak 
        of
the 
        strength 
        of 
        the 
        language, 
        the 
        beauty 
        of 
        the 
        poetry, 
        and 
        the 
        interest
of 
        the 
        narratives 
        of 
        this 
        wonderful 
        book, 
        but 
        necessary 
        merely 
        to 
        empha-
size concerning 
        it 
        * 
        * 
        * 
        that, 
        without 
        knowing 
        it 
        well, 
        it 
        is 
        im-
possible to 
        really 
        understand 
        or 
        appreciate 
        the 
        great 
        mass 
        of 
        our 
        best
literature. 
        Experience 
        shows 
        that 
        unless 
        a 
        boy 
        acquires 
        this 
        knowledge
before 
        he 
        is 
        seventeen, 
        he 
        rarely 
        gets 
        it 
        later.—
        F. 
        L. 
        Elmendorf.