Events and Comments

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. BY EDWARD H. ANDERSON. Lesson of the Life of Hirini Whaanga. — A character worthy of special notice was Hirini Whaanga, a chief of the Maories, who died at the L. D. S. Hospital, on the morning of October 17, 1905. He was baptized by Elder J. C. Stewart, in 1882, having been one of the first to welcome, shelter and obtain an audience for the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the New Zealand mission. He was born on the eastern coast of New Zealand, in 1828, and was the son of Ihaka Whaanga, a descendant of a long line of Chiefs of the Ngatikahungunu tribe of Maoris, the strongest tribe of the island. Hirini succeeded his father as chief; and was in command when Latter-day Saint elders arrived in 1882, under charge of William T. Stewart, and William Paxman who was the first president of Zion's Maori Association. As the converted chief began to understand the gospel better, he expressed a wish to come to Zion to perform temple work for his ancestors, and accordingly came to Utah, in 1894, settling first in Kanab, but a year later in Salt Lake City, where he has resided and been a worker in the temple ever since, excepting one year. It was in 1898 that he went to his native country to preach the gospel and gather genealogies. He was met by his people and accorded every honor due a king. He returned in 1899, having traveled on horseback on a tour of the island, preaching in almost every settlement, and bearing a faithful testimony to the truth of the Gospel. Before he came to Utah, he built a home for the entertainment of the missionaries whom he always made welcome, and many converts were made through his assistance. The members of the Church now number over four thousand natives. Zion's Maori Association built him a home in Salt Lake City, as a return for his kindness, and here he resided to the end. Here also his wife. Mere Whaanga, a grandchild, a sister-inlaw, two nephews and a niece, still reside. Three married daughters survive him in New Zealand. The missionaries did all that could be done for a dear friend, during his last days. They took charge of his funeral and, with mourning and deep esteem, on Sunday 22nd, laid his body to rest in the cemetery. When the news of his passing reaches New Zealand, thousands will celebrate the mourning service for the dead, for his people still revered him as a chief and a leader. His life affords a remarkable lesson. A king content to live in a strange land, and with strange people as a humble member of the Church of Christ ! Surely

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. 261 Hirini Whaanga preferred the riches of eternal life, before the wealth of this earth, and the honors of men. Died. — Friday, October 6th, in Grantsville, Jane Palmer, a veteran of the Church, born August G, 1820. — Monday, 9th, in Monroe, John B. Bowman, a pioneer of Monroe, born December 2, 1831, in Sweden. — Tuesday, 10th, in Garden City, Rich county, Rebecca Saxon, a pioneer of that place, aged 78 years. — The same day, in Salt Lake City, Thomas Teakle, an active elder in the Salt Lake Stake was accidentally killed. — Friday, 13th, in Willard, Charlotte Cole, a Nauvoo veteran, who received the Gospel in Herefordshire, while President Woodruff was laboring there. She was born August 9, 1820. — The same day, in Moroni, Charles Kemp, a pioneer settler of Sanpete county, aged 74 years. — Wednesday, 18th, in Salt Lake City, Thomas Jenkins, a High Priest in the Pioneer Stake, who for many years presided over the Fourth Ward. He was a pioneer of 1848, and was bom in Herefordshire, September 18, 1829. — Wednesday, 23rd, in Salt Lake City, Robert C. McEwan, born in Scotland, June 2, 1856. — Tuesday, 24th, in Bountiful, John Fisher, born in Woolwich, England, February 7, 1842, and a veteran of the Black Hawk war. — In Provo, the same day, Daniel C. Leavitt, born Wheelock, Vermont, April 28, 1823. — The body of Lauritz Lauritzen, a member of the Church, was found on the hill north of Salt Lake City, where he had died, or had been murdered several months before. — Wednesday, 25th, in Salt Lake City, Mary Evans Jeremy, a pioneer of Salt Lake City, born August 2, 1827, in South Wales, joined the Church in 1850. — Thursday, 31st, in Salt Lake City, Emma J. Timmins, aged 78 years, and a veteran of the Church. How to Keep Well. — Among other things, Elbert Hubbard is a doctor. His father before him has practiced medicine for sixty-five years. He says, in a recent magazine article, that he and his father stand solid as one man on the following facts on "How to Keep Well:" Most diseases are the result of medication which has been prescribed to relieve and remove a beneficent warning symptom on the part of nature. Most of the woi'k of doctors in the past has been to treat symptoms; the difference between a disease and a symptom being something the average man does not even yet know. The people you see waiting in the lobbies of doctors' offices are, in a vast majority of cases, suffering through poisoning caused by an excess of food. Coupled with this go the bad results of imperfect breathing, improper use of stimulants, lack of exercise, irregular sleeps or holding the thought of fear, jealousy and hate. All of these things, or any one of them, will in very many persons, cause fever, chills, congestion, cold feet and faulty elimination. To administer drugs to a man suffering from malnutrition caused by a desire to ' 'get even, ' ' and a lack of fresh air, is simply to compound his troubles, shuffle his maladies and shift his pain from one place to another, getting him ripe for the ether-cone and scapel. The one theme of Ecclesiastes is moderation. Buddha wrote it down that the greatest word in any language was equanimity. William Morris said the finest blessing of life was systematic, useful work. St. Paul declared the greatest thing in the world was love. Moderation, Equanimity, Work and Love — let these be your physicians, and you will need no other. How a King Was Made. — After Sweden decided at the conference of Karl-

262 IMPROVEMENT ERA. stad to let Norway withdraw from the union, little time was lost by the Norwegian Storthing in providing for a new ruler. Early in November it adopted a proposal, by a vote of 87 to 29, providing that, after the ratification of the choice by a plebicite, or general male vote of the people, Prince Charles of Denmark should be asked to accept election as King of Norway. The vote was taken November 13, 1905, and the choice was ratified by a vote of more than four to one. On the 18th the Storthing, in accordance with the will of the people expressed in the referendum, elected Prince Charles of Denmark to be King of the Norwegians; the chaplain of the chamber invoked a blessing upon King, government and country, and a salute of 42 guns was fired. On the follov/ing Monday, a deputation headed by President Berner of the Storthing, went to Copenhagen where they were received by King Christian IX, in the same room of his palace, where, in 1863, the crown of Greece was offered to Prince George. Charles is a grandson of the old Danish King, and is 35 years old. The delegation was kindly received, and among other things the old King said, addressing the men of Norway: It has pleased us to accede to the desire of the Norwegian people that we accept the ancient crown of Norway for our dear grandson, Prince Charles. We cherish full confidence that the Norwegian people, in common with him, have a happy future in store for them. The young King does not come as a stranger to Norway, for he claims relationship to former Norwegian kings. Nor will the Kingdom of Norway be strange to him, for everywhere in the land common recollections of the history of the kingdom and the history of his race will meet him. He then bade Godspeed to King Haakon VII, by which title the new King will be known, and to Queen Maud, his wife who was born in 1869, and who is the youngest daughter of the King of England, and said to them : You, my dear grandson, have here served your Fatherland and King with loyalty. Therefore I am convinced that you will enter on your new and responsible task with good intent. Fill worthily your place and your father and mother, your whole race, the land of the Danish people, and I, your old King and grandfather, will all celebrate this solemn hour with warm feelings. Go with God, my dear grandchildren, from the land and race that bore you to the land and people which have called you, and take the blessing with you of your old King for you, your race, and your deeds now and forever. Herewith I commend you to God. On the 25th, the new king entered Christiania having been escorted thither by a fleet of Norwegian, Danish, British and German warships. At noon, 27th, the King entered the Norwegian parliament, with the queen on his left arm, surrounded by their suites. Bowing to the president, the two ascended the tribune, where the King seated himself on the throne, the queen beside him in a chair. A brief address was delivered by President Berner, whereupon the King took the prescribed oath to support the constitution. In a subsequent speech his majesty announced as his motto: All For Norway. Many congratulatory telegrams were received, and this one from King Oscar of Sweden, the former ruler of Norway : In thanking your Majesty for the telegram announcing your accession to the throne of Norway, I beg that you be persuaded that every effort looking to good

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. 863 relations between our two countries will be given a sympathetic reception on my part. It is generally thought that if "the right of kings" had been less pronounced in Europe, the people of Norway, who are perhaps the most independent of any in Europe, would have elected to become a republic ; in fact, it is an open belief that Kaiser Wilhelm, of Germany, fearing such an action, was highly in favor of a kingdom with a Danish prince or king. With Germany and England backing the new King, it is a strong family affair, and everybody seems suited except the disappointed republicans who were so badly beaten. The royal pair have one young son. Prince Alexander, born July 2, 1903, who now becomes Crown Prince Olaf of Norway. Norway has an area of 124, 130 square miles, a population of 2,263,000 souls, a revenue of $23,000,000 annually, and a public debt of a little over $71,000,000. The country has many ships, and they earn in foreign trade nearly $30,000,000 per annum. Little farming is done, and the country does not produce one half the bread-stuff needed to support the people, who are mainly engaged in the lumber business and fishing. Both Sweden and Norway have adopted a new flag. Sweden eliminates its union mark in the upper left hand corner, and returns to its yellow cross on the field of blue, as it stood prior to 1814. So ends the long but bloodless conflict between the "brother folk, " and a new kingdom, after five centuries under foreign rulers, enters upon its career, with the formal coronation of its own King, set for July 27, 1906. Died, — Wednesday, November 1, in Salt Lake City, Emma Sharkey, who crossed the plains in 1852; born in Birmingham, November 11, 1831. — Tuesday, 7th, in Oakland, California, John Taylor Dillworth, a pioneer of 1847. — The same day in Willard, Ulrich Stauffer, a pioneer of Box Elder county, born in Switzerland, March 21, 1838. — Thursday, 9th, in Salt Lake City, Jesse B. Higgs, an active Church worker and second counselor in the Bishopric of the Tenth ward, aged 36 years. — Friday, 10th, in Logan, C. B. Bobbins, one of the original settlers of Cache county. He was 71 years of age, and came to Utah in 1848. — Saturday, 11th, in Salt Lake City, Elizabeth Bouck, a hand-cart pioneer; bom in South Wales, October 12, 1827. — The same day in Salt Lake City, Jane Carrington Young, wife of the late Apostle Brigham Young, and a pioneer of 1847, born in Hamilton, Wisconsin, February 26, 1840. — In Smoot, Uinta county, Wyoming, Stephen K. Wilcox, a Nauvoo veteran and Utah pioneer (date of death not given.) — Monday, 13th, in Pleasant Grove, James Armstead, a pioneer of that place. — In Bountiful, the same day, Mrs. Samantha Willey, one of the pioneers of Davis county. The same day, in Mount Pleasant, Peter Syndergaard, a pioneer of Sanpete county, aged 65 years. — Tuesday, 14th, in Santaquin, Frederick Wall, Sen., President of the 45th quorum of Seventy. — Wednesday 15th, in Iron County, Mrs. Jane C. Kirbeck, a pioneer of Southern Utah, born in Derby, England, July 13, 1822. — The same day, inManti, Patriarch J. L. Bench, a pioneer of Sanpete county, born in Devonshire, England, June 29, 1838. — Thursday, 16th, Robert B. Allen, bom in Belfast, Ireland, 1821, joined the Church in 1854, and for many years was an active missionary in his native land. — Friday, 17th, in Alpine, Utah, Hannah M. Beck, a pioneer resident of Utah county, aged 82 years. — The same day in

264 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Mount Pleasant, Miles Olsen, a pioneer of Southern Utah, aged 90 years. — Tuesday, 21st, in Salt Lake City, MaryE. Gray, a Church veteran who passed through the trials of Missouri and Illinois. She was born in Canada in 1833. — Wednesday, 22nd, in Ogden, Henrietta Lamont, a pioneer resident of Ogden, born February 4, 1835, and when 16 years of age joined the Church and came to Utah in 1863. — Friday 24th, in Salt Lake City, George Coulam,one of the oldest residents of the city, born in Louth, Lincolnshire, England, May, 1848, and came to Utah with his parents that year. Death of Patriarch Johnson.— Benjamin F. Johnson, one of the oldest members of the Church, and a Patriarch in the Maricopa Stake of Zion, died in Mesa, Saturday, November 18, in his 88th year. He was born in New York, July 29, 1818, and when thirteen years of age joined the Church. He was closely associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith and family in Missouri and Nauvoo, and from 1842 to 1844 acted as his business agent, and part of the time as his private secretary. During the exodus he was the captain of the first company that left Nauvoo, but did not arrive in Utah until 1849, as the duties assigned to him prevented him from coming at an earlier date. For many years he was an active participant in laying the foundation of the state of Utah ; he filled several missions, served in the Utah Indian wars, and,in 1881, was called as a pioneer in Mexico and Arizona. At the time of his death his posterity numbered in the neighborhood of 800 souls. The Late Elections. — The November elections in the United States were characterized, as usual with non-presidential elections, by the victory of the Democrats, in a large number of the municipalities of the nation. In Utah the election was noted for the winning of the so-called "American" party in Salt Lake City. Ezra Thomson was elected Mayor, and all the general officers of his party went in with him. A Democratic Mayor was elected in Ogden, but the other general officers are Republican. "Boss Rule" received a severe set-back in the large cities of the nation. New English Liberal Cabinet. — On December 4, Premier Balfour tendered the resignations of himself and the members of his cabinet to King Edward who accepted them, and summoned Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Liberal leader, to form a new Cabinet. On the evening of December 10 the new Premier presented to the King the names he had selected for his Cabinet, and received the royal approval. The names he selected are regarded in England, by all parties as a surprisingly strong Ministry; and it is said that he has secured the support of all the factions of the Liberals. The new Cabinet is said to believe in the right of the Irish to govern themselves, and the party is now united on the Home Rule policy which has divided it ever since 1885, when Gladstone declared for it. Dowie and Zion. — Dowie, the Zionist leader of Chicago, has abdicated in favor of three men known as the Triumvirate, who v/ill manage the affairs of Zion City, hereafter. On the 20th of December, Dowie set sail for an island in the Carribean Sea, so it is said, where he will spend the remainder of his days. He is suffering from nervous troubles.