Events and Comments

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. BY EDWARD H, ANDERSON. Auspicious Day in Russia.—Some very important history is being made in Russia these days. If we are not mistaken the 10th of May, which marked the inauguration of the Russian parliament, ushered in a stirring and wonderful epoch in that nation's struggle for liberty. The Winter Palace square, in St. Petersburg, witnessed that day quite another scene than the one enacted there some fifteen months ago when the troops so cruelly shot down the people who came to ask "The Little Father" for much less than he now, unheralded, came himself to grant them. All the pomp and splendor of the aristocrats were displayed. Instead of grim soldiers shooting into a mob, there were prancing cavalry with shining accoutrements to guard the approaches ;and hussars and guards in picturesque uniform of red, blue and yellow, with helmets, lanceheads and cuirasses that shone in the sun. The troops everywhere gave evidence of the suspicion that existed between the two great forces—the Russian Emperor and the Representatives of the people—as they met face to face, the one to grant and the other to receive the privileges and liberties that shall enable the Russian people to take up the onward march of modem civilization, free from the chains that have hampered their progress and enthralled their happiness. This was a day when the most exclusive court in Europe lowered the bars for the first time to admit to the Emperor's presence plebeian men who came, not by virtue of his invitation, but by solemn mandate from the people struggling for the day-dawn of freedom. We are told that it was a brilliant day. A suspicion of haze hung over the gulf, softening the outlines and giving the scene a touch of fairy-land. The city, spreading out over the enormous green islands in the river, seemed swimming in a flood of light. The broad, swift-flowing Neva, with arms outstretched to the sea, and the interlacing canals were turned to azure by the reflecting blue of the heavens, while the gold domes of the churches, the spires of the admiralty, and the St. Petersburg and St. Paul fortress, and the shining minarets of the palaces seemed to be floating above the mass of yellow buildings. Besides, the metropolis was dressed bride-like, awaiting the coming of her lord. Religious services began the day, preceded by the usual savage splendor and wild clangor of bells; and the Emperor and his suite spent twenty minutes in worship before the tombs of the Romanoffs, asking for the blessing and guidance of the

660 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Almighty. From the throne in the Winter Palace the Emperor addressed the representatives of the people. The Palace is a strange, immense, and mysteriouslooking structure on the left bank of the Neva. Here are some rare collections of wealth and splendor. We are told that on this day, in the concert room, a force of veteran grenadiers mounted guards before the insignia of the Emperor's society, and imperial crown, scepter, globe, sword, standard and seal of the empire, representing the most valuable collection of jewels in the world. The precious stones blazed like live coals. The scepter alone is valued at $1,200,000. It is submounted by the celebrated Orloff diamond of 185 carats, a mate of the Kohinoor, which together formed the eyes of the golden lion before the temple of the Grand Mogul at Delhi. The romantic, bloody history of these two jewels, stolen by Sepoys, is well known. The crown is surmounted by a cross formed of five diamonds, each worth a king's ransom, set upon a priceless ruby, the whole resting on a golden circle studded with pearls, giving it the appearance of a miter and thus making it emblematic not only of sovereignty, but of supreme authority over the Russian church. The globe is also surmounted by a diamond cross on an immense sapphire. The speech from the throne was conciliatory but carefully worded and conservative in promise. After the reception and ceremonies in the Palace, the members of the lower house were called to order at 5 p. m., by Baron Frisch, at the Tauride Palace, where they will assemble, and the oath was administered before temporary adjournment. General political amnesty is the great requirement demanded; it is a passion with the masses, and it will be difficult for the government to resist. The lower house,and the Czar will have many serious conflicts before freedom is understood by them alike. Let us hope that it may be only diplomatic conflict, and not conflict of the weapons of anarchy and tyranny. Sunday School Conference.—The Sunday School Union Conference was held on Sunday night, April 8, and all but one stake Sunday school organization responded to the rollcall, and five missions were represented. From Secretary George D. Pyper's brief statistical report the following is taken: Number of schools, 1,085; number of children of Latter-day Saints in all wards between the ages of 4 and 20, 113,821; of this number 94,517 are enrolled in the Sunday schools. Number of officers and teachers, 17,540, an increase of 321 over 1904; male pupils, 59,252; female pupils, 63,436; total, 122,688; increase, 3,381; grand total officers, teachers, and pupils, 140,736. A new feature of the conference was the report of the committee of the General Board on "parent classes," which was unanimously adopted, recommending the general introduction of these classes into the Sunday schools of the Church. Church Superintendent of Schools.—On Thursday evening, April 26, Horace Hall Cummings accepted a tender made to him of the position of Superintendent of Church schools, and the appointment was officially announced by a unanimous vote of the Church Board of Education, on April 27. He succeeds, in that capacity, Dr. J. M. Tanner. Professor Cummings is the son of B. F. Cum-

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. 661 mings, and Catherine Hall, pioneers of Utah. His parents went to Provo during the 'move," in 1858, and after the trouble occasioned by Johnston's army was over, the family removed north to Ogden, and later to Salt Lake City. Prof. Cummings entered the University of Deseret, now Utah, in August, 1877, as a normal student. He completed the normal course, and was a successful teacher for several years. In 1895, he obtained his degree of Bachelor of Science, with a state normal certificate, and began teaching in the University in 1895. He has been connected with the institution ever since that time, at present being Director of Science in the State Normal School. He will make a proficient worker in the cause of the Church school system. He filled a mission to Mexico in 1885-7, where he mastered the Spanish language. He was director of the Utah educational exhibit at the St. Louis World's Fair. Having labored as one of the faculty of the University of Utah for over eleven years, he is naturally very much attached to that institution; but his call to the Superintendency of the Church schools will prove more profitable, financially, than his present position. His connection with the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, Sunday schools, and Religion classes, is well known, in each of which he has been an energetic worker. He is also a member of the High Council of the Granite Stake of Zion. Brigham Young College Trustees.—The articles of incorporation for the Brigham Young College, at Logan, have been amended, providing for the Board of Trustees to consist of eleven members instead of seven. The President of the Church shall be a member, and in case of vacancy in that oflice, then the President of the Quorum of the Twelve shall act as one of the trustees. President Joseph P. Smith has appointed as the four new trustees provided for in the amended articles: Charles H. Hjort, Logan; William H. Maughan, Wellsville; Olen N. Stohl, Brigham; Milton fl. Welling, Fielding; and also one other member to fill the vacancy caused by the death of President M. W. Merrill. For this position Alma Merrill, president of the Benson stake, was named. All parts of the college district, except Bear Lake, is thus represented on the college board. State Medical Association.—Dr; Frederic Clift, of Provo, well known to Era readers, as a valuable contributor, was elected president of the Utah State Medical Association, at the closing session of its annual meeting, May 9, with Dr. W. S. EUerbeck, Salt Lake, secretary; $200 were appropriated for the relief of the suffering San Francisco physicians. Olympic Games in Greece.—Many of the readers of the Era have been interested in the Olympic games at Athens, Greece, which opened on the 22nd of April, and which have had an unusual importance this year by reason of the presence of the official representatives from the different countries, whose teams participated, and who were appointed at the request of the king of Greece. The American team of athletes, who number about thirty men, won the National trophy by a large margin, over contestants of other nationalities, and were successful in most of the events. They were first in the 100, 400, 800 and 1,500 meter races; in the 1,500 meter walking match, in the throwing of the discus, pre-eminently a Greek pastime ; and of the sixteen-pound weight; in the swim-

662 IMPROVEMENT ERA. ming match, in the hurdles, and in the stand broad-jump, and n the running longjump. A fund of $14,000 had been raised to defray the expenses of the American athletes, and President Roosevelt appointed Mr. James E. Sullivan, of New York, secretary of the Amateur Athletic Union, to represent the United States. The ancient Greeks would undoubtedly turn in their graves, could they know that the chief event of the program, namely, the Marathon race, was won by W. Sherring, who is a Canadian. Spanish Royal Marriage.—King Alphonzo XIII, of Spain, was twenty-one years old on May 17. Some weeks ago, an oificial announcement was made of his bethrothal to the Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena, of Battenburg. The marriage is to take place on June 2. Princess Ena, as his betrothed is most generally called, was eighteen years of age last October. Her mother is Beatrice, the youngest sister of King Edward VII, of England. Her father was Prince Henry of Battenburg, who accompanied the Ashanti expedition in 1895-6, and who died of African fever. This marriage, which is said to be a genuine love-match, establishes interesting relations between the British and Spanish royal houses, though the union can in no sense be said to have been prompted by reasons of state. Died.—Wednesday, March 28, in Fountain Green, Reuben Carter, born December 1, 1826, in Somersetshire, England. For fifteen years he was counselor to Bishop Johnson of Fountain Green.—On the same date, in Meadow, Millard Co., Wm. H. Stott, Sr., pioneer of Millard Co., born in England, May 5, 1830, came from England in 1849.—Friday, March 30, in Richfield, Mary A. Clark, who came to Utah with her parents in 1849, born June 22, 1848, at Pottawattamie county, Iowa.—Sunday, April 1, in Salt Lake City, Elizabeth Derr, a native of New Jersey, and one of the oldest residents of the city.—Monday, 2nd, in Provo, John W. Warner, a veteran of the Civil war.—Saturday, 7th, at Garden City, Bishop Robert Calder, born October 12, 1832, in Edinburgh, Scotland, came to America when twelve years of age, and to Utah in 1850. He moved to Randolph in 1870, and was chosen Bishop of Garden City in 1879.—The same day at Mt. Pleasant, the funeral of Patriarch Edward Clift was held. He came to Utah from England in 1856, and made his home at Mt. Pleasant.—The same day in Laketown, the funeral of Bishop Robert Gardner was held.—In Salt Lake City, April 10, after undergoing an operation, performed in hopes of saving his life, Wm. BernardDougall, Jr., son of Wm. B. and Maria Young Dougall, born. Salt Lake City, May 7, 1869. He was a great favorite with his grandfather. President Brigham Young, was educated at private schools, at the Brigham Young Academy, Utah University, and Latter-day Saints college, and graduated in the scientific course at the latter. He labored in the editorial department of the Millennial Star at the age of twenty-three years, while on a Mission to England. While working there his health was seriously affected, owing to the sanitary conditions, and he had to return home within a year. He never recovered his health and strong physique, but suffered more or less for over thirteen years. He was a young man of splendid promise, gentle, kind, considerate, and of bright and active mind. One of the apostles said of him: "A

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. 663 purer and more lovable spirit never came into mortality."—In Franklin, Idaho, April 16, Elizabeth Brook Fox, first stake president of the Oneida stake Relief Society, in which capacity she served for sixteen years, born in Yorkshire, England, Januarj' 5, 1825, joined the church in 1852, sailed for America, April, 1861, and arrived in Salt Lake September 12 of that year —Monday, 16, in Kansas City, Mo., Mrs. Annie Lyman King, wife of Hon. William H. King.—Tuesday, 17, in Ogden, Warren G. Child, a pioneer of Weber county, born in New York, February 21, 1835. —The same date, in Beaver, Louisa Ann P]ddins Hales, born in England, June 1, 1834, came to America in 1843, resided inNauvoo, came to Utah in 1848. —In Rexburg, Tuesday, April 24, Patriarch Ola N. Liljenquist, for many years bishop of Hyrum, Cache Co., and later Patriarch in the Church, ordained on the 22nd of Junt 1873, also president of the Scandinavian mission daring 1876-1878, and one of the first to embrace the Gospel in Denmark, born in Ingaberga, Sweden, September 23, 1825, came to Utah in 1857, and was a man of strong faith, and a zealous worker in the cause. —In Forestdale, at the home of her daughter Mrs. Gustava W. Teudt, Friday, 20th, Lovisa Skoglund, born in Sweden, May 3, 1833, embraced the gospel some twenty years ago, and came to Salt Lake in October, 1893. She was formerly president of the Relief Society in Goteborg, Sweden.— Wednesday, April 25, in Emery, Emery Co., Mrs. Elizabeth J. Stevenson, widow of Edward Stevenson, and a native of the Island of Jersey. At the age of twelve years she was baptized into the Church by the late John Taylor. She was bom February 8, 1838. Her parents' home was a regular headquarters for "Mormon" missionaries, until the family came to Utah in 1854. They came across the ocean in a sailing vessel, landed at New Orleans, and came across the plains by ox teams, two of her sisters dying from cholera en route. The day following her arrival in Salt Lake, she was married. For fifteen years she was a faithful teacher in the Relief Society.—In Huntsville, April 29, Jens Peter Peterson, a merchant, born in Denmark, 1844, and came to Utah in 1869. Result of Persecutions in Norway.—In the May number of the Improvement Era, President J. M. Christensen of the Scandinavian mission was quoted as informing the Millennial Star that President Nils Evenson of the Trondhjem conference, Norway, had been convicted of the "crime" of performing a baptism contrary to the laws of Norway, and had been sentenced to pay a fine of about $130; also that two of the local brethren had been fined about $15 each for administering the sacrament. The case was appealed by President Evenson to the Higher Court. It appears that a law passed in 1853-4 provided for religious freedom to all Christian bodies, but at that time the Latter-day Saints were not recognized as Christians, and were excluded from the rights that Christian dissenters were then granted, so that it now appears that the "Mormons" are not considered as Christian dissenters. The Higher Court has given out an important decision in this case of Elder Nils Evenson, in which it is held that, since the law does not consider the Latter-day Saints Christians, consequently, there can be nothing to hinder them, a non-Christian sect, from using water to baptize, either by pouring, or by immersion. This act of the Latter-day Saints is not considere(f a Christian baptism, by the law, and the same rule holds good as to administering the sacra-

664 IMPROVEMENT ERA. ment. Hence, to quote the decision: ' 'It follows that the accused have not performed any act connected with any 'public office, which he does not hold,' inasmuch as they have only performed an act, which in the eyes of the Christian Churches is entirely without effect, and which could just as well be performed by any other person whomsoever." The accused were, therefore, adjudged not guilty. This decision gives the Latter-day Saints freedem to perform these ordinances. It is to be hoped that the enlightenment in Norway is so far advanced that it will not tolerate any new law being passed that will prevent the Latter-day Saints from performing the ordinances of the gospel. In the first place, it is strange, and remarkable, that a Church founded on. the teachings of the New Testament, and belief in God and in Jesus Christ, and in revelations from them, should be considered a non- Christian sect; and in the second place, it is quite as remarkable that the opposition against them, which was intended to fetter completely their freedom, has been so turned that they have more freedom than anybody else. Elders in the San Francisco Cataclysm.—When the calamity at San Francisco was first heard of, considerable uneasiness was evinced for the welfare of a company of Latter-day Saints missionaries, who were due to arrive in San Francisco about the time of the earthquake. This anxiety was soon relieved, however, by a letter from President Joseph E. Robinson, of the California mission, from which it appeared that all the elders were safe, that not a single one of the Saints or elders received a scratch, or were hurt in any way. Nearly every room in the French Hotel was wrecked, and all the rooms were damaged, except one, in which one of the young sisters was nursing, and she went calmly to her task, and succeeded in getting her patients in the tents in a vacant lot, where they where safe. Brother Robinson further says that every room in one of the hotels was badly damaged, excepting one, where one of our elders slept, and he escaped without a scratch; like experiences were repeated in many instances. The personal effects of the elders, the records, books, furniture, and best carpets, of the mission house were removed, so that the loss is nothing to speak of. A number of the elders served in the relief corps with the Red Cross; and others, as firemen in various capacities. Another remarkable point was that the Elders spoken of, who were en route to Samoa and Australia, and whose names are L. L. Gardner, Salem, Utah; Wm. Keison, Cowley, Wyo; R. S. Rimington, Tooele; Mark Hardman, Osmond, Wyo., and Alex.Layton of Thatcher, Ariz., did not lose their baggage. They sailed for Honolulu on Sunday, April 29. After the transfer- and railroad baggage-men had told ihem that they had no chance to recover their baggage, they afterward found it intact, and piled together separate from other baggage, and undamaged. "This," says President Robinson, in a letter to Elder Geo. Reynolds, "is little short of miraculous, for the baggage men at the depot said upon seeing their checks: 'Why, boys, you have not one chance in a thousand to find your baggage'. But they were permitted to search, with the result above noted. Neither the elders, nor the baggagemen could account for the baggage being where it was found." The address of the San Francisco office has been changed to No. 501, 24th St., Oakland, Cal.