Messages from the Missions

EDITOR'S TABLE. 555 In the strength of youth we have felt envious of the great ones of old; of Columbus, looking upon the shadow of the greatest continent; of Balboa, shouting greetings to the resting Pacific; of Father Escalante, pondering upon the mystery of the world, alone, near the shores of America's Dead Sea. We need harbor no such envyings, for in the con- quest of the non-irrigated and non- irrigable desert are offered as fine opportunities as the world has known to the makers and shakers of em- pires. We stand before an undiscovered land; through the restless, ascending currents of heated desert air the vision comes and goes. With striving eyes tin desert is seen covered with blossoming fields, with churches and homes and schools', and, in the distance, with the vision is heard the laughter of happy children. The desert will be conquered. There are twenty chapters in the book, treating on dry-farming defined; theoretical basis of dry farming; rainfall; climatic features of dry farm areas; dry-farm soils, and root systems of plants; stor- ing wr.ter in the soil; regulating the evaporation and the trans- piration; plowing and fallowing; sowing and harvesting; crops for dry-farming; composition of dry farm crops; maintaining the soil fertility; implements for dry-farming; irrigation and dry- farming; history of dry-farming; the present status of dry-farming, in many nations, including the United States in various localities, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Africa, Russia, Turkey, Palestine, and China; the year of drouth, and dry- farming in a nut shell. There are two appendices containing a partial bibliography of publica- tions on dry-farming, the text of the Smoot-Mondell bill, together with a carefully prepared index. The illustrations throughout are rich, varied, and to the point. In this work the state of Utah can lay claim to the first scientific literary treatise on dry-farming as it has heretofore claimed the pioneer efforts in irrigation and dry-farming in actual practice; and the people of the state as well as of the nation are indebted to the master pen of Dr. Widtsoe for the splendid exposition of the possibilities of the desert re- deemed. The book should be read by every lover of nature, the deserts, the mountains and the soil. Messages from the Missions. Elders John E. Hill, Samuel V. Spry and Desmond J. Barker, writ- ing from Budapest, Hungary, January 19, 1911, say: "We feel well

in our work. We have here a few friends and one Saint. Now that we have some of our literature and a few songs in the Hungarian language, we feel that we will be able to search out the honest in heart. A letter from Mr. Arpad Pasztor, who recently visited Salt Lake City, appeared in a leading Budapest paper, giving his impressions of Salt Lake City and the ''Mormons." It was very favorable, and, being read by thousands of people, will do us much good." The translation will appear in the Era. Elder E. Spencer Wright, of Salt Lake City, laboring in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany, writes that the elders of the Dresden Conference bap- tized over two hundred new members into the Church during 1910, with an average number of fifteen elders in the conference. He closes with: "Zion is growing out here, and the elders are all happy and united, laboring from morning until night to find new members, and keeping up 1 J- & m . & » m ski A f ^ «^ their end of the work in this field." The elders laboring in that confer- ence are shown in the cut. Top row: Elmer I. Stoddard, J. Leslie Smith, Verne L. Arnold, Calvin S. Smith, Frank K. Arnold, Robert H. Hinckley, Arch Reynolds, Thomas R. Jones. Sitting: George M. Hunt, August Dittmer, Henry D. Moyle, E. Spencer Wright, (Conference Presi- dent) Leo M. Squires, E. Ray Berrett, Vernon A. Anderson. In front: John K. Tibbetts, Robert M. Campbell. The Darbun, Mississippi, branch of the Church is one of the many country branches in the Southern States Mission. The picture rep-

EDITOR'S TABLE. 557 resents the Sunday school. The branch is in a flourishing condition. Darbun is about twenty miles from the railroad. It is situated in the woods. The Saints, aided by the elders, built this beautiful little L D. S. SUNDAY SCHOOL IN DARBUN, MISSISSIPPI. church in a clearing in the forest. President C. A. Callis dedicated it about a year ago. The Saints are good farmers, enterprising and pro- gressive. They are valiant-hearted, and they rejoice in the gospel. Elder Parley C. Rammell, of Quincy, Illinois, writes, February 1, that he and his companions had labored in that city for the past two months, and met with the best success in visiting among the people, explaining the princi- ples of the gospel to them. Prospects are bright for the future, and the ehbrs hope to do much good this spring. Elder Ram- mel also encloses a photo of the elders. Top row, left to right: Ervin A Carter, Raymond, Canada; Parley C. Rammel, Haden, Idaho. Bottom row: John B. Eaton, Vernal, Conference Presi- dent Chris Christensen, Levan, Utah; Arthur Burke, Idaho Falls. Elder Rulon S. Haacke, of Salt Lake City, died on the journey across the sea from New Zealand to Salt Lake City, on the 25th of February, 1911. and his body was consigned to the sea, wrapped in strong canvass with two hundred pounds of iron so placed around the body as to keep

the head higher than the feet. Elder Haacke was stricken with dia- betis, hence was released February 11, and in company with nine other elders, started home February 15, on the steamer Aorange. It was hoped that he would reach home before his death, but his father, who waited for him in San Francisco, received the sad news that his son was buried at sea. He had been on his mission one year and ten months when he was stricken with the disease. He was a young man of good character, and was especially talented as a violinist. Elder Francis A. Miller, writing from Barre, Vermont, February 20, says: "In spite of the opposition, the elders here have succeeded in establishing a flourishing Sun- day school, the only one of its kind in the state of Vermont. We hope with the combined efforts of the elders, and the blessings of our Father in heaven, to promote the cause of truth in these parts, and that old Vermont will add to her already good supply, many more noble converts to the restored gospel. The elders, who are enjoying their work, are holding hall meetings every Sunday evening, and cottage meetings every week. Open air meetings will begin as soon as the weather will permit." The cut shows the elders laboring in that place: David Hanks, Salem; George C. Larsen, Salt Lake City; Louis W. Larsen, Logan (Confer- ence President); Francis A. Miller, Spanish Fork, Utah. Elder D. Leo Hibbert, writing from Brooklyn, New York, January 30, states that there is an organized branch of the Church there, also a Sunday school and classes where the gospel is taught and studied. The elders held street meetings last summer, at which much prejudice was overcome, as well as literature distributed. Tract- ing has been carried on contin- ually, and the people largely accept of it. While Brooklyn is considered the city of churches, yet the elders have many places to visit with the people in their homes. More elders could be used to good advantage, as the elders do not have time to visit their friends

EDITORS TABLE. 559 as they ought to. "The Era is indeed a welcome visitor to us. Our friends often find comfort and information from its pages." Left to right: D. Leo Hibbert, Union, Oregon; Clarence Burgess, Lund, Nevada; Lott E. Presson, Lehi, Utah; William 0. Clark, Montpelier, Joseph B. Alexander, Marion, Idaho. Elder Niels R. Erickson and companions are laboring in the city of Linkoping, Sweden. where a branch of the Church was organized on the 24th of April, 1910. The prospect for a thriving branch in that district is good. The cut shows the elders laboring there. Reading from left to right they are: Niels R. Erickson, Logan, Utah; P. F. Swenson, Twin Falls, La Verne Madson, Rigby, Jas. Monson, St. Charles, Idaho. Elder Ira Moore, writing from Grand Island, Nebraska, February 16, says that the efforts of the missionaries in tracting is proving a success in that district. They meet people every day who are desirous of learning more of the great truths of "Mormonism." They open their homes for the elders to explain their message, and good results follow. The cut shows the elders laboring in that place. Top row, left to right: L. K.Wood, Mendon, C. A. Hogge, West Weber, Utah. Bottom row: J. H. Robertson, Fountain Green, Utah; Ira Moore, Rigby, Idaho. Elders William B. White, Jr., of Salt Lake City, and William B. Muir, Rexburg, Idaho, are elders laboring in the North Texas conference. They are making headway in the study of the scriptures while traveling from place to place in the country. They sold fifteen Books of Mormon, seventy-five tracts, held nine street meetings and ten hall and eight cottage meetings during Janu- ary. They preach with as little money as pos- sible, believing that they should follow the advice given to the apostles of old to preach the gospel without purse or scrip. They put their trust in the Lord, and have had every provision for clothing, and food wherever they have gone. Often they have received money to help them in their work, and they believe that if they are always humble and prayerful they will not want. They often do their writing in the woods, without a library, in the peaceful surround- ings of mother nature.