---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 18
number: 5
published: 1915-03
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: "Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, \"Contests, 1915,\" *Improvement Era* 18, no. 5 (March 1915): 466."
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1805unse
  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: improvementera1805unse
start_page: 466
end_page: 466
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1915-03)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1805unse
  publication_year: 1915
  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 1915, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# Contests, 1915

<!-- page:466 -->

466                    IMPROVEMENT ERA
      To compensate for that,
                       a teacher's symphony, may be:
      "To teach man to be content."
      "To seek refinement rather than fashion."
      "To be wealthy, not rich."
      "To study hard, think quietly," (act honestly).
      "To listen with open heart."
      "To bear all cheerfully and bravely."
      "To let a richness of life spring up unconsciously through     the
commonplace."
    "There is no death to the faithful teacher who has inspired the
children to go onward and upward. The greatest immortality comes
to those who are ready for any sacrifice to do good. Such a life in-
creases in a geometric ratio forever."

                            M. I. A. Day
                            Contests, 1915

    At a recent meeting of the joint committees of the Y. M., and
Y. L. M.   I. A., the following recommendations relative    to contest
work were made:
    1.  As to Contests on Sunday Nights: That contests, that is,
try-outs or exercises calling for adjudication, be not held on Sunday
night.
     2.  As to Active Membership: That for the present year, we leave
the question of what constitutes active membership to the various
stakes, encouraging them to raise the standard as high as possible;
that for the next year, in order to become eligible for contest work
a member must have been in attendance at regular class meetings at
least five times prior to April 1st.
     3.  As to Time Limits: That all contestants in story-telling and
public speaking, so desiring, shall be warned by the time keeper at
the expiration of nine minutes and ten minutes. Contestants exceed-
ing ten minutes shall be discounted 5%; exceeding eleven minutes,
shall   be disqualified.
      4.  As To Public Speaking:      The contestants are referred to an
article in the February number of the Era on page 367, on "Originality
in Public Speaking," and each superintendent or ward president should
read this to all members entering the public speaking contest.
     Public speeches for contest must be strictly original, and viola-
tions of this rule will disqualify the contestant.
    5.  The Mixed Double Quartet: The committee further recom-
mends that the following be published in the "Journal" and Era.
    On account of some misunderstanding of our instructions as to the
Mixed Double Quartet, we make the following statement:
    All three numbers (a, b, c,) must be sung at all contests by the
members of each Mixed Double Quartet. Judgment will be rendered
on each number, but only the winners of c, (Lead Kindly Light)
will be entitled to further contest and at the grand finals will be the
only group receiving the gold medals.
    Decisions will be rendered, as above stated, on the a and b num-
bers but this decision should not effect the judgment of the c number.
    The arrangement in relation to this feature of the contest work
was made not only in order to lend interest in male and ladies' quartet
singing, but to establish specially the Mixed Double Quartet as a
permanent organization in each ward association.