--- 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: 6 published: 1915-04 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, \"Passing Events,\" *Improvement Era* 18, no. 6 (April 1915): 560–566." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1806unse 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: improvementera1806unse start_page: 560 end_page: 566 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1915-04) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1806unse 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. --- # Passing Events Passing Events The sixty-third Congress adjourned on March 4. The session twenty-three months. During that time appropriations were lasted made aggregating $2,225,000,000, which was $125,000,000 more than the Congress before. Mrs. Emily M. Shurtliff, wife of President Lewis W. Shurtliff, of the Weber stake, died January 7 in Ogden. She was the president of the Weber stake Relief Society. She was born at Swonwick, Derby- shire, England, December 16, 1852, and married President Shurtliff in April, 1872, having come to Utah in 1870. The fruit crops of Utah for 1914, according to the report of State Horticulturist J. Edward Taylor, was the heaviest crop in the history of the state, the total commercial output being 5,001 carloads. During the year 1913, 203,153 fruit trees of all varieties were planted; and during the spring of 1914, 121,582 were set out; while in the past five years 2,675,523 fruit trees of all varieties are said to have been planted in the state. The apple crop in the United States for 1914 was the largest ever pro- duced in this country. The Department of Agriculture places the 1914 yield at 259,000,000 bushels, or 114,000,000 bushels more than was pro- duced in 1913. The states leading in the production of apples were: New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, followed by Virginia, Ken- tucky, Ohio, Missouri, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington in their order. Patriarch Thomas Hicken, of the Wasatch stake of Zion, died at Heber City, Utah, March 2, 1915. He was born June 15, 1826, in Eng- land, baptized, February 15, 1845, and came to Utah in 1851, settling in Heber City, in 1860. He has always been a diligent Church worker and filled many offices of an ecclesiastical and civil nature, taking part also in military affairs and serving in the Black Hawk war. The state collegiate debating league championship was won, Feb- ruary 20, by the Brigham Young University. The league consisted of the University of Utah, the Agricultural College, and the Brigham Young University. The question was, "Resolved that a tax on land values should be substituted for the general tax for city purposes in American cities' of over ten thousand inhabitants." This question was discussed in all three debates. The Duchesne county high school building at Roosevelt was dedi- cated on Wednesday, February 17, with appropriate exercises, prayer being offered by President William H. Smart. The new building is of brick and cement, three stories high, and cost $35,000. The whole county of Duchesne was an Indian reservation ten years ag6, and white settlers only began moving into the section some nine years ago. The county now has twelve grade school districts. Colonel Willard Young, formerly instructor at West Point Mili- tary Academy, and president of the L. D. S. U. since 1906, resigned from the latter position March 3, 1915, the resignation to be effective PASSING EVENTS 561 at the end of the present school year. In the meantime Prof. O J P Widtsoe will serve as acting president. Colonel Young was at one time instructor in engineering at West Point, Colonel George W. Goethals, builder of the Panama Canal, being one of those who took instruction from him. Frank Fuller, former secretary of Utah, died in New York, Feb- ruary 19, in his 88th year. He was appointed secretary of Utah with Governor John W. Dawspn, bv President Abraham Lincoln, in 1861, and was on several occasions acting governor of Utah. While acting governor he sent one of the first messages over the Pacific telegraph line,and in 1872 with President George Q. Cannon and Thomas Fitch carried a memorial to Congress asking that Utah be admitted to state- hood. He was delegated from Utah to the National Republican con- vention, in 1872. Richard Kendall Thomas, former member *of the state senate, and well-known business man and citizen of Salt Lake City, died February 23, 1915. at his home in Salt Lake City. He was born in St. Columb, Cornwall, England, June 30, 1844, and joined the Church in 1859, serv- ing as a missionary in his native land until 1863 when he emigrated to America. He was married February 28, 1865, to Carrie Stockdale. For many years he was a member of the board of education of the Salt Lake stake and served also as" treasurer of the L. D. S. U., and high councilor in Pioneer stake, and state senator in the Legislature. The Utah Legislature adjourned Friday, March 12, some thirty- four hours after the expiration of the regular time. In the upper house 268 bills were introduced and on the 15th of March, 28 of these had be- come legal statutes by the signature of the governor. In the house 266 bills were introduced, 78 of which had reached the governor. The public utilities bill failed of passage, and the Wootten prohibition bill, which originated in the senate, passed the house by a vote of 40 to ?, a few days before adjournment, and was in the hands of the governor on the 6th, who vetoed it on the 18th. The legislature sat in the new capitol building during the closing days of the session. Gould B. Blakley of Salt Lake City, was confirmed by the United States Senate, March 4, as registrar, and Heber C. Jex of Provo, as receiver of the United States land office in Salt Lake City. E. D. R. Thompson and Col. M. M. Kaighn, are the retiring registrar and re- ceiver, respectively. Attorney Blakley, in Salt Lake City since 1890, was formerly receiver of the land office at Sidney, Nebraska. Mr. Jex was born in Spanish Fork, in 1871, and was educated at the Brigham Young University. He has served in various capacities in Democratic political organizations in the state. He was a well-known worker in the Y. M. M. I. A., and has been a resident of Provo since 1907 where he has served also at different times as mayor, and city justice of the peace. He has acted as city treasurer of Spanish Fork. Hon. Jesse W. Crosby, Jr., died at Cowley, Wyo., February 24. He was born in Salt Lake City, June 12, 1848, and has resided in Wyoming for the past fifteen years. He had been a resident of south- ern Utah where he helped to survey the city of St. George. He came frequently in contact with Indians and was a scout and frontiersman in every sense of the word. In 1868-9 he filled a mission to the Southern States, later serving as a high councilor in St. George stake, and was in 1877 chosen counselor to President James Henrie of Pan- guitch stake which district he helped to colonize. In 1882 he was made president of the stake which position he held until 1900 when 562 IMPROVEMENT ERA he moved to Big Horn, Wyoming, where he continued his leadership in colonization and pioneer work. Josh' a Terry, of whom the readers of the Era have heard consid- erable in articles recently published, died at his home in Draper, Feb- ruary 22, of old age. He was born in Canada, August 1, 1825, baptized June 20, 1840, and was well-known in the history of the early settle- ment of Utah. He was a patriarch at his death, in the Jordan stake of Zion, having been ordained to that office by Elder John Henry Smith, in 1901. Mr. Terry passed through the Missouri persecutions, and was a well-known Indian scout and pioneer in this western coun- try. He remained at Fort Bridger for two years and so became a pioneer of Wyoming. He followed trading with the Indians for nine years, and as an early day character was regarded as a remarkable type of pioneer and mountaineer. The Panama Paciric Exposition was opened at San Francisco Feb- ruary 20, at noon, as the telegrams read, "under blue skies, with a soft breeze blowing from the ocean, under the gaze of four hundred thousand visitors." President Wilson at Washington touched a but- ton, the great guns boomed, the fountains began to flow, the engines in the palace of machinery began to move, the people sang, "The Star Spangled Banner," and there "were cheers, and tears, and laughter and exhilaration. There was no hitch in the ceremony, and the great day was hailed by the blowing of horns in early morning, whistles, and shouts and everything that was ever invented to make a noise. At the opening of the exposition forty-one foreign nations, forty-three states and three territories of the American Union participated. James M. Forsythe, in a communication to the Era, has many words of commendation for the Charleston ward, Wasatch stake of Zion, which he recently visited. He speaks especially of the order of 'the sacrament meeting, Sunday school, and other organizations of the ward, and comments upon the splendid work which the people are doing. He refers to the organization of a dramatic club under the guidance of Mrs. Winifred Schlandecker, of King's School of Oratory. The young people of this club; often at a great sacrifice to themselves, visit the various wards of the stake and give their services free, the proceeds of the entertainment being turned over to the M. I. A. The dramatic clubs of the various wards and stakes of Zion in the M. I. A. organizations he thinks may take this as an example of the proper spirit to help the organizations, and at the same time to develop among the young people ability to carry on dramatic work. An Indian outbreak in southern Utah, near Bluff, occurred on February 21, caused by the effort to arrest Tse-Ne-Gat, a Piute Indian outlaw who murdered a Mexican, about one year or more ago. The Colorado authorities requested Marshal Nebeker of Utah, to make the arrest, and on February 21, the Utah deputy marshals engaged in a bat- tle near Bluff in which one white and two red men were killed. The following day the battle was continued, and efforts made to arrest "Old Polk," the Piute leader, and the father of the renegade who is wanted, sometimes known as Hatch. It was finally concluded to refer the mat- ter to govrnment officials, and Brigadier-General Hugh L. Scott, chief of the general staff. United State's army, was sent to Bluff to endeavor to settle the trouble with the Piutes. He left Washington on March 3 for Utah, and went directly to Bluff where, at last accounts, he was endeavoring to meet the Indians. General Scott has a long record, not only as an Indian fighter, but also as a mediator among the Indians. PASSING EVENTS 563 He speaks' their dialects and knows their habits thoroughly. On the 16th, he had failed to find the outlaws, and Indian runners had been sent to induce their surrender. Utah Bird Day was proclaimed for April 3, by Governor William Spry. April 3rd is the birthday of John Burroughs, America's greatest living naturalist. It is recommended that all school systems of the state as well as all citizens annually set apart this day to be devoted to exercises illustrative and commemorative of the great economic value of bird life to the agriculturist, horticulturist, the home makers, and to all who live within the borders of our state. The governor recommends and urges that a prescribed portion of the exercises of the day be expressive of the humane consideration of all animal life which the people of Utah desire to make manifest to the world. He calls attention to the fact that Utah has the only monument erected to birds in the United States, and for that matter, by any country, and calls attention to the state Audubon Societies and other organizations calculated to conserve and protect the wild life of the state, urging earnest support of them in their worthy undertakings. In this con- nection the report from the Department of Agriculture, February 16, announced that a census of the birds of the United States shows an average of sixty pairs of English sparrows to the square mile or seven to every hundred native birds throughout the country. The robin is the most numerous bird, with the English sparrow a close second. In the northeast, robins average six pairs to each farm of fifty-eight acres, while English sparrows average five pairs per farm. According to the department experts, the bird population is much less than it ought to be. There was only an average of one pair of birds for each acre of farm land in this country. In Mexico the situation threatened to become more serious in the early part of March. On the 8th, the United States warned Chief Car- ranza and demanded an improvement of conditions in Mexico City, where it was stated anarchy prevailed as well as famine. The United States government seemed to be losing patience with General Car'ran- za's indifference to the objectionable acts of General Obregon in Mexico City. The cruiser "Tacoma" was ordered to Vera Cruz. On the 9th Mexico City was evacuated by General Obregon, and the opposition forces immediately took posession of the place. Two more United States warships were ordered to Vera Cruz and Secretary Bryan again warned the American citizens to leave Mexico. On the 10th, General Carranza answered the United States, denying the responsibil- ity of the Constitutionalists for the alarming situation to foreigners in Mexico City, and pledging every facility in his power for the exo- dus of Americans, which he recommends. It was also announced on the 10th that the embargo would be raised at Progreso, and the ex- portation of sisal hemp would be assured. The blockade was aban- doned, on the 13th on the urgent representation of the United States. Sisal is used extensively in making binder twine for the harvests. On the 12th it was announced that the crisis had passed, also that the food famine in Mexico City was relieved. However, news arrived \ that on the entry of Zapata's troops in Mexico City, John B. McManus, an American citizen, was shot down in his home, the door of which was sealed with a coat-of-arms of the United States, and over which flew the Stars and Stripes. The Brazilian minister, acting for the United States, was authorized to insist on an early punishment of the offenders, and to impress on General Salazar (not the bandit) the seriousness with which the American government viewed the occur- rence. The situation altogether was considered improved. 564 IMPROVEMENT ERA The Great War. The note of the United States government to Great Britain concerning the flying of neutral flags, and to Germany inquiring what steps will be taken by the German naval commanders to verify the identity of ships flying neutral flags in the recently pro- claimed war zones around England and Ireland, were answered by the two countries by a declaration satisfactory to the United States, though neither of the countries will permit neutral countries to land freight in the other. The vessels lost in the first week of the German war zone operations, February 18 to 25, numbered eighteen, many of them being torpedoed in the Channel. Among those were two Amer- ican ships, the "Evelyn" and the "Carib." Since that time, the Ger- mans have destroyed a large number of ships at various times and places. The most dramatic incident, perhaps, during the month was the endeavor of the allied fleet to force their way through the Dar- danelles. If this is done it will be counted as one of the most re- markable feats of the great war. The strait has been regarded as im- pregnable ever since the first cannons were placed upon its bank in 1453, by Mohammed II. Since that time no hostile ship has succeeded in passing the Dardanelles, except in 1807, when Admiral Duckworth, with a British fleet, ran the gauntlet, but he was not even able to reach Constantinople. England was a party to the treaty of London, made in 1840, to which also Russia was a party, which treaty pro- vided that ships of war of foreign powers should be prohibited from entering the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. A fleet of over fifty British and French warships were endeavoring to force the Darda- nelles, and the Russian fleet was crossing the Black sea to the Bos- porus. The most powerful battleships afloat are shelling the Turk- ish forts along the narrows from the Aegian sea. Ships that carry as high as 15-inch shells which they throw for ten miles or more away, silenced the entrance forts, and a landing force completed the demoli- tion of the batteries in the vicinity. Four hundred British marines occupied Kuna Kale, or the "sand castle" on the right. It was here that 3,000 years before, Agamemnon, and the hosts of Greece, disem- barked to undertake the siege of Troy, the site of which is about four miles up the Scamander river. The city of Dardanus was older than Homer's Illium, and the Dardanelles is named from Dardanus. Doubt- less many of the fortifications lining both the steep and rocky banks up the Dardanelles are antiquated and useless, but quite a number are modern and have been worked over by German engineers, and supplied with Krupp guns. The heaviest armaments are concentrated at the narrowest point in the Dardanelles, where the shores are only a mile and a quarter apart. These forts contained twenty-six guns, ranging from 14 to 8 inches, but on March 5, they were bombarded without the possibilities of retaliation, being obsolutely helpless because the guns were directed inward towards the narrows, while they were shelled by the battle cruisers from behind. "The Queen Elizabeth" was able to throw her 15-inch shells with marvelous precision at her invisible targets. "The aeroplanes, hovering above and the British war ships in the lower part of the Dardanelles reported the result of each shot by wireless. The weather being good the 'Queen Elizabeth' fired twenty- nine rounds that day 'with satisfactory results,' as the dispatch puts it. The magazine of the strongest fort was blown up and the other two damaged. It is said that there is no apparent reason why the other forts on the strait may not be demolished with equal ease and safety.' — February 10 The British House of Commons unanimously voted unlimited funds to the government, and adopted army estimates for three million men. — Februarv 11 The Russian duma was informed that the war cost PASSING EVENTS 565 Russia for the first five months, from August to the end of the year, $1,555,000,000, or $7,210,000 a day. — February 12 Thirty-four British aeroplanes took part in a bomb- dropping raid on the Belgian coast towns that were used as strategical centers by the Germans. — February 13 President Poincaire signs a measure authorizing an issue of $2,000,000 national defense bonds. February 15 — The Rockefeller foundation states that twenty per cent of the 7,000,000 people of Belgium are unable to pay for their bread. The exports of war materials from the United States for the last four months of 1914 amounted to nearly $50,000,000, more than four times the figures for the same period of the previous year. February 16— Great Britain seizes the "Wilhelmina," an American ship destined for German ports, with wheat for civilian consumption. Forty French and British aeroplanes carry out the second bomb- dropping attack on the German positions along the Belgian coast. — February 17 Great Britain replies to the American protest against undue interference with American shipping, claiming a desire and an effort to be as lenient as possible with neutral shipping. — February 21 Two thousand shells were blown into the Darda- nelles forts by the Anglo-French fleet. The British steamship "Cam- bank" was torpedoed near Liverpool. — February 22 The American cotton ship "Evelyn" was sunk by a mine off Barkum island. — February 24 Przansysz, Poland, and ten thousand prisoners were taken by the Germans. The American cotton ship "Carib" was sunk in German waters. — February 25 The Turks were repulsed in Carcasus and withdrew entirely from the Sinai peninsula. — February 26 The forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles were demolished. February 27 — A French cruiser captures the American "Dacia," laden with cotton for Rotterdam. — February 28- Przansysz is retaken by the Russians, who take 4,000 Austrians in the Galician battle. — March 1 Premier Asquith announces the British intention to shut off all commerce with Germany. The bombardment of the Dar- danelles continues. — March 3 The British attack the Turks in Tigris valley. Germany declares she will agree to the American proposition for free neutral commerce, if England will permit food shipments to Germany. — March 4 The Russian fleet sails to the Bosporus. — March 5 The British fleet bombards Smyrna forts. "Queen Eliza- zeth," the greatest superdreadnought on the ocean, finished since the war, began shelling the Dardanelles forts from Gallipoli. The allied army of one hundred thousand land on the peninsula. — March 6 Venizelos, the Greek oremier, resigns because the king will not approve of his war policy, which is understood to be in favor of the Allies. — March 7 A revolutionary riot in Portugal. — March 10 The German cruiser "Prinz Eitel Freidrich" arrives at Newport News; after her four months scour of the seas as a com- merce raider. She announced that she had sent to the bottom the American ship "William P. Frye," off the coast of South America. The captain and some of the seamen were landed. — March 11 President Wilson announces that a searching inquiry will be made into the sinking of the "Frye." Several articles crowded out of this issue will appear in May. "Unbidden Guests," the ERA prize story for February, will also be printed in May. It is a gripping story for young married people. "The Test," a boys' story, for .May, by R. S. Bean, a student of the High School, Brigham Young University, will find favor with all who love horses. It draws upon a young teamster's own native feeling for color and emphasis. You will sympathize with him, and witli his horses. All are sorely tried, hut without having their spirits broken. — The Era contemplates issuing an all-story number perhaps in August. In the meantime, read the more serious articles as well. You will like them. Improvement Era, April, 1915 Two Dollars per Annum with Manual Free Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter. Joseph F. Smith, ) Traitors Heber J. Grant, Business Manager Edward H. Anderson, ) Moroni Snow, Assistant TABLE OF CONTENTS Easter Henry O'Neil. . Frontispiece . . . . Easter. A Poem Alfred Lambourne 471 The Sin of Blasphemy J. W. Booth 473 Prayer and Worship Louis L. Allen 480 The Ship of Zion. A Poem Alfred Osmond 481 McClosky and the Cable. Prize Story Josephine Spencer 484 "Thou Shalt Worship the Lord Thy God". A Poem George H. Brimhall 492 Beautiful Madeira. Illustrated Frank J. Hewlett 493 Growth. A Poem Grace Ingles Frost 499 Anthon L. Skanchy— XI-XIII Dr. John A. Widtsoe 500 Marriage John A. Olsen 507 The Story of the Salt Lake Theatre. Illustrated Hcrace G. Whitney 509 A Junior Sub. A Story John Henry Evans 517 Lines on the Death of a Young Mother in Israel. A Poem Sarah E. H. Pearson 524 Told About Alfred Lambourne Edward H. Andersen 526 The King of the Kodak Brigade. A Poem H. R. Merrill 528 Canada at War. Illustrated Frank C. Steele 529 Origin of the Brown South Pacific Islander — II Illustrated John Q. Adams 534 An Easter Sonnet O. F. Ursenbach 540 General Von Hindenburg and Grand Duke Nicholas Dr. Joseph M. Tanner 541 — Let the Guilty Beware — Priest- Editor's Table hood Quorums and Other Statistics — The "Era" Story Contest — Wheat Prices — Book for Teachers — Enrollment of the Auxiliary Organizations 544 Messages from the Missions 548 — Priesthood Quorums' Table Suggestive Out- lines for the Deacons —Suggestions for the Teachers 552 Mutual Work — Stake Work —Vocations and Industries — M. A. Boys' Half-Acre and I. Garden Contests— M. I. A. Contests, 1915 555 Passing Events 560