Editors’ Table

A Few Reminders for Voters

Lee Mitchell Hodges, writing in the New York Independent, May 8, quotes Dr. Charles W. Eliot, president emeritus of Har- vard university, as saying: "The German investigations on the mental effects of very limited doses of alcohol, doses which most people have always supposed to be completely innocuous, * * * seemed to me to prove that even twenty-four hours after taking a small dose of alcohol, the time-reaction in the human being is un- favorably affected. Now, the quickness of the time-reaction is important to every mechanic and to every artizan." The New York Clipper, devoted to theatrical and circus inter- ests, says: "Showfolk, has John Barleycorn and his numerous offshoots been draining your bankroll? Did they eat up the better part of your earnings last season ? Have you a bank account upon which to rely when the dark days come? Did booze ever do you any good? No! We are not preaching. We are just giving you some food for thought. Boys ! There's nothing to it. Let's all get together and give old John Barleycorn and his pi- ratical crew such a wallop that he can never come back." It is a fact that the United States spent more than $2,000,- 000,000, on drink last year which was twice as much as the cost of our public schools for the same period. The Umpire, a paper published by and for the convicts in Pennsylvania, shows that a former prosecuting attorney of Camden stated that out of forty capital punishment cases he had been connected with, every man who committed a murder was actuated either directly or indirectly by liquor. He also shows that more than 80% of prisoners com- mitted during the past two years, in a number of prisons in New York, were drinkers of liquor. Colonel Maus, recently retired as surgeon-general of the eastern department of the United States, after forty-one years of service during which he organized the health service in the Phil- ippines, says : "Practically all of the crime committed in the army, directly or indirectly, can be traced to the effects of alcohol." An official of the Dupont Powder company, when recently issuing an order prohibiting the use of intoxicating liquors by the company's workmen at Penn's Grove, New Jersey, remarked that "A man with a bottle of whiskey in his possession is as dangerous around a powder plant as a bomb-thrower." In a recent number of a local paper in Salt Lake City, we

EDITORS' TABLE 745

read that a young man on the morning of May 3, after he had robbed a saloon on West South Temple Street, was arraigned be- fore a judge in the criminal division of the city court charged with burglary. He entered a plea of guilty, in these words: "Brown is not my right name, and I would rather go to jail for life than to disgrace my family by telling it.. I am a native of Salt Lake, a scion of an old Utah family." The boy then made a plea for another chance. He said that drink had been his curse, and if he were allowed to go he would straighten up and be a man. He was bound over to the district court. Pledge all party candidates, and vote for those only who will support the slogan: "We stand for state- and nation-wide prohibition."

The Mysterious City

"The Gold-Seekers" is the title of a story of adventure told by Edward J. Hoyt, an old Leadville, Colorado miner, and set down by Dr. Vance Hoyt. It is printed in the May, 1915, num- ber, (Vol. 35, No. 205) of the Wide World Magazine. The story describes the adventures of Mr. Hoyt and his friend W. W. Palmer, known as "Rocky Mountain Bill," and their companions, in their four-year search for gold, as prospectors, in the unknown interior of Honduras, Central America. This was some years ago while the great Klondyke excitement was on in Alaska. They chose to go to Honduras, instead of Alaska, searching the country on the Tulan river, in the state of Olancho, whose capital is Juticalpa, where, as the introductory note to their article re-

lates, "Struggling through nighgtmare jungles, fighting fevers and hitherto unknown wild beasts, the hardy little band of pioneers, headed by Mr. Hoyt, forced their way into the unexplored wilds of Central America in search of gold. They found it in plenty, but just when fortune seemed about to smile, disaster befell them and they had to retreat, leaving the bones of several of their party behind in that land of gold and death. The narrative gives a vivid picture of the manifold vicissitudes of the prospector's life, and shows what hardships and perils men will endure in quest of wealth." We are interested especially in one of their adventures, be- cause it describes the ruins of a Mayan city, built by ancient inhabitants of that land in which and in whom every student of the Book of Mormon is intensely interested. We quote from the article un^er the sub-title. "The Mysterious City": "One day. at the close of the rainy season, Palmer, the mozo, and myself, with enough rations for a two weeks' journey, started

—

746 IMPROVEMENT ERA on a prospecting trip up the Julan river. We examined the banks of the stream carefully as we went, searching for the 'lead,' or the source of the nuggets we had been panning from the bottom of the river. "On the second day of our trip we turned up a small side- stream, which emptied into the Julan, and which proved to offer the richest possibilities we discovered in these regions. It was a narrow, shallow thread of water, flowing swiftly in the bottom of a deep canyon. This vein of water had no name, for we were the first white men who had ever walked between its banks or, rather, its walls. "We spent two days climbing over boulders and wading through water, when we were suddenly halted by a huge wall of rock directly in front of us. We stood at the bottom of a great three-sided shaft. I looked up into the sky at the top of the wall, where the water poured swiftly over, like oil from a pipe, and then fell at our feet with a roar. Measurements made later proved these walls to be over two hundred feet high. "After hours of dangerous as well as strenuous work, we finally scaled the wall that confronted us, and arrived at the crest of the falls. What we beheld here was wonderful. "Directly in front of us lay a beautiful lake, about two miles in diameter. Completely circling its waters, we found indications that there had once been a wide boulevard of some sort, paved with huge slabs of rock. Directly behind this ran seven terraces, which had once upon a time been beautified with statues, marble steps, and winding walks. On the top of the seventh terrace, among the dense undergrowth, we found scattered ruins, which indicated that highly-civilized people had lived and thrived in these regions many centuries ago. I say many centuries, ad- visedly, because the architecture of these ruins is of the Mon-

golian type, and the hieroglyphic inscriptions indicate a culture as ancient as that of the Egyptians. Scattered through the pri- meval forest that obscured this placid lake were pyramids rival- ling those of Egypt in exactness of construction. Many of the crumbling ruins and leaning walls that had once belonged to beautiful temples were similar in appearance to the open- front temples which the Greeks raised to Minerva. Some of these walls were covered with carvings which, in spite of the cor- rosion of centuries, were still inches deep. These ruins were the same in architecture as others we passed a few miles from Juti- calpa and Olancho. Everything indicated that the people who lived here were highly educated, and must have been skilled in architecture, sculpture and painting. "On the top of one of these pyramids are the ruins of a massive temple, and up the centre of each of the four sides of the pyramid there is a wide stairway. These stairways have ex-

EDITORS' TABLE 747

tensive stone balustrades, carved to represent serpents, the heads Hanking the base of the stairways. "The pyramids are made of huge blocks of rock, the same Egypt how they were ever moved into the position as those in ;

they occupy is a mystery. Undoubtedly this mysterious race of people were of the same blood as the Egyptians."

Books

— Bee-Hive Girls. The Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement As- sociation have issued a second edition of the very excellent "Hand Book for the Bee-Hive Girls of the Y. L. M. I. A." The work is en- larged and revised, making a handsome brochure of some sixty pages or more. It opens with a statement of the spirit of the hive: Have Faith. Seek Knowledge. Safeguard Health. Honor Womanhood. Understand Beauty. Know Work. Love Truth. Taste the sweetness of Service. Feel Joy. This is followed by a number of excellent portraits of Bee-Hive girl activities in various parts of the Church. The Bee-Hive general plan is explained, and there are two musical selections, "The Call of Womanhood," and "The Honey Gatherers' Song," by Tracy Y. Cannon. Awards, the names and symbols, meet- ings and programs, structural cells, etc., follow, and also a number of blank pages for record keeping. There were over 1,250 swarms of Bee-Hive girls organized in the summer of 1915; and 1,772 girls purchased the first section of chain and a much larger number made the rank of "Builder in the Hive." Doubtless for the summer of 1916, a much larger number of girls will take up the work which has had a great influence for good over the lives of thousands. The National Education Association Year Book with a list of ac- tive members is out in the N. E. A. Bulletin for February, 1916. It covers the year, December 31, 1914, to December 31, 1915, giving also journal proceedings of the Oakland meeting with reports. D .W. Springer, secretary, Ann Arbor, Mich. "The Golden Lamp" by Phoebe Gray, author of "Little Sir Galahad," Small, Maynard & Co., Boston, publishers, is a volume of 490 pages, containing the story of the Binford twins, of a town called Neighborhood Haven, together with the labors of certain families and individuals in their efforts to better the social conditions of a great and wicked city. The twins particularly are attractive characters, not forgettting those who have them in hand. The story holds the interest and sympathy of the reader, throughout. Romance, humor, palhos, mystery and suspense, the welfare of the twins, and a love story penetrate the text, and absorb the reader's attention. Fight against booze, and upholding of high spiritual sentiment, are splen- did characteristics of the text.

tlrn^s by a series of cheerful happenings, that were brought about, mainly by her own struggles. How her mother was saved from the slaverv of the wash tub, how Amarilly got an education, and how of the wholesome prosperity came to the whole family, is the theme little story which one reads with varying emotions between laughs some of the things and tears It is overdrawn, and one must condemn her own account, as Amarilly led out in cheerful radiance to do, on

748 IMPROVEMENT ERA dangerous for ordinary girls, without the guiding wisdom of mother; but on the whole the story awakens ambition and appeals to other boys and girls, more favorably situated than Amarilly, to do things. Books Received. — "What Men Live By," Cabot, Houghton Mif- flin Co., Boston, price $1.50 net. "Shovel Horns," "Shaggy Coat," "A Wilderness Dog," "The King of the. Thundering Herd," "Piebald, King of Bronchos," by Clarence Hawkes, Geo. W. Jacobs, publishers, Philadelphia, per volume 50c. "How to Judge a Book," Edwin L. Shuman, Houghton Mifflin Co.. Boston, $1.25 net. "Stories of Thrift for Young Americans," Pritchard and Turking- ton, Charles Scribners Sons, New York, price $1.00 net. "The Greatest Books in the World," Porter, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, $1.25 net. "Washington's Young Spy," T. C. Harbough; "Paul Revere," "The First Shot for Liberty," "Marion and his Men," John De Morgan, David McKay, publisher, Philadelphia. "The Diamond Story Book," by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, pub- lished by Duffield and Company, 211 West 33rd Street, New York, price $1.50. Contains excellent and almost unknown stories, translated. "The Emerald Story Book," stories and legends of spring, Nature and Easter, by Ada and Eleanor Skinner, same publishers, pp. 371 price $1.50 net. "The Ocean and its Mysteries," by A. Hyatt Verill. Every interesting phase of the mystic sea is treated in attractive style for young people, 189 pages, price $1.25, Duffield and Co., New York; "The Peaks of the Rockies" is a publication written by Edwin L. Sabin and distributed by the Rio Grande Railroad. It contains a list of mountain ranges in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, with the names, locations and altitudes of 155 mountains, from 12,000 to 14,000 feet in height. Colorado has one thousand peaks that rise more than two miles into the sky. One hundred and fifty of these, it is said, reach beyond 13.000 feet in altitude and there are more than twice as many peaks of 14,000 in Colorado as in any of the other states of the Union. There are thirty-three illustrations in the brochure, of the more prominent peaks, including some in Utah, Twin Peak, altitude 11,563 feet, being oncof them, also Mt. Timpanogos, 11,957 feet.

Messages from the Missions

Harold R. Heath, of Gray, Idaho, writes from Adelaide, Australia, " 'O lovely mountain home is ours, Idaho, O Idaho, Of winters mild and springtime showers, Idaho, O Idaho, Here breezes blow from western shore, Where proud Pacific's billows roar, Each year we love her more and more Idaho, O Idaho!' "We four, the writer, Kenneth G. Smith, Preston: Milton J. Kelley, Shelley; and Eldon M. Cook, Paris, Idaho; having lived all our lives within a fifty-mile radius of each other, chanced in this foreign land to meet; and we have labored together as the representatives of the Lord in the South Australian conference for the past seven months. We have loved our work, and through our association we have become friends for life.

"The work of the Lord has been a joy and a consolation to us, and we feel to praise God for the privilege of proclaiming his everlasting gospel. We have met a great many people, and have made many friends who have been drawn nearer to the great plan of salvation, some of whom have made wonderful sacrifices for the truth's sake. "The war has had noticeable effects upon the minds of the people. Many have been brought to think seriously of it, and are drawing nearer unto God, while many have turned from religion entirely, some going so far as even to curse God. God is fulfiling his promise to those who are faithful, and the great gulf between the righteous and the wicked is becoming wider and wider. May God hasten the per- fect day." A Book of Mormon in the Home Emma Kyhl, Flint, Michigan, April 3t): "We are meeting with success here. In the month of April Sister Hodgson distrib- uted 32 Books of Mormon and 26 other books, and I put out 52 Books of Mormon and 93 other books. The people here are anx- ious to learn more about the Book of Mormon, and are will- ing to let us read chapters from it whenvisiting them. _ They also enjoy reading it with us. We feel that the people willsoon see the necessity of having a Book of Mormon in their home as well as the Bible. The Im- provement Era comes to us as a ray of sunshine. We are always it very much. pleased to read it from start to finish, and appreciate Left to right: Emma Kyhl, Richfield, Utah; Elva Hodgson, Wood- row, Idaho."

Progress of Missionary Work Among the Mexican People

"During the past nine months that the missionary work among the of President Rey L. Mexicans has been carried on, under the direction Pratt and in connection with the Western States Mission, a decided a5 well as a surprising, interest has been taken in the restored gospel President John L. Herrick recently made of Christ by these people. a trip through the territory now being worked m company with Presi-

—

75(1 IMPROVEMENT ERA dent Pratt. The results attending the efforts of the elders in holding meetings and in disposing of literature is singularly remarkable, con- sidering the limited education of the Meixcan people. While there, President Herrick attended meetings at which from 65 to 125 natives were present. During the winter it was with difficulty that the elders made their way to the several school houses where the meetings are generally held. At times they have been forced to push the car through mud and snow, and in one instance having to abandon it. At this particular time, after leaving the car, and as they were approach- ing the school house, they saw the people arriving for the meeting from miles around the country, notwithstanding the disagreeable trav- eling conditions. Some were carrying wood on their backs for a fire and preparing for the meeting. The elders state that it was not until

KIT CARSON S OLD HOME, TAOS, N. M. President Pratt standing by building

then that they realized how deep an interest these people were taking in the message of truth, to which principles they were almost strangers. President Herrick attended meetings at Ranchos de Taos where the ancient Catholic church, built by the Spaniards in the sev- enteenth century is located; and at Taos, where the home of the famous frontiersman, Kit Carson still remains, as shown in the ac- companying picture. The five elders including President Pratt have sold eighty Spanish Bibles, a number of testaments, and twenty Spanish Books of Mormon, which in itself is a testimony that these descendants of the Lamanites are seeking the truth." Western States Mission. The Main Theme is War Howard J. Layton, clerk of the London conference, April Elder 17: "The missionary work here has been very much hampered by the war. Millions of people seem only to desire to hear war, war. Only few of us now remain to raise our voices in behalf of the gospel. While we may preach baptism and repentance, the desire of the people is to hear whether father, husband, or brother is alive. Where their treasures are there their hearts are also. But in spite of these ad- verse conditions, we are still able to accomplish some little good

EDITORS' TABLE 751

among our friends. Our main work is to keep in touch with mem- bers who are scattered over the conference. Many of these have been called into the army, leaving us with few who belong to the Priesthood in the branches. The Saints are being tried among these warring nations, and we pray that they may remain faithful and prove

worthy of -the Church of Christ here upon the earth. Elders, left to ri^ht top row: Harold A. Lambert, Kamas, Utah; William Payne, Loosle, Alberta, Canada; Jesse W. Lloyd, Rexburg, Idaho; William J. Clarkston, Utah; Joseph R. Standage, Mesa, Arizona; bottom row, Howard J. Layton, clerk of conference, Salt Lake City; James Gunn McKay, president of conference, Huntsville, Utah; Gilbert Taysom. Alton, Wyoming."

New President Swedish Mission President Theodore Tobiason, of the Swedish mission, Stockholm from 100 Sweden, March 31: "Whereas years ago we used to have to 150 elders to look after, we have now all told in the mission only and the elders twenty elders which includes both the local brethren at least six ot from Zion. At our spring conference there will be who has acted these brethren released, among them Elder Peterson of the mission and who has nearly two and a half years as secretary and efficient in his work. All in all, however, we been very faithful did when we had a full corps of are baptizing nearly as many as we during the first quarter of this year we have passed • elders Thus far first quarter for. a number of years the number baptized during the We would love to see forty or fifty elders join us in our work past thereby be able to do more than we have been able I think we would find people quite wiling to listen to the to do for years past as we In than for some time in the past. testimony of the elders, more so Connect ion it should be remarked that President Tobiason owing h s Gertrude has been re eased to re- o the recent death of his daughter home after a faithful mission of 33 months.. Elder A P. Ander- urn of the Swedish mission to fill the vacancy. son was apponted President