--- 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: 20 number: 10 published: 1917-08 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* 20, no. 10 (August 1917): 936–944.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera20010unse 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: improvementera20010unse start_page: 936 end_page: 944 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1917-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera20010unse publication_year: 1917 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 1917, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Passing Events iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii mi PASSING BVENTg III I III I llll I llllll HF-'S- The latest war invention in use in France is the plane-thrower. The Germans invented this diabolical machine. The Allies have improved it and worked it with success against the originators. "Rain of Fire" is an- other name for the machine. The first three war calls in the United States were responded to with alacrity by the people. The final figures show that $3,035,226,850 were sub- scribed to the Liberty Loan ; also that 9,659,382 young men registered under the draft law; and that $115,000,000 was raised during Red Cross week, the required amount being $100,000,000. Eddie Mahan, captain of the Harvard foot-ball team of 1915, through whose all-round playing ability Harvard was able to win the championship, has joined the marines, having been sworn in at Natick, Mass., his home town. Last fall Mahan coached the football team of the University of Cali- fornia, and is among a number of the country's premier athletes who have joined the colors. The Mammoth Reservoir Dam, located in Gooseberry Canyon, Carbon county, and which is the property of the Price River Irrigation Co., broke, in the latter part of June, and did nearly two million dollars worth of damage chiefly to the Denver and Rio Grande railroad tracks. One fatality was reported, Miss Hattie Peacock, who was reported drowned in the flood. Brazil revoked her decree of neutrality on June 28 between the Entente Allies and Germany, and thus practically became a belligerent power. It is not yet certain whether Brazil's part in the great war will be purely diplo- matic and naval, or whether Brazilian forces will be sent to European battle fields. A special war mission will be sent to the United States by the Bra- zilian government for the purpose of harmonizing the war plans of the two republics. The weather in Salt Lake City for June was exceptionally fine. The lowest temperature was on the eleventh, 41, on which day a little hail fell, and on the thirteenth there was a light frost. The highest temperature was 92, on the 28th. There were 21 clear days, six partly cloudy days, and three cloudy days. The total precipitation was 19 hundredths of an inch, on the tenth and eleventh, a deficiency as compared with normal of 58 hundredths. The Irish question is still unsettled. The Sinn Feiners, in Cork, re- cently passed resolutions denouncing the proposed national convention to settle the Irish question. So opposed were they to a national convention, by which it is proposed that Ireland shall settle its own difficulties, that they engaged in a riotous demonstration which led to the use of machine guns to restore order. One man is said to have been killed and several were wounded. The Belgian Mission which arrived in Washington June 17 visited Salt Lake City July 17. The mission is headed by Baron Ludovic Moncheur and other members were Louis d'Ursel, General Leclercq, Dr. Vermeren and Major Osterreich. The Belgians were greeted by Governor Simon Bam- berger and scores of prominent citizens. They visited Fort Douglas, where they witnessed a parade and a review. Every courtesy was shown to them while they remained in Salt Lake City. In a speech, at the banquet in Hotel PASSING EVENTS 937 Utah, Baron Moncheur upheld the achievements of the Utah Pioneers as examples that would renew the hopes and the courage of the Belgians in the reconstruction of their wasted country. The "Sammies" is a popular French name for the soldiers of Uncle Sam. Our soldiers are said to have thought the name a pleasing one, suggesting that they are Uncle Sam's men. The name will doubtless be used collo- quially in France to correspond with "Tommies" for the British, and "Poilus" for the French. Speaking of the gratitude of the French people to America, Major-General Pershing, the American commander, is reported to have said: "It was the most impressive scene I ever saw." The Greek Premier Zamies resigned on June 25, and King Alexander asked M. Venizelos to form a new ministry. Venizelos assumed office on June 27, and a constitutional regime, interrupted since 1915, was thus re- stored. Most of us believe that Greece will yet be a republic, with Venizelos president. The Greek army is likely to join the Allies, if an agreement can be reached concerning the conflicting Greek and Italian claims in Epirus and Albania. The abdicated King Constantine has taken up his residence for the present in Switzerland. A number of National Commissions have followed the French and the British, in visiting the United States. All of these have been received cor- dially by the Government of our Country. The Russian Commission and the Italian Commission were received with great enthusiasm, both in Con- gress and in a number of cities which they visited in the South and the East. On June 25, a Roumanian Commission reached this Country and later one from Norway, headed by Dr. Nansen, came hither to arrange with our Gov- ernment for a supply of food products. The railways of the United States have asked for an increase in freight rates. It appears from a summary of the revenues and expenses of steam roads in the United States, and which summary covers 230,959 miles of operated lines, or about 90 per cent of the steam railway mileage of the United States, that the net operating income of the railways for April, 1917, was less than for April, 1916, by $9 per mile, or two and four-tenths per cent. The net operating income for April was $76,903,598, which is a de- crease of $1,747,407. Major-General Wm. L. Sihert, commanding the first camp of American troops in France, preceded General Pershing to France to prepare the way for the United States soldiers. The smoothness with which the troops were transferred from the French seaport to the camp is due to the diligent labor of General Sibert and other American and French officers. The General is an engineer of note, and has served on river and harbor projects and rail- load and military engineering enterprises, particularly the Isthmian Canal, in charge of the construction of the Gatun Locks and dam, breakwaters, the Colon Harbor, etc. Limits on the exports of food from the United States was placed by the President in a proclamation issued from Washington on the 8th of July. No ships laden with food will be permitted to sail from the United States until they are duly registered. An embargo on provisions is later predicted. It was stated that proofs have been received that Sweden is sending Amer- ican bought supplies to Germany, and the President therefore ordered a strict espionage. It is not the intention to declare an absolute embargo against any country, but to limit exports to such a point that neutral nations will not be tempted to dispose of their surplus to Germany. 938 IMPROVEMENT ERA The Yellowstone National Park, it is expected, will have a thousand square miles added to its dimensions some time soon by action of the Congress of the United States. The section of new country to be added will include Jackson hole country and lakes, and a part of the Teton peaks, which may be regarded as being among the most magnificent in the west. It is ex- pected that when the addition is made, there will be a southern entrance to the Yellowstone park by way of Victor, the terminus of the Victor branch of the Oregon Short Line Railway, in the Teton valley. There are at present some eighteen national parks in the United States well equipped for tour- ists, and the Yellowstone stands first in marvels of nature, if not in grandeur and beauty. The reorganization of the Union Stake, Oregon, was effected on Sun- day, June 17, under the direction of Elders David O. McKay and Bishop Charles W. Nibley. Peter G. Johnston was sustained as president of the stake, with William B. Hanks and Louis M. Jensen counselors. President Johnston presided over a ward in the Blackfoot stake for many years, and is a progressive, active Church worker and business man. He was also appointed a member of the Church auditing committee last April. During the summer months for several years he has been an energetic missionary worker on the Temple Block, under the direction of the Bureau of Infor- mation. He is 52 years of age and came to Utah at the age of 18. He is a native of Scotland. In Russia during the latter part of June there was a very hopeful and marked improvement in the war situation, with a favorable support of the provisional government, and a growing animosity against the forces which make for the disintegration of the army. The general sentiment among the soldiers was, "We shall support the provisional government if necessary with rifles and swords." Later in June, and in the early days of July, the Russian military offensive proceeded in the north and south of Eastern Galicia, and gained many points over the Germans. The addresses of Mr. Root in Moscow were listened to with respect and at times with enthusiasm. Admiral Glennon, U. S. N., who was in Russia, visited the fleet at Sebastopol and recalled the sailors to their duty in a speech that was well received. The New Testament is to be given to the Utah National Guard. — On July 9 at a special meeting of the General Board of the Y. M. M. I. A. the follow- ing resoluion was passed: "Resolved, That in order to enable Assistant Superintendent Major B. H. Roberts to present to each member of the Utah battery a copy of the new testament, with his compliments as chaplain of the battery, the sum necessary is hereby appropriated, from the funds of the General Board of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, for this purpose." The Testaments have been ordered, and will contain the initials U. N. G. on the khaki-colored cover, and underneath the seal of the state of Utah. The book is a neat vest-pocket edition which is handy for carrying. Major Roberts will sign each of the books. American troops in France disembarked on June 26. Both the assem- bling and the embarking of the first contingent of American troops was car- ried out so quietly that the American people hardly realized that they had gone, before the news came of their landing. The order to send aid to France was issued to General Pershing on May 18, and within a month the troops had been brought from the Mexican border and other parts of the country and the necessary transports put into commission. Not a man or an animal was lost or injured. Two submarines were encountered on the way and one of them was sunk. The last contingent of General Pershing's ex- peditionary force arrived safely in France on July 3. The glad news lifted PASSING EVENTS 939 the shadow of dread from the heart of America on the morning of July 4, and created enthusiasm for the celebration of the great holiday. Robert C. Easton died in Salt Lake City, June 21, 1917. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was in his fifty-ninth year at the time of his death. He joined the Church when he was about 26 years of age, and came to Utah in the late 80's, where he entered business. He joined the Taber- nacle choir and became known principally because of his excellent singing. Professor Evan Stephens brought him before the public in numerous con- certs and opera performances. Among the latter, he sang the tenor rolls in the "Bohemian Girl," and "Martha," and under other directors he sang in "Maritana," "Patience," etc. He was with the Tabernacle choir at the World's Fair excursion to Chicago, in 1893, where he was the tenor soloist. Of late years he has resided in New York, and had only been in Utah this time for a few weeks before his death. The University of Utah Archaeological Expedition left on July 6 for southern Utah where the members expect to cover the fields near Para- goonah, in Iron county, and Kanab, in Kane county. The expedition ex- pects to get a large number of valuable Indian relics for the University, out of that part of the state. Prof. Levi Edgar Young will direct the expedition leaving some time later. In the meantime Andrew A. Kerr, a graduate of the University, who took a master's degree in archaeology at Harvard uni- versity, last year, will be in charge. Prof. Young said: "Utah is almost untouched by the archaeological expeditions which have studied here. It will take years before we will know about the lives, manners and customs of the prehistoric southwest. The museum at the university already has some of the best material in the way of pottery, basketry and wooden im- plements of any museum in the United States, and much credit for this is due to Dean Byron Cummings, now of the University of Arizona. For this reason it seems to me that the university in time can well afford to estab- lish a school for American archaeology." John M. Cannon, first counselor to President Frank Y. Taylor of the Granite stake died of cancer at his home on the morning of June 16, 1917. He was a son of the late President Angus M. Cannon and Sarah M. Mouseley, born at St. George, Washington county, September 24, 1865. While yet a young child he removed with his parents to Salt Lake City, where he has resided since. As a young man he learned the carpenter trade, and worked for the Oregon Short Line Railway Company for some time. In 1890, he graduated as a student of law from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and since that time has continued his practice of law in Salt Lake City, having the confidence of the public and the esteem^ of the legal fraternity. On July 18, 1893, he married Zina Bennion, their union being blessed with eleven children. In Church affairs Brother Cannon was very active, having at various times held positions in the Sunday School, in the Mutual Im- provement Association, the high council, and for the last fourteen years counselor to President Frank Y. Taylor of the Granite stake. His was an active life both in his profession and in his faith. His position in the Church and in his profession brought him in contact wth hosts of people who invariably learned to honor him for his integrity and faithfulness to truth and duty. He was a man of unbounded sympathy, and no poor person every applied to him that he did not render them help. Many good deeds, involving much of both his time and his money, were done by him that are not recorded or even known by any one but the beneficiaries His helpfulness to the distressed, and the needy, and his alacrity in rendering service wherever his quick perception saw the necessity, were proverbial. Funeral services were held, June 17, in the Forestdale meetinghouse with beautiful musical numbers. Among the speakers were Presidents Joseph I. Smith, Charles W. Penrose, Frank Y. Taylor, and Orson F. Whitney, Jos. r. 940 IMPROVEMENT ERA Merrill, Edward H. Anderson, Thomas J. Yates, B. S. Hinckley, fm. Brad- ford, and Bishop Elias S. Woodruff. His body lies at rest in a grave on a lawn-covered elevation of the new and beautiful Wasatch Lawn Cemetery which was formally opened and dedicated on the evening of June 27, 1917, Fresident Joseph F. Smith giving an address and offering the dedicatorial prayer. Copyright, Underwood & Undertvood, N. Y. First Aerial Fire Fighting Company in the World. — Another step to more effective fire fighting has been introduced. The first aerial fire fight- ing company has been established at San Diego, California, which city has purchased two one-hundred-horse-power aeroplanes on which powerful chemical extinguishers and apparatus are carried. These two machines are at the disposal of Fire Chief Louis Alheim, who pilots one of them. They can be used in fighting water-front blazes. An alarm has been placed be- tween the central alarm station and the hangars where the aeroplanes are kept. Fire-fighting in the air is something entirely new, and it is extremely likely to be adopted by many of the large cities, if it proves its effective- ness. Photo shows one of the machines and San Diego firemen who are assigned to aerial fire-fighting with chemical apparatus. TheAutomobile and Road Building. — In 1916 there were 3,513,000 auto- mobiles and 251,000 motor cycles registered in this country, according to the U. S. Office of Public Roads. The revenue they yielded in the form of licenses and registration fees was $25,865,000. The revenue had increased 42 per cent over that for 1915, and the number of cars and motor cycles had increased 4 per cent. About 92 per cent of the revenue was spent on road improvements of some kind. The use of the cars is shown by the population per car in the different states. The great agricultural state of Iowa stands first, with a car for every 11 persons, and then follow California with 12 persons to each car, Nebraska and South Dakota with 13, Kansas with 16, PASSING EVENTS 941 Montana and North Dakota with 18, Michigan with 19, and Indiana and Ohio with 20. These are all agricultural states, and it is certain, not only from these statistics but also from common knowledge, that the automobile has become a valuable part of the farmer's equipment. It is not the great manufacturing states, like New York, with a car to every 50 inhabitants, or Pennsylvania, with a car to every 37, that show the highest popular use of ihe motor vehicle. The fact is, the farmer, like the rancher in Arizona, where there is a car for every 21 persons, finds the automobile invaluable in removing the isolation of country life, and he is now willing to concede that good roads, which will enable him to use his car at any time in the year, are a necessity. Instead of complaining that good roads are only de- sired by the automobilist he wishes them built so he can get the most benefit from his ownership of an automobile. Photo from Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. The Italian King, who sent the present war mission to America, is seen watching troops from a hidden lookout in the mountains. King Emmanuel of Italy is watching the movement of his troops from a hidden vantage point high in the mountains. Italy's monarch is by every possible means avail- able, trying to force a victory for the Italian arms. With this end in view he sent the Italian War Mission to this country. When the King wishes to visit his men fighting at the front, dangers, hardships, and pleadings do not deter him. He is as much a soldier as any man in the ranks and nothing would please him better than to spend all his time with them in the field. During his visits to the firing line he lives much as the common soldier does, sharing with his men the same risks. It is said that he once told some of his republican deputies: "When you make Italy a republic, I'd like to be your first president!" Money for the War— The people of the United States likely will be called upon to raise ten billion dollars during the first year of war. Con- gress will probably be asked to authorize another gigantic loan to the 942 IMPROVEMENT ERA Entente Allies. The first three billion loan will be exhausted by October 23, and it is expected that the second will be at least as large as the first, and perhaps may reach five billion. The expenses for the first year of war for the United States is placed by Secretary McAdoo at approximately four billions, and with a loan of six billions to the Allies, a total of ten billion dollars will be needed for the first year. This the Nation will be called upon to raise. This amount will, of course, be spent for supplies and food in the United States. Assignment of National Guard troops — The Military Bureau, Washing- ton, has made the following assignments of National Guard trooops to training camps for the western-central areas of the country: Nineteenth division, California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada troops, to Linda Vista, Cal. Twentieth division, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming troops, to Palo Alto, Cal. Thirteenth di- vision, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska troops, to Deming, N. M. Fourteenth division, Kansas and Missouri troops, to Fort Sill, Okla. Fifteenth division, Texas and Oklahoma troops, to Fort Worth, Tex. Eleventh division, Michigan and Wisconsin troops, Waco, Tex. Twelfth division, Illinois troops, to Houston, Tex. The resignation of Dr. von Bethmann-Hollweg, the German Imperial Chancellor, was accepted by the Kaiser on July 14. General von Stein, Prussian minister of war, also resigned. Dr. George Machaelis was chosen to be the new chancellor. The downfall of Dr. Hollweg is generallv con- strued to mean a triumph of the Prussian war lords over the more demo- cratic ideas that Dr. Hollweg sought to impress upon the people. It ap- pears to have been a question with the Kaiser as to whether to drop the Imperial Chancellor or virtually the entire cabinet who declared that it could not remain if von Bethmann-Hollweg was retained. The new chan- cellor is supposed to stand between the radicals and the conservatives. Neither the conservatives nor the liberals had ventured to call him their own. What his policy will be remains to be seen. The Prussians are ex- tremely anxious to sidetrack the peace proposals of the Reichstag, and whatever may happen it seems quite certain that the von Bethmann-Hollweg peace program will be disapproved. Some think that Michaelis is a mere stop-gap to prepare for dictatorship with Ludendorf in control. The National Value of Roads. — When we read that by transporting sol- diers in motor vehicles of every description the French array won the de- cisive battle of the Marne, few of us realized that while it was the auto- mobile that made success possible it was the network of good roads north of Paris that made the automobile of any use. Yet those famous roads of France saved the country, and the national vale of roads was proved. We are now witnessing what troubles lack of good roads causes in our national emergency. We are building sixteen cities, each for the temporary home of 36,000 to 46,000 men of our national army. They must be built in a great hurry, generally some miles from railways and towns. The railways are building spurs into these camps, but the railways are congested. Cars used for short hauls to these military cities will stand on sidings much of the time to be loaded or unloaded, when their best national service is in carry- ing materials long distances. Motor trucks would permit the delivery of some of the supplies needed in large quantities at these camps, but motor trucking is very difficult at many of them because there are no roads suit- able for fleets of trucks and the camps must be ready for the army before the right kind of roads can be built. Into the United States military service, President Wilson drafted 687,000 men, under the selective conscription law, on June 3. The official allot- ment shows what part of this total must be furnished by each state. Utah's net quota on the first selection will be 2,223. The gross number from PASSING EVENTS 943 Utah originally was 4,945. The difference between the gross and the net quota shows what the State has done in furnishing troops by the voluntary system, or enlistment in the National Guard and the Regular Army. The following are the gross and the net quota for a number of surrounding western states. The net amount is the number now required in the con- scription army: Gross Net Gross Net Arizona 4,478 3,472 New Mexico 3,856 2,292 Arkansas 17,452 10,267 North Dakota 7,737 5,606 California 34,907 23,060 Oklahoma 19,943 15,564 Colorado 9,792 4,453 Oregon 7,387 717 Idaho 4,833 2,287 South Dakota 6,854 2,717 Illinois 79,094 51,653 Texas 48,116 30,545 Iowa 25,465 12,749 Utah 4,945 2,223 Kansas 17,795 6,439 Washington 12,763 7,296 Minnesota 26,021 17,854 Wyoming 2,683 810 Montana 10,423 7,872 Alaska 710 896 Neberaska 13,900 8,185 Hawaii 2,403 Nevada 1,435 1,051 The draft for the first units of the National Army, 687,000, was held in Washington on Friday, July 20, and selections were made at the rate of 35,000 men per minute from the ten million young men who were registered. The drawing was entirely by chance — the biggest gamble in the world. Opportunities for highway engineers, says T. R. Agg, professor of hign- way engineering, Iowa State College, are many. In this business remuner- ative avenues are open for the competent young man. "The inquiries that come to the western colleges for engineers to fill positions in highway work show that a demand for such men already exists. These inquiries are re- ceived from state, county and municipal highway departments, from con- sulting engineers and from contractors. During the past two years the opportunities for employment in highway work have steadily increased in number, and a survey of the field seems to indicate that the highway en- gineer can reasonably expect permanent employment in that field. "In the state of Iowa more than two hundred highway engineers are em- ployed by the various officials having jurisdiction over rural highways and several other western states employ as large a number. This number is, however, considerably in excess of that at present employed by most of the western states and is merely an indication of the number of highway en- gineers that will be required when the states give to highway improvement the necessary attention. "The establishment of efficient systems for municipal and rural high- way construction, the selection of suitable types of roadway surfaces, the design and construction of roads and pavements, the maintenance of costly improvements, all are technical problems of great complexity and their proper solution presents to the highway engineer a professional opportunity of high order. "The highway system of the nation is now recognized as an indispensa- ble public utility and as such it must be improved and maintained in a high slate of efficiency. Who shall say that participation in that development does not offer a professional opportunity comparable with that of the sani- tary engineer, the structural engineer or the mechanical engineer, each of whom may enjoy unquestioned professional standing? "The pecuniary reward that may be anticipated by the highway engineer compares favorably with that enjoyed by engineers in other fields. College graduates are usually able to secure positions in highway work at a begin- ning salary of $75 per month with expense allowances when away from headquarters. County engineers receive from $900 to$5,000 per year. State 944 IMPROVEMENT ERA engineers from $2,500 to $10,000. The tenure of office is already as certain a« in many other engineering fields, and conditions are sure to improve in this respect, because the public is beginning to realize that constant change in the personnel of a public office is costly and that men should be retained as long as their services are satisfactory." •