--- 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: 21 number: 5 published: 1918-03 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* 21, no. 5 (March 1918): 464–470." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2105unse 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: improvementera2105unse start_page: 464 end_page: 470 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1918-03) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2105unse publication_year: 1918 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 1918, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Passing Events miniii iiiiiiiiiiiiiniiju,. ^iUii.iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii General Lnigi Cadorna, who was responsible for the Isonzo debacle, has been removed as a member of the Inter-Allied Supreme War Council, according to a telegram from Rome, February 10. General Gaetrano Giar- dino, former minister of war, has been appointed to succeed him. B. Henry Lessmann, an Ogden minister, who gained admittance to the Fort Douglas prison camp, by virtue of his ecclesiastical calling, and after the prison authorities had been given the strongest recommendation of his trustworthiness, was arrested on February 11, in the act of smuggling a letter to an enemy alien interned in the civilian section of the third War Prison Camp at Fort Douglas. Miss Augusta Minnie Deckman was arrested as an accomplice. Lessmann was later released on a $2000 bond. President Heber J. Grant received a telegram from Secretary W. G. McAdoo, appointing him a member of the Liberty Loan General Executive Committee for the Twelfth Federal Reserve District, on January 31, 1918. This appointment followed his selection, shortly before that time, as chair- man of the Liberty Loan Sales Committee for Utah. He is to serve without compensation, under the chairmanship of the Hon. Joseph K. Lynch, Gov- ernor of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Sir Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice, former British Ambassador to the United States, died at Ottawa, Canada, one o'clock, February 14, 1918, of heart failure. He passed peacefully away in his sleep. Sir Cecil became British Ambassador in Washington, May 6, 1913, succeeding Ambassador James Bryce. He spent many years in the British diplomatic service, having come to Washington first as third assistant secretary of the embassy. Lieut. Dudley A. Loomis, pilot, 22 years old, a native of Moscow, Idaho, and a student of the Idaho State University, was burned to death, February 7, on the post field at Fort Sill, School of Aerial Observers, when his machine made a nose dive from a height of five hundred feet and burst into flames. His body was burned beyond recognition. He attended the training camp at Presidio, California, and was there commissioned to the Aviator School at Fort Sill. Herbert S. Auerbach, a member of one of the well known merchant firms of Salt Lake City, has been appointed Major in the ordnance depart- ment of the United States Army. He was a member of the board of regents of the University of Utah, and vice-president of the Utah Better Roads Association. He resigned from the Board of Regents, owing to his appointment to the national service. Major Auerbach is the son of Samuel H. Auerbach, founder of the great mercantile establishment bear- ing the name, and who is now in retirement at the age of seventy-one. Abd-ul-Hamid, for thirty-three years the tyrant Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, died February 10, 1918. He was born September 22, 1848, and became sovereign of Turkey when his elder brother, Murad V, was de- posed because of mental incapacity, in 1876. In the Revolution of 1909, he was driven from the Imperial Palace on the shores of the Bosphorus, PASSING EVENTS 465 made a prisoner, and confined in the Villa Latini, a former residence of a Greek merchant in Saloniki, the city where the Young Turk movement had its birth, a party bent upon constitutional government. He had been a prisoner since that time, and died in prison. Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been accorded recognition as ministers of the gospel, by the High Court of England, according to a correspondent writing to the Deseret News, under date of January 15. The decision was rendered in the case of the North London Branch President, William Thomas Fawkes, of Ashford, Middle- sex County. The question was whether he is a regular minister in the denomination known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with reference to his position in the matter of military service. It was set- tled that the Church was a religious denomination, and that Mr. Fawkes was an accredited minister therein, hence exempt. A prophecy come true. — The International News Service prints the fol- lowing telegram from London, dated February 8: "For three hundred years the inhabitants of Jerusalem have cherished a prophecy and a hope that their city would be taken by a friendly and benign power; that it would fall without bloodshed; that the conqueror would enter it on foot, and that his name would signify "Allah" and his prophet. That prophecy has been fulfilled. General Allenby entered the Joppa gate on foot. There was no bloodshed, and he entered as a friend. Then his name is significant, 'Alle' is obviously 'Allah'; 'nby' in the Arabic stands for something very nearly equivalent to prophet or seer." The reader is referred to the por- trait of Allenby entering the Joppa gate of Jerusalem, published in this number of the Era. The Russian Church and State were absolutely separated as far as it could be done by them, on February 5, by an edict issued by the saviet and signed by Nikolai Lenine and other members of the defacto govern- ment of Russia. The edict eliminates church incomes from the state and confiscates all church realty, furnishings and iJaraphernalia. Religious free- dom is guaranteed, so long as religious societies do not interfere with social order, limit the rights of individuals, or hinder the republic. No religious scruples are to exempt persons from their duties as citizens. Mar- riage ceremonies and birth registrations are to be performed by the civil authorities. Religious teaching is abolished in the state schools and in pri- vate schools with a similar curriculum. No state assistance will be given to any church, society, or religious agent. Charles W . Carter, pioneer photographer of Salt Lake City, born Lon- don, England, August 4, 1832, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. George Smith, of Midvale, Utah, on Sunday, January 27, 1918. To him is due the preservation of many scenes in early Utah and on the plains, and also pictures of Indians. These photographs have been of great service to historians, and have often helped to settle questions in land litigations. He had several studios in Salt Lake at different times, and at one time had a stand outside the temple wall, on the southeast corner of the temple grounds, where he sold his pictures. He was early in life an English school master, and also a sergeant in the British army, and saw the 165th regiment leave England before it participated in the battle of Balaklava. He came to Salt Lake City in 1859. President Woodrow W ilson delivered a message before Congress in joint session, on February 11, again setting forth the principles upon which America demands that the peace of the world shall be re-builded. The speech was delivered in answer to the speech of Count von Hertling, the 468 IMPROVEMENT ERA German Chancellor, delivered January 24, rnd also to that of Count Czernin of Austria, delivered the same day. The German and Austrian speeches were delivered in answer to President Wilson's speech of January 8, which has heretofore appeared in the Era. The President, in the remarkable Feb. 11 address, reiterates that final peace must be based upon justice, and that provinces are not to be bartered about as pawns in a game. A good example of bartering provinces is found in the recent treaty of the new republic of Ukrain with Germany. Parts of Poland were made the pawns. Ships sunk by submarines, in 1917, was nearly three times as great as the total of production in tonnage in the United States and Great Britain, during that year. Great Britain produced only 1,163,474 tons of shipping last year, whereas the output in the United States was 901,233 tons, mak- ing a combined total tonnage of 2,064,7^7. While sinkings by sumbarines last year generally are reckoned at six million tons. For 1918, this short- age is not expected. The output of ship tonnage in the United States for 1918 is estimated at two million five hundred thousand tons to four mil- lion tons. The shipping board officials are confident that at least three mil- lion, five hundred thousand tons will be completed by the Allies in 1918. Britain has no definite estimate, but it is expected that that country will materially increase its 1917 figures. Japan also is expected to increase its output very materially. Tuscania, a Cunard Liner transport, bearing two thousand one hun- dred seventy-nine officers and men of an American National Guard division, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine on February 5, in the North Atlantic near the Scottish coast. Up to Tuesday evening, February 12, a week after the disaster, one hundred seventy-one victims of the ill- fated Tuscania had been laid to rest at different points on the Scottish coast. Considerable anxiety was; felt in Utah over the disaster, as a num- ber of Utah men were on board. So far as is known up to this writing none of the Utah men were drowned. Among the Utah boys rescued are Lieut. Renwick S. McNiece, William Cb>e, Jr., Raymond D. Smith, Edwin J. Allen, Jr., of Salt Lake City. This is the first vessel carrying over troops to be sunk, though the Antilles was sunk October 17, 1917, on her return trip with the loss of 67 men. A peace treaty between the new Ukrainian Republic of the Southern part of Russia, and the Central Powers, or the Austro-German power, was signed at Brest-Litovsk on February 11. The new republic is fully recog- nized by the quadruple alliance and the contracting parties agreed to live in peace and amity for all time. Following the treaty the Russians de- clared the war ended, and ordered a de-mobilization of the army. It pro- vides that direct intercourse is to be resumed and that reciprocal relations are to be established at once on all fronts. The treaty apparently included a secret giving away of Polish provinces to the Ukrain and there was great dissatisfaction, strikes, and wrath, over the action of the Central Powers, in Warsaw and other Polish districts on Feb. 17, and on the 19th the Ger- ans took up arms again against Russia, and to aid the Ukrainians against tli3 Bolsheviki, who captured Kiev on the 18th. Alonzo P. Kessler, former assistant postmaster of Salt Lake, a son-in-law of President Joseph F. Smith, and prominent for years in public activity, died in Salt Lake City, February 4, 1913, from injuries received in falling from a scaffold. Alonzo Pratt Kessler was born in Salt Lake City, January 20, 1868, and was the son of the late Bishop Frederick Kessler and Mrs. Jane Elizabeth Pratt Kessler, prominent and esteemed pioneers of Utah. In asso- ciation with President Nephi L. Morris of the Salt Lake Stake he filled a mission to Britain, in 1894, returning to Utah in the spring of 1896. The following year he was called to preside over the Eastern States Mission, holding that position for two years. He married Donette Smith, daughter of President Joseph F. and Mrs. Julina L. Smith. His wife and five children survive him, also six brothers and three sisters. He had recently built a beautiful home in Salt Lake City, in which a few days before his death, Tuesday, January 29, the family celebrated his fiftieth anniversary. He had many friends, and was widely known and esteemed. Winning the War through Business. — Recently it was announced that five hundred thousand American business men, through their commercial organizations, are preparing to notify the business men of Germany that they will not re-establish trade relations with Germany unless a government in that country responsible to the people is given power. This proposed action of the business men is based upon the logic that only through indus- trial intercourse with the United States can the military party of Germany get the sinews with which to precipitate a second great world war. This blow directed by American business at German business will supplement the steps already taken to bring home to the different classes in Germany the purposes and will of America to establish conditions which will elim- inate, as far as possible, factors which will disturb again the peace of the world. Is it not possible that this action, if carried into effect, would have greater power than even military force or starvation, to bring the German autocracy to terms, and to bring peace to the world? Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, U. S. A., grandson of General Robert E. Lee, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Confederate States dur- ing the Civil War, is fighting for the United States. Lieut. Lee has the mark as a military leader set by his famous grandfather as the goal of his efforts, ough he will be doing his utmost for that Union which his grandsire strove to de- stroy. Gen. Lee's fame as a sol- dier is secure, for he is rated by military experts as one of the greatest commanders the world has known. If Lieut. Lee inher- its his military skill there will be no question about his chances of being rated a military genius. Major William Fitzhugh Lee Simp- son, a grand-nephew of General Robert E. Lee, recently died while on duty in France, accord- ing to a confirmed report received here. Major Simpson was in charge of the American school of machine gun fire in France. No particulars of his death except that it was due to appendicitis, have been received. The Lees- are in the fight. © Underwood & Underwood, Xew York Bolo Pasha was sentenced at Paris, February 14, to be shot dead as a traitor. He had been shown to be one of the most cold-blooded, daring and calculating schemers for wealth at the expense of his bleeding father- land ever recorded in the annals of treason. He carried on a German prop- aganda in France. Boloism has come to mean a system by which Germany strove to break down the French morale, and instil a desire for peace by spreading the idea that Germany could not be beaten, and that it would be well to make the best terms possible as soon as they could be arranged. Bolo himself was said to have had the use of a fund of more than one million, five hundred thousand dollars, to be used in attempting to corrupt the French press, French statesmen and leaders, and to influence French opinions by subsidizing newspapers in France or founding new publica- tions to disseminate the spirit of pacifism. His activities were especially interesting to Americans because it was charged that of the large funds at his disposal, a million, six hundred eighty-three thousand dollars were transferred from a Berlin tank to France, by way of New York. It was as a result of the discovery of his manipulations of this fund, through five New York banking houses, that the New York state attorney general was able to obtain information which, forwarded to France through the French Ambas- sador at Washington, brought about Bolo's arrest in Paris. Some Shells. — That expresses it better than any descriptive phrase could for this British official photo. It is some pile of shells. This is but a slight Copyright, Underwood & Underwood, New York part of the huge quantity of munitions that is piled up behind the lines to be used daily in teaching the Teuton that his place is beyond the Rhine. Try to count them if you can, and then multiply this pile by any number, but be sure that it is so large that it approaches the infinite. Then you still will be far short of the actual number of shells used by the Allies on the Western front. General Efficiency Report of Y. M. M. I. A. for January, 1918 V a i- ■s. a "8s in i 3-S 8 ° 'o ° < T3 .2-o t I 1 Monthly Stake and Ward Officers' Meeting u m C 0^ "5* Box Elder o f> * • Nehi?3 Tt lor a Tintic 10 ) California Mission. . . A stake report must be sent to the Secretary of the General Board, 21 Bishop's Building, Salt Lake City, Utah, by the 10th of each month, to be published monthly in the Era. When the report shows that the requirements in General Efficiency have been reached, it is indicated by placing 10 in the proper space; if half, place 5. When stakes are below half General Efficiency requirements, it is indicated by a blant (See Y. M. M. I. A. Hand Book, pp. 17, 18, for regulations.) Helping Him to Choose Wisely A few years ago a young man gradu- ated from the law school of a noted uni- versity. He had a host of friends, he had inherited a modest fortune and every- body predicted a brilliant career. But he didn't succeed. Why? Simply because he disliked office work and had no taste for the law and therefore he never even attempted to begin practice. Having nothing definite to do, he be- came discouraged and finally started on the downward path of dissipation. For- tunately, however, a wise friend, who un- derstood the principles of "vocational guidance" took hold of the young man. He found that the boy loved outdoor life and that he was interested in horses and machinery. Accordingly the boy was urged to purchase a farm and to study scientific agriculture. Today that young man is one of the most successful farmers and stockmen in America. And his success is due to proper "vocational guidance," or the se- lection of the work for which he was best adapted. Statistics show that 763 out of every 1000 persons in gainful occupations feel that they are in the wrong vocations. In other words, they are "square pegs in round holes" and therefore the chances for their success are very slim. And the sad part of it all is that such failures are unnecessary. "The Man of Tomorrow" a wonderful new book on "Vocational Guidance" By Claude Richards a successful business man, It is will help every young man and woman in the selection of their life work, suited for young and old, and should be read by every parent. "Vocational Guidance," as outlined in Claude Richards' book, is insurance against failure and a short cut to success. The book is substantially bound in red vellum; it is printed on good paper, is profusely illustrated and has 296 pages. The price is extremely low — ONLY $1, post- paid $1.10. This book should be in every home. Mail your order today to the Improvement Era Office 20-23 Bishop's Building, - Salt Lake City, Utah