--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Harrington, Jesse Frederick collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 21 number: 9 published: 1918-07 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Harrington, Jesse Frederick, "Experience at the Front," *Improvement Era* 21, no. 9 (July 1918): 810–812.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2109unse 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: improvementera2109unse start_page: 810 end_page: 812 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1918-07) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2109unse 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. --- # Experience at the Front 812 IMPROVEMENT ERA periences enough to convince hini beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is the truth. To him it is not supposition, he knows that God, the Creator, exists. I received my second wound, in August, 1915. After being operated on, I was sent to England to a British hospital. They kept me here some five months, finally sending me home to Canada, where I received my discharge December, 1916, which reads as follows: Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces Discharge Certificate This is to certify that No. 63460, (Rank) Private, (Name in Full) Jesse Frederick Harrington, enlisted in 15th Battalion, Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on the 28 Oct., 1914, and accompanied said unit Overseas, was returned to Canada and discharged from the service at Esquimalt, B. C, on the 10th of Dec, 1916, in consequence of being medically unfit for 1 further service, (Result of wounds). Description on Discharge Age —26 years. Marks or scars: Height— 6 inches. 5 ft. 1 /2 Scar front right forearm. Complexion — Light. Scar over front left leg. Eyes — Grey. Birth mark, left buttock. Hair—Fair. Tatto, Bumblebee front left forearm Trade — Teamster. Signature of man Place and date, Esquimalt, B. C. Pat King, Lt., Officer in charge Discharge Depot. O. C. J. Unit. M. H. C. C. A. D. D. Canadian Expeditionary Forces Discharge Certificate No. 63460. Rank— Pte. — Name Harrington, Jesse Frederick. — Unit 15th Battalion. Address on discharge: Care Returned Soldiers' Club, Vancouver, B. C. His conduct and character while in the service have been: Very Good. Campaigns: European War. Medals and Decorations: France. Thoughts of a Farmer By Dr. Joseph M. Tanner XV—Bunching Sheep The high price of wool and mutton is engrossing the thoughts of those who are anxious to increase the supply and thereby to reduce the cost of these two important products of the live stock industry. There is a danger and a waste that I find it constantly difficult to guard against in "running" my sheep. Many sheep are killed by bunching both in corrals and in coulees or ravines, and the range. When sheep are crowded they tramp down much of the feed which is thereby wasted to them. It has been found by experiment that when sheep are allowed to scatter in enclosures that an acre will feed as many as two acres when they are herded in droves. The problem of the industry is now becoming one of fences which the present prices and scarcity of range will justify. What is true of sheep is likewise true of other forms of live stock, though in a lesser degree. What about the bunching of human beings? There is likewise a danger in social life as well as a waste from the crowding of humanity. There is something of the animal instinct in man. Witness the manner in which men, like sheep, rush headlong into speculations and investments good and bad. We sometimes call these investments booms. Too often the "goingin" process is a boom; the outgoing process, a panic, often a panic worse than a hundred or two hundred sheep smothered in a corral or ravine. In either case the results are disastrous. When a boom is announced it is a good time to think of dangers and waste. The excitement produced plays upon the grouping instincts which carry men along in droves, and they trample underfoot millions of dollars. In such a crisis it is safer to graze along the outskirts aloof from the herded masses. Whatever gains a few may point to from bunching the masses, enormous waste and danger are certain in the herd. Fencing humanity is impossible. Men will have their free agency, and their socalled freedom is often more ruinous than animal instinct. A woven wire fence will not hold men. They break down the safe enclosure and take their chances. They are restless and always in a hurry. The modern business world 814 IMPROVEMENT ERA is in a rush. The wise shepherds of finance may cry out, "go slow." They are not heard, and humanity is in want of a shepherd's dog to round it up. The bark of disaster rarely brings a halt. Nothing but a panic will scatter wild droves of men. The rich pasture and nourishing foliage which nature has provided have been so wasted that long periods of time are required for restitution. In the distribution of population the same mass instinct appears. People rush to the cities. One goes because another has gone. Many harbor the delusion that they must be in the crowds to be happy. They really lose their freedom both of thought and action. They substitute instinct for reason and deliberation. They are all acting very much alike. They tumble over the banks of the coulees together. Places of allurement are provided because it is easier to allure masses than individuals. Bunching invites disease, mental lethargy, and endangers moral standing. The waste in city life is appalling. The young man when he leaves his rural life for the city is dazed by the thought of higher wages. In the new life to which he aspires he does not count the waste both of energy and money. His outlay is not measured by his actual needs, but by the standard of living which massed industry sets up for him to follow. He loses in a large measure his identity, his individuality and initiative. At home he might be a bell wether, in the city he is just "sheep." M. I. A. Reading Course Books, 1918-1919 Points for reading are given from June 1, 1918, and should be credited in October. The spare hours of summer in the home, on the farm, in the mountains, are precious moments in which to read and should be taken advantage of by all members of our organization. — Voice of Warning 35c; by mail, 35c. Kings in Exile— Roberts, 75c; by mail, 85c. — Uncle Sam's Boys at War Austin, $1.00; by mail, $1.10. The Major— Connor, $1.40; by mail, $1.50. — Abraliam Lincoln Gordy, 75c; by mail, 85c. — Heroines of Service Parkman, $1.35; by mail, $1.45. Love and the Light—Whitney, $1.25; by mail, $1.25. Man of Tomorrow— Richards, $1.00; by mail, $1.10. Job— 10c; by mail, 10c. If bought singly, all of the books will cost $8.55. If the full set is purchased, the cost will be $8.25. Special. If you buy the full set, and cash is sent with the order, the complete set for $7.95 postpaid, at the Deseret News or Sunday School Union Book Stores, Salt Lake City, Utah.