--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Widtsoe, John A. 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: 'Widtsoe, John A., "The Makers of Science—VIII," *Improvement Era* 21, no. 9 (July 1918): 780–782.' 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: 780 end_page: 782 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. --- # The Makers of Science—VIII ;p? IMPROVEMENT ERA Much honor was shown him in America, ami he did much He was offered to stimulate scientific research in this country. the professorship of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, which he declined because of private reasons. Priestley, though he made many enemies by his fearless, controversial writings, especially within the field of theology, was a sweet-spirited gentleman, who loved truth and sought for it all his days. In the face of untold difficulties he rendered •rreal service to mankind, and made secure for himself a place among the makers of science. He died in his Pennsylvania home, on February 6, 1804. ' i Uu .- * aikr-v A SCENE IN THE RED CROSS PAGEANT, MAY 21, 1918, When 2,000 Red Cross workers in uniform paraded the streets of Salt Lake City. The great procession extended eight blocks, both sides of the streets heing lined the whole distance by thousands of sympathetic, admiring and cheering citizens. Besides the Red Cross workers, there were 347 Belgian soldiers from Russia, on their way to the front, accompanied by British, French and American escorts, local G. A. R. and state officials, school cadets and hoys" working reserves. The Red Cross drive opened on Monday, May 21, and by the end of the week more than the required amount for the state, $500,000, had been subscribed. The subscription later reached the sum of $515,000. A great flag was carried by Red Cross workers upon which was thrown by the admiring crowd, $1,096.29, upon a similar Moose flag, $1,035.85, and upon a Z. C. M. I. flag, gathering the gleanings, $100.83, making a total street donation of over $2,200. — Outlines for Scout Workers XXVI— The Ring-billed Gull By Delbert W. Parratt, B. S. "Those who rest on eider down, Taking borrowed ease, "Owe a tribute of sweet care To the wild wings of the seas." 1. Why is the ring-billed gulls so named? 2. In what parts of our country is this gull found? Does it inhabit our valley? If so, what part? 3. Name another gull often found here and compare the ring-billed with it. 4. Note size and shape of the ring-billed gull's body. 5. What are the characteristic markings of this gull? 6. Where and of what is the nest made? 7. Tell of size, color, and number of eggs. 8. Upon what does the gull subsist and how does it procure its food? 9. Do the gulls remain with us during the winter? If not, where do they go? 10. Should they be protected? Why? Handy Material The billows rolled and plunged upon the sand, The circling sea-gull swept beyond his ken, And from the parting cloudrack now and then Flashed the red sunset over sea and land. Longfellow. 784 IMPROVEMENT ERA The ring-billed gull is named from the black ring which encircles its bill. It and the California are the most common gulls of our valley. The ring-billed is found in various parts of North America and, strange to say, is more common, especially during summer seasons, in the interior than along the sea coast. Our ring-bill, like the California gull, spends its winter months along the Pacific coast but in mid-spring makes eastward to favorite breeding grounds on Hat and Gunnison Islands in Great Salt Lake. It measures from eighteen to twenty inches in length, thus being slightly smaller than the California gull. Its boat-shaped body lends itself easily to floating upon water and flying through air. A mantle of deep pearl gray covers the upper parts of the ring-billed gull. Its wings are black, tipped with white. The bill is yellowish with a band of black and is somewhat hooked suitable for taking animal food. The legs and feet are yellow, sometimes tinged with green. Its eyes are silver gray surrounded by scarlet. In winter the head and nape are spotted with pale dusk. The young are mottled white and dusky, with a dark tint varied with pale buff prevailing on the upper parts and white covering the lower parts. The young gulls when hatched are covered with downy feathers and run about soon after birth. The ring-billed, like the California, builds its nest on the bare ground of the islands of our Inland Sea. The nest is made of a limited quantity of sticks and coarse grasses matted in guano. The shallow affair contains two or else three pale or dark buff eggs, profusely marked with several shades of brown or black. The gull's food consists of worms, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, field mice, small fish, and unprotected eggs of white pelicans so abundant upon Hat Island. He is a scavenger and often frequents the garbage piles west of our city. Insects are easily captured by him both on the ground and in the air. One rarely sees a gull alone. Usually a loose flock soars or floats in the air, apparently idle, but in reality keeping their marvelously sharp eyes on the constant lookout for morsels of food in the water or on the ground below. While food is plentiful and climate agreeable, the gulls remain in our valley, but when conditions change they take wing for their winter homes along the balmy coasts of California. In 1848 the sea-gulls proved their worth to the sturdy pioneers of Utah. It was then that the vast hordes of black crickets spread from the north bench lands of Salt Lake Valley down over the promising fields of young grain and devoured every blade, leaf, and stem in their devastating path, and filled the once hopeful settlers with fearful alarm. "Men, women, and children," says Bancroft, "turned out en masse to combat the