--- 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: 24 number: 3 published: 1921-01 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* 24, no. 3 (January 1921): 273–277.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2403unse 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: improvementera2403unse start_page: 273 end_page: 277 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1921-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2403unse publication_year: 1921 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 1921, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Passing Events The Nobel peace prize, for distinguished services in the interest of peace was awarded, Dec. 10, to President Wilson, by the Norwegian Storthing. The total cost of the war to the United States, according to treasury figures now published, was $24,010,000,000. The expenses of the American peace commission were $1,651,191.09, from Dec. 1, 1918, to Dec. 4, 1920. These expenses included the cost of newspapers, magazines, coal, and cigars. General Alvaro Obregon was inducted into his office as President of Mexico, Dec. 1. The new president was born in 1880 in the state of Sonora. He was a staunch supporter of Carranza. When the latter, in the fall of 1919, retired, Obregon announced his own candidacy and was subsequently elected. Herbert J. Foulger, former member of the bishopric of the Twenty-first ward, Salt Lake City, and a member of the High Council of Ensign Stake, passed away, Dec. 6, at his home on Second Ave., at the age of 72 years. He was born in London. For a number of years he has been identified with mercantile institutions of this city. Five hundred employes of the Nash Clothing Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, on Nov. 30, offered to surrender their jobs for one month, in order to give work to the unemployed of other clothing factories. They also offered to accept reduced wages, if necessary, to bring down the price of clothing and stimulate business. Such acts of unselfishness are worthy of being recorded. The arrival of four of "Utah's best crop," three boys and a girl, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. T. Knight, of Plain City, was announced on Dec. 1. The four babies were named, Kenneth, Kenton, Keith, and Kathryn. Mrs. Knight is 30 years old and her husband 34. Prior to the arrival of the new babes, there were four children. Kenneth and Keith died a few hours after their birth. The portrait of Joseph Simmons Wilkes, marine, who was one of the first SaltLakers killed in the world war, has been given to the Salt Lake post of the American Legion by members of the organization who belonged to what was formerly the Joseph Simmons Wilkes post No. 2. The likeness will be hung in legion headquarters in the basement of the Hotel Utah. The picture, which is from a photograph, is a product of the brush of Girard Hale, portrait painter, of Salt Lake. Famine is ravaging some portions of China. A report published, Dec. 9, stated that fifty million people were directly affected, and that it was expected that twenty million children would perish unless speedy relief 274 IMPROVEMENT ERA could be obtained. President Wilson, on Dec. 9, issued an appeal to the American people for aid and appointed a committee, with Mr. Thomas W. Lamont, of New York, as chairman, and Mr. Norman Davis, undersecretary of state, to receive funds for the sufferers. William Buckley, a pioneer musician of Provo, passed away in that city, Nov. 28, at the age of 82 years. He was born at Nottinghamshire, England, November 28, 1838. He joined the Church in England and came to Utah in 1871 and settled in Provo. He was for many years the Utah stake organist. At the time of his death he was a member of the Utah stake high priests' quorum. He is survived by three sons, five daughters, one sister, two brothers, 24 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. A table prepared in the office of the state beard of equalization, showing the assessed valuation of various classes of real estate property in the state of Utah this year, carries the total for all classes in all counties of the state at $241,999,232. This is approximately one-third of the total assessed valuation of the state, which is, in round numbers, $717,000,000 this year. Last year real estate in the state was assessed at $213,455,079, or a slightly smaller percentage of the total assessed valuation of the state of $692,000,000. J. William Forsberg, 52 years of age, died Nov. 19^ at the family home, Salt Lake City. At the time of his death, Mr. Forsberg was superintendent of buildings for the L. D. S. university. Previously, for nearly thirty years, he was with the University of Utah, in the mechanical department. Mr. Forsberg was born in Horndal, Sweden, September 29, 1868. He emigrated to the United States in 1887 and came to Utah in 1889, the first of his father's family to leave the native land. In addition to his widow, he is survived by seven children. Calvin Luther Lightburn, formerly prominent in the development of Utah, died at Denver, Nov. 17, at the age of 78 years. He was born in West Virginia, Sept. 17, 1842; came west in a prairie schooner from St. Joseph, Mo., in 1866, and opened a general merchandise store in Salt Lake City in the autumn of that year. In the winter of 1869-70 he saved a population of 2,000 people, in South Pass City, Wyoming, from starvation, by hauling potatoes in prairie schooners from Ogden. Being a veteran of the Civil War, he rendered valuable service in several expeditions against hostile Indians. The number of farms in Utah is given, by the Census Bureau, as 25,662, containing 5,050,410 acres, and valued at $31,274,728. The value of land and buildings shows an increase of 107.4 per cent, as compared with 1910. The value of lands and buildings of the farms in the following named counties together with the percentage of increase in the past ten years, is given thus: Cache County, $29,201,994, 123 per cent; Box Elder, $25,629,466, 129.8 per cent; Sanpete county, $16,493,284, 168.7 per cent; Davis county, $14,813,318, 49.6 per cent; Duchesne county, $7,296,742, 1910 not given; San Juan, $3,567,015, 443 per cent; Beaver, $2,709,795, 100.3 per cent; Piute, $1,678,864, 132.4 per cent; Carbon county, $1,520,945, 65.4 per cent; Dagget, $325,400, 1910 not given. President Wilson has accepted an invitation of the Council of the League of Nations, to act as mediator between Armenia and Turkey. The announcement was received with great satisfaction by the members of the Council. The United States was also invited, by the permanent military commission of the League, to participate in a study of disarmament, but PASSING EVENTS 275 this the President declined. Austria, on Dec. 1., was recommended for membership in the League and Bulgaria was, a few days later, accorded a similar recommendation. On the other hand, the representatives of Argentina left the Assembly because their amendments were not acted upon at once. On Dec. 15, Austria was by unanimous vote of the Assembly admitted to the League. Utah county farmers have received more than $3,000,000 for beets grown in thecounty during the last year, the settlement being for all beets shipped before November 1. Of this amount, the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, with its factories at Lehi, Payson, Springville, and Spanish Fork, distributed $2,500,000, and the company also distributed $275,000 to growers in the Provo district. The Springville-Mapleton factory distributed approximately $225,000. According to officers of the sugar companies, this represents about 60 per cent of the payments to be made on the beet crop for this year, the total being estimated at not less than $5,000,000 to the farmers in the county. Joseph R. Morgan, former bishop of the Fifteenth ward, died in Salt Lake City, Nov. 18, at the age of 85. He was born April 26, 1835, in Little Dean's Hill, Gloucestershire, England. Having joined the Church in early youth he became active in missionary work in England as a traveling elder, and was associated with President Charles W. Penrose. Elder Morgan came to Utah in 1862. He was made bishop of the Fifteenth ward, succeeding the late Bishop Elias Morris. Fifteen years ago, he re^ tired from the bishopric and lived in the Thirty-first ward for several years. He is survived by his wife, Mary M. J. Morgan, and by six children, thirty-seven grandchildren, and seventeen great-grandchildren. Sebastopol fell into the hands of the Russian soviet forces, Nov. 14. General Wrangel, with his staff and the French high commissioner, M. Martel, were taken on board a French war ship. The Russian Bolshevists obtained control of the entire Crimean peninsula. Thirteen thousand fugitives had arrived in Constantinople, Nov. 14, and others were on their way. According to a London dispatch dated Nov. 26, Russian soviet troops have been ordered to the Afghan-Indian frontier. It is also reported that at a meeting of the Communist Internationale, held at Moscow, and attended by Lenine and Trotzky, an American representative urged the union of the Negroes in America with the revolutionary organizations of the world for the furtherance of soviet governments. The Greek cabinet resigned Nov. 16, after having been defeated in the for Egypt. general election, Nov. 14. Venezelos, the premier, left Greece Disorders in the streets of Athens were suppressed by troops. On Dec. 5 the- Greek people by overwhelming majorities voted for the return of the pro-German, exiled king, Constantine. As a result of the elections, Great of the Hellenic Britain and France may withdraw their financial support kingdom. As soon as the result of the plebiscite in Greece became known the Greek patriarch called the holy synod and the lay council into extra- appeal to Conordinary session and it was decided to dispatch an energetic to the Greek throne in favor stantine, exhorting him to abandon his claim however, Dec. 10, sent the exof Prince George. The Greek government, king an invitation to return to the kingdom and the throne. reclamation and Contract was awarded, Nov. 17, on the Skipper Bay project is said to be drainage project near the mouth of Provo river. This the forerunner of a new plan of a reclamation campaign, which will ulti- 276 IMPROVEMENT ERA mately result in the saving of thousands of acres of the richest land in the state. It will be one of the first instances of diking off the waters of Utah lake, so that the land may be drained when the lake is low and the water pumped out when the lake is high. This land is flooded most of the year and has been enriched by the growth and decay of rules. If the water can be taken out it should grow anything. There are thousands of acres of the same sort of land along the lake for miles. It can be reclaimed at a trifling cost, as compared with its ultimate value. The final session of the sixty -sixth congress of the United States convened at noon, Dec. 6. The President's message was read in both houses the following day, Mr. "Wilson having taken the advice of his physician not to appear in person, on account of his physical condition. The message was somewhat briefer than usual. It recommended revision of the tax laws, with simplification of the income and profits taxes; independence for the Philippines, a loan to Armenia, economy in government appropriations, the creation of a workable budget system, cold storage and other laws affecting the cost of living; the federal licensing of corporations, as recommended in previous messages, and the rehabilitation and training of disabled soldiers and sailors. There was no reference to the League of Nations. The document is regarded as the farewell message of President Wilson. James C. Hamilton, former bishop of Mill Creek, died at his home, 3980 Seventh East Street, Nov. 28, at the age of 74 years. He was born in Warwick, Canada, January 10, 1846, and was the son of James L. and Mary Ann Campbell Hamilton. He went with his parents to Nauvoo, 111., in 1846, and from there accompanied the Pioneers as far as Omaha, Neb. Later, on the advice of President Brigham Young, the elder Hamilton removed to Missouri, where the family remained until 1852, when the Hamilton family joined a train of emigrants and came west to Utah, arriving in 1852. The Hamilton family located in Mill Creek, where Bishop Hamilton lived practically his entire life. He was the bishop of Mill Creek ward for twenty-four years. At the time of his death he was a patriarch. A Utah artist, according to recent news from Paris, was given high honor in art circles. We read: "Artists and art lovers in general are familiar with the Salon d'Automne, which is held each year in the Grand Palais. At this year's exhibition the jury consisted of forty-six members, all of them leaders in the profession, and the only English-speaking member of the jury is an American, Mr. Lee Greene Richards of Salt Lake City, Utah. The jury completed its task of judging several thousand pictures for this year's exhibition on Saturday, September 18th, and then proceeded to pay a very delicate tribute to the only American member by giving a luncheon in his honor at the restaurant Ledoyan. Monsieur Frantz Jourdain, president of the society, delivered a short address, in which he referred to the staunch friendship which had always existed between America and France, and congratulated America upon sending such an able representative to assist in the work of this year's salon. Mr. Richards was taken completely by surprise, and it was some time before he realized that the other members were in earnest, and that it was up to him to make a speech of thanks, which he did with much tact and pleasure. Mr. Richards is exhibiting at this year's salon three portraits which he painted this summer in Paris. The portraits are of Mrs. Theodore L. Genter and her two children, David Harold, and Esther Anna. Dublin, Nov. 21, was the scene of murder and reprisal. Fourteen men were killed in attacks arranged simultaneously in various parts of the city. PASSING EVENTS 277 Shooting began in the street at midnight. In the morning small bodies of men, from six to eight, presented themselves at marked houses, called the victims out and shot them, or entered and killed them in bed or wherever found. In the afternoon sixteen lorries filled with auxiliary police entered Croke park, where a football game was in progress. The policemen were hooted, whereupon they fired, first in the air and then at the crowd. A panic ensued resulting in many fatalities. On Nov. 28, fifteen warehouses in Liverpool and Bootle were set on fire by incendiaries. It was alleged that this was the result of a Sinn Fein plot to destroy the entire dock area of the great English sea port. Incendiary fires were reported from Dublin and London, Nov. 30, and on Nov. 29 fifteen auxiliary police cadets were killed near Kilmichael, County Cork, Ireland. According to dispatches read in the House of Commons, the party which ambushed the cadets consisted of from eighty to one hundred men, all dressed in khaki and wearing steel trench helmets. They fired from both sides of the road on the lorries and also directed an enfilading fire. By force of arms some of the cadets had been disarmed and brutally murdered; their bodies were rifled of all money and valuables and even clothing was taken from the corpses. Arms and ammunition also were taken and the lorries burned. The secretary for Ireland said he thought that, with fifteen officers of the latewar thus lying dead, the house would not wish to continue the discussion. He termed the affair a challenge to parliament and civilization. On Nov. 30, the city hall at Cork was entirely destroyed by fire. Martial law was proclaimed, Dec. 10, over the city and county of Cork, they city Ihd county of Limerick and the counties of Tipperary and Kerry. Grandparents to Four Pairs of Twins.— The above photo represents Mr. and Mrs. James Anderson, Sr., Fairview, Utah, who are the grandparents of four pairs of twins. With them are the four pairs of little folks. The two girls at the back are Dora and Flora Larsen. The boy and girl to the left are Merrill and Myrtle Terry. The two boys to the right are Don and Von Anderson, and the baby girls in arms are Fern and Fawn Anderson.