--- 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: 25 number: 1 published: 1921-11 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* 25, no. 1 (November 1921): 88–94.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2501unse 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: improvementera2501unse start_page: 88 end_page: 94 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1921-11) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2501unse 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 . Ninety4wo certificates were issued to Utah teachers by the state board of education, October 5. Major General Wood retired from the army service, October 5, to be- come governor of the Philippines. Invitations to attend the armament limitation conference in Washington, Nov. 11, have been extended to Belgium, Holland and Portugal. Last of the pioneers of July 24, 1847, Lorenzo Sobieski Young, now of Shelley, Idaho, visited Salt Lake during the October conference. Free transit for American coastwise vessels through the Panama canal is provided for in the Borah bill passed by the U. S. Senata,, October 10. The peace treaty with Germany was ratified by the German reichstag, September 30 without debate. It was endorsed by the reichsrath October 7. A new lighting system on State street, Salt Lake City, was inaugurated October 5. It is estimated that 30,000 persons were on the streets when Mayor Neslen turned on the lights. President Obregon, of Mexico, returned to the Latter-day Saints Church members the land that was confiscated during the revolutions, according to a dispatch from El Paso, Texas, October 8. Former king of Wuertemberg, William II., died at Stuttgart, October 2. He was born February 25, 1848; ascended the throne October 6, 1891; abdicated in 1918, as a result of the world war. The forty-third annual state fair of Utah opened October 3, at the fair grounds, Salt Lake City. Utah's manifold resources were well displayed. The weather was ideal, and the attendance was very large. Mexico's independence was celebrated September 16, in the City of Mexico with parades and other festivities. It was the one hundredth anni- versary of the proclamation of freedom from Spanish rule. High prices are maintained through illegal combination between manu- facturers and retailers, and not entirely by the demands of labor. That was the charge made by Senator Wm. King, of Utah, in an address in the Senate, October 3. The oldest living Confederate soldier, Joseph Samuel Langford, cele- brated the 102nd anniversary of his birth, at Petersburg, Va., October 5. He has fifteen grandchildren and forty-five great grandchildren, and he still goes about unaided. Work for the unemployed is the present need, according to an official appeal issued by President Harding, in which he urges governors and mayors to form the organizations and take other steps recommended by the con- ference on unemployment. William Howard Taft, former president of the United States, and now chief justice of the Supreme Court, took the oath of office, October 3 90 IMPROVEMENT ERA when the court convened for the fall term. The oath was administered by Justice Joseph McKenna. Over a century old. That was the age of Mrs. Rachel McGee who died September 19, at Anna, 111., in her 104th year, according to word re- ceived by her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Sherwood, of Salt Lake City. Mro. McGee was the mother of 16 children. The cost of government of Salt Lake City for the year ending De- cember 1, 1920, was $6,706,077, or $56.23 per capita. In 1917 the per capita cost was only $32.90. The total revenue in 1920 was $5,107,082, or over a million and a half less than the total expenditure. Summer resort for girls. The Y. L. M. I. A. general board members went to Brighton in Cottonwood canyon October 5, to inspect the beginnings of the summer resort for girls being erected by the city stakes Y. L. M. I. A., organization. The logs of the building have been put in place on the property leased from the government. A new corporation of bankers of Salt Lake City, Ogdtn, and other Utah and Idaho cities, has been formed under the name of the Bankers' Loan Company, for the purpose of extending credit to farmers, stock raisers, etc., and thereby encouraging those industries. The company has a capital of $1,000,000 and was ready to begin operations on October 6. Revolution in Russia against the Bolshevist government was reported in a dispatch from Warsaw to the London Daily Mail, published September 12. Bolshevik commisars were being constantly murdered, the dispatch de- clared, and the soviet authorities were fighting the insurrection by all pos- sible means there being a number of mass executions reported. Lucius A. Snow, a son of the late President Lorenzo Snow, and his wife, Harriet Squires Snow, died at his home, Brigham City, Utah, October 3. He was born in Salt Lake City December 11, 1849. He has lived in Brigham City since 1853. He held several important offices in the Church, at various times. At the time of his death he was a member of the high council of Box Elder stake. Orvil L. Thompson, president of Millard stake, died October 2, at his home in Scipio, Millard Co., Utah, of heart trouble. Elder Thompson was the bishop of Scipio ward before being made president of Millard stake. When Millard stake was divided into the Millard and Deseret stakes, he was first counselor to the presidency, and after the division was sustained as president of Millard stake. He filled a mission to Great Britain about thirty years ago and represented Millard county in the Utah legislature for four successive terms. Registration at the B. Y. University, Provo, September 12, showed an increase of 206 per cent of the first day's registration in 1920. The students represent most of the counties of the state and many parts of Idaho, Wy- oming, Montana, Arizona, and New Mexico. There are also students from Old Mexico and Canada. The opening exhibition of art in the art gallery at the Brigham Young University is said to be a very fine collection of masterpiece reproductions. Many of the world's greatest artists are repre- sented by very excellent reproductions. The death of Hans Andreas Pedersen, of Logan, a leading business man of that city, occurred October 6. The cause was pneumonia. Mr. Peder- sen was a native of Norway. He came to the United States when 18 years of age, and has been very prominent both in political and ecclesiastical activities. At the time of his death he was a member of the presidency of the Logan stake of the Church. In 1906-7 he was a member of the Utah PASSING EVENTS 91 legislature, and for twelve years he was a judge of the juvenile court. He was 59 years of age. He filled a mission to Norway in the early 90s. A Buddhist priest, M. Arai, paid his compliments to President Heber J. Grant, September 17, when passing through Salt Lake City, on his way to Washington from Japan. M. Arai is the head of the Soto sect of Buddhists, which is said to number between seven and eight million worshipers. The gentleman was accompanied by about six attendants, all priests of the Soto sect, on a tour of the United States for the purpose of studying American customs and ideals. He had a appointment with President Harding, it was said, to converse on Buddhism and exchange ideas on world peace and the limitation of armament. The Ninety-second semi-annual general conference of the Church con vened in Salt Lake October 6, and adjourned the following Sunday. The visitors were favored with clear, sunny weather, and the attendance was very large. The duty of the Saints to practice thrift, keep out of debt, and patronize home industries was dwelt upon by President Heber J. Grant in his stirring opening address, as well as by Presidents Charles W. Penrose, Anthony W. Ivins, and other speakers. A resolution was adopted endorsing the aims of President Harding's international Pacific congress in Washington, and setting apart Sunday, November 6, as a day of prayer for the success of that gathering. An International Court of Justice was elected September 14, by the council and assembly of the League of Nations at Geneva, Switzerland. It consists of eleven judges, viz.: John Bassett Moore, United States; Vis- count Finlay, Great Britain; Dr. Y. Oda, Japan; Dr. Andre Weiss, France; Commendatore D. Anzilotti, Italy; Dr. Ruy Barbosa, Brazil; Dr. B. T. C. Loder, Holland; A. S. de Bustamente, Cuba; Judge Didrik Nyholm, Den- mark; Dr. Max Huber, Switzerland, and Dr. Rafael Altamira Y. Crevea, Spain. Mr. Moore has been professor of internatonal law and diplomacy at Columbia university for twenty years and has had a varied public service, involving international relations. Iron ore in Utah will be made valuable to the state. A contract was signed, September 27, with the Milner corporation, by which the Utah Steel corporation is assured of a supply of as much as 10,000,000 tons of the finest iron ore for use in the blast furnace and additional iron and steel manu- facturing facilities the company plans to erect at its plant at Midvale. The Miller corporation owns vast deposits of iron ore in southern Utah which can be mined with steam shovel at a cost estimated not to exceed fifty cents a ton. It is estimated that the production of 1,000,000 tons of steel in the twelfth federal reserve district would mean the addition to the bank- ing funds of the district of about $400,000,000 annually. A national conference on unemployement was opened at Washington, Seoptember 26, by President Harding. In his address to the delegates the president declared that the industrial depression was "a war inheritance," adding that the results hoped for from the conference might extend beyond the United States. Both the president and Secretary Hoover, chairman, emphasized the need for an employment program which would not con- template a drain on the national treasury. After the conference had been organized adjournment was taken till October 5. The subcommittee on un- employment statistics on September 29 reported that the number of unem- ployed in the United States is not less than 3,700,000 and not more than 4,000,000, and that agricultural workers are not included in this estimate. Reorganization of the presidency of the North Weber stake was effected at the conference, September 11. Elder John V. Bluth was sustained as 92 IMPROVEMENT ERA president of the stake, to succeed President James Wotherspoon. Francis W. Stratford and Thomas M. Irvine, were sustained as his counselors. The reorganization of the stake presidency was effected under the direction of President Rudger Clawson, who together with Elder Melvin J. Ballard were speakers at the conference sessions. David W. Evans was retained as stake clerk. President Bluth has been first counselor to President Wotherspoon since the stake was organized 13 years ago. President "Wother- spoon was honorably released to take over the duties of secretary of the European mission. He left for his new duties on September 20. The world's altitude record was attained, September 28, by Lieutenant John A. Macready, at McCook field, Dayton, Ohio, when he ascended to a height of 40,800 feet in a biplane. The greatest height reached before this was 38,180 feet, the record of Rudolph C. Schroeder, February 28, 1920. Lieutenant Macready was in the air one hour and forty-seven minutes, re- quiring all but a few minutes of the total flying time to reach his mark. At 39,000 feet ice formed on his oxygen tank. At 40,800 feet his engine died. He then glided safely down. Macready suffered none of the hardships met by the former chief test pilot. Schroeder's eyeballs froze, and excessive dilation of the heart kept him in a hospital nearly two weeks. Macready, on landing, suffered from numbness, but he climbed out of the plane un- assisted. The death of Professor James L. Brown, of the Brigham Young Uni- versity, Provo, occurred at his home in that city, September 13, as a result of an accident which happened to him on the 12th while getting on a hay- rack. Professor Brown fell under the wagon as the horses started. The hind wheel went over his chest, breaking five ribs on the left side and punc- turing one lung. He was born in Pleasant Grove about 60 years ago, being the son of Bishop John Brown, one of the earliest settlers in that commun- ity. After graduating from the Brigham Young Academy in 1884 he was a teacher and principal of the Pleasant Grove schools until 1892, when he entered the University of Michigan. Graduating from that institution in 1896, he became a member of the B. Y. U. faculty with which he has been connected ever since. The Irish conference did not materialize as planned. It was to be held at Inverness, September 20, but on September 15 Lloyd George, in a letter to de Valera canceled the invitation, because the Sinn Fein delegates, in accepting it, declared that they could meet the members of the British cab- inet, only as the representatives of an independent, sovereign Ireland. After de Valera had explained that the Irish representatives did not insist on the acceptance by the British government of any conditions previous to the conference, except a free discussion of the existing situation, Lloyd George, September 29 issued another invitation to a conference, this time to be held in London, October 11. The British premier reiterated the statements form- erly made that separation of Ireland from the empire is not to be con- sidered, but he says, the meeting is called "with a view to ascertaining how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British empire may be best reconciled with Irish national aspirations." De Valera accepted the invitation, on September 30. Earthquake shocks were reported, September 29, from Richfield, Elsi- nore, and Monroe, Sevier Co., Utah, beginning at 7:15 a. m., and contin- uing for half an hour. At Elsinore the property loss was estimated at more than $100,000. Three residences and the new school house were wrecked. At Richfield buildings on Main street were slightly damaged. At Monroe several chimneys collapsed, and many residences were violently shaken. Unusual disturbances were noticed southeast of Monroe. Clouds of dust PASSING EVENTS 93 arose high above the mountains, and in Monroe canyon sections of cliffs were shaken loose and could be seen tumbling down. The cliffs near the thermal springs were sundered and great masses of rock were plunged to the bottom. Earthquake shocks were also reported from Los Angeles, Cal. An earthquake shock was reported from Richfield on September 12, when windows rattled and doors creaked, but no damage was done. An- other shock was felt at Elsinore on September 30, at 8 a. m., when several buildings were wrecked, or damaged. The Theodore Christensen home was badly wrecked. At Monroe the hot springs sent forth water that was almost blood red. The cliffs on the south side of the canyon were shattered and heavy boulders bounded down the steep sides. Scenic wonders of Utah were enjoyed by President and Mrs. Heber J. Grant who returned September 14, from a two weeks' trip to the southern part of the state. The president was enthusiastic over the scenic wonders he saw and declared that although he has visited Zion's canyon four times, to him it looked better than ever on this trip. The view from Hurricane hill overlooking the Pine Valley mountains, in variety of color and scene, has not been equalled, in his opinion, in any of his travels about the world and Bryce's canyon is absolutely unique, he declared, among world wonders. President Grant and party accompanied Union Pacific railroad officials on a tour to the rim of the Grand canyon and Utah scenic wonders. While away the president's party attended many Church gatherings. Elder George Albert Smith, who also made the trip, parted with the president's party at Kanab, 5,oing on to St. George. President A. W. Ivins, with Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Cardon of Cedar, and Miss Fulvia Ivins, left the main party at Panguitch, going on to Cedar where Mr. Cardon has charge of the branch Agricultural college, and also to St. George, where President Ivins and Miss Ivins attended the conference. A most successful auxiliary group convention was held at Kanab, according to President Grant, Septem- ber 11, with the general boards of all auxiliaries of the Church represented and the largest attendance in the history of the stake present. Sunday night a special meeting was held, in addition to the convention at which President Grant, President Ivins and Elder Smith were the speakers. The Modern Star of Hope that leads to health and happiness. Like the Star of Old that led the wise men of the East unto the birth- place of Him who promised life eternal, there comes a new Star of Hope — The Tuberculosis Christmas Seal — to lead mankind to the birth- place of Knowledge, with its promise of life temporal. When the Star of Bethlehem made its ap- pearance to the shepherds, nearly two thou- sand years ago, a celestial choir sang, "Unto Thee a Savior is Born." When the modern Star of Promise appears, a mighty terrestrial choir raises its voice in gladsome carol, "Unto Thee New Hope of Health is Born." The Christ to whom the Star of Old led the wise men, said unto them: "Believe and follow Me and I will lead you unto life everlasting." The Knowledge to which the new Star of Hope, the Christmas Seal, will lead all wise men and women, says unto them: "Believe and follow me and I will lead you along the paths of right living unto the haven of perfect health." This modern Star of Promise under the guidance of the Utah Public Health Association will make its appearance in Utah on Thanksgiving day 94 IMPROVEMENT ERA and will shine in first magnitude until Christmas Eve. In the measure that it is received by the people of the state will it leave behind the knowledge and good works that lead to health and happiness. — U. P. H. Association. Changes in Ward and Stake Officers, September, 1921. — New Stake Presidents. Uintah stake, Wallace Calder succeeded Don B. Colton, address Vernal, Utah. Young stake, Elmer F. Taylor succeeded Hyrum M. Taylor, First Counselor to stake president, address Kirtland, N. M. North Weber stake, John V. Bluth succeeded James Wotherspoon, and Francis W. Strat- ford appointed First Counselor. Oneida stake, Parley M. Condie, first coun- selor to stake president, and Hyrum D. Jensen, second counselor. New Wards and Bishops. Topence ward, Idaho stake, Benjamin D. Jensen Bishop. Escalante south ward, Garfield stake, Milton Twitchell, Bishop, address Escalante, Utah. New Bishops, etc. Escalante North ward, Gar- field stake, Leslie George succeeded E. A. Griffin, address Escalante, Utah. Castle Gate ward. Carbon stake, Benjamin F. Thomas succeeded Morgan D. Evans, address same. Burnham ward, Young stake, Alma L. Foutz suc- ceeded Elmer F. Taylor, address same. Alpine ward, St. Johns stake, John Jepson succeeded Wiarren M. Tenney, address same. Burley stake, Unity ward, W. E. Tinsley succeeded Archie L. Stokes, address same. Spring- lake ward, Nebo stake, Herman Tweede succeeded Wm. J. Taylor, address Spring Lake, Utah. Grouse Creek, Raft River stake, Wilford F. Richins suc- ceeded Jos. S. Barlow, address same. Davisville ward, Idaho stake, Daniel Balls, Bishop, succeeded Thos. K. Gunnell, address Soda Springs, Idaho. Morgan ward, Morgan stake, C. Calvin Geary succeeded Alonzo Francis, ad- dress Morgan City, Utah Lost River stake, Chilly branch, Joseph A. Coates succeeded Charles John, address Chilly, Idaho. Second ward, Liberty take, Albert J. Elggren ucceeded Henry B. Elder, address 745 South 5th East, City. George Lionel Fcrrell, 92 years of age, passed away in his home at Smith- field, Cache Co., September 21. The deceased was for many years prom- inent in church and political activities, and he was a successful pioneer in the important work of dry farming. He was born at Howelsfield, Gloucester- shire, England, February 16, 1829, the son of William and Alice Sadler (Bird) Farrell. After the death of his father he brought his mother and three sisters to Iowa, before he reached his majority, living there for a number of years, and then coming to Utah in 1859. The Farrells settled first at Farmington, where it is recorded that the young man took a con- tract for getting out the winter's wood for Amasa M. Lyman. In 1860 Cache county was opened to settlement, and Mr. Farrell left Farmington and went to Logan, where his energy and ability soon identified him with the pioneer and growing community. He was tithing clerk of Cache stake from 1860 till 1880, county recorder of Cache county from 1860 till 1880, county recorder of Cache county from 1860 till 1884, postmaster at Logan from 1862 till 1874, filled a mission to England, 1874-76, and was bishop of Smithfield from 1888 till 1900. It was about 1872 that Mr. Farrell was led to undertake his work in the development of dry-farming and, after years of experimenting, he made a success of it. Mr. Farrell attended every dry-farm congress since the organization of that body and was the author of numer- ous pamphlets on various phases of the subject. Even after passing the age of 90. Mr. Farrell remained in good health save for failing eyesight, his sons and daughters declaring that, so far as they can remember, he was never sick a day in his life. When the summons came it was without pain; just a gradual fading out of the flame. So peaceful was the end that those who stood by his bed,, where he slept saw no sign of struggle; they saw only that the breathing had ceased.