Passing Events

Peace between the United States and Austria was declared formally in a proclamation signed Nov. 18, by President Harding. Germany cannot pay the next installment of the reparations, amount- ing to 500,000,000 gold marks. She is said to have so informed the gov- ernments of her late enemies, Nov. 14. Riots in Belfast continue while negotiations on Ireland are going on in London. The death list, Nov. 27, totaled 27, and troops were rushed to the scene of disturbance, to quell the disorders. Naval construction tvas suspended in British ship yards, by order of the Admiralty, pending the outcome of the Washington armaments con- ference, according to an announcement in London, Nov. 18. Winter arrived Nov. 17, with a snow storm that covered the inter- mountain region from Canada to Central Arizona, and from the Cascade ranges on the west to some distance over the plains eastward. Famine in Russia seems to be beyond human control. In some districts, as reported Nov. 30, the population is dying rapidly. Many are said to be going insane, and mothers are killing their children. The Shantung question will be settled by China and Japan, with Amer- ican and British representatives as friendly advisers, according to an agree- ment reached at the Washington conference on armament, Nov. 30. A new planet was discovered at the astronomical observatory at La Plata, says an announcement from Buenos Aires, Nov. 27. The new-found world is visible as a faint star among the asteroids between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. An attempt on the life of the Prince of Wales was made Nov. 23. A club was hurled at the prince as he entered a building in Bombay. The missile was thrown by some one in a crowd of spectators. The man who threw the club escaped. The engagement of Princess Mary, daughter of King George and Queen Mary, to Viscount Henry George Charles Lacelles, the heir of Earl Harewood, was announced in London, Nov. 22. The princess is 24 years old and the viscount 39. Four Americans were captured in Mexfco, by bandits, at Santa Eulalia, 22 miles from Chihuahua. They refused to pay ransom and were set free after four hours of captivity. One Mexican captured by the same gang, paid $5,000 for his liberty. Smokers burn millions. According to federal tax returns, smokers in the United States waste $1451,000,000 for tobacco; sodas and con- fectionery cost $834,000,000; perfumery, jewelry and silk stockings, $955,- 000,000, and the army $418,000,000.

PASSING EVENTS 283 General Diaz passed through Ogden, Nov. 23, and was enthusiastically greeted at the railroad station by a number of patriots. He was com- mander-in-chief of the Italian forces that checked the advance of the Aus- trians at the end of the great war. Wage reduction in Colorado coal mines was announced Nov. 16, where- upon the governor found it necessary to proclaim martial law in Heverfano Co., the sheriff there being unable to cope with the situation resulting from a thirty per cent reduction of the pay. The birthday of President Heber J. Grant was celebrated in all the schools of the Church, Nov. 22, as well as by his family and friends. Numer- ous letters and telegrams of congratulation were received at the Church office and the home of the President. New Utah State Fair manager was appointed, Nov. 21, by Governor Mabey, to succeed Mr. J. L. Home, whose resignation was accepted by the executive committee of the board. State Treasurer W. D. Sutton was named by the governor, to serve without additional pay. The temple site at Mesa, Arizona, was dedicated Nov. 28, 1921, by Pres- ident Heber J. Grant, in the presence of about three thousand persons. President Anthony W. Ivins, of the First Presidency, and President J. W. McMurrin, of the California mission, attended the services. Money for Utah. The war finance corporation Dec. 5 advanced $1,374,- 000 to cover loans "for agricultural and livestock purposes" in Utah. This is one of the largest single loans made in the west, and is nearly as great as all loans made in Utah last week, which aggregated $1,583,000. Two women were arrested, Nov. 24, in New York for alleged defiance of the police, when they were ordered not to address a mass meeting in favor of. birth control. The women were Mrs.Margaret Sanger and Miss Mary Windsor. The meeting was broken up by the police. Three men were killed on the Orem road, Nov. 18, and twenty-two were more or less seriously injured, in a collision on a siding at Taylorsville, west of Murray. The dead were: Harry J. Cramer, motorman, and William Hollien, electrician, and another victim who died later. A burial place of a race of giants is said to have been uncovered by rains near Douglas, Ariz. The skeletons are described to show that the peo- ple buried must have been twice the size of the average man today. One skull showed a thickness of about an inch, says a dispatch from Douglas, Ariz., Nov, 25. Christina Nilsson died, Nov. 22, according to a dispatch, from Co- penhagen. She was in her younger years a famous opera singer, well known both in Europe and America. She was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1843, and made her debut in Paris in 1864. Since 1891 she has lived in retirement. A two hundred million dollar suit has been planted in the supreme court against certain directors of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad and others, by the stockholders, who claim to have lost that sum by a con- spiracy among the defendants to wreck the road, says a New York dispatch of Nov. 21. A helium airship, the C-7, arrived over Washington in a snowstorm, Dec. 5, and after maneuvering about the city for a few minutes landed in the navy air field at Anacosita. The blimp left Hampton Roads, Va., at

284 IMPROVEMENT ERA 6:30 o'clock this morning and is said to be the first large airship to attempt a long flight with non-inflammable helium gas. New ruler of Japan. Because of the illness of the emperor, Yoshihito, Crown Prince Hirohito has been designated regent, says a Tokio dispatch dated Nov. 25. For over a year rumor has had it that the emperor was ill. His condition is now said to have become aggravated. He has reigned since July 30, 1912, when his father, Emperor Mutsuhito, died. Immense worlds exist. Professor Albert A. Michelson, in an address before the National Academy of Sciences, Chicago, Nov. 14, made the announcement that there are stars that exceed Betelgeuse in magnitude — an orb that is supposed to be 300,000,000 miles in diameter — and they are to be measured by means of a new interferometer developed by him. A surtax of fifty per cent on incomes of $200,000 or more is the rate fixed in the senate amendment to the tax revison bill, which was passed by the house, Nov. 18, against the expressed views of the president. Ninety- four Republicans, 106 Democrats, and one Socalist voted in the affirm- ative; while 170 Republicans and three Democrats formed the opposition. Lorenzo Lafayette Hatch, of Franklin, Idaho, died Nov. 7 of pernicious anemia. Mr. Hatch was formerly bishop of the Franklin ward of the Church and long active in the affairs of Cache valley. He was born at Lehi, December 25, 1851, being 70 years of age at the time of death. He was the son of Lorenzo Hill Hatch and Sylvia S. Eastman Hatch, Utah pioneers. Dr< Adolf Lorenz fainted three times, Nov. 29, due to a malady of the stomach, while attending patients in his charity clinic in New York. He came to this country from Austria, a short time ago, and has already treated hundreds of sufferers among the poor, in an endeavor to repay America to some extent for the relief Americans have sent to his famine- stricken countrymen. The special session of the 67th Congress adjourned, Nov. 30. The pres- ident signed a number of bills before the adjournment, among which was the tax revision bill, which repeals the excess profits and transportation taxes, does away with most of the so-called nuisance and luxury taxes, re- duces individual taxes all along the line and increases the corporation in- come tax from 10 per cent to 12% per cent. Picketing is unlawful, according to a decision by the Supreme Court in the case of an appeal brought by the American Steel Foundries Company growing out of a strike at its plant. The court in its decision declared no broad rule could be laid down in the matter of picketing, however, but that each case must be considered on its merits to determine whether the picketing constituted restraint and intimidation. A quadruple agreement between the United States, Great Britain, Ja- pan, and France was announced from Washington, Dec. 10. The agreement does away with the Anglo-Japanese alliance and binds the powers to respect the territorial integrity of the possessions of each other in the Pacific and provides that in the event of the menace of the vital interests of any of them the nation threatened will consult with the others before taking action. It also provides that if differences arise between any two of the contracting parties, the other two signatory powers shall initiate media- tion and arbitration. Colonel Whittlesey perished at sea, Nov. 27, enroute from New York to Havana. He became famous during the war for his exploits on many bat-

PASSING EVENTS 285 tlefields, but it seems that his mind became unbalanced by contemplating the misery that has followed the war, and he concluded to end his life. The funeral at Arlington was the climax of the sadness he went through.. Early in the fall of 1920 Colonel Whittlesey spoke at the Salt Lake theater in support of the league of nations. The same night former President William Howard Taft gave a lecture at the tabernacle in the support of the candidacy of Mr. Harding for the presidency. The Chinese delegate at the arms conference, Dr. Tyau, resigned, Dec. 6, in protest against the "negative results" achieved regarding China. Dr. Tyau who has been the secretary-general of the Chinese delegation, ex- plained that he acted without consulting the other three Chinese delegates, China's demands were stated by her delegates in a meeting of the com- mittee of nine, Nov. 16. In brief, China wants guarantees for territorial integrity and political and administrative independence; she proposes the open door for all in all parts of the country; she wants all spheres of influence relinquished; she wants no treaties made affecting her without being consulted. Three more delegates from China resigned Dec. 7. Congress is in session again. The first regular session of the 67th con- gress met at noon, Dec. 5. The federal budget for the fiscal year, 1923, shows an estimated expenditure $3,505,754,727. The estimated receipts are placed at $3,338,182,750, leaving an apparent deficit of $167,571,977. Of the total estimated expenditure, $2,900,000,000 is for wars, past or pros- pective, and $600,000,000 for peace-time pursuits. In his message, trans- mitted to Congress, Dec. 6, President Harding said he expected a "most gratifying world accomplishment" to result from the international confer- ence in Washington. He took strong ground against strikes and lockouts, and he looked forward to the passage of new tariff and taxation measures. The Irish question was settled in a conference between the British government officials and representatives of the Dail Eireann, Dec. 6, in a session that lasted till 2:20 a. m. The articles of agreement, or "treaty be- tween Great Britain and Ireland" provided that Ireland shall have the same constitutional status in the British empire as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and that the members of the Irish parliament will swear to be faithful to King George V and his heirs and successors, "in virtue of the common citizenship of Ireland with Great Britain and her adherence to and membership of the group of nations forming the British commonwealth of nations." Over 3,000 political prisoners have been set free by royal proclamation. Moral support urns promised to France in the executive session of the armament conference, Nov. 23. Premier Briand, making his last appear- ance in the conference before leaving, reiterated the reasons that move his country to maintain the world's largest army and suggested that the only alternative would be a pledge by the powers to aid France should Ger- many or any other nation again threaten civilization. To this, represen- tatives of the United States, Great Britain, Italy and Japan replied with renewed expressions of regard and sympathy for France, declaring their governments firmly committed to the defense of free institutions and giving assurance that the French people had the moral support of all the powers in facing their problems. But no one came forward with a proposal to write such a pledge into a public and joint declaration of policy such as M. Briand indicated would be asked to induce France to reduce its army beyond the point already contemplated.