Editors’ Table

Editors ^Table Hagoth's Lost Ships and Hawaii An interesting treatise and 134 beautiful illustrations on the Ha- waiian Islands, the volcanic and floral wonderland of the world, and America's strongest outpost of defense, occupies the whole of the National Geographic Magazine for February, 1924. In the introduc- tion to the article, the author, Gilbert Grosvenor, LL.D., the president of the National Geographic Society, incidentally quotes Albert P. Taylor's charming and authoritative narrative, Under Hawaiian Skies. In this quotation some of the table manners and other practices of the primitive people in the Hawaiian Islands, are referred to. In many of the religious ceremonies of the early Hawaiians and their priests there is a close alliance with Israel of ancient Palestine. For this reason the quoted statement is particularly notewortly and interesting to the student of history. It indicates clearly that many Hawaiian practices, and even the manner of constructing their temples, bear resemblance to those of ancient Palestine. As witness this quotation: "The Hawaiians had their temples of refuge into which the pursued from justice, malefactors, and innocently accused persons, could seek and receive shelter and respite from injury, until the temple authorities could determine their guilt or innocence." "They had their purification of temples with salt, similar to the cere- mony in Palestine. They performed the ceremony of the circumcision as it was performed in the Holy Land. They had their ashes and sackcloth. The priesthood was related to the government and to the direction of the habits of the rulers, as the priesthood was related to the rulers in Palestine.'' May not this similarity confirm the idea that the Hawaiians may have come west from America to settle these islands and that they are related to the Indians whose ancestors came to the American continent from Jerusalem, as related in the Book of Mormon? It does not seem improbable that the ancient inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands in this way became acquainted with Israelitish customs, and it does not seem unreasonable to credit the idea that some of them voyaged from the American mainland and settled in the Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific, and so perpetuated the customs, practices, and style of building that their ancestors had known in Palestine and America. There was among the Nephites, on the American continent, a curious man named Hagoth, * who was a ship builder and promoter of *In Prehistoric America, by Marquis de Nadaillac, (Putnam's, 1893, p. 64) certain shell-heaps are referred to on the coast of California, which are of great antiquity: "Historians are generally silent about these heaps, which did not attract much attention until archaeology began to take its place among the sciences. When the

EDITORS' TABLE 483 emigration. He built many large ships and launched them in the Pacific ocean, from somewhere on the coast of the Isthmus, "on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation." Many of the Nephites, men, women and children, took passage in them, and sailed to the land northward. Many others following did likewise, and some were lost, "they were never heard of more." So laden, "One other ship also did sail forth; and whither she did go, we know not." (Alma 63:5-8.) May she not have drifted over the great waters to the vol- canic and floral wonderland of the world, and her colony of people become builders and settlers of Hawaii? The Hawaiians are undoubtedly related to the Polynesians whose mariners sailed back and forth to and from Hawaii, and it is not un- reasonable to credit the idea that the Lamanites from the American mainland drifted to the islands and became mixed with or even the progenitors of the present natives. — A. Rejuvenation Much is being written and said recently about rejuvenation and the prolongation of human life and efficiency. A recent article in the International Book Review, calls attention to the labors of Professor Eugen Steinach, M. D., who has continued investigations that were introduced in the 80's by Brown-Sequard, who pointed out the zig-zag path that leads to rejuvenescence. To Dr. Steinach, we are told, "be- longs the glory of turning romance into facts, and of giving substance to dreams, transforming nebulous hopes into practical certainty," in regard to this subject. He has discovered a treatment that re-creates the ductless glands of the human body, and is said to have demonstrated the actuality of the new method of making people young. Two books have recently been published, one by Dr. Kammerer, another by George F. Corners, which are pronounced, in the article referred to, as being "so lucid, so simple and direct, and so profoundly interesting, to even the merely curious, to say nothing of the seeker after truth, that they will probably be read by millions, now that the interest in rejuvenation is fast approaching fever heart." Dr. Kam- merer is the associate of Dr. Steinach and has given the subject almost as many years of study and practice. Mr. Corners, it is said, received all his information at first hand and his work is enlivened with a delightful sense of humor. It is stated that "before long it will be Indians were questioned about them they generally answered that they are very old, and are the work of people unknown to them or to their fathers. As an exception to this rule, however, the Californians attribute a large shell-heap formed of mussel- shells and the bones of animals, on Point St. George, near San Francisco, to the Hohgates. the name they give to seven mythical strangers who arrived in the country from the sea, and who were the first to build and live in houses. The Hohgates killed deer, sea-lions, and seals; they collected the mussels which were very abundant on the neighboring rocks, and the refuse of their meals became piled up about their homes."

484 IMPROVEMENT ERA as much of a commonplace to be rejuvenated as to have a tooth filled or to use a tonic for falling hair." Now as to whether there is any truth in all this, the fact is self- evident that man himself can live so that his nervous system shall not be speedily exhausted, and that a long maturity may be granted to all who are willing to live in conformity with the regulations that insure long life. The remedy is very simple, and was given to the Latter-day Saints almost from the beginning of the organization of the Church. It is found in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, and shows forth the order and will of God in the temporal, physical, and intel- lectual salvation of the Saints who are willing to abide by the instruc- tions. It is so simple that it is adapted to the capacity of the weakest of people, and the promises that are given to those who are obedient are wonderful, namely: "All Saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, * * *and not slay them." Every known remedy and human discovery should be applied to prevent a long period of gradual decay in the life of man, and if there is any virtue in the operations of Dr. Steinach to prolong life, they should be used; but there is also a responsibility resting upon the indi- vidual himself, when informed of that which will prolong his life, to so conduct himself that the prolongation may be given him worthily on his own account. Obedience to the counsels of the Lord in taking care of the body will bring sure results. — A. New Edition of "The Articles of Faith" An advance copy of the new issue of the Articles of Faith has come to our table, and the Era extends congratulations to our people on having this valuable work again obtainable. For over a year it has been out of print. The current edition is the twelfth in English; and the book has been published in several foreign languages, including German, Dutch and Japanese. The latest imprint completes the fifty-seventh thousand copies in English. It is now but a month short of a quarter of a century since the first edition appeared; and at that time the work was practically the only systematically arranged text and reference book on the theol- ogy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The work is a comprehensive, though of necessity not an exhaustive, treatment of the fundamental principles of the gospel and the principal doctrines of the Church. For the present edition an entirely new set of electrotype plates has been prepared, and this need has made possible a thorough revision

EDITORS' TABLE 485 of the work. The author, Dr. James E. Talmage, of the Council of the Twelve, has rearranged the subject-matter, and has rewritten many parts. Among the advantageous features now first presented, we note with appreciation lists of scriptural references following the several chapters, each reference accompanied by an explanatory line or paragraph embodying the subject of the citation. As stated in the Preface: "The 'References' following the several chapters present important passages of scripture, relating to the respective topics, but without attempt at exhaustive compilation. A few citations, relevant to the particular subject, may be of greater service than a lengthy concordance." The valuable "Notes," which in earlier editions immediately followed the chapters, are now assembled in an "Appendix," and this is made to include subjects not heretofore in the book. An excellent treatment of "The Sabbath Day" has been added. In both material and workmanship the new issue is of a high order of bookmaking, characterized by large and clear type and good paper, while the bindings are both attractive and durable. — A. Acceptable Movies The following pictures have been previewed by the recreation com- mittee of the M. I. A., and have been found to possess wholesome entertain- ment value: Garrison's Finish, Jack Pickford. Frameup of a jockey who loses race and his subsequent rehabilitation. Con- tains the spirit of youth and the thrill of the race track. The Courage of the Commonplace, All-Star. A photoplay taken at Yale University featuring a young man who has courage to do commonplace things in the face of ridicule. It portrays college student life, showing how courage in disappointment works out triumphant strength of character in later life. His Majesty the American, Douglas Fairbanks. Comedy and melodrama about a young man who, through his native wit and cleverness, saves a kingdom and marries a Princess. To Committees on Recreation At the meeting of the joint boards of the Y. M. and Y. L. M. I. A. on Wednesday evening, February 6, the Rrecreation Committee reported recommending that all committees on recreation and directors of dances shall request that anyone attending dancing parties shall be known by some re- sponsible person present who can be sponsor for the good character of the individual. Applicants are desired for a home demonstration agent position in Lin- coln county, Afton, Wyoming, so we are informed by Mary Rokahr, state home demonstration leader of the University of Wyoming, Laramie. A mature applicant with a University degree who is a member of the L. D. S. Church is preferred. This position offers a field of real service and we are informed that the work is well organized and that women are back of it. Applicants are directed to communicate with the state home demonstration leader, Extension Service, Laramie, Wyoming, for further details. Adv.

Monthly Messages to the "M" Men By Thomas A. Beal, Member of the General Board XV. — Seeing It Through According to statistics compiled by insurance companies, out of one hundred young men who start out in business, after forty years, that is, at sixty-five, they will have fallen into the following classes: thirty-six dead, fifty-four financially dependent on family or charity, five barely able to make their own living, four well-to-do, and one rich. This is a gloomy but vivid picture, to be sure of the test of human fiber. It shows inability of many to see life through. There is an old say- ing that a good beginning tends to a good ending, but this is not always true. Many a man has started well in life but ended poorly, not because good be- ginnings result in poor endings, but because of lack of the right kind of qual- ity to play the game to the finish. The things which lead one to start on an enterprise are often accompanied with a lack of the qualities necessary to stick it out. "Good starters and good stayers are not necessarily the same people." Plenty of people are equipped with efficient self-starters, but they haven't enough gas and cylinders to reach the journey's end. When it comes to a long climb they "peter" out. They haven't the stick-to-it-iveness neces- sary to reach the goal; they are short distance men. They get away fairly well, and make a fairly good start, but if the race is very long they arc not able to hold out to the finish. Many people are good starters, they can orig- inate ideas, but they have not the power to carry them through. No one ever got an education in a day. It comes slowly and by hard toil way into the night — not only for a year but for many years. Some peo- ple are so anxious to get an education quickly that they even buy corres- pondence degrees, as if the degree was all that is necessary. One may have degrees a yard long, and yet not be educated. It depends on the kind of degree, and how it was obtained. "Make haste slowly" is an old adage and a very appropriate one. Only those who follow that course finally hold out to the end. President Angell, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, once said that in his thirty years of experience as President of the University of Michigan he had made this observation, viz : that it is not always the brilliant student who succeeds in life, but, on the contrary, it is often the one who is not brilliant but who has the power to plod and stay with it. While a good beginning tends to a good ending, keep this in mind, young men, that obstacles increase as life goes on and the tempests become stronger. "Temptations deal with life as winds with trees — the taller the tree, the more the tempests wrestle with it." Some men cannot stand suc- cess, and they fall; others weaken because success does not come quickly. Too many young men want to get to the top too quickly, and if they do not make it in the first spurt they give up. Success does not come in a single bound. The top is reached only by climbing the ladder round by round. "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," but to the one who has the ability to hold out to the end. In other words, success is reached only by patience which of all virtues is the one most difficult to achieve. "No one in this world, however, is likely to get on without it, for the world itself is built on patient lines."