An Appeal to Parents

Improvement Era Vol. XXVII JUNE, 1924 No. 8 AN APPEAL TO PARENTS By Elder Stephen L. Richards, of the Council of the Twelve [This appeal was made to parents on Sunday morning of the 94th anniversary of the organization of the Church, at the General Conference, and should be studied by every parent and by all the young folks in the land. Each group has its responsible share in the making of a "happy fireside dime," a truly gospel home. — Editors.] I should like to speak for the fathers and the mothers of the Church and in their behalf say to the young people of the Church: A Message to the Youth of Zion Young men and young women, we believe in you; we have con- fidence in your integrity, and in the achievement of your high destiny. We support you, we love you. I believe if we could make the young people of the Church understand that, we should have gone a long way to hold them to the standards of the Church and to the keep- ing of the commandments which have occupied in their exposition, such a large portion of this conference. The Great Obligation of Parents I was very grateful that President Grant was led in the course of his opening remarks to restate and reemphasize the great obligation of parents to their children; for it is that thing which seems to me, above all others, to claim our attention as a Church. We are depend- ing upon the rising generation to carry forward this great and mighty work. Only a few years at best will serve to see the men whom you will sustain here today as the prophets and authorities of this great institution, pass to their honorable reward. The burdens of administration, the opportunities of leadership must, in natural se- quence, pass to other and younger shoulders. So that, loving the work Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter. Ac- ceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July Z, 1918, $2 per annum. Address Room 40 6 Church Office Building, Salt Lake City, Utah.

712 IMPROVEMENT ERA as we do, believing in its great accomplishments for the future, we must, of necessity, hold and claim these young people to carry it for- ward, to stand for and maintain God's work. I think they need at this time large sympathy from us. When I contemplate the environment in which they are placed, the unusual conditions surrounding them, my heart goes out to every one who must stand for honest manhood and resist untoward influences and maintain himself in accordance with the commandments of God and the standards of the Church. Unusual Educational Environment Influences the Youth Do you contemplate the fact that the great education forces surrounding the youth of today are most unusual, that in the major portion they did not exist a few decades ago? There were no moving pictures twenty or twenty-five years ago, and within that short space of time, that great enterprise which produces these pictures and distributes them all over the world for the education, mind you, of the people of the world, and the youth of the land in particular, has come to be, it is said, the fourth largest commercial enterprise in the world. Thousands and thousands every day are subjected to the influence and the education of these pictures. What that education is, you may judge for yourselves. What lessons are taught, you yourselves have seen, and that our young people should respond to those lessons is as natural as it is for flowers to grow in the sunshine, or for vegetation to die in the dark, depressing, poisonous atmosphere of a cellar. Many inventions and innovations of the past few years have also wrought their influences upon these boys and girls so susceptible to their environment. There has been the advent of the automobile, radios, new kinds and varieties of drama, of music, or that which is said to be music, all of which just as naturally and as inevitably influence and determine the emotions, and in a large respect, the actions of these boys and girls, as it is possible to do. A man can, only with the greatest of restraint and of force, take himself out of his environment and stand against the influences inserted against him in society. It is harder for young people than it is for adults to do that, because their natures are more susceptible and impressionable to the influences around about them. An Appeal to Parents in Behalf of the Young Folks In behalf of all these young folks up and down the Church, I would like to say to the parents of the Church: We claim your sympathy. We need your guiding hand, but we need your guidance expressed in terms of love and understanding. I feel that in many instances the young folks of the Church are not fully understood. I do not like to hear them berated, I do not like to hear it said that

APPEAL TO PARENTS 713 they have all gone wrong and that they are all going wrong. I do not believe it, because I believe that these young folks, by right have inherited, fundamentally, the faith of their fathers. They have In- herited a disposition to serve God. That is the natural and logical sequence of the lives of the great pioneers of this country who came here to serve him and keep his commandments, and establish his great and mighty work. Therefore, I cannot think that in the main the young people of this Church are not the best, the most dependable, the most progressive and the finest young generation which the world, at least within the realm of histery, has ever seen. Sometimes parents, out of a great desire to be helpful and to warn against danger and evil, assume an austerity that is forbidding to these young folks, and too often, much too often, there is a failure of that sympathetic understanding which makes a bond of union anJ love between parents and children than which there is no greater bul- wark of safety for the young people of the Church. I appeal to every parent in this Church to understand his children. To understand them he must, to some extent at least, participate in their activities and rec reation. He must delve into -their inmost longings and cravings and aspirations. He must know the things that have appealed to them, and then discriminately, wisely, sympathetically, he shall guide them, guide them in the paths of truth and of righteousness. Visions of Wonderful Opportunity ef the Home What we need today is an interpretation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in terms of joyous living. The gospel is not, as many of our young folks think it to be, a hard, a joy-killing rule of life. I some- times think that our young people are dissuaded from participation in the activities of the Church because there has never been given, to many of them at least, the great vision of the wonderful oppor- tunity, the joys, the happiness, the services which are to be had within it. We need to let them know that for happiness, for supreme joy, for those permanent satisfactions that go to make life worth living, there is no course in life com- parable to the course laid down by the blessed gospel of our Lord and our Savior. They do not all understand that. They do not all recognize the great joy to be had from participation within our Church institutions, and it is our great mission in the various in- stitutions of the Church, and primarily in that greatest of all Church institutions, the home, to give that joyous conception of the principles of the gospel. The Gospel a Constructive Program Our gospel is not a gospel of negation. It is true that we are commanded to eschew evil and to avoid many things which present themselves in forms of temptation, but our gospel is a positive up-

714 IMPROVEMENT ERA lifting, constructive program, making life happy if we will but sub- scribe to its tenets and live up to the commandments as they have been given to us. I think that the Christian church of the world has itself to blame for its failure in really teaching the gospel of Christ. It is largely because of the attitude taken by many of its leaders, whose long- faced piety and joy-killing aspect have never been pleasing to young people. It is said by the critics of Christ that, "Christ is the prophet of the weak; on the contrary, he came to give strength to the languish- ing, and to raise up those trodden under foot to be higher than kings. They say that his is the religion of the sick and of the dying, and yet he heals the sick and brings the sleeping to life. They say that he is against life, and yet he conquers death; that he is the God of sadness, and yet he exhorts his followers to be joyful and promises an everlasting banquet of joy to his friends. They say he introduced sadness and mortification into the world, and on the contrary when he was alive he ate and drank, and let his feet and hair be perfumed, and detested hypocritical fasts, and the penitential mummeries of vanity. Many have left Christ because they never knew him." Oh, That Boys and Girls Might Know Jesus Christ Oh, how I want our boys and girls to know Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of men! How I wish that they would recognize that he is their dearest and their greatest friend, that they may put their trust in him, knowing that he will never forsake them, and that a testimony of his divinity and his great work is the greatest influence that will ever come into their lives. Brethren and sisters, it is our mission and our duty to give them that testimony, for the enrichment of their souls, and for that salva- tion, for which we all labor and strive. God bless the youth of Zion, that they may accomplish their high and noble destiny in the purposes of the Lord, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Mother As I cull these fair lilies, I think of you now, Of the toil and the care that have furrowed your brow, Of the sweetness of life that you've rendered me here, In patience and love and affections most dear. 0 what more could I give that would make your life bright, Than a word that is kind and a flower that is white? Though its color may fade and its petals decay, Its beauty's remembered long after its day. 1 recall the past years when I knelt at your chair, Where you taught me God's grace through the secret of prayer. I remember our hearth and your songs now divine — Oh, God bless you and keep you, dear mother of mine. Logan, Utah LAWRENCE J. SORENSON

ENERGY AND ITS RELATIONS TO HUMAN WELFARE* Dr. Carl F. Eyring, Professor of Physics, Brigham Young University Energy in its various forms is the most real and enduring wealth of mankind. To know the laws of the forces of nature, to understand how these forces operate in the storage and release of energy, and to be able to control these operations has made of puny physical man a veritable giant of which Gulliver's tales have no equal. Using only small amounts of energy in the thought process, man has gathered sci- entific knowledge and now he wields physical powers akin to those attributed to some of the heathen gods. In our day a mere child has at its command the energy of a purring automobile motor; a slight pressure of the foot and a car weighing tons speeds along a highway at breakneck speed. A workman simply by closing an electric circuit sets loose the pent-up energy of explosives and mountain sides crumble with the blast. By a mere push or pull an engineer moves his massive train over hills, through valleys and across continents. A house-wife by the turn of switches floods her home with light, washes the clothes of the family, sweeps the floors, and. obtains heat for cooking. But the forces of nature — the great available stores of energy — in wrong hands can.be diverted from their very highest purpose, the human welfare, to base utilization in the corrupting and exterminat- ing of the human race. Thus with man's great physical power comes a great moral obligation. To sense this moral obligation is as Im- portant as to seek for more power. The ancients and the men of the Middle Ages used chiefly the energy of men and animals, of winds and, to some extent, of running water. They knew very little of the energy which has since been made available from heat and chemicals, and nothing at all of the energy carried by electricity. To them power transmission meant treadmills, the moving of herds and slaves, or marching armies. The slave was the machine for all heavy labor. He was never a particu- larly cheap machine and furnished only a small amount of energy singly, but in mass he was powerfal. He cultivated fields, constructed dams and dug ditches. As a galley slave he propelled the so-called "ships" of war. By his toil walls and towers, roads and bridges, temples and pyramids were built. Urged by task-masters to give in muscular exertion all the energy available, these slaves, working side by side in co-operative effort, produced results that were remarkable and, in the case of the Pyramids, stupendous. ♦President's Address, Seventeenth Annual Convention, Utah Academy of Sci- ences, April 4 and 5, 1924.

716 IMPROVEMENT ERA From the stone age to our present age of automatic machinery the race has struggled to find the means of using effectually its own physical energy and the energy derived from the forces of nature. With the development of science has come an ever-increasing under- standing of the forces of nature. One by one the hiding places of pent-up energy have been discovered and these stores have been made available and safe for the use of mankind. Machines have evolved from crude hand-tools of stone to more perfect tools of bronze; from bronze tools to tools wrought in iron; from hand-tools of iron and steel to machine-tools of our present generation. Thus men were not always to toil as slaves. The controlled accumulation, storage, and liberation of energy — the manufacture of power — pointed the way to the emancipation of man from the bond- age of physical toil. Even in ancient times the manufacture of power from gravitational sources by the use of mechanical contrivances such as sails, wind-mills and water-wheels enslaved the forces of nature and elevated a few men, at least, to the position of master. The in- telligent taskmaster became the director of energy and ceased to be the driver of slaves. The invention of gun powder was the first step toward the manufacture of chemical power. Since the sixteenth century it has played an all-important part in war and in peace. Its effects upon the human welfare have been profound and far-reaching. Alfred Nobel, famous as the founder of the international prizes which bear his name, made mixtures of nitroglycerine and silicious earth which he called dynamite. This he used for blasting, and today we blast our way into the bowels of the earth in search for precious metals, and through mountain sides to make roads straight and grades easy. What a tremendous saving in human toil to have a great mountain side shattered by chemical energy instead of having it picked down bit by bit by a pick and shovel gang. During the last half of the eighteenth century power from heat was made possible by the invention of the steam-engine by Watt. The invention could hardly have come from Watt without the work of his predecessors. Black and Newcomen; nor have been perfected without the researches of Carnot and Joule, and the gradual working out of the great fundamental principle of the conservation of eiiergy and the establishment of the science^of thermodynamics. The steam engine greatly hastened the Industrial Revolution. Before 1760, whatever machinery existed was run mostly by hand or foot and was operated not in factories but in the homes of the people. But the central power plant was sure to come and with it the co-operative labor of the factory system. The people substituted manufactured power for man power and work and workers went out of the home and into the factory where water-power or steam-power was centralized. Thus we had the beginning of a revolution which is still affecting every country and which has modified the very struc-

ENERGY AND HUMAN WELFARE 717 ture of human society. This revolution, no doubt, would have be- gun bad the steam engine not been invented for man had learned to manufacture and localize power by the use of water-wheels; but be- yond doubt the perfection of the steam-engine greatly hastened the change. In 1807 Fulton's Clermont plied the Hudson; in 1829 Stephenson's locomotive, Rocket, was a practical success. Thus with the dawn of the nineteenth century came steam transportation which greatly accelerated the factory system, effected a virtual shrinkage of the world, and brought about a closer contact of mankind. Water- power was not always available, for it was often located far from the centers of population, but now with the introduction of steam trans- portation the energy stored in coal could be transported to desirable locations, released, and part of it transferred to machinery which thus energized would become the handmaid of toil. This transporting of coal from mine to factory was a great step forward in energy transfer. Man was soon to learn, however, that energy could be transferred with lightning speed: "Who could have imagined," asks Helmholtz, "when Galvani observed the twitching of the frog muscles as he brought various metals in contact with them, that eighty years later Europe would be overspun with wires which transmit messages from Madrid to St. Petersburg with the rapidity of lightning, by means of the same principle whose first manifestations this anatomist then observed." The first telegraph line between cities was installed between Baltimore and Washington, in 1844; the first transatlantic cable was laid in 1856; in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented the tele- phone. Thus the researches of such men as Volta, Oersted, Ampere, Faraday, Henry, Morse, and Bell have added greatly to the human welfare, for who can deny the value of these almost instantaneous methods of communicating around the world. In 1886 Heinrich Hertz, testing experimentally the theoretical deductions of Maxwell, proved that it was possible to produce arti- ficially, by means of electric discharges between spheres, ether waves which travel with the velocity of light and which are in every respect, except wave-length, identical with light-waves, their wave-lengths being very much longer than light-waves. These Hertzian waves, the so-called wireless waves, are now used as the carriers of all radio messages. Through the agency of this modern invention man's knowledge at a given instant of what is going on in the world has marvelously increased, and, therefore, this new method of energy utilization is most useful in promoting international understanding and good- will. Secretary Hoover says, "There has been no parallel to the development of the air (ether) as a means of communication, since the invention of printing. The radio is the handmaiden of the printer. The government will see that nothing happens in the ether to interfere with or hamper the future."

718 IMPROVEMENT ERA Since 1831, when Michael Faraday discovered that electricity can be generated by moving a wire in the neighborhood of a magnet, there has been a steady development of dynamo-electric machinery. The General Electric Company now builds steam turbine generators of 80,000 horse power. One of these giants could generate enough power to run all the street cars in twelve cities as large as Salt Lake City. Ten could light a street as bright as Broadway running around the world. Water-power, or steam power as such must be used where it is manufactured. The fuel which supplies the energy of steam may be transported, hence steam-power is more flexible than water power. With the advent of the manufacture of electric power, however, came the real flexibility of energy transmission. Energy of running water or of expanding steam is transferred by use of an electric generator to the electrons of a conducting metal. These energized electrons pass their energy along the conductor with lightning speed. Energy ab- sorbed by the power line in the canyon, or at the great central power- plant, is delivered on demand at the far away city. Electric power transmission has been developed during the last thirty-five years. It is interesting to note that the first successful commercial high pressure alternating current power transmission was established in San Miguel County, Colorado, during the winter of 1890 by L. L. Nunn and P. N. Nunn. It is said that when the report was made in the east that one hundred horsepower was being success- fully transmitted over three miles of number three copper wire, with less than five per cent loss, it was received with incredulity. Incredu- lous as this may have seemed, power is transmitted today at much greater pressures and for much greater distances. Between Grace, Idaho, and Salt Lake City, a distance of 134 miles, power is trans- mitted at the pressure of 130,000 volts. With the development of methods of generating electric power and its efficient transmission has come a gradual development of elec- tric appliances. The carbon filament incandescent lamp, invented by Edison, has been followed by the metallized carbon filament lamp, the tantalum lamp, the tungsten lamp, and the gas-filled tungsten lamp. The first Edison commercial lamps gave a mean efficiency of 1.1 lumens per watt, the modern 100 watt gas-filled tungsten lamp has a mean efficiency of 11.8 lumens per watt. All will agree that the energy of the waterfall which is transferred through the hydro- electric power plant, along miles of wire, to electric lamps in city streets and homes adds greatly to the joy and efficiency of the human race. So flexible is the distribution of electric power that the house- wife is also being freed from the toil of her home. The energy which a moment before was on moving water is now used to sweep floors, wash clothes, and turn the sewing machine. Manufacturing went .

ENERGY AND HUMAN WELFARE 719 from the home to the factory where energy was located; it will never return, but it is with a good deal of satisfaction that we witness the coming of manufactured power into the home to relieve it oi' its burdens. For nearly a century the steam-engine was without a rival as a thermodynamic engine. Many attempts had been made to construct other kinds of engines which would more directly convert the energy of fuel to mechanical power. In 1876 the internal combustion engine as improved by Otto became a practical success. As the prime mover of the "horseless carriage" it has become a very important agency of the human welfare. The automobile was accepted by the public al- most over night. It virtually burst into being as a human want, and is making of the American people a race of travelers. The man of ordinary means can now take his family out for a spin, traveling hun- dreds of miles and returning home for the night. Space for the aver- age man is now greatly shortened; the narrow vista of his place of work is extended to the fields of labor of his fellows. Yesterday his neighbors were the people just over his property line, today neigh- bors live across country and state lines. The joining together of peo- ples by this simple method of rapid travel has made possible the idea that even the towns of a county might well be incorporated as a city. This is the century of the automatic machine. With such de- vices the energy of coal, oil, gasoline, or moving water becomes more and more important to industry; and the toil of common labor be- comes less and less important. The countries which own these stores of energy are rich indeed, the men who get control of these natural resources are sure of wealth. So precious is coal that in Europe the Ruhr is now the seat of racial animosity; so valuable is oil that the lust for it has caused men to turn from the duties of high office. The manufacture of power from the energy of these natural re- sources has certainly emancipated mankind from the bondage of toil, but the automatic machine has enslaved his mind. "Machine-tools," says Lloyd, "may be classified in two main groups: those which lengthen and strengthen the arm of the worker without displacing his will as the vital function of work, and those whose principal function is to supplant the worker, or to reduce his function to a minimum." With the first type of machine-tool the worker becomes a veritable giant, as he manages a great steam shovel. In the second type, he feeds the machine with material and he relieves it of produce — the monotony of the work is killing. In his book, The Iron Man in Industry, Arthur Pound says: "The attendant of automatic tools does not live while he is on the job; he exists, against the time when he can begin to live, which is when he leaves the shop. His task does not call for a fraction of his full powers as a sentient being, or monopolize his interest. If he could buy the same amount of well-financed leisure as easily in any other way, he would shift jobs tomorrow. It is impossible for him to grow mentally through his work. So he comes to his post as a slave to the galley, and leaves it with

72 0 IMPROVEMENT ERA the gladness of a convict escaping prison. The hours given to tending auto- matic machines are given to buy leisure, and in that leisure the operative lives." This social maladjustment does not imply that the men of sci- ence should not search for new sources of energy, nor is it possible that the solution of the problem will be the elimination of the auto- matic machine. If new sources of energy are found, or if the ones we have are used to better advantage, if machines are made more nearly automatic so that the energy supply can be turned automatically into the wealth of the finished product, then, by virtue of a just dis- tribution of the great wealth which thus comes as a gift from nature, the tender of the automatic machine, if properly schooled in the use of his leisure time, can enjoy life as he should for he will be paid well and the number of his working hours will be reduced. If we can be assured of a social and economic order that will work out a just dis- tribution of wealth, anything the scientist can do to tap the energy lying dormant or unused in nature will certainly be for the human welfare. Where shall we seek for these hidden treasures? Coal beds, petroleum, and natural gas are merely the result of sun light energy stored up from the plant and animal life of former geologi- cal periods. These great stores of energy should impress us with the importance of photo-chemical synthesis. The action of the sun rays upon the chlorophyl, or green matter of plant leaves, causes a most subtle locking up of energy. Surely we shall push our knowledge of photochemical action beyond the art of making photographs. The future will certainly bring scientists and engineers who will teach us how to emulate nature in her synthesis of carbohydrates in plant life. The equipment for such an enterprise will utilize large exposed sur- faces to absorb the rays of light and a circulation system for rapidly separating the formed products as fast as they are developed. These products or their derivatives (alcohols') will be used in heat engines which transferring their energy to great electric generators will furnish energy to the centers of population. But why not look forward to a direct transfer of energy from light-waves to electric currents? It is not too unscientific to dream of a time when in the midst of our deserts great power plants will be built with tenacles stretching their large surfaces over desolate wastes to gather the energy from the scorching sun — about one-fourth of a horse power per square foot. From these centers of power on high tension lines — higher voltages than we now use — the electric energy will be distributed to the temperate zone where people live in large cities and where clouds so often darken the sky. What founda- tion is there for a rational faith in these day-dreams? Already the question has been partly answered by recounting the developments of manufactured power; but a more conclusive answer is to be found in a consideration of the scientific developments of the last ten years. Dr. R. A. Millikan writes:

ENERGY AND HUMAN WELFARE 721 "So stupendous has been our advance in physical methods during the past forty years, and especially during the last ten years, that instead of being now limited to the extraordinary narrow range of perception with which nature endowed us when she made our eyes, and which was about all we had as late as forty years ago, we have improved continually upon nature, until we are now in a position to read any ether messages that may come to us in practically any frequency whatever from the limit 0 on one side to the limit 1,000,000,000 per centimetre, or 30 billion billions per second, which is the rate at which electrons which are closest to the nucleus of the heaviest of all known atoms, the uranium atom, are sending out their inconceivably shrill notes. It is this advance which has been responsible for most of the extraordinary increase in our knowledge of the physical foundations of the universe in which we live. It is chiefly by listening to the notes which the electrons within atoms omit that we have learned not only how many electrons are in the different kinds of atoms — that was Moseley's discovery — but also where the different electrons are." The other messages of which Dr. Millikan speaks tell us that there are just 92 elements; that these elements are built up of positive and negative electricity, protons and electrons; that each atom has a positively charged nucleus of minute size surrounded at a considerable distance by the number of electrons requisite to maintain the structure electrically neutral; that the nucleus is composed of both protons and electrons; and that the elements differ from each other only by the number of free positive charges on the nucleus, the excess of protons over electrons. The atom of hydrogen, the lightest element, con- sists of one proton as nucleus with one electron at a considerable dis- tance from it — a miniature solar system with a single planet. The uranium atom, the element with greatest atomic weight, contains a nucleus made up of 238 protons and 146 electrons and at varying distances from the nucleus, as planets in a solar system, there are 92 electrons. Fractional atomic weights (such as, 35.5 for chlorine) are now explained as being caused by a mixture of isotopes, substances having identical chemical properties due to the same number of free charges on the nucleus, but having different atomic weights because of the extra pairs of protons and electrons which add mass to the nucleus but do not add free charge to it. The mass of the proton is about two thousand times the mass of the electron, hence the weight of an atom is almost exactly the weight of one proton times the number of protons in the atomic nucleus. From all this it is clear that there are only two primordial elements, protons and electrons; that is, matter is simply an orderly aggregation of positive and negative electricity. Using the conception of matter as here outlined, Bohr has con- structed an atomic model which, when used with the quantum theory of energy radiation — energy radiated not in a continuous stream but in bundles — beautifully explains and correlates the many heretofore discordant experimental data of apectroscopy. Thus we are begin- ning to understand the relation between radiant energy and the electron, the knowledge so necessary in the realization of our "day-dream." We know that when light of short enough wave-length falls

722 IMPROVEMENT ERA upon matter it causes the ejection of electrons — the so-called photo- electric effect. Though the interpretation of this phenomenon is not yet satisfactory, its complete solution will no doubt be tied up with the problem of the conduction of electricity in metals by the so-called free electrons, with contact electricity discovered by Volta, and with the "boiling" of electrons out of a metal by heat, and the pulling of them out by strong electrical fields. It may be that when these mat- ters are cleared up, when we know much more about radiant energy and its relationship to the electron, we may find a way to hitch the energy of the light-wave to the conduction electron and thus produce electric currents. If the physicist can do this then the engineer and capitalist can begin to make our "day-dream" come true. Since all atoms are built out of the two entities, positive and negative electricity, and differ from each other only by the number of free positive charges on the nucleus, one might expect the elements to be transmutable. As a matter of fact, nature is making these trans- mutations in her laboratory. Very recent investigations indicate that radio activity is not confined to the so-called radio active substances, but is a property to a very small extent of most if not all elements. So far as we know the transmutation on this earth is from the heavier to the lighter atom, yet on the stars, in laboratories of the Creator, we think we have evidence that transmutation is going in the direction of the lighter atom to the heavier. But what of the artificial transmutation of the elements? For more than three years, Rutherford (Cambridge University, England) has been breaking down so-called elements by bombarding the nuclei of the atoms with high velocity helium nuclei — alpha-particles. It appears that in some cases the kinetic energy of the ejected fragments is greater than that of the bombarding particles. This means that these bombardments are able to release energy which is stored in the nuclei of atoms. The results of Rutherford indicate that by operat- ing at six million volts one could with the daily expenditure of 600,- 000 H. P. disintegrate the nuclei of three cubic feet of nitrogen and obtain thereby not only the recovery of the 600,000 H. P., but also approximately 80,000 H. P. in addition. It may be that we are soon to enter upon a new age, the age of subatomic power; time alone can tell. All this means that the men of science must continue their dili- gent efforts in search for the more perfect use of the now available sources of power and for new and illimitable stores of energy. The engineer must put this energy into automatic machines which will manufacture the physical needs of the race. The excessive wealth derived therefrom — nature's gift to man — must be distributed justly — a problem for the economist. "As machines come to do more and more of the necessary work of the worta," says Pound, "the right use of leisure as an antidote for sloth and luxuriousness and as a means

ENERGY AND HUMAN WELFARE 723 of mental, moral, and physical health becomes essential t© national vigor." This problem the social and religious worker must attack with vigor. Let us hope for an illimitable supply of energy, to be used with efficiency and sound judgment, but let us see to it that nature's gift shall not fall into the lap of greed, but be controlled by the benevolent hands of a people who have found God. Provo, Utah A Storm in the Wasatch Mountains (A page from the poem, "In the Temples of the Great Outdoors.") A cloud, that lingered like a shade All morning in its ambuscade, An embryo of latent wrath Ordained to sweep the milky path — Above the clear horizon broke Like a Vesuvius of smoke, And, like a midnight shadow, bent Along the startled firmament. The murky chamber overhead Hung like a rayless sheet of lead, Save when the tempest pierced the night With zigzag rivulets of light That flashed across the sounding-board Of heaven like a leaping sword, Then died away to intervene With deaf'ning thunder peals between. We heard the bestial thunder roll. Reel 'round the rocky canyon bowl And down the misty mountain moan A miracle in monotone. Concussions in the overspace Shook cringing earth from peak to base. A keen, chaotic wind, a-leap, Ran riot through the woodland deep, And frenzied trees, with twisting forms. Whipped the wild air with frantic arms. The fury broke on hill and dale — An avalanche of rain and hail, Redoubled in the roaring blast And rocked the country as it passed. Then suddenly a stream or two Of golden glory filtered through. Like ice upon a crusted lake. That wind and current join to break, The cloud divided, paled and thinned In the wide channel of the wind And, like a shipwreck, sank from view In the deep boundless sea of blue. Theodore E. Curtis

HEROES OF SCIENCE I. — Liebig By Pres. F. S. Harris and N. I. Butt, OF THE BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY "If we sum up in our minds all that Liebig did for the good of man- kind, in industries, in agriculture, and in the laws of health, we may con- fidently assert that no other man of learning, in his course through the world, has ever left a more valuable legacy behind him." Perhaps this statement made by von Hofmann is a little too enthusiastic, but be that as it may, the student of agriculture knows that he was the first one to correctly explain how plants grow and how we may increase crop yields by the use of fertilizers. Students of nutrition recognize that he was the first one to give us a firm foundation for judging the value of either human or livestock foods. All of the industries depending on the products of organic chemistry are likewise indebted to Liebig. We thus see that almost every phase of our lives has been influenced by the work of this investigator. A study of the life of Liebig indicates it to have been filled to the brim with activity. He was born in Germany in 1803 just when the principles of chemistry were beginning to be understood. His father being a dealer in dye-stuffs, Liebig early developed an interest in the experimental mixing of dyes in the laboratory. So interested was he in chemistry that he neglected his ordinary schooling to study books on this subject. By the age of fifteen Liebig had determined to become a chemist, and his father sent him to a neighboring town to learn to be a pharmacist. He was denied the very privilege he thought he would have in the pharmacy — that of experimenting in chemistry. How- ever, on his own initiative after work when most boys would have been out playing, many experiments were carried on during the ten months he spent there and so many explosions and other mishaps did he have while experimenting that his employer was glad when he left. Next he entered the University at Bonn in the hopes that he could do the experimenting he wished, but was disappointed to find that there were neither laboratories nor really fundamental courses in chem- istry. Soon he went to another university where conditions were somewhat better, although no experimentation was possible. How- ever, he became known here as an exceptionally brilliant chemistry student and when, at the age of 19, he obtained his degree, a grand duke provided the means for him to study chemistry in Paris where the greatest chemists of the day were located. Liebig had a charming personality which soon won for him the warm friendship of some of these world renowned chemists and he

HEROES OF SCIENCE 725 was soon delighted to be offered the privilege which he had so long desired, of working in the laboratories. His experience here was a great aid to him when he later had a laboratory of his own. Following his experience in Paris, he was given a professorship in the dull, little town of Giessen, Germany. Here his thorough edu- cation and training soon won for him a wide reputation. Students from all over the world came flocking to study chemistry under him. Several of his students afterward became world renowned. Almost as soon as Liebig settled in Giessen he persuaded the gov- ernment officials to do an unusual thing — build a laboratory for re- search in chemistry. While this was an unprecedented move, it was probably the most worthy thing these officials ever did because it stirred up an interest in chemistry which soon spread over all Ger- many, and chemistry was one of the big factors in building up the industries of that country. Before Liebig's time chemistry was looked upon somewhat the same as palmistry is today. It was a mysterious art which grew out of alchemy. After his time it was seen that thousands of chemical processes are going on about us. He brought to the attention of even the common people the fact that every time we breathe we are bring- ing chemical substances into the body and carrying off the new chemi- cal compounds made by it. From his analyses of the waste products he demonstrated that the foods taken into the body are burned the same as they would be in a fire. This idea was strongly opposed by the medical men of his time, but Liebig had the facts and stuck to his opinion until it was accepted by the whole world. Before Liebig's work began, medicine was compounded almost as crudely as the feed for livestock is proportioned today. He intro- duced scientific chemical methods by which the proportions can be mixed with exactness by any pharmacist. His analytic methods for organic chemistry helped to make possible the use of specific curative substances rather than the numerous herbs used formerly with uncer- tain results. It was because Liebig looked for the big fundamentals of any problem that he accomplished so much in a relatively short time. Almost from childhood he had been mastering the fundamentals of chemistry, and when it came time for him to teach and experiment he was not bothered by the little details of method; he looked for the big principles which governed more than a single point. It was through this larger point of view that he became the real father of organic chemistry. While others were busily engaged philosophizing on whether the humus theory of soil fertility was correct, Liebig decided to learn the facts first hand. He analyzed the plants, the air, and the soil and immediately put the results into the theory of soil fertility which still holds sway. But he was not satisfied with merely theory from chemi- cal analyses, he wanted to know how the theory worked out in prac-

726 IMPROVEMENT ERA tice. He induced wealthy men to start agricultural experiment sta- tions which have proved of such great value to practical agriculture. Modern scientific agriculture really dates back to 1840, the year when Liebig wrote his great paper which for the first time in the history of the world gave a clear understanding of the way in which the plant secures its food from the soil and the air. Liebig was very jealous for the safety of chemistry. He was always ready to defend this science from the attacks of those who tried to bring ridicule upon it. He performed innumerable experiments of great value purely to prove the truth of facts which had not been ade- quately backed. He wrote great volumes of papers explaining the facts he had discovered and defending his beloved science. Most men of sci- ence produce no more than a few dozen scientific papers, but Liebig wrote at least 318 himself and many more in collaboration with other scientists. His work shows what can be accomplished by a single individual without special facilities, if he only possesses sufficient de- termination and industry. Provo, Utah Mother Her eyes glow bright with clear soft light, A lambent flame of love; They call anew: let all be true And conquer wrong with right. They cheer the brave, give strength to save Some weaker soul from sin, 'Neath mother's eye each child will try The best in life to win. In all the lands 'tis mother's hands That guide the world aright, They help to bear each load of care And loosen Satan's bands. They guard the way, that souls who stray While in their tender youth, May upward move and faithful prove And cleave to light and truth. From heav'n above comes mother's love To teach man how to live; To whisper cheer, dispel his fear And all his sins reprove; * Till he in turn may live and learn To work and mould this clod, And 'bide the hour when love's sweet power Shall lift it- up to God. Phoenix. Arizona M. A. STEWART

w my' little grosbeak neighbor By Wreno Bowers I was riding along an old logging-road one evening, at that exquisite hour of the day when nature and the heart of man seem all compounded of peace. Before me the sinking sun gilded the western clouds, and the air filled suddenly with that marvelous soft, clear gleam that precedes the spring and summer twilight. On either side of the road, hiding among the green shadows of the wild tangle, the little shy woodlanders peeped out at me, or paused to regard me curiously as I rode past. Everywhere the air pulsed with spring-time jubilation. Thrushes were singing wondrously sweet, and from every dusky covert the pip- ing flute of the song sparrow rang out strong and beautiful. Wrens, chickadees, bluebirds, catbirds, warblers, and now and then rarer visitants, all joined in the vesper symphony; announcing the peace and gladness of the wilderness in every breast. As I passed through a woodsy dell, I loitered to watch the cool purple shadows creep down the western mountain into the little wild valley, and to listen to the celebrated bird music. Now, all up and down the canyon, the leafy groves tinkled with the lively chattering and spirited songs; the most delicate, the most musical, the most ecstatic and purest sound in all the world. Presently, among that ecstatic confusion of songs, I heard a new bird note, wonderfully clear and sweet. The song came from a dis- tance, but I dismounted and followed it until I finally stood within a few yards of the brilliant songster. The first glimpse of his elegant variegated attire won my admiration. Turning my opera glass upon the bird the first peculiar thing I noticed about him was that he had a heavy finch bill. The under parts were orange brown, brightening to lemon yellow on the middle breast and under wing -coverts. The upper parts were black with a brown collar and brown stripes on the head and back. The wings and tail were black, with two white bars on either wing, and white corners and white patches on the tail. Such a faultless full-dress is not often seen.

728 IMPROVEMENT ERA His song was a strong, rich, rolling carol, something like that of the robin in tone and melody, but much purer and finer in quality. It seemed to convey to the listener not so much of the bright good cheer of the robin, as a sort of wild delight, and pure joy, expressed with all the varied and touching tones of the nightingale. It was loud, clear, and liquid, with a swinging rhythm somewhat like the song of the tanager, but much longer and more exquisitely finished. For a long time the artist poured forth his joy in these superb, warbling notes, and was answered from several points of the compass by others of his kin. Then I began to perceive, that the air was ring- ing with these peerless melodies. How often before had this same song come unheeded to my ears? I had heard it perhaps a hundred times before, but had never really perceived and distinguished it until now! And when the bird flew past me, showing the white patches on his wings and tail, I wondered: How many times had these same colors been flashed unnoticed before my eyes? "Having ears, we hear not; and hearts, yet we do not understand." This was my first personal acquaintance with the black-headed grosbeak, although he is one of the finest bird vocalists of the West. He is very closely related to the elegant rose-breast of the East, and may be found in any suitable woodland from the plains to the Pacific. The nest, made of twigs, rootlets, and dry grasses, is loosely" built in shrubs near a stream of water, from fifteen to twenty feet above the ground. In the fall of the year they migrate to Mexico, to spend a pleasant winter under southern skies. The black-headed grosbeak may well be classed among the most useful and entertaining members of the feathered world. These tal- ented Western species include the black-headed grosbeak, mocking bird, water ouzel, hermit thrush, willow thrush, sage thrasher, canyon wren, "ruby-crowned kinglet, catbird, and chickadee. In some parts of the country the black-headed grosbeak is locally known as the "Pea bird" because of its fondness for peas; and it does some damage at times in gardens and orchards. These damages, however, are trifling compared with the good done in other directions. Their services to Western horticulture are so great that their destruction should not be consid- ered. The major part of their summer food consists of insects, among which are many of the greatest pests of woodland, orchard and garden. These include the codling moth, canker worms, flower-beetles, hairless Caterpillars, and scale insects. It is fond of beetles and their larva, particularly, those of leaf-eating and wood-boring species. In early spring the eggs and hibernating pupa of insects are taken from crevices in the bark of trees. They also eat grasshoppers and locusts as well as a number of -obnoxious weed seeds. Wherever this stylish Westerner appears he should be cordially welcomed; for not many birds have such beauty of plumage and song, and at the same time such useful habits. The next morning after making the acquaintance of the black-

MY LITTLE GROSBEAK 729 headed grosbeak I set out to learn more about my little friend. Near my summer camp was a woodland hollow with a stream of sparkling water singing through it. Here a whole colony of grosbeaks along with a number of other feathered folk, had gathered and were busily engaged in nest building. It was just the place for the lover of the primeval woods, because he has it all to his "lonesome," and because it is sure to reveal to him some of the new acts in Nature's drama. I soon discovered several grosbeaks' nests along the stream, but the one in the maple sapling, just below the waterfall, attracted me most because it furnished better opportunity for study. Then, too, I was more interested in these particular little builders because they showed me something about bird individuality that none of these roving sylphs of Nature had ever shown me before. The nest was not half completed when I first found it, and I spent many hours watching the little pair as they worked. Like most other birds when engaged in nest building, the female did the greater part of the work and the male did the celebrating. From sunrise till sunset the female was busy collecting material and shaping the nest, while the male whistled and sang and darted about, doing no useful work whatever. When his mate returned to the nest with new mate- rial he would sing and flutter about her, as if he were praising her for her diligence. Often I chuckled to myself as I observed their little whims and love quarrels; they reminded me so much of my neighbors. At times when, in excess of zeal, he would fly away and return with a solitary straw or twig, she would take it from his beak in a thankful manner and work it in with her own abundant collection, while he looked on with immense importance. When the material was finally arranged to suit her, she would fly straight away to the edge of the logging-road where material could be found in abundance, and he would start just as purposely in the opposite direction. But he could never fly over a maple tree without lighting in it to sing, and forget all about the work he had set out to do, until he heard his mate returning, calling gladly as she came. One day while watching these birds, I saw one of the most in- teresting little comedies I have ever witnessed in the woods. The female was out in search of new material and the male was perched on a twig near the nest, singing as usual. When he heard the call of his approaching mate, the lazy little scoundrel slipped up to the nest, hurriedly pulled out a beakful of straw and hopped to the other end of the branch. When his mate arrived he fluttered up and held them out to show her what good work he had been doing while she was abroad. She took the straws and began to weave them into the nest with her own, and in her busy, silent air, she seemed to praise him for his work. Twice in one day I saw him do this interesting little artifice without being caught. Although I admired him for his intelligence, I really wanted to see him discovered, just to see what would happen. But he was too wise to be caught, and he won sev-

730 IMPROVEMENT ERA eral compliments from his mate through his little trick of dishonesty, I give this little incident to show that birds have individual dif- ferences the same as man. This is identical with all animals; they not only differ in color and species, but the animals themselves are differ- ent. The other grosbeaks that I watched during the early part of the summer were shy, secretive and silent when near their nests. Al- though I watched them with more than ordinary interest, I noticed no marked difference in their character or disposition; while scarcely a day passed in the maple sapling without revealing some new or interesting trait in the birds. Later, when the female was brooding her eggs, the male showed a very different side of his character. When his mate left the nest to search for food, or to bathe in the shallows of the stream, he occupied the nest himself. I watched him closely when I found him incubating because I thought he might attempt to perform some more of his no- tions during the absence of his mate and desert the nest, but apparently he realized the importance of his task, for he never left the eggs while his mate was away. The only way I could distinguish them on the nest was by their color. The female was blackish brown above, chang- ing to bright buff or grayish below. I also noticed that he sang a different song from his ordinary melodious warble. It was low and sweet, and seemed intended for his mate alone; for I never heard him sing the exquisite little melody except when she was brooding her eggs and he was standing close beside her, as if whispering to her a secret. One moonlight night, while passing near the nest, I heard his faint, sweet song, so fine that it seemed like a silver thread of music blown from another world. The grosbeak was sitting on a maple twig, just over the nest of his brooding mate, as if he were asleep and was singing in his dreams. As the summer waned, his voice grew a little rusty, as most bird voices do, but there was still a tone of gladness in his warbling song. From the day I first discovered the nest until the young birds were led away by their parents to learn the ways of the world, I studied them, and lived with them, so to speak, until they became a part of my life and helped give tone and color to my day. Now, whenever I hear the grosbeak's warbling carol, I am instantly transported to the deep woods and cool retreats and I feel a secret yearning in my heart as he sits on the swinging bough and calls out to me cheerily, "All's well in the wilderness." Peoa, Utah