Passing Events

Ernest Vierkoetter, from Cologne, swam across the Channel, Aug. 30, in 12 hours and 42 minutes, beating Gertrude Ederle's record by 1 hour 41 minutes, which she made on August 6. Admiral Coundouriotis resumed \his office as president of the republic of Greece, on Aug. 26, from which position he was ousted about a year ago by General Pangalos. Condylis was made prime minister, and Pangalos was sent to a prison on the island of Crete. Earthquake partly destroyed the town of Horta, capital of the island of Fayal, of the central group of the Azores, Aug 31, 1926. The first shock occurred about 11 a.m. This was followed by a series of shocks, some of a minor nature, which affected both Fayal and (the neighboring islands, accompanied by a tidal wave that swept the small village of Feteira. The killed and wounded are estimated at 50. Later reports sav 25 were killed. Commander John Rogers, who was killed in an airplane accident, Aug. 27, 1926, was buried Aug. 31, in Arlington National cemetery, with military honors. A year ago he set out from San Francisco to attempt a flight to Hawaii, which ended in failure. He was just ending a flight from the Anacostia field and was trying to land, when he dropped into shallow water of the Delaware river. He was taken to the hospital of the Philadelphia navy yard, where he died. A Plane parachute is the invention of Henry A. Douchett, of the U. S. Navy. It is an immense umbrella, spreading 274 yards of silk. It was tested Aug. 25, at Los Angeles and declared to be a complete success. It will make aviation, it was said, absolutely safe. The test consisted in letting an airplane with its pilot fall from a height of 2,500 feet. The plane made a so-called "pancake" landing. Part of the undercarriage was} broken and a propeller blade snapped, but the pilot was safe. The experiment was wit- nessed by 25,000 spectators. A revolution was nipped in the bud when General Enrique Estrada, former war minister in Mexico, and over one hundred followers were cap- tured by American authorities near the Mexican border. Several trucks and a large amount of rifles, machine guns and ammunition were seized at Dulzura, 35 miles east of San Diego and 3 miles from, the Mexican border. The charge against Estrada is violation of the law prohibiting the organization of a military movement against a friendly country. It is not known whether or not the movement had the support of Catholic patriots. Earthquake shocks in England were felt on Aug. 15, 1926, in many places, including Birmingham, Worcester, Northampton, Wolverhampton, Leonminster, Ludlow, Hereford, Bristol, Bath, Reading and Peterborough. The shocks were (particularly heavy in Birmingham and Hereford. The first idea of the people in Birmingham was that an explosion had occurred in the manufacturing district. In some places ceilings and walls cracked and telephone and church bells rang. Many persons rushed to the streets when they heard the furniture in their homes creaking and saw pictures on the walls swinging, and for hours feared to return indoors. Rudolph Valentino died, Aug. 23, 1926, of blood poisoning, follow- ing an operation for appendicitis. He was born in a small Italian village, May 6, 1895, came to America in 1913, drifted west, got an engagement

1210 IMPROVEMENT ERA at a moving picture studio, and soon became famous, thanks to the young ladies, as a "sheik." Although he belonged to a church that frowns on divorces and pays high honor to single life, he was married and divorced twice, and, as the newspapers said, was about to take a third wife. But he died a good Catholic. After the extreme unction and the sacrament, he had a crucifix held to his lips, as the spirit reluctantly left the earthly tabernacle. Wm. Hoivell Mclntyre, veteran- rancher and property owner, passed away at his residence in Salt Lake City, Aug. 20, 1926, after a brief illness! He was born in Texas, March 19, 1848, and came to Utah when five years of age, in company with his mother, stepfather and two brothers, Robert and Samuel. The family settled first in Salt Lake City, but went, later, to St. George. At the age of 17, William started freighting, and made several trips to what is now Long Beach, California. Later in life he became in- terested in stock raising and mining, and he was so successful in these lines that at his death he ,was considered the largest individual property owner in the state. I The Locarno treaties of security and arbitration became operative Sept, 14, 1926, when the ratification of all the signatories were deposited with the Secretariate of the League of Nations. The representatives of the six interested nations assembled in the office of Sir Eric Drummond, the league secretary general, and attached their signatures to a protocol affirming the deposit and registration of the treaties. Afterward congratulations were exchanged. Those taking part in the ceremony were Sir Austen Chamber- lain, Great Britain; Foreign Minister Briand, France; Foreign Minister Stresemann, Germany; Signor Scialoia, Italy; M. De Brouckere, Belgium, and M. Zaleski, Poland. U. S. Senator Reed Smoot was given a rousing reception at the Utahna Gardens, Provo, Utah, Aug. 26, as a welcome home. Many friends from Salt Lake City and other places joined the people of his home town in expressions of friendship and confidence. In his speech the Senator reviewed the changes that have come during the years he has been in the senate, saying that in the last twenty years the United States had advanced to world leadership financially, morally and spiritually. He said that, although every step taken by the United States during and since the war has been to advance the peoples of the world to contentment, prosperity and confidence, this country had been bitterly and unjustly criticized. He predicted another world war, and warned against a state of unpreparedness. Glen G. Van Wagonen, born in Provo, June 27, 1899; died in Provo, Aug. 7, 1926, aged 27 years. A. B. of B. Y. U. at 20; teacher in Provo, Heber and Hinckley high schools; member of Columbia Orchestra, Provo City Elks Band and Epperson Military Band of Salt Lake City; teacher of violin and flute, Provo; served 28 months in German-Swiss mission; served in the training camps of California during world war; member faculty B. Y. U. for two years; at time of death was to take position as principal of Milford High School at salary of $250 per month. So young, so clean, so careful of the moment:, Not one in idleness to pass you by; So fitted for an earnest, helpful manhood! Was it your time to die? — Louise Foster. William J. Harris, a grandson of Hyrum Smith, the brother of the Prophet Joseph, passed away at his home in Provo, Utah, Aug. 24, 1926, 67 years of age. He was born in Salt Lake City, Aug. 4, 1859, the son of William J. and Martha Ann Smith Harris. Since he was 1 1 years old, when he, with his parents, moved to Provo, he has lived there. His wife is Jessie L. Freckleton, of Eureka, whom he married Dec. 22, 1 882. \ In

PASSING EVENTS 1211 addition to his widow, Mr. Harris is survived by the following sons and daughters: Joseph F., John E., Rulon S. and LeGrand Harris, all of Provo; Mrs. Ruby Checketts of Brigham City, Wilford L. Harris of Los Angeles, Mrs. Bessie Thompson of Idaho Falls, Mrs. Ada Duffin and Mrs. Alice Bray of Eureka; also twenty-nine grandchildren, two brothers and four sisters. Wool facts give Utah high rank. Sixty per cent of the total wool crop of the United States is produced in the eleven western states, and in this group Utah holds third place, being out-ranked by only Wyoming and Montana. These facts are disclosed by a special wool report recently sub- mitted by the federal bureau of agricultural economics to Prof. William Peterson, director of the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station and the Agricultural College Extension Service. The total United States clip for 1926 is given by the federal statisticians as 269,054,000 pounds as against 253,907,000 pounds for 1925, a difference of 15,147,000 pounds more this year than last. Utah and Idaho, among all states of the Union, tied for third place in average weight of fleece in 1926. Each average 9.0 pounds per fleece, against 9.2 for Oregon and 9.1 for Washington. The average for the eleven western states was 8.1 for 1926 as against 8.4 for 1925. The average for the United States was 7.79 in 1926 and 7.8 in 1925. The South Atlantic States averaged lowest in 1926, with 5.1 pounds per fleece, compared with 7.4 for the North Atlantic, \7. 9 for the North Central, and 6.9 for the South Central. Miami, Fla., was devastated by the most destructive hurricane in the history of the State, September 18, 1926. Other towns in the stricken area are Miami Beach, Homestead, Little River, Lemon City, Hialeah, Miami Shores, Coral Gables, Ojus, Hallandle, Hollywood Davie Dania, Fort Lauder- dale, Prospecto, Florando, Pompeno, Deerfield, and West Palm Beach. The property loss is estimated at $125,000,000, and the loss of life is placed at over 1,000, while thousands are homeless and destitute. The wind blew at the rate of 145 miles an hour, sweeping everything before it. Hundreds of small craft lining river banks at Miami and adjacent cities were sunk without a moment's warning, or crushed like egg shells when the fury of the storm struck inland after razing Miami Beach and Miami Shores. Tops of houses were strewn about the exclusive residential district of Brickneli avenue at Miami, and prominent citizens and their wives ran amok into the sea to escape flying ash cans and royal palm trees, tossed about as if mere sheets of paper. Cooperative marketing in Canada. The fanners in the three prairie provinces of Western Canada have one of the largest cooperative marketing systems in the world, which is represented by the Canadian Cooperative Wheat Producers, Ltd. The movement was started in 1923, under the direction of H. W. Wood, when the Alberta Weat Pool was organized, and handled that year thirty-four million bushels of wheat. The success of the Alberta pool caused the Manitoba and Saskatchewan farmers to organize similar pools, and during the year 1924 a conference of the directors of the three western wheat pools was called, and a central agency established to handle the wheat of the three pools. Ninety million bushels of the 1924 crop were handled through this agency. The outgrowth of the central agency was the Canadian Wheat Producers, Ltd., which handled two hundred million bushels of the 1925 crop. The wheat pools are exporting wheat to all the great wheat markets of the world, and are rapidly acquiring elevators to facilitate the handling of the wheat, having now more than six hundred in the three prairie provinces, also terminal-elevator space of twenty million bushels. — E. Pingree Tanner. What it costs to maintain the state governments in the 48 states of the Union is shown in figures published by the department of commerce, Washing-

1212 IMPROVEMENT ERA ton. For the fiscal period closing Jan. 31, 1926, or the first fiscal period clos- ing prior to that date, the expense amounted to $1,035,478,035. This in- cludes apportionment for education, and bonus for soldiers in 21 states. This is $9.20 per capita. In Utah the expenses for the same period were 7,611,- 204, or $15.48 per capita. In 1924 the comparative perjcapita for main- tenance and operation of general departments in Utah was $13.02, and in 1917, $8.41. The interest on debt amounted to $468,089; and outlays for permanent improvements, $2, 501, 597. The total payments, therefore for expenses of general departments, interest, and outlays were $10,580,890. The totals include all payments for the year, whether made from current revenues or from proceeds of bond issues. Of the governmental costs reported above, $3,152,849 was for highways, $829,982 being for maintenance and $2,324, 867 for construction. The total revenue receipts were $10,811,- 835, or $21.98 per capita. This was $2,735,542 more than the total pay- ments for the year, exclusive of the payments for permanent improvements, and $230,945 more than the total payments including those for permanent improvements. Water Core and Internal Browning. In a circular issued by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, under date of September 11, 1926, attention is called to a disappointing condition in apples, known as "water core." This is the combination of two troubles — internal browning and water core — apparently associated with each other, and easily confused. They are brought about by practically the same conditions and yield to similar treatment, and are classed under the one name. Water core in Utah-grown Jonathans is a serious handicap to the marketing of the crop, as apples thus affected are not permitted to pass the U. S. grades, and interstate shipments have been condemned. Similar but less trouble has been experienced with Delicious, Winesap, Staymen, Spitzenburg and other varieties. The most successful method found, thus far, for preventing the trouble is to pick the apples before this condition starts; and if water core is to be avoided this year, the picking of Jonathan and Delicious must begin very soon. The Utah Agri- cultural Experiment Station has begun some preliminary studies of apples in Cache, Boxelder and Weber counties, for the purpose of working out accurate picking indexes. Anyone interested may get a copy of the circular referred to, and other valuable information on the subject, by writing to the Experiment Station at Logan, Utah. One of the largest pumping plants in the West has been installed by the Park Utah Consolidated Mines Co. This new pumping plant constitutes an innovation in handling mine water and is more than a duplication at the old Ontario mine. The famous Cornish pump of the Ontario mine, pur- chased in 1881 at a cost of $137,000 and installed at a total expense of $750,000, was the largest of its type ever set up in the United States. It had a flywheel 35 feet in diameter, weighing fifty tons. Its high pressure cylinders were 38% inches in diameter and its low pressure 70 inches. The 1500-foot pump rod consisted of Oregon fir 1 6 by 16 inches, cut in 100- foot sections. Each section was united by a one by ten-inch strap iron 35 feet long, specially rolled and made in Norway out of Norway iron. Balance bobs to counterbalance the enormous weight of this pump rod were put in at intervals of 400 feet down the shaft. Th^ monster engine was set up on a forty-foot deep foundation. Over 7000 cubic yards of masonry work was done in installing the pump. The pumping plant in the 1800 level of the Park-Utah, just put in operation, will handle approximately three times as much water as the old Colossus of the '80s. It is housed in a station 28 by 35 feet. The pump and engine room of the Cornish pump was 58 by 48 feet. The operation of the new pump is practically automatic, while the Cornish pump required the constant attention of a "small army" of pumpmen, engineers, firemen and mechanics.

PASSING EVENTS 1213 Germany entered the League of Nations, Sept. 8, 1926, by unanimous vote of the Assembly, in session at Geneva. A German delegation was at once dispatched from Berlin, to take its place among the other delegates of the League, as the representatives of Germany. Undoubtedly this is an historic event of far-reaching importance. It means that the international questions of Europe will be discussed in the councils of the League, backed by international law and a world court, instead of by diplomats with engines of massacre to emphasize their arguments. It makes it possible to remove all European disputes from the domain of murderous violence to the realm of reason. Germany will try to obtain mandates, in order to provide homes for her surplus population. She desires to obtain Eupin and Malmedy from Belgium, but by purchase. She would like to regain possession of the Saar district, with its rich mines, but by purchase, and she desires that the military control now exercised by the war allies be overtaken by the League. This is a vast program, and if the League has the ability to solve the problems, its existence as the greatest engine of peace, second only to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is assured. Spain has decided to withdraw from the League, because its demand for a permanent seat in the Council has not been promised. Brazil adopted the same baby tactics, some time ago. But it takes two years from the date of notification to get out of the League and in two years many things may happen. However, it is not sure that the withdrawal of the two countries mentioned is a detriment to the League. Dr. Samuel H. Allen, a prominent Utah physician and surgeon passed away at his home in Salt Lake City, Aug. 30, 1926. He was born in Mount Pleasant, Utah, July 15, 1862, the son of pioneer parents. He graduated from the Utah University, in 1881, attended the Brigham Young Academy for post-graduate work, and then went to the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Md., where he graduated in 1890. After serving his interneship in Baltimore, the young doctor returned to his birthplace, where he practiced his profession for two years. He performed a Wonderful operation in 1891. Henley Painter, a child of 2 years, suffered the loss of his foot by a mowing machine. Dr. Allen was called, and, racing to the child's home in his buggy, a trip which occupied san hour, he replaced the foot and sewed on all the toes except one which had been burned when the stocking of the injured limb was destroyed. The operation necessitated the loss of the ankle joint, but so perfect was the surgery that the child in due time was able to walk. Dr. Allen, during the period from 1907 until the middle of April, this year, when he was taken ill, continued to devote himself to study and improvement, and by virtue of this and his natural ability, came to be looked upon as one of the leading doctors. Widely known for his generosity in giving aid wherever and however he could, Dr. Allen was regarded by his friends and associates as a man of sterling worth and character. In addition to his widow, Mrs. Ida Lowry Allen, Dr. Allen is survived by a son, Dr. M. Lowry Allen, and four daughters, Mrs. Emma McAllister and Mrs. Ruth Kerr, both of Salt Lake; Mrs. Ethel Brewster of Washington, D. C, and Miss Marjorie Allen of Salt Lake. Dr. Charles W. Eliot, the famous president emeritus of Harvard, passed away, Aug. 22. at his home at Northeast Harbor, Me., 92 years of age. He presided at the great institute of learning from 1869 till 1909. On the celebration of his 90th birthday he received felicitations from educators all over the world. One of his latest public utterances was a defense of the Volstead act against President Butler, of the Columbia University. In 1924 he disputed the "melting pot" theory of Zangwill, and maintained that American citizens of all origins ought to keep their dictinctive racial heritages. He deplored, when the war broke out, the failure of "institutional Christianity" to avert conflict. In 1920, he vigorously defended the League of Nations against its assailants. Hc was born in Boston, Marcri ?0, 1834,

1214 IMPROVEMENT ERA and graduated from Harvard in 1853. At the age of 24 he became pro- fessor of chemistry at Harvard. As president, the young Eliot set afoot so many reforms that Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes exclaimed: "He is turning the university over like a flapjack." Forty years later, when he resigned his post at his own insistence, he saw many of the reforms which he had introduced adopted throughout the country, and found himself so well established in the esteem of his countrymen that when President Taft offered him the post of ambassador to the court of St. James, in March, 1909, the press of the country was unanimous in applauding the choice as that of a most representative American citizen. But Dr. Eliot declined, saying that he preferred to spend the evening of life in a serenity that only freedom from responsibility could give. Dr. Eliot had his own ideas on many sub- jects, but he was universally acknowledged as one of the outstanding figures of this age and generation. Disastrous floods swept ten states on Sept. 16, 1926, carrying death, privation and suffering from the rain-swollen streams and rivers. Thousands of acres of land were under from 1 to 20 feet of water, and the damage was estimated at $15,000,000. Hundreds of families were driven from their homes. Dams and levees have been broken down in many places. The states affected are, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, South Dakota and Indiana. The Lamp Lighter "I got a real kid-thrill watching a big fellow save a moth's life last night. If these lines give you the picture I got, and you can use them, do so. I just asked a boy if they meant anything to him and he said, 'GOSH NO!' " He would kill 'em in the open, Same as any other man; But when he saw one flutter, In a lamp light round the gutter, And heard the spit and sputter — That meant S. O. S. to him. Then he climbed the pole — Unconscious like — A frantic Moth to free; An' all the time a-thinkin' He was keepin' it from me. Oh, he'd kill 'em in the open, With his hat — the same as me; But when he saw one burnin' He was up to set it free. Anonymous.