Passing Events

Senator Wm. H. King was denied admittance to Haiti as an "unde- sirable alien," March 12, 1927, on the alleged ground that he has made an attack upon the Haitian president in a speech in the U. S. Senate. Senator King has advocated the removal from Haiti of the American marines and this had possibly something to do with the refusal to let him land. The proposal of President Coolidge for another naval armament con- ference was rejected by Italy, Feb. 21, 1927, on the ground that naval, air, and military armaments are interdependent, and that there is need of uni- versality in international disarmament pacts, as well as on Italy's defensive needs due to her geographical position. A negative reply was received from France on Feb 15. Both France and Italy have, later, been invited to send "observers" to a three-power armament conference, consisting of the United States, Great Britain and Japan. The Salt Lake branch of the Federal Reserve Bank was opened for business on Feb. 21, 1927. The new home, which has been erected at the corner of South Temple and State streets, at a cost of $400,000, is a magnificent building. It stands on the site once occupied by the famous Gardo House. The removal included the transfer of $12,000,000 from the Deseret National Bank building. Valentine Gideon, former chief justice of the Utah supreme court, was appointed by Governor Dern, Feb. 19, 1927, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice J. E. Frick. He was first appointed to the supreme bench by Governor Simon Bamberger in 1917, and in 1918 was elected for an eight-year term on the Democratic ticket. Justice Gideon announced his retirement June 5, 1926, to take place at the end of the term. Across ithe Atlantic in the air, was the achievement of 'the Italian aviator, Commander Francesco de Piriedo, who arrived in Rio Janeiro, Feb. 26, 1927, on his "four-continent" flight. He was greeted by an im- mense throng. Enthusiastic welcomers crowded the fenders of the machine and hung wherever they could get a grip. They crowded ,so thickly that the police feared that the heat would suffocate the aviator and almost caused a 'fight to give him enough air. The Mounds Shearing Company's plant, near Price, Utah, was destroyed by fire, March 14, 1927. The loss is. estimated at $25,000. There was no water available, nor any fire apparatus with which to fight the flames, and the few people living there, mostly railroad employes, were helpless spectators of the destruction. The fire was discovered in the center of the roof and spread rapidly, fanned by a strong wind. The blaze was visible for miles around. The plant was built in 1916. An average of 50,000 sheep were clipped there every year. The 44th meeting of the Council of the League of Nations convened March 7, 1927, at Geneva, with Dr. Gustav Stresemann presiding. This is a tribute to the ability of the German statesman, no less than an acknowl- edgment of the importance of Germany in the League. Among the questions before the Council is a dispute between Hungary and Rumania concerning property rights of Hungarians in Transylvania, which territory now belongs to Rumania. The question is considered grave. Dr. Stresemann insists on speaking German in the meetings of the Council. Another disastrous earthquake was reported from Tokyo, Japan, on March 8, 1927, by which towns and villages were destroyed and enormous damage done to property. The first official figures gave 4,774 as the

5 74 IMPROVEMENT ERA number of dead, and 7,000 homes destroyed by the temblors and fires that followed. Among the victims is mentioned one Mrs. Glen Schultze from New York, one of many American tourists cruising in Japanese waters on board the 5. S. California. The greatest damage was reported from the Sanin district, which was the scene of the quake in 1925. Alexander Kerensky, the great Russian patriot, arrived in the United States, March 2, 1927, on the S. S. \Olympic, for a visit. Kerensky was met at the quarantine station by Kenneth N. Simpson, assistant United States attorney, and Nicholas Vinner, adjutant to Kerensky when he was in power. Vinner is now professor of Russian philosophy and literature at Columbia University. Simpson and Vinner had a brief private talk with Kerensky before he was met by the newspaper men. Vinner acted as inter- preter as Kerensky's familiarity with the English language is limited to the written word. Silverton and Eureka, Col., were reported snow-bound and isolated on March 6, 1927. The condition had then lasted for three weeks. An effort to assist the inhabitants, by Captain Floyd N. Shumaker and Lieut. E. W. Goss, failed when the huge DeHaviland airplane in which they left Denver early that morning with supplies, was unable to combat the severe storms which whipped the peaks of the Continental divide. Flying at an altitude of 14,000 feet, the intrepid aviators made five unsuccessful attempts to cross the barriers. Silverton and Eureka are mining towns in south- western Colorado. A biennial report of the Extension Service of the Utah Agricultural College, for 1925-26, entitled, "An Educational Service to Utah Farms and Rural Homes," has just been issued. It is a review of work done under various extension projects, as crop rotation, irrigation, crop improvement, home gardening, landscape gardening, recreation, boys' and girls' club work, farm building, kitchen improvements, etc., edited by P. V. Cardon, and distributed by William Peterson, director of the Extension Service of the Utah Agricultural College, Logan, Utah. There are 40 pages of pictures, charts, etc., each bearing upon an important phase of farm, home, or community problems. The Seventeenth Annual Invitation Track and Field Meet and Relay Carnival will be held at Brigham Young University April 29 and 30. A large group of high school girls and boys, junior college men, university and college freshmen, and junior high school boys is expected to take part in the competitions which are open to athletes from all schools who have good stand- ing in their own institutions. Last year more than 1,300 took part in the meet; 400 high school, junior high school, junior college men competed on the afternoon of Saturday. The numbers will be as great or greater this year, it is believed. A gold watch is given to the best all-round athlete and hundreds of dollars' worth of medals are given to winners. The 69th Congress expired, March 4, 1927 , by constitutional mandate. The senate failed to pass several appropriation bills previously approved. This was the result of a bitter fight over a resolution continuing the cam- paign funds committee, for the purpose of investigating the campaign ex- penses of certain senators. Every government agency, it is thought, will feel the pinch of lack of funds during the coming year. Failure of the deficiency measure struck the severest blow at government operations. This bill alone carried $93,700,000, including funds to pay pensions, to make loans to veterans on bonus certificates, to permit loans to farmers for purchase of seed and to meet numerous other contemplated activities. The McNary-Haugen farm relief bill was passed Feb. 17 by the U. S. House of Representatives in the form it had been approved by the Senate. The bill proposes the creation of a federal farm board with power to levy an equalization fee on six basic agricultural commodities for the purpose of controlling surpluses. By passing the measure, the house, in less than twelve

PASSING EVENTS 5 75 months, reversed its position, having by a vote of 212 to 167 last spring rejected a bill embodying the same general provisions. The senate, by passing the bill, 47 to 39, also reversed its position, , having rejected the equalization fee plan last year. The bill was later vetoed by President Coolidge. Two U. S. Army flyers met death, Feb. 26, 1927, at Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the end of the first, half of their good-will visit to the Americas. Captain Clinton F. Woolsey of Michigan, pilot of the Detroit and the squadron's maintenance officer, and Lieutenant John W. Benton of California, the relief pilot and youngest of the aviators, were skilled when the New York and Detroit collided in the air and crashed to earth. Major Herbert A. Dargue, flight commander and pilot of the New York, the flagship of the squadron, and Lieutenant Ennis C. Whitehead, his relief pilot, jumped from their machine and were landed by their parachutes safely. The journey will be continued, notwithstanding the tragedy. An address that was literally heard around the world, by the aid of radio, was delivered by President Coolidge before Congress on Feb. 22, 1927, on George Washington. The address was virtually the beginning of ar- rangements for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the nation's first chief in 1932. President Coolidge emphasized the fact that Washington, unlike most soldiers, was able to construct. "That he had around him many great minds does not detract from his glory. His was the spirit without which there would have been no independence, no union, no constitution, and no Republic." The address was heard by thousands in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, and by hundreds in the legislative halls of Utah, and in private residences all over the state. The skeleton of a prehistoric camel was found on a farm, six miles north of Holden, Millard Co., Utah, by one Mr. J. Siko, who was excavating for irrigation purposes. Dr. Fred J. Pack, of the University of Utah, was tele- phoned about the find, and he recognized the bones as those of a camel, an animal which roamed this continent about 500,000 years ago. The discovery was made Feb. 19, 1927. Mr. Siko was digging into a side hill following a seep and was at a depth of about fourteen feet in a formation of disintegrated yellow sandstone when he uncovered two teeth about two and one-half inches in width and apparently belonging to some herbiferous animal of ages gone by. Digging a little farther he encountered the ribs of the animal and brought them and the large teeth to Fillmore to tell the story of his find. The 1 7th legislature of Utah adjourned, March 10, 19 27, after having been in session since Jan 10. Congressman Don B. Colton was present and briefly addressed the House. He praised the legislators for their quick action against the Swing-Johnson bill, which he said would ultimately pass Congress, but with amendments protecting Utah's interests. Apart from the action on the Colorado river problem, many thought that the passage of Senator W. D. Candland's bill, abolishing the state department of finance and purchase, was the measure which would have the most far-reaching effects of the acts having their origin in the senate. Standing out among the house proposals that were enacted into law were the Stine bills, requiring the budgeting of the expenses of the state roads department, the securities com- mission, the department of public instruction and the fish and game depart- ment. Perhaps the house bills which caused the most widespread discussion were the measures repealing the Redd racing act and the three proposed acts, two amending the racing law, and the third drafted in an eleventh-hour effort to create a new racing commission before adjournment came. According to a suggestion made to Governor Dern, "the state of Utah is probably wide open for horse racing under the pari mutuel system without any regulation whatever. There is no law against racing, and the supreme court has decided that pari mutuel betting is not gambling, hence there is danger that the state has removed all restrictions."

576 | IMPROVEMENT ERA The last rock wall in the pioneer bore of the Moffat tunnel was blasted away Feb. 19, 1927, by 200 pounds of dynamite, set off by President Coolidge in Washington by pressing an electric key. The shot was fired at 8:10 p. m. (mountain time). Completion of the pioneer tunnel will hasten the work on the railroad tunnel which parallels it and strengthen the social and commercial bonds which link Colorado and Utah together, and open to development a new inland empire, rich in coal, minerals and agricultural lands. Mayor C. Clarence Neslen represented Utah on the occasion, and Governor W. H. Adams, the state of Colorado. By the building of the Moffat tunnel, the route between Denver and Salt Lake is reduced approximately 173 miles. To make this an accomplished fact, however, it will require, either the completion of the Denver and Salt Lake railroad from Craig westward, or the building of the cutoff, approximately 40 miles in length, to join the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad's line into Salt Lake City. Already the Inter-state Commerce Commission has approved the construction of such a connecting line. Southern California was flood-bound on Feb. 17, 1927, as the result of four days' unprecedented rain and snow. People were fleeing from Venice, Long Beach. Anaheim. Fullerton, Los Angeles, San Diego, and some other cities, and 5,000 persons stood homeless. The death list had reached 21. Property damage, it was reported, would mount to millions. In Los Angeles alone the damage to bridges was estimated at a million dollars. Gratitude For the mountains' lofty towers, With their crowns of glistening snow; For the dainty, sweet wild flowers, And the hills on which they grow; For the ever busy river Singing to its mossy banks, Dearest Lord, the gracious Giver, I will offer grateful thanks. For the valley's broad, rich bosom, Nourishing the fields of grain; For each spray, each bud and blossom; For the sunshine, clouds, and rain; For the fragrant, smiling meadows, For each blade, each bush and tree, For the brooks o'er-hung with willows, Lord, I offer thanks to thee. For the melodies descending From the high, breeze-fretted trees, Each soft strain so sweetly blending With the songs of birds and bees; And for all thy great creation, Vastly more than I can see While in this my lowly station, Lord, I offer thanks to thee. Logan, Utah SAMUEL B. MlTTON.