Passing Events

Judge Ben B. Lindsay was ousted from his position in the juvenile court in Denver, July 1. Last winter the Colorado supreme court ruled that he was illegally elected. The French ambassador, M. Herrick, laid the proposed treaty with France to outlaw war before Secretary Kellog, July 7, 1927. He was assured that the proposal would be given the most careful consideration. The conference on limitation of naval armaments, convened, at the invitation of President Coolidge, at Geneva, June 20, 1927. The United States, Great Britain and Japan were represented by delegates, and France and Italy by "observers." An L. D. S. chapel is to be erected at Ely, Nevada, to cost $50,000. The excavation for the foundations has already commenced, according to a report by Elder Orson F. Whitney, who attended conference there July 9 and 10, 1927. The chapel will face the public park and have as a neighbor the city high school, in the most desirable part of town. The wreckage of an airplane has been found in the mouth of the Amazon river, according to a dispatch, June 20, 1927, from Rio Janeiro. The wreckage consisted of a raft made of an airplane wing, and was sup- posed to reveal the fate of the French aviators, Captain St. Roman and M. Mouneyres, who left St. Louis, Senegal, May 5, for Pernambuco, Brazil. King Ferdinand of Rumania, the last of the Hohenzollern family to reign in a Balkan state, died early July 20, 1927. His 5 -year-old grandson, Michael, has been proclaimed king under the regency of his uncle, Prince Nicholas, archbishop of Rumania and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It is predicted that the death of the King opens an era of political trouble for the country. Senator Reed Smoot arrived home on July 5, coming west in response to an invitation to visit President Coolidge at his summer residence in North Dakota. The Senator did not think politics would be discussed, but that the visit would be merely a social one. Improvement in the conditions of the health of Mrs. Smoot, the Senator said, made it possible for him to make the western trip at this time. A special session of Congress was discussed. Henry Ford retreats in the battle against the Jews, according to a copy- righted article in the New York American, July 7, which states that he has ordered the Dearborn Independent to discontinue all articles hostile to the Jewish people. Mr. Ford has, it seems, become "fully aware of the virtues of the Jewish people as a whole, of what they and their ancestors have done for civilization and for mankind * * * their benevolence and their unselfish interest in the public welfare." The second conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations opened July 15, 1927, at Honolulu, for the purpose of discussing unofficially matters of interest to the countries bordering on the Pacific ocean. Delegates from the United States, Great Britain, Japan. China, Australia and some smaller countries were in attendance. Such questions as resources of the countries, their aspirations, race migrations, communications, etc., are on the program. The first conference was held two years ago. The Granite Stake of Zion has an employment bureau. During June 174 person were given work. The organization comprises each ward in the stake, with a local committee in each and a central organization, to

9 34 IMPROVEMENT ERA which all having work to be done are expected to give notice, and to which those desiring work may apply. No charges are made for the service. The stake people are in this way looking after the welfare of those who are unemployed, and much good is accomplished through the organ- ization. Cigarette smoking caused the death of six persons, July 8, 192/V, at Vancouver, B. C, when the seven-story Royal Alexandra apartment house was partly destroyed by fire. The supposition is that a painter, who was working in a vacant suite on the fourth floor and smoking, dropped sparks which ignited a can of liquid with which he was removing the paint from the floor of the corridor. It was he that turned in the alarm. He told the police that the flames suddenly enveloped the hallway and drove him to seek safety in flight. The No-Tobacco League of America will hold its twelfth annual con- vention at Winona Lake, Indiana, August 15 and 16. The organization, which is national, is devoted to a thorough study of the tobacco problem, with the purpose of finding a sane, practical solution of it. Its work is practically one of education. Its motto is, "Let us keep the young folks clean from the blight of nicotine; let us teach the youth the truth about tobacco." Write to Charles M. Fillmore, general secretary, The No-Tobacco League of America, 821 Occidental Building, Indianapolis, Ind., for further information. Disastrous cloudbursts and floods were reported, June 28, 1927, from Price, Carbon Co., Utah. More than a dozen homes were wrecked, railroad and automobile travel was paralyzed for twenty-four hours, and mines and pipe lines were damaged, according to a check made today of the toll taken in Carbon county Monday night and Tuesday by cloudbursts and floods. The Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad suffered damage to its main and branch lines running into the thousands of dollars and will require from one day to two weeks to repair. The pope speaks. In an allocation, June 20, 1927, Pope Pius XI intimates that he may excommunicate the French Catholics who support Leon Daudet, French Royalist, who has been attacking the Vatican. Con- cerning Mexico, the pope eulogizes the stand taken by the clergy, and scores the "rulers" generally for not rendering their countries "immune from the danger of the public and secret circulation of subversive theories of all kinds which filter like poison through the nations." A new stake was organized at a conference held in Oakland, Cal., July 10, 1927. President Rudger Clawson, Elder George Albert Smith, of the Council of the Twelve, and President Jos. W. McMurrin, of the California mission, were in attendance. The new stake will be known as the San Francisco stake. Elder Wallace Aird McDonald was chosen president, with John Edward Johnson and Clyde W. Lindsay as counselors. President McMurrin says there are now 11,000 members in the California stakes; 4,000 in the new stake and 7,000 in the two Los Angeles stakes. Utah is well represented at the Nevada Transcontinental Highways expo- sition, at Reno, Nevada. The exhibit is located in the south portion of the automotive palace, and the exhibitors include the agricultural and horticul- tural departments of the state; the Utah mental hospital; the Utah industrial school and some fifty-six individual exhibitors. Over the entrance to the space is a huge electrically lighted arch, at the top of which is the great seal of the state, done in gold, the seal standing out in relief. The beehive, typical of industry and the state's greatest advertising asset, has a prominent place. The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii awoke to activity, July 7 , and poured streams of lava from its crater. The earth trembled, fountains of fire played upon the slopes of the mountain, and three rivers of molten lava ran from

PASSING EVENTS 93 5 the fire pit, forming a blazing lake miles across. Warning of the im- pending eruption was registered by the seismograph of the observatory at the crater rim, which recorded four slight tremors of the earth two hours preceding midnight. An earthquake at Hilo, thirty miles from the volcano, awoke few residents at 3:21 a. m., and they gazed upon a beautiful but awe- inspiring sight. John Drew, "the dean of actors," died at a hospital in San Francisco, on July 9, 1927, after 39 days of illness of arthritis, rheumatic fever and septic poisons. Brief, simple services were held in the secluded little Cypress Lawn crematory chapter a few hours after Mr. Drew's death, because it was explained that Mrs. Louise Devereaux, the actor's daughter, was on the verge of collapse after her long vigil at the bedside of her father. The services were attended only by the three relatives who were with Mr. Drew when death came, Mrs. Devereaux, her husband, Jack Devereaux, and John Barrymore of Hollywood, the actor's nephew. High wind caused considerable damage in Gila Bend, Ariz., and other places in that state on July 7, 1927. A Catholic .church was literally picked up by the wind. It was hurled across the street and deposited in the front yard of a residence. The edifice, of fairly light construction, had stood in Gila Bend for several years. Rains, almost torrential in violence, accompanied by the extremely high winds and electrical disturbances, swept the central portion of the state, and apparently extended across the entire state. Property damage is estimated at thousands of dollars. The water users' power system, leading to Phoenix from Roosevelt, Horse Mesa and Mormon Flat dams, was demoralized by the worst storm in Arizona for years. A severe earthquake affecting Palestine and Transjordania was reported from Jerusalem, July 11, 1927. Twenty-six persons were killed and thirty injured in the Jerusalem district. The Hebrew university was considerably damaged. Part of the roof collapsed. Falling houses killed four children on the Mount of Olives and five women at Ain Karim, the birthplace of John the Baptist, according to tradition. It is feared that the famous ruins of Gerasa (Jerash) may have suffered. In the fourth century Gerasa was considered one of the largest towns in Arabia. Private reports state that the famous Church of the Sepulchre was damaged. After the quake the streets of Jerusalem were filled with excited crowds, who refused to reenter their homes. The postoffice was besieged with people telegraphing friends and awaiting news. One hundred and fifty persons perished on July 9. 1927, in a rainstorm flood, which swept a number of towns and villages in Saxony, Germany, and caused damage to property estimated at 12,000,000 marks. The stricken areas include two valleys in the favorite tourist district along the Elbe and its tributaries, the Mueglitz and Gottleuba rivers, in the so-called Saxon Alps, with Pirma, well known to American tourists, as a center and including Glashuette, the center of the celebrated German watch industry where a 400-year-old stone bridge, the pride of the city, was washed away. Rail traffic was completely paralyzed throughout the area and telephone com- munication was reestablished only with great difficulty. The disaster came so swiftly it was impossible for many of the victims to take refuge on their housetops or to find other means of escape. Commander Richard E. Byrd and crew left Roosevelt Field, New York. June 29, 1927, at 5:24 a. m., eastern daylight time, in the three-motored monoplane America, for Paris, France. He was accompanied by Bert Acosta. flight pilot; George Norville, flight engineer, and Bernt Balchen, passenger and relief man. On July 1, it was learned that the America had been forced down and was wrecked at 5:45 a. m., French time, at Ver-sur-Mer, a seaside resort, 175 miles west of Paris and about 30 miles from Havre. The fliers were reported safe. According to the figures published, Commander Byrd made 3.812 miles from New York to Ver-sur-Mer in 42 hours, or according

93 6 IMPROVEMENT ERA to another calculation, 43 hours, 21 minutes. Chamberlin and Levine were also in the air about 42 hours. They covered approximately 3,790 miles. Lindbergh covered 3,610 miles in 3 3 hours and 29 minutes. Hial Bradford Hales died in the hospital at Lehi, Utah, May 7, 1927. He was a son of George G. and Tryphena Bradford Hales; born October 8, 1869. He has been a prominent member of the Church, and has been an active worker in the various parts of the State in which he has lived. He la- bored as a missionary in New Zealand for nearly four years. He has been a constant reader of the Improvement Era from the beginning; and has given, from time to time, yearly subscriptions to the magazine to his friends. During the last four years he resided in Windsor ward, Alpine stake. His services to the Church will stand as a monument to his memory. He is survived by his wife, Mary Brown Hales, formerly of Provo, and the following children: Mrs. Nida Bradley, of Sparks, Nevada; H. Brown, Reed B., Kona Mae, Leo P., Thora and Don G. Hales, of Windsor ward, Orem, Utah. Mabel Mayer, a Latter-day Saint girl of 15, of the Elmhurst branch. San Francisco district, was killed in a most cruel and tragic manner, neai her home in Oakland, on the night of Saturday, July 2, 1927. She had been visiting at the home of her uncle, Chris. A. Mayer, where her mother was caring for an infant child. After telephoning to her father, John E. Mayer, that she was leaving for home, she boarded the car as usual. No more was heard of her until her mutilated and beaten body was found by two workmen laboring in a yard behind a deserted house. The murderer has not yet been apprehended. Miss Mayer is reported to have been of the very highest moral character; and had not missed attendance at Sunday school in the Elmhurst branch for five years. Funeral services were held in Oak- land. California, and the remains interred in the Evergreen cemetery. — Bob Allen. San Francisco District, Calif. Off for Honolulu. Lieutenants Lester J. Maitland and Albert Hegen- berger left Municipal Airport, Oakland, Cal., June 28, 1927, at 7:09 a. m., for Honolulu. At 10:45 p. m. the Federal Telegraph Co., Portland, Ore., learned by radio that the plane had been sighted 900 miles southeast of Honolulu. The message was tffmed at 9 p. m. Pacific coast time. The expected air race to the Hawaiian Islands failed to materialize when Ernest Smith, piloting a civilian plane, was forced to return to the airport after having taken off more than two hours later than the Fokker machine. The air deflector on Smith's plane was damaged and, before a new one could be fixed, the navigator, Charles Carter, decided it was too late to start, as the army plane had almost five hours' lead. Lieutenants Maitland and Hegen- berger arrived in Honolulu at 8:59 a. m., June 29, Pacific time, having finished their journey over the water, of 2,400 miles, in 25 hours and 50 minutes. Mrs. Eliza Porter Clark died at her home in Farmington, on Sunday. June 12, 1927. She was born in Porterville, Morgan county, October 22, 1862, the daughter of Alma and Minerva Deuel Pofter. She was married to Hyrum D. Clark, in 1880, and soon after their marriage they went to Georgetown, Jdaho, then in 1888 to Oakley, Idaho; later to Star Valley, Wyoming, where they resided for twenty years, and where Mrs. Clark was president of the Primary and Relief Society, respectively; and in 1908 the family moved to Farmington, which has since been their home. She was the mother of thirteen children, six boys and seven girls, twelve of whom are still living, with forty-two grandchildren living. Her four eldest sons have been -on missions and all have been useful in Church activities. Mrs. Clark was an active Church worker and the president of the Y. M. M. I. A. and Genealogical Society, at Farmington, also a constant temple worker. She was of a sweet and sunny disposition and helped many down-hearted and discouraged people. — Herbert D. Clark.