--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 31 number: 2 published: 1927-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, “Passing Events,” *Improvement Era* 31, no. 2 (December 1927): 176–178." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3102unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera3102unse start_page: 176 end_page: 178 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1927-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3102unse publication_year: 1927 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1927, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Passing Events The tunnel under the Hudson river between New York and Jersey City, was opened Nov. 12. 1927. The tunnel is 9,250 feet long and runs 72 feet below the bed of the river. It has taken seven years to construct it, and the cost is $48,000,000. The formal open- ing required only the touch of President Coolidge on a telegraph key at Washington to draw aside two American flags at the en- trance of the twin tubes of the tunnel and open the greatest underway boulevard in the world to the official party of the state's gov- ernor. 130 mayors and 15.000 other guests. Two tubes, each with a road width of 20 feet, have a capacity for 3.800 cars hourly. The tunnels are paved with granite block brilliantly illuminated and supplied with a complete change of air 42 times per hour by 84 ventilating fans. To restrict divorces is the aim of a move- ment in the Presbyterian church in the United States, launched Nov. 13, 1927, by the dis- tribution from headquarters in Philadelphia of a document, in which it is urged that the church recognize only one cause for divorce, viz., adultery. If that principle is adopted, divorce would not be granted for desertion, for instance; or for "cruelty," or for "in- compatibility of temper," or "failure to sup- port," etc. Distribution of the document for discussion among the churches was authorized bv the general assembly at San Francisco last May, and the report has been in preparation since. Final action is to be taken at the next general assembly in Tulsa, Okla., in May, 1928. The total net revenue from the Panama Canal, for the last fiscal year, is placed at $18,131,819. The number of ships that passed through were 6,072, or 16.6 ships per day. Armistice day, Nov. 11, was observed all over the country with exercises in memory of the victims of the world war, who were slain on the various battlefields. President Coolidge placed a wreath on the grave of the unknown soldier at Arlington. Canadians presented "a cross of sacrifice" in memory of American soldiers who were killed in the Canadian service, and the Canadian troops were parad- ing Washington streets, bearing arms. Memorial services were held as usual in honor of Woodrow Wilson, the "war president." In Utah the day was observed, generally under the direction of the posts of the American Legion. Job Newton, Springfield, Mo., died in that EVENTS city, Nov. 4, 1927, at the age of 102 years. He is said to have been the first man to enter Salt Lake City with a wagon train, during the California gold rush. "Uncle Job." as he was called, lived in Kansas City and St. Louis when those cities were Indian trading posts, having gone to St. Louis in 1836. When gold was reported in the hills of C-.lifornia, he commanded two wagon trains which trav- eled across the country to the west coast. He came to Springfield shortly afrerward and entered the brokerage business and continued in this capacity until five years ago. when he sold his interests to a new corporation. A series of earthquake shocks along the California coast interfered with the railroad traffic, on Nov. 4, 1927, over the Southern Pacific line north of Santa Barbara, and shook the inland town of Santa Maria. The tremors continued all day. The earth tremors appar- ently were heaviest in the vicinity of Honda, a rockbound point thirty-five miles north of Santa Barbara. It was here Southern Pa- cific tracks were thrown out of alignment. Trains were delayed for some hours and later they proceeded at a slow speed. Ships at sea were rocked, the Mackay radio station reported. The steamer Los Angeles radioed two shocks were felt after noon. The shocks vibrated the entire steamer, which at that time was twenty-five miles north of Point Arguello, Santa Barbara county. At Santa Maria five shocks were felt in five hours, the second of which, at 5 :49 a. m., was the most severe. Stones in the Masonic hall were dislodged and fell into the street, while a few plate glass windows were cracked. Chief Justice Wm. H. Taft. in an address before the National Crime commission. Wash- ington, D. C. Nov. 2. 1927, declared that the American legal system must be reformed. New trials, he said, should never be granted, except for injustice, and the practice of selecting juries of weak intelligence must be abolished. "Exemption from jury service ought to be cut down, and society ought to be able to secure a jury that approaches the issues with a sense of its obligation to enforce the law without fear or favor, and with intelligence enough to learn from the judge what the law is and to weigh the evidence with reference to its violation." Russia decides to participate in the delibera- tions of the League of Nations disarmament commission on Nov. 30, according to an announcement from Paris, dated Nov. 1, 1927. That means that all the great powers of the world, including the United States, will be PASSING EVENTS 177 represented on that commission, and that every excuse for failure to agree on some practical plan for the reduction of military forces of the world is deprived of any real foundation. It has always been said that no disarmament plan can be adopted until all the powers agree on it. The opportunity for a general agree- ment is now at hand. Marriages for five years only is the brilliant idea of a jurist of the Los Angeles superior court "in order to adjust book law to current usage." according to an Associated Press dis- patch from Los Angeles dated Nov. 1, 1927. The contract should be renewable, he suggests, at the end of the five-year period. If it is not renewed, the division of the property and custody of the children would be settled bv the courts We used to think that mar- riages "until death do you part" were too short, but five-year marriage contracts! Crime and criminals are increasing faster than the population, according to figures pub- lished by the department of justice, Oct. 31, 1927. The total prison population in federal prisons, at the end of the last fiscal years, was 18.788. as compared with 8.927 in 1918. The increase in the prison population the last nine years has been 110 per cent, while the entire population, during the same time, has increased only 20 per cent. The most striking increase was found in narcotic law violations, which jumped from 299 in 1918 to 2116 in 1927. Next in order were violation of the Volstead act, with 2040 prisoners. Violation of another recent law, the motor vehicle theft act, stood third on the list. Maximilian Harden, famous German news- paper man, died suddenly, Oct. 30, 1927, at Montana-Vermala, Switzerland, after an attack of bronchitis. It is said of him that he caused more uneasiness to the former royalty of Ger- many and men who occupied political positions during the regime of the former kaiser than any other man or agency in Germany. He hated the former war lord more and feared him less, than any other German subject; was violently opposed to the kaiser, and never permitted to pass an opportunity to criticise and attack the ruler and those associated with him in the government. His newspaper. Die Zukunft. was widely read and extensively quoted both in Germany and abroad. Shotom Schwartzbard, a Ukrainian Jew. charged with the murder of General Petlura. was acquitted by a French jury, Oct. 27, 1927. It was shown during the trial, that Schwartz- bard believed that Petlura was responsible for the massacre of thousands of Jews in Ukrania during the years 1918-20, and that Schwartz- bard had slain the general in order to avenge the murder of his countrymen. With this object in view, he tracked his victim from place to place, until on May 29, 1926. he found his chance, in Paris, to pour the lead into his body and end his life. There seems to be great joy and satisfaction in Jewish circles over the acquittal of the slayer. He is regarded as a hero, a blood avenger, and the murder he committed was. it is said, an act of "higher justice," and the jury, seemingly, took the same view, and that suggests the ques- tion whether there is in France, or any civil- ized community, a "higher justice" than that entrusted to the administration of the legal authorities. John F. Bowman was elected mayor of Salt Lake City. Nov. 8, 1927. with a total of 17,795 votes. His competitor Mayor C. Clarence Neslen. received 15,216 votes. Mr. Charles N. Fehr and commissioner T. T. Burton were elected with 21.351 and 15.219 votes, respectively. The cornerstones of the L. D. S. taber- nacle at Twin Falls, Idaho, were laid Oct. 23, .President Wm. T. Jack of Oakley. Cassia stake, officiating. President L. S. Kirkman. of the Twin Falls stake, announced the amount of the contributions collected and the funds expended, and explained that the copper box placed in the cornerstone contained a roster of those, numbering more than 1000, who have contributed to the structure up to the present time. Bishop Alfred Ricks died at his home in Sugar City. Idaho. Oct. 24, 1927, after several months' illness. He came to Rexburg with his father. President Thomas Ricks, founder of that city and the college there which bears his name. He homesteaded the farm in that vicinity in the early days and was largely in- strumental in bringing about a greater agri- cultural development in the upper valley. Of recent years he had been in the mercantile business in Sugar City. For more than twenty years he was a bishop and under his guidance the Church in Sugar City grew from a few members to one of the largest in the upper country. He was born Nov. 28, 1869, at Logan. Utah, and is survived by his widow and six children. An earthquake shock of considerable in- tensity shook southeastern Alaska. Oct. 24. 1927. severing the military cables between Ketchikan and Wrangell and between Juneau, Haines and Skagway. breaking dishes and win- dows and stopping clocks. The center of dis- turbance is supposed to have been in the Pa- cific ocean off the coast of Alaska. Fire destroyed the building of the Carpenter Paper Co., 143-5 South State street. Salt Lake City, causing a total loss of approxi- mately $325,000. on Sunday, Oct. 23. The first fire alarm was turned in at 7:25 p. m. 178 IMPROVEMENT ERA It was found that the blaze had started in an old two-story warehouse at the rear of the main buildings, which were damaged to the extent of $50,000. The heaviest losses were suffered by the paper company, but the Moun- tain States Implement company, 135-39 South State street, and Sam Peterson and Sons Com- pany. 147 South State street also reported losses to both building and stock of their respective establishments. A heroic act of rescue is told in the reports of the fire. One of the firemen, Francis L. Buhlcr. while chop- ping a pathway for a hose to be brought into the center of the building, fell headlong into a mass of burning rubbish and came into con- tact with an exposed live wire. He was ren- dered unconscious by the electricity and would have burned to death but for the heroic action of Captain Rafferty, who rushed to his as- sistance. Dashing the charged wire from the prostrate body of the fallen fireman, the captain carried him to a point of safety. First aid treatment was applied and Buhler was re- vived. Patrick, Cardinal O'Donnell. primate of the. Irish Roman Catholic church, died Oct. 22. 1927, of double pneumonia. The last few days he was very weak. His illness was diagnosed as influenza pneumonia, and pleurisy had developed on the right side. Four thousand coal miners are said to have gone on a strike in the Colorado coal fields, on Oct. 18, 1927, at the call of the I. W. W. leaders. Trouble seems to be brewing in that region. Moving picture shows were declared illegal in Provo, by Judge George P. Parker, in the Fourth district court. In a former decision in a similar case based on an old city ordinance, which did not either expressly or by implica- tion prohibit the operation of picture shows on Sunday, Judge Parker ruled in favor of the theater. Following this decision early this year, the city commission passed a new ordin- ance wherein the express terms prohibit the operation of Sunday movies. A statue of Major General George Gordon Meade, who commanded the Union forces at the battle of Gettysburg, was accepted by Pres. Coolidge, Oct. 19, 1927, on behalf of the nation. The President paid the Union com- mander a high tribute for reliability and cour- age. The memorial was unveiled by a daugh- ter of General Meade, Miss Henrietta Meade of Philadelphia, who, with Governor Fisher and members of his staff, were guests of the president at luncheon before the ceremony. A farewell party for Dr. and Mrs. John A. Widtsoe was given in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Nov. 10, 1927. under the auspices of the brethren presiding in the Scandinavian meetings in Salt Lake City, and the Associated Newspapers. Dr. Widtsoe, who has been called to preside over the European mission, is the president of a committee appointed by the Church authorities to supervise and direct those meetings and publications, and the brethren laboring under the discretion of that com- mittee, and numerous Church members of foreign extraction — German and Scandinavian and from Holland — met to express their love and respect for Dr. Widtsoe and his estimable wife and wish Godspeed on their journey and success in their labors abroad. President Heber J. Grant was the principal speaker of the evening. He congratulated the guests of honor on the call they had received to go out in the world and win souls for Christ. He also told of his own joy in missionary labor in the European mission, and the outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord in the gatherings of the Saints in foreign coun- tries. Other speakers were President Rulon S. Wells, Elder Andrew Jenson. Gustav Forsberg. Adam L. Petersen, Jean Wunderlick, Wm. DeBry, and C. M. Nielsen. Three young ladies in the national costumes of the Scandinavian countries, Misses Viola Poruun, Irene Winther and Elsie Olson, sent greetings to the "Old Countries." on behalf of the Scandinavians here. Dr. and Mrs. Widtsoe replied, deeply touched, to the addresses delivered and the en- tire program, expressing their heartfelt appre- ciation of the beautiful proceedings of the evening. The Assembly Hall was artistically dec- orated with flowers and flags. Music was provided by Scandinavian choirs and by Prof. Axel Nylander (flute) and Prof. C. Adolph Swenson (violin) . A token of remembrance was presented to the guests of honor, on behalf of those present, by Elder Isaac Thu- nell. Elder Ole Gulbrandsen opened the pro- gram with prayer, and Elder H. M. H. Lund pronounced the benediction. Oft men, in vaunted wisdom. As lighting bugs we find, To grope through life's dark Chasm, With their headlights on behind. O. F. Ursenbach.