Passing Events

IN&^sEVENT-S j/ ~~:>& Elder Lavon Stalling from Lewisville, Idaho, was shot, at Columbia, South Carolina, Dec. 20, 1927, while tracting. With Elders Marcus C. Ellis, from Ogden, and Hyrum Keppner, Rexburg, Idaho, he called at the houses in a certain street. A woman answered Elder Stalling's knock, and then summoned a man. He was offered a tract which he de- clined with the remark, "we don't need any of that here." Elder Stalling then turned to go, but just before he got off the porch, the man drew a gun and fired, according to the report received by Elder Stalling's father. The bullet, the report says, pierced the elder's body just under the intestines and apparently glanced off his hip bone. The elder did not realize that he was wounded, until he stopped and saw his belt cut in two and blood coming from the wound. He was taken to the hos- pital, but his condition was not thought to be serious. The ruffian who did the shooting declared it was an accident, according to the report. Malcolm McAllister, a well known business man of Salt Lake City, died in his home in this city, Jan. 9, 1928, after an illness that has lasted for about two years. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Duncan McAllister, born in Salt Lake City 50 years ago. Early in life he entered the employ of the Deseret News and became its advertising manager from 1899 till 1903, when he left for a mission to Great Britain. On his return he became first ad- vertising manager for Z. C. M. I., and then general manager for The Intermountain Re- publican. After 1908 he has devoted his time to the advertising business. His widow, who. when he married her, was Miss Johanna C. Zitzman of Ogden: his father, two brothers, George S. McAllister and W. D. McAllister, and two sisters, Mrs. N. L. Wilson and Miss Kate P. McAllister, survive him. Three aviators crashed to instant death, Jan. 8. 1928, near Rural Grove, seven miles east of Canajohaire, N. Y., in a farm meadow. The fog was so dense that, although the plane crashed within 100 yards of a farm- house, and less than 200 yards from a traveled highway, the accident did not become known until the next morning. The dead: Raymond Henries of Buffalo, a pilot in the airmail service, Captain Edward M. Pauley of Al- bany, a commercial aviator, George F. Benedict of Peoria, 111., a merchant, who was interested in aviation. The bodies of the three victims were badly mangled, and the plane was badly damaged. The force with which the air- craft struck the earth was so great that the motor was ripped apart, one of the cylinders falling 200 feet away from the rest of the wreckage. Louis F. Post, former assistant secretary of labor, passed away in Washington, Jan. 10, 1928, after a brief illness. A native of Vienna, N. J., but a legal resident of Chicago, Mr. Post was noted as a single tax advocate and the author of many publications on this subject. Post served in the labor department during President Wilson's two administrations, and was prominently identified with the wholesale deportations of radicals in 1919 and 1920. To outlaw war is the object of an invita- tion to France to join the United States in proposing to the principal nations of the world a multilateral treaty containing a declar- ation "renouncing war as an instrument of national policy." The invitation was pub- lished by the state department Jan. 3, 1928. but it had been forwarded to Paris on the preceding Dec. 28, 1927. The proposal is a reply to the plan suggested by the French foreign minister, M. Briand, for a treaty be- tween the United States and France outlawing war between these two countries. It suggests that other nations be invited to sign the treaty. The fate of "The Dawn" is now believed to have been solved. Captain R. V. Comeau. of the schooner. Rose Ann Belliveau, reports that on the night of Dec. 23, 1927, at a point 1 8 miles northwest of Nauset beach light on Cape Cod, he and the crew heard the sound of airplane motors which came to an abrupt ending within ten minutes, when a heavy splash was heard. It is now thought prob- able that this tells the final story of the air- plane in which Mrs. Grayson and her pilot, Oskar Omdal. and a passenger were trying to cross the Atlantic. In all probability the pilot, that night, had realized that he must make a landing in the sea. The lights of the schooner were sighted, and the plane was brought down as nearly as possible to the schooner, only to go to its doom. The heaviest snow fall ever recorded in Ashley valley was reported from Vernal. Utah, Jan. 1. 1928. After a fall of ten hours' duration, snow covered the ground to a depth of 17 inches. Joseph Hardy, one of the pioneers, says it was the heaviest fall he had witnessed in any of the forty-nine winters he has spent since coming to Vernal. The farmers declare the storm to be worth a million dollars for next year's crops. That battles can be fought without the formality of a declaration of war is evident from the reports that come from Nicaragua, where American marines, on Dec. 30. 1927, and also on Jan. 1. 1928, bombed a detach- .ment of "rebels" under General Sandino and chased the survivors to the mountains. The engagement was fought at Quilali. Six

PASSING EVENTS 355 Americans were killed and 28 wounded during the two days of slaughter; how many were slain on the Nicaragua side is not reported. The dispatches say thai American reinforce- ments reached their comrades at Quilali. which was formerly the rebel headquarters, and prep- arations were going on. Jan. 2. to concentrate American columns at that place to crush the insurgents who arc hidden in the almost in- accessible strongholds of the region. The wonder is that the handful of rebels have not already been "crushed" between the Ameri- can marines and the military forces of the Nicaraguan government. William Nugent Williams, died at his home in Salt Lake City, Dec. 29. 1927, after a iong illness. Anemia is given as the cause of the death. He was for years prominent in the business world of Salt Lake City, and for fourteen years, he was a member of the legislature of the State. As chairman of the senate committee on appropriations he earned the sobiquet of "the watchdog of the treasury," of which he was justly proud. Mr. Williams was born in Carmarthenshire. Wales, March 17, 1851, and came to America with his parents when 10 years old. Journeying to Utah, he went through the hardships of the pioneers. His parents' household goods were hauled across the plains by a wagon drawn by oxen, and the boy walked almost all the way. He was married on July 17, 1877, to Miss Clarissa Smith, daughter of the late Apostle George A. Smith, and who is now president of the Relief Society of the Church. As Mr. Williams loved good books and good music, he was a leading member of several organizations devoted to music and literature. He was president of the Utah Cambrian as- sociation, succeeding the late Governor Arthur L. Thomas, and did much toward bringing to Salt Lake three national Eisteddfods. Mr. Williams is survived by his widow and seven of their eleven children. These are Mrs. E. G. Van Law. Mrs. R. N. Wilson, Mrs. Stanford Darger. Mrs. John W. James. Miss Bae Williams. George A. Williams and Lyman S. Williams. Surviving also are fourteen grand- children. Other relatives living in Salt Lake arc Mr. Williams' sister. Mrs. Robert H. Has- lam, and his brother Thomas J. Williams. Clara Woodruff Beebe passed away, Dec. 29. 1927, at a hospital in Salt Lake City, of pneumonia, following an operation for ap- pendicitis. She was born in Salt Lake City, July 23, 1868, the daughter of the late Pres. Wilford Woodruff and Mrs. Emma Smith Woodruff. The following children survive: Mrs. Veda Byers, Pocatello, Idaho; Mrs. Emma Kelly. New York; Woodruff C. Beebe. Los Angeles; Mrs. Hester Campbell. Texas; Mrs. Margaret Jensen and Miss Ruth Beebe. Salt Lake. Eight grandchildren and the following brothers and sisters also survive: Asahcl H. Woodruff, Mrs. Blanche W. Daynes, David Patten Woodruff. Newton Woodruff. Marion Woodruff. Ensign Woodruff. John Woodruff, Mrs. Julia Park, Mrs. Belle W. Moses and Mrs. Sylvia Thompson. Is the death rate in the United States in- creasing? According to statistics published in Washington, Dec. 29, 1927, the death rate per 100,000 population was 1182.3 in 1925. and 1222.7 in 1926. The statistics show, further, that 1,285,927 deaths occurred in 1926 in the registration area of continental United States, which comprised forty-one slates, the District of Columbia and twenty- five cities in non-registration states. Heart disease, pneumonia, nephritis or inflammation of the kidneys, cancer and tuberculosis are the most frequent fatal diseases. Parts of southern England and Wales were visited by the fiercest blizzard known for many years, according to reports published Dec. 29. 1927. For four days Grosmont, Llavanther- ine and Llangattock in Monmouthshire were isolated. Food was dropped from airplanes into Westerham and neighboring villages in Kent. Floods were adding to the distress. They were widespread in the Ouse valley in Huntingdonshire, while the Thames floods, from old Windsor to Walton, showed little signs of subsidence. Bleak tales of suffering in all the snow-buried counties of southern England and Wales were told in London. On the sea. too, violent easterly gales prevailed, causing distress to shipping in varying degrees for six days. Many rural villages were cut off from supplies by snowdrifts reported to be from ten to fourteen feet high. The doctrines of the League of Nations are to be taught in Canadian schools, according to an announcement from Ottawa to the secre- tary of the League. Dec. 28. 1927. In Mani- toba, a special chapter on the League has been prepared, to be included in school readers. All students of the tenth grade in secondary schools will be required to study a pamphlet drawn up by the Canadian League of Nations society. An earthquake somewhere was recorded on the seismograph of Georgetown university. Dec. 28. beginning at 1:32 p. m. and con- tinuing at intervals for three hours. The dis- turbance was estimated as having occurred 5.900 miles from Washington. The disturb- ances were also recorded on the University of Utah seismograph. From Grass Valley, Cal., a sharp earth tremor was felt at 4:12 p. m.. Dec. 28. Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh arrived in Guatemala City. Dec. 28, 1927, from Mexico City, having flown over the mountains which separate the two countries, the first to make the flight between the two capitals. The "lone eagle" evidently was bent on speed; he made the aerial voyage in much faster time than he had anticipated. The enthusiastic Guate- malans had bedecked their automobiles with bunting: others carried banners with appro-

356 IMPROVEMENT ERA priate inscriptions of welcome, and everywhere was to be seen the Stars and Stripes along with the national colors of the country. Smokeless fuel is to be produced by Utah coal producing companies at the rate of a thousand tons a day, according to the plan announced on Dec. 28, 1927. The Smokeless Fuel Company, articles of incorporation for which were filed Dec. 27, announces that con- struction will start soon after the first of the year on a coal processing plant in Salt Lake which will entail an expenditure during the next year and a half of $1,500,000. The Smokeless Fuel Company has purchased the rights for the Devonian process, which has been developed by J. B. Jenson, local engineer, who has operated a test plant in Salt Lake for several years and will use this process in the operation of its plant. The new company is incorporated for $1,000,000 and has the following officers: P. E. Athas. president; Elias S. Woodruff, vice president; T. C. Winn, secretary and treasurer; B. H. Mulvihill, general manager and director; H. L. Mulliner and J. B. Jenson, directors. The new ward chapel at Magna was dedi- cated, Dec. 18, 1927, by President Rudger Clawson, of the Council of the Twelve. It is a splendid building, modern in every respect, and erected at the cost of about $21,000. The Utah Copper Company's contribution toward the building was $1,500. Robert Burt, one-year old baby, was snatched from his mother's arms and carried down the ice-laden waters of the north fork of Snake river, at St. Anthony, Idaho, when an ice- jam above the steel bridge, where the Yellow- stone highway crosses the river gave way, Dec. 20, 1927. Mrs. William Burt, the mother, and three other children were saved only after a heroic struggle in the icy waters. Mrs. Grant Parker, wife of an inrlructor in the St. Anthony high school, and their four children were also saved from the flood which en- gulfed their home as well as that of Mr. Burt. Other property damages running into several thousands of dollars, resulted from the flood. The ground for a new chapel in the First ward, Provo, was dedicated on Sunday, Dec. 18. 1927. by President T. N. Taylor, of the Utah stake, after a program had been ren- dered in the Social hall of the ward. The exercises were held under the direction of Bishop Walter Whitehead of the ward, who gave a short talk. According to President Taylor, money for the new edifice will be raised by popular subscription, a great deal being already pledged. The building, which will cost in the neighborhood of $72,000, will be built where the social hall now stands. It will be of the Georgian type of architecture. The recreation hall will be an additional wing. The heating plant and ventilating system will be in the basement, and will be of the most modern type. Plans for a large pipe organ are also being included. Contracts call for the completion of the structure, September 15. 1928. The U. S. submarine S-4 was rammed and sunk, Dec. 17, 1927, by the Coast guard destroyer Paulding off Wood End coast guard station, near Provincetown. Mass. The S-4, which is attached to the New London sub- marine base, was engaged in making an avail- ability run. Her complement is four officers and from thirty-five to forty men. She is of the same class as the S-51, which was sunk off Block island September 25, 1925, in collision with the steamship C/fy of Rome In that disaster, thirty-three officers and men perished. Coast guardsmen who witnessed the collision from the station near by said that the Paulding was entering the harbor when the submarine suddenly came to the surface dead ahead. There was no time for the destroyer to change her course, they said, and the vessels crashed. Pearl Boyce Wimer, 38, president of the Pittsburgh branch Relief Society, Pa., died at her home. Dec. 20, 1927, after a brief illness. At 17, she was converted, at McConkey, West Va. ; shortly after moved to Salt Lake City with husband, Edgar Wimer. They were mar- ried in the temple, took active part in Church affairs, resided there three years and moved to Pittsburgh where they have resided since. She was president of the Relief Society in Pitts- burgh for two years, and is known by many for her untiring efforts in forwarding the gospel, and for kindness to missionaries and Saints. She is survived by her husband, three children, Arnold 16, Horace 14, and Clara 13, and two brothers, and three sisters. J. Christiansen, son of Soren Christiansen and Caroline Loft, died in Salt Lake City. Dec. 26, 1927. He was born near Aarhus. Denmark. April 17, 1855. He came to Utah in 1860 and settled in Fountain Green in 1861, where he has resided since. He assisted in 1873 in building the St. George temple and filled a mission to Scandinavia in 1882 to 1884 in the Aarhus conference. He became a temple worker in the Manti temple and in August, 1891, was made bishop of Fountain Green ward and served for twenty-five years. He was married in the Endowment House to Ellen Jane Oldroyd, May 29, 1876. He had thirteen children; seven sons and three daugh- ters are now living. He was active in civil affairs. He served on the town board in Fountain Green and was county commissioner of Sanpete county for six years. The funeral services were held at Fountain Green on Dec. 29, 1927. A number of speakers paid glow- ing tributes to his life and character, and the floral offerings were many and beautiful.