Passing Events

Air Route across the Atlantic. The huge German dirigible Graf Zeppelin started from Fricdrichshafen. October 11, 1928, at 8:00 a. m., on a flight of about 5.100 miles to Lakehurst, N. J., with passengers, thus beginning a regular air route across the Atlantic. The gigantic air ship had 27,000 cubic yards of blue gas fuel and 1 5 tons of benzine-benzol. It carried 12.000 let- ters and postcards, addressed to differ- ent cities in America. The Graf Zeppelin lands in Lake- hurst. N. J. The giant dirigible, Graf Zeppelin, landed safely at her desti- nation, Lakehurst, N. J.. October 15, 1928, having covered about 5,900 miles from Friedrichshafen, Germany, via Spain, and the Azores. Part of the way she encountered rough weather and sustained some damage which, however, was repaired by the crew, but the ship proved "sea-worthy" in every respect. The success of this flight proves that regular air connection be- tween Europe and America is possible. The big ship was in charge of Com- mander Hugo Eckener, who, in 1924, took the dirigible Z R-3, now the Los Angeles, across the Atlantic. These were not the first dirigibles to venture across the ocean. In June. 1919, the British R-34 flew from a point in Scot- land to the Roosevelt field. Long Island, in 108 hours. Her return trip was made in 65 hours. It was pre- dicted then that regular air service by dirigibles would be established, but lit- tle progress has been made in that di- rection, the heavier-than-air craft hav- ing monopolized public attention and interest. Among the passengers of the Graf Zeppelin were two newspaper re- porters. Mr. Karl H. Von Wiegand and Lady Drummond Hay. Massacre in China. According to a report that has reached Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, chairman of the China famine relief organization, on Octo- ber 9, 1928, 200,000 persons have been massacred by Mohammedans in the province of Kansu, China, in an insurrection by fanatical Moslems. The information comes from Leighton P. Rand, a China inland missionary, who writes about the privations and mis- eries of the inhabitants and of the earthquake that killed 35,000 last year and reduced 100,000 to poverty, and then adds, "The most tragic touch has been added by the insurrection of the Moslems, who form a third of the pop- ulation of the province. Though starting in the appearance here and there of unorganized robber bands, it has spread like wildfire and has now become just such a Mohammedan re- bellion as has on several previous oc- casions in the past century laid waste the province and decimated its pop- ulation. From reports already in from the country district, the known massacred exceed 200,000." New Relief Society Presidency. Mrs. Clarissa S. Williams, president of the General Board of the Relief Society; and her counselors, Mrs. Jennie B. Knight and Mrs. Louise Y. Robison, were honorably released, at the semi- annual conference of the Church. Oc- tober 7, 1928. The new president is Mrs. Louise Y. Robison, with Amy Brown Lyman and Julia A. Child as counselors and Julia Farnsworth Lund as secretary and treasurer. Eight Persons Killed. The entire family of Orson Erickson, consisting of himself, wife, four daughters and two sons, were instantly killed near Delta, when the automobile in which they were riding was struck by the Los Angeles and Salt Lake train No. 25, southbound, on Sunday, October 7, 1928. The accident occurred at a grade crossing below the Erickson farm, situated north of Delta, when

86 IMPROVEMENT ERA the train was speeding into Delta at a rate of 40 miles an hour. Erickson was driving along a road running par- allel to the railroad track, which turned abruptly across its tracks. Erickson slowed down to make the curve, ac- cording to reports, and in some unac- countable manner lost control of his car, causing it to speed up and across the path of the oncoming train. When directly on the track the machine was struck, turned over, and caught by the pilot. The impact crushed the auto- mobile, and jolting caused the occu- pants to drop, one by one, to be crushed and mangled beneath the wheels of the fast moving locomotive. Indians Heard From. According to a special to the Salt Lake Tribune, Indians from Utah, Idaho, Nevada. California and Oregon, concluded a "powwow," October 4, 1928, at Fort McDermott, eighty miles north of Winnemucca, Nev. The red delegates signed a pact to this effect: "We are not going to vote for the government of the pale faces any more. We are going to turn back their twenty dollars and the hugs and kisses the candidates like to give us. Furthermore, we are going to get our rights if we have to fight for them." Editor of Deseret News called. Harold Goff, for some years managing editor of The Deseret News, passed away at the L. D. S. hospital, Octo- ber 3, 1928, after several months' ill- ness. He was born in Midvale, June 13, 1884, the son of the late Hyrum Goff, for several years president of the Jordan stake: and his wife, Maria Ar- nold Goff. His journalistic career he commenced while at school, when he acted as correspondent for a paper in Murray. After having graduated, he taught school for some time, first at Midvale, then at Rexburg, Idaho. There he met Miss Lulu Ormsby, who became his wife and who passed away a year ago. Mr. Goff attended the Uni- versity of Utah and. later, the Univer- sity of Columbia. He then joined the reportorial staff of The Intermountain Republican. From that paper he went to The Deseret News, where he re- mained until the time of his death. Last year Mr. Goff was selected as one of thirty editors to tour Europe as the guest of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. It was while on this trip that his wife, who had been ailing for a number of years, died. He received the news in Brussels and reached Salt Lake September 4, shat- tered in health from worry and anxiety. He was taken to the L. D. S. hospital shortly afterward. Mr. Goff never recovered entirely from the strain. Two months ago he went to California for his health. Upon his return he was again confined to the hospital. Activities of the editor pub- licly were to a great extent confined to the chamber of commerce. He succeeded Judge H. H. Rolapp as regent of the University of Utah. Off for the South Pole. Com- mander Richard E. Byrd passed through Chicago. October 2, 1928, on his way to San Pedro, Cal., whence he will embark for Dunedin. New Zea- land, the base port of his antarctic expedition. Commander Byrd was accompanied by his wife, and a party of aides. He had in tow "Igloo" the little white terrier that was the mascot of his polar expedition. Asked how his wife felt regarding his two-year sojourn, the explorer said, "She was a mighty good scout to stand for it." Commander Byrd and his companions left San Pedro, Cal., October 10, on board the whaler. C. A. Larsen for New Zealand. Airmail between the United States and Mexico. The first load of airmail from Mexico City to points in the United States arrived in Laredo. Texas, October 1, 1928, at 4:35 p. m. At 5:00 p. m. the first American air- mail plane arrived in the City of Mexico from Laredo. It was piloted by Tom Harding and made the flight in nine hours and a half. The planes

PASSING EVENTS 87 which thus inaugurated what is to be regular airmail service between the two countries were favored with good weather through the route. Brief stops were made at Monterey and Queretaro to pick up and discharge mail. Among the crowd of several hundred persons which welcomed the aviators at Valbuena field were repre- sentatives of the government, the American club and local newspapers. The mail was rushed to the postoffice by automobile, effecting a saving of twenty-seven hours over the normal mail service by train from Laredo. The British-Franco naval agreement criticized. In a note to the British and French governments, our government criticizes the secret naval agreement be- tween Great Britain and France and declines the proposal to become a partv to it, on the ground that it places an unacceptable limitation on the class of vessels essential to the defense of the United States, at the same time it re- moves any limit on the classes of war- ships peculiarly suitable to the French and British needs. The note, which was published September 28. 1928. says: "The government of the United States has earnestly and consistently advocated real reduction and limitation of naval armament. It would be happy to continue such efforts, but it cannot consent to proposals which would leave the door wide open to unlimited build- ing of certain types of ships of a highly efficient combatant value and would impose restrictions only on those types peculiarly suitable to American needs. The American government seeks no special advantage on the sea, but clearly cannot permit itself to be placed in a position of manifest disadvantage." Victims of the hurricane. A death list in excess of 2,000 persons with 16,- 082 homeless, and property damage above $50,000,000 are the estimates of the toll of the tropical hurricane in Florida, September 16, 1928. The figures are regarded as conservative. New Mexican President. Emilio Portes Gil, secretary of the interior in the Mexican cabinet, was unanimously elected provisional president of Mexico, September 25, 1928, by the senators and deputies in joint session. He will serve from December 1, 1928, when the Calles term expires, and till Feb- ruary 5, 1930, when a popular election will be held. It is understood that the provisional president will continue the present policy of the government, in- cluding the friendly relations to the United States. The League of Nations. The Coun- cil and Assembly of the League of Na- tions, in session at Geneva, Switzer- land, since Sept. 3, 1928, adjourned Sept. 26. The Earl of Lytton, the Brit- ish statesman, speaking for India, criti- cized the tendency of the League to place no limits on its expenditures, and asked that more attention be paid to questions of importance outside Eu- rope, in order that there be greater col- laboration between Europe and Asia. Pointing out that this year's budget of the league was 1,700,000 gold francs more than last year, Lytton urged that a more rigid financial con- trol was needed if the league were to avoid disaster and defections. While the members were pondering the signifi- cance of this warning a dispatch from Buenos Aires arrived with the message that the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Republic had voted to sup- press the league dues and thereby im- plied complete separation from the league. Hundreds Perish in a theatre fire in Madrid. Fire broke out in the Nove- dades theater in Madrid, during a per- formance on a Sunday, September 23, 1928. The house was packed, and crowds soon blocked the exits. Hun- dreds, especially women and children, were trampled down before the firemen succeeded in cutting openings in the building and clearing the exits. Missionaries and Saints are Safe. President Charles A. Callis, of the Southern States mission, in a report to

88 IMPROVEMENT ERA the First Presidency, September 20, 1 928, stated that all the missionaries of the Church, laboring in the storm- swept area of Florida, are safe. They had been transferred from the southern part of the state to the north, three weeks previously. "No injuries," the report says, "have been reported by Church members living in the path of the tornado. President Callis says the newspaper reports of the tragedy are not exaggerated. A New Stake Presidency. At the quarterly conference of the Millard stake, held at Kanosh, September 1 5 and 16, 1928, President John A. Beckstrand and his counselors, T. C. Callister and Asael Fisher, were hon- orably released. The new officers are: President, T. Clark Callister; coun- selors, Parker P. Robinson and Daniel B. Bushnell. John A. Beckstrand and Rufus Day were sustained as patri- archs; as Parker P. Robinson was bishop of the Fillmore ward that ward was reorganized with Barton K. Farns- worth, bishop; F. Earl Scott and Lo- renzo Brunson, counselors. Daniel B. Bushnell was bishop of Meadow ward* but reorganization of that ward was not effected at this conference. Due to the removal of Mrs. Asael Fisher from the stake the Y. L. M. I. A. was reorganized with Frances Hatton, pres- ident; Ida Scott and Martha Jones, counselors. Elder David O. McKay, J. Percy Goddard, Laura B. Dimond and Alice Sheets were the visiting au- thorities. Book of Mormon evidence. At the international congress of Americanists in New York, September 17. 1928, Professor A. L. Kroeber of the Univer- sity of California, traced the cultural relations of the Indians of North and South America through archaeological remains. He showed that two ancient civilizations consisted, not directly connected, and that their centers were in Mexico-Guatemala and in Peru. In the intervening regions he found evi- dences of a civilization common to both areas. The inference is, he said, that the cultural peaks of Mexico and Peru are on the whole not specifically inter-connected but arc localized de- velopments; out of a common cultural soil, due to unusual density of popula- tion, or possibly broader political or- ganization. This is a splendid state- ment of what is at present known, through archaeological evidence, of the ancient history of America. It is, sub- stantially, also the picture presented to us in the Book of Mormon, with its two civilizations, the Jaredite and the Lehite. Called Home. Funeral services for Jens P. Jensen. Ephraim, Sanpete Co., Utah, were held September 17, in the Ephraim South ward chapel, his son, Bishop Peter D. Jensen in charge. The departed one, who was 82 years of age, succumbed to acute pneumonia, but some time ago he fell from a tree which he was trimming, and broke three ribs, and death, undoubtedly, was hastened on by that accident. Jens Peter Jensen, was born in Denmark December 12, 1845, and followed agriculture in that country until he came to Utah in 1866. The sailing vessel in which he crossed the Atlantic was eight weeks in making the trip, and many of the ship's company suc- cumbed to cholera. Landing in the United States, he crossed the plains by oxteam in the Abner Lowry company. and on arrival in Utah located at Ephraim. His sister and her husband were that same year, 1866, killed by Indians who raided the settlement. The year of his arrival in Utah he was married to Dorothea Gregerson in Salt Lake, who died fifteen years ago. There were eight children, of whom five are living. Miss Sophia K. Jensen, Bishop Peter D. Jensen. H. Ephraim Jensen, professor at Snow academy, and Adolph W. Jensen, city attorney, all of Ephraim, and Dr. Jensen, state super intendent of public instruction and former principal of Brigham Young College.