SEPTEMBER, 1935
Volume 38 Number 9
Roturn Postage Guaranteed SALT LAKE CITY. UTAH
PRESIDENT HEBER J. GRANT DR. JOHN A. WIDTSOE
Editor Editor
Note: Elsie Talmage Brandley has been Associate Editor for several years.
HARRISON R. MERRILL Associate Editor Her death occurred recently.
With President Heber J. Grant as Chief Editor and Dr. John A. Widtsoe of the Council of Twelve recently assigned to the Active Editorial direction of our magazine
The Improvement Era Now Becomes More Than E rer
The Voice of The Church
To the Stakes of Zion from NewvYork to Hawaii, to the Missions in the most distant parts of the earth, the Gospel message is to be carried each month by this splendid missionary,, magazine. «*
Read This Statement of
The New Editorial Policy of the Improvement Era
Prepared by the Editorial Staff
Specific Purpose of The Improvement Era
There are already several excellent American family magazines in circulation. There can be no good reason for adding another to an already cluttered market, unless it has a specific purpose or message for its readers. In the case of the £ra,«this purpose must be the purpose of the Priesthood Quorums, the Mutual Improvement Associations, the Department of Education, and the Music Committee — « the strengthening of the faith of the members in the restored Church of ChriSt, and the promulgation among all readers of the truths, arid principles of the Gospel. Somehow, this purpose must actuate all labor in behalf of the Eva, though it must be useel with skill, and made inviting to the readers. The Eta must, of course, also serve as the official means of communication between the members and the organizations that it represents.
* - ~
General Editorial Policy of The Era
In conformity : with the general objective and specific purpose of the Era, the following editorial policy, as to con- tents, is proposed. The attempt will be made to have, in every issue of the Era, articles representing each of the six divisions suggested in the subjoined outline.
A. The Voice of the Church.
1 . Editorials on church subjects.
2. Articles on church subjects. (Including Church History.)
3. Departmental messages.
a. Priesthood (both Priesthoods and their activi- ties under one general heading) .
b. Mutual Improvement Associatioi (all depart-1 ments under one general heading) .
c. L. D. S. Department of Education
d. The Music Committee. *
B. Interpreting World Movements. (n Gospel and Current Hijtfejgy.)
1 . Governmental.
2. Economic.
3. Social.
4. Religious,.
C. Applying the Gospel to Hunman Life.
1 . Personal.
2. Social or group.
3. Historical.
D. Keeping Abreast of Current Knowledge, in
1. Social-Economic fields.
2. Scientific fields.
3. Religious fields.
4. Review of scientific progress (brief notes) .
E. Supplying the Need for Creative Art.
1. Fiction (stories).
2. Poetry.
3. Pictorial art.
4. Review of current literature and art. (Very brief reviews.)
F. Miscellaneous (departments) .
1. Current Church news.
2. World news (of church importance).
3. Questions and answers (religious and social prob- lems of young and old) .
4. Who's who in the Church.
5. Other items that may develop later.
Note the wealth of new features and ideas added to present excellence of our magazine
The new editorial policy becomes effective with the October issue — new type, new style, new departments, new features. The Era takes it's greatest strides forward.
Every Latter-day Saint Home Will NEED The Era
cjhe
Photo by Hales. SIGNS OF AUTUMN
Heber J. Grant John A. Widtsoe
Editors Harrison R. Merrill,
Associate Editori
Organ of the Priesthood Quo- rums, Mutual Improvement Associations and Department of Education
Published monthly by the
GENERAL BOARDS OF THE
MUTUA IMPROVEMENT
ASSOCIATIONS
George Q. ft: orris, General Mgr. Clarissa A. i-eesley, Associate Mgr. J. K. Orton. Susiness Mgr.
EXECUTi • . AND EDITORIAL
OFFICES: 50 North Main Street, Salt Lake
City, Utah
Copyright, 1932, by the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Assdciation Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All rights reserved. Subscription price, $2.oo a year, in advance; 20c Single Copy.
Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second-class matter. Ac" stance for mailing at special ratf , postage provided for in section 03, Act of October, 1917, authoi .ed July 2, 1918.
T
The Cover
HE photograph used on the cover this month was taken by Dr. Wayne B. Hales, who teaches a course in photography at Brig- ham Young University. It indi- cates that our fields, just now, are filled with pictures that rival the best artists ever painted. Photog- raphers, however, if they are to preserve the beauty that surrounds them, must also study form and light and shade and also the camera which is to take the picture. We waste much in snap-shots, for snap-shots are frequently just snap-shots.
e^-mprovemen t &ra
Volume 38
SEPTEMBER, 1935
Number 9
EDITORIALS
Elsie Talmage Brandley — Editor and Friend H. R. M. 5 60
ARTICLES
The Outpost in Mid-Pacific President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. 530
In Memory of President A. W. Ivins 539
Sons! Fathers! And Thirty Minutes a Day 1. .-. Earl J '. Glade 540
Moroni Lives Again Roscoe A. Grower 542
Dedicatory Prayer President Heber J. Grant 544
A Vacant Lot at the Crossroads P. V. Cardon 546
Utaqua M. Elmer Christensen 550
The Fishermen's Friend S. H. Cooke 552
An Intimate View of the New York Stock Exchange Mites Burgess 554
Elsie Talmage Brandley . Clarissa A. Beesley 558
The Challenge of Charm — 'As We View Men" Katie C. Jensen 5 62
Thirty Thousand Miles for a Bird's Nest James Montagnes 5 64
The Value of Careful Planning A. E. Bowen 57 '0
FICTION
A Silver Girdle (A Serial) Claire W. Noatl 536
The Red Coat , — Margaret Miner Healy 548
POETRY
Elsie Has Passed Away . Ruth May Fox 535
Little House Faoa K. Parker 538
My Love For You Estelle Webb Thomas 557
Garden Space Florence Hartman Townsend 557
Autumn Mary Stallings 557
Autumn Etching Cora May Preble 55 7
Leaves L Carl B. Craig 557
Cinquain Sequence -__., Edith Cherrington 55 7
Pencil Points Jean McCaleb 557
"No Second Spring" Florence Moench 557
The Window Garden Rebecca Helman 55 7
Why Do I Love You Gwen Linford 55 7
You Spoke Margaret Richards 559
Behold! Eternal Day (A Tribute) Ida R. Alldredge 568
When I'm Gone ,, R. Stanley Johns 569
President Grant and Counselor Ivins — A. Noble 572
Three Willows . : Harold Homer Lyche 582
Elsie Talmage Brandley Lula Greene Richards Inside Back Cover
Elsie T. Brandley Lucretia Ashby Arbon Inside Back Cover
DEPARTMENTS
Book Reviews:
"Mormonism and Freemasonry" .... 1.C; C. 5 65
"Hobbies for Everybody" E. T. B. 565
"Kitchen Sonnets" _ 5 65
"Their Religion" 565
"Footlights Up!" . E. T. B. 5 66
Ward Teachers' Message, October, 1935 - 5 67
Priesthood _ !___: .... „.... 568
Mutual Messages .. __. 5,73
"The Clarion Call" — (A Song) Oscar A. Rirkham and Alexander Schreiner 574
Your Page and Ours Jnside Back Cover
A MAGAZINE FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY
529
THE OUTPOST
By PRES. J. REUBEN CLARK, JR.
First Counselor in the Presidency of the Church
EIGHTY-FIVE years ago (December 12, 1850), Eld- ers Hyrum Clark, Henry W. Bigler, Thomas Morris, John Dixon, William Farrer, James Hawkins, James Keeler, Hyrum H. Blackwell, Thomas Whittle, and George Q. Cannon landed at Hono- lulu to open the first Latter-day Saint mission in what was then called the Sandwich Islands. Eld- er Hyrum Clark, already a veteran missionary of the Church, was chosen the president of the mis- sion.
On the day following their ar- rival they climbed a mountain back of Honolulu and erected an altar. After singing a hymn they prayed, President Clark being mouth. President Cannon records: "He embodied our desires in his prayer. They were that the Lord would make speedy work on those islands, open an effectual door for the preaching of the Gospel, con- found all opposers, help us to gather out the honest in heart, and
530
spare our lives to return home in safety."
President Cannon continues: "Having thus dedicated the land and ourselves to the Lord, one of the Elders spoke in tongues and offered many comforting promises, and another interpreted."
Seven years earlier (in 1843), the Church had sent four mission- aries to open up a mission among the Polynesians in the Pacific Ocean. These never reached Hawaii, and performed their labors in the islands further to the south. One of them died at sea on the way to their field of labor.
Of the ten missionaries who went to the Sandwich Islands in 1850, three soon returned home to America. Another returned a little later, which left only six. Shortly after, President Clark went to Ta- hiti. Elders Hawkins and Black- well had been assigned to the island of Hawaii, and after Elder Black- well left for home, Elder Hawkins labored alone on the Island. Eld-
"SMOTHERED IN FLOWERS" Seated, from left to right : J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Mrs. J. Reuben Clark, Jr., President Heber J. Grant, Mrs. Heber J. Grant, Preston D. Richards, and Mrs. Preston D. Richards.
Standing, from left to right: Mrs. Castle H. Murphy, President Castle H. Murphy, Mrs. Edith Grant Young, Joseph Anderson, Mrs. Anna Grant Midgley, President William Waddoups, and Mrs. William Waddoups.
ers Cannon, Keeler, Farrer, and Bigler labored on the island of Maui.
President Cannon records that one of the first questions which arose after the Elders reached the islands was whether or not their mission was to the whites or to the natives, or to both. He states that some of the Elders took one view, others another. The president of the mission declined to decide the matter, leaving each man to make a decision for himself. President Cannon records his own feeling on this point as follows:
"For my part I felt it to be clearly my duty to warn all men, white and red; no sooner did I learn the condition of the popula- tion than I made up my mind to acquire the language, preach the Gospel to the natives and to the whites whenever I could obtain an opportunity, and thus fill my mis- sion. I felt resolved to study and master the language and warn the people of those islands if I had to
IN MID-PACIFIC
The significance of the organization of a regular stake of the Church in the Hawaiian Islands is set forth in this article by a man whose training in the diplomatic service of the United States Goverment makes it -possible for him to understand relationships which exist among peoples and nations.
do it alone; for I felt I could not do otherwise and be free from condemnation; the spirit of it was upon me. Elders Bigler and Keeler felt the same."
TN view of his strong determina- tion to preach the Gospel to the natives, President Cannon's testi- mony as to how he acquired the language is of great interest. He says:
"My desire to learn to speak was very strong; it was present with me night and day, and I never permitted an opportunity of talk- ing with the natives to pass without improving it. I also tried to exer- cise faith before the Lord and to obtain the gift of talking and un- derstanding the language. One evening while sitting on the mats conversing with some neighbors who had dropped in, I felt an un- commonly great desire to under- stand what they said. All at once I felt a peculiar sensation in my ears. I jumped to my feet, with my hands at the sides of my head and exclaimed to Elders Bigler and Keeler, who sat at the table, that I believed I had received the gift of interpretation! And it was so.
"From that time forward I had but little, if any, difficulty in un- derstanding what the people said to me. I might not be able at once to separate every word which they spoke from every other word in the sentence, but I could tell the gen- eral meaning of the whole. This was a great aid to me in learning to speak the language, and I felt very thankful for this gift from the Lord."
Among the most reverent and touching memories to be found in the Islands today are those attend- ing upon the missionary labors of President Cannon, particularly those having to do with his work in Maui. One is told there that President Cannon baptized 3,000
people during his labors on that island. ,
On the slopes of the lofty crater of the extinct volcano Haleakala, at the little village of Pulahu, stands a monument erected to President George Q. Cannon, marking the place where he trans- lated the Book of Mormon; it is near the place where he performed his first baptism in the Islands.
President Cannon not only did this mighty work of conversion, but he also translated the Book of Mormon. He records that he determined in the last days of the month of January, 1851, to com- mence the work of translation.
the language was preserved and spoken in the greatest purity, and he had advantages that no other equally educated man, at the time, possessed." Brother Napela was a man of great faith and deep un- derstanding of the Gospel.
•THE memory of the visit, of a few years past, of President David O. McKay and Elder Hugh J. Cannon to the monument at Pulehu is still fresh in the minds of the Saints of Maui, and they speak in terms of awe and rever- ence of the spiritual experiences which were vouchsafed on that occasion.
President Joseph F. Smith also performed a great work in the Islands, his mission extending from 1854 to 1858. In March, 1864, he returned there, accompanying Apostles Ezra T. Benson and Lorenzo Snow, who were sent to restore order and discipline in the Church, which had been largely led astray by Walter M. Gibson.
The translation was finished on July 22, 1853, and the revision of the translation was accomplished on September 27 of the same year. It was published in San Francisco in .1855. President Cannon re- lates that he was greatly assisted in this by one of his early converts, an educated, intelligent Hawaiian, residing in Wailuku, Maui, by name, W. H. Napela, who "was a descendant of the old chiefs of the Island of Maui, in whose families
PRESIDENTS GRANT AND CLARK AND PARTY AT THE MONUMENT MARKING PLACE WHERE THE BOOK OF MORMON WAS TRANSLATED INTO HAWAIIAN BY PRESIDENT GEO. Q. CANNON
After the Apostles returned home, President Joseph F. Smith remained as the president of the mission for a few months. He dearly loved the Islands and had for their people an affection as deep as that which he had for his own kinfolk. He re- turned to the Islands several times
531
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
>°-
after that. His name is held there in greatest reverence.
The Hawaiians tell this inci- dent regarding the last visit to them of President George Q. Can- non, during the mission presidency of Samuel E. Woolley; President Cannon had not spoken the lan- guage for years. Apparently he thought or felt that he had lost his command of it. Accordingly on rising to speak to the Hawaiians he requested Brother Woolley to translate for him, Brother Cannon speaking in English. After this had proceeded for a few sentences the gift of tongues again came to President Cannon, and he made a long address in the Hawaiian lan- guage, which President Woolle^ affirmed was as pure Hawaiian as he ever heard spoken.
President Cannon has published a record of his experiences in Hawaii, under the title "My First Mission," which contains accounts of his works in those beautiful places, his minglings with the peo- ple, his experiences, his feelings, his deliverance from evil, which no one who has the faith and who has visited the Islands would question for a moment. Our young people of the Church could today well afford the time to re-read the rec- ord of that great evangelical work, written simply and in all humility. The record would leave them with an appreciation of the beauty of the Gospel, the glory of God, the power of the priesthood, and of the love, respect, and reverence in which the memory of President Cannon's work is held among the Hawaiians.
(~")N the morning of June 20, ^ 1935, President Heber J. Grant and his party, on board the S. S. Lurtine, after a four-full-day smooth and pleasant voyage from San Francisco, sailed into the slightly choppy channel between Oahu and Molokai, passed Koko Head around Diamond Head, to quarantine, just outside the harbor of Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. The ship's passenger list was full. College students, residents of Hawaii, returning to their home for the summer vacation, and tour- ists crowded the decks. Tug boats and coast boats loaded with rela- tives and friends of those on ship- board put out from Honolulu and came out to quarantine. Among them came President Castle H. Murphy, of the Hawaiian Mission,
532
PRESIDENT J. REUBEN CLARK, JR.
and President William Waddoups, of the Hawaiian Temple, to greet President Grant and his party.
The boat docked at 9 a. m. A large group of Saints was at the wharf and greeted President Grant and those with him, with the wav- ing of hats, with songs and leis of welcome. Newspaper men came aboard and interviewed President Grant and President Clark; also some Saints to welcome President Grant and his associates.
When the group went ashore they were greeted by another large number of Saints. Unfortunately the largest group of Saints at the wharf were missed, through an in- advertence in leaving by a different exit than that at which the Saints had congregated.
President Grant and those with him were taken immediately to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where ar- rangements had been made for their entertainment by Mr. Guy Toombes, manager of the Hotel Utah. When they reached the en- trance to the hotel they found it lined on both sides by the Saints, who, insofar as their joyous weep- ing would permit, sang songs of welcome. Many leis had been placed upon the party at the wharf; additional leis were given here. President Grant and his group then proceeded to the Presidential Suite (which bad been occupied by President Roosevelt on his recent trip to the islands) , which had been assigned to President Grant. Here they found the parlor filled with other Saints who again, in the midst of their tears and sobs, sang songs
of welcome. The tables of the parlor were piled with leis. Each Hawaiian Church member gathered there had brought other leis and these were placed around the necks and shoulders of the members of the party as a token of the affection and esteem of the Saints. How profuse was this hospitality can be surmised from the photograph taken at the close of this great welcome, but no photograph can do the scene justice, because lack- ing the beautiful and wonderful coloring. Everyone was a walking flower garden.
■THE bestowing of leis has, in Hawaii, become a high ritual of friendship; each island has its own flower, shrub, or berry, from which it makes a lei representing the island (each island also has its own par- ticular color) : Kauai has its Mokihana, Oahu has its Ilima, Maui has its Lokelani (red rose) , Hawaii has its Lehua, and Molokai has its Pua Kukui. To these are added leis of gardenias, pikake (jas- mine) , the papya flower, the white ginger blooms, carnations, mauna loa, crown flowers, and many others. All of these were repre- sented in the leis which were given to the party. The perfume was so intensely sweet as to be almost suf- focating.
From the moment of landing until President Grant left the Is- lands he was the beneficiary of every possible token of the wealth of affection, esteem, and reverence of the Hawaiians, not only of members of the Church, but of many and distinguished non- Church members. His reception reminded one of the way in which in the earlier days of the Church, and within the memory of the older ones among us, the Saints here on the mainland received and entertained Church leaders, when the people saw rather the great calling and divine power of the Priesthood than the petty incon- sequential human foibles of those who hold it, when the Master's saying about the mote and the beam was better understood and more completely lived. The Saints in Hawaii seized and hung upon every word which President Grant ut- tered, whether from the pulpit or in social conversation. They gain- ed from their contact with him a spiritual uplift which it was an in- spiration to see.
As one witnessed day after day
^~
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
and night after night among the Saints congregating together to meet him, the spontaneous, up- welling and outpouring of their affections and reverence for Presi- dent Grant, displayed as only peo- ple with deep feelings and great spirituality can show them, when their every word and look evi- denced that to them President Grant was indeed the Prophet of the Lord, the Seer and the Reve- lator, one was shocked and sad- dened in the contemplation of how poor and destitute we Anglo- Saxons are in real depth of feeling, and how inhibited and niggardly we are in showing the feeling we have, in contrast with the over- whelming richness of the sentiment and emotion which the Hawaiians possess and with the understanding prodigality with which they shower these blessings upon others. Truly we feel little and show less; they feel much and show all.
As we moved among these Saints we saw and shared a deep spirituality, an understanding, up- building trust and faith which, if the whole body of the Church might not in righteousness envy, it might in true spirit seek and cultivate.
PRESIDENT GRANT went to the Islands primarily to organ- ize a Stake on the Island of Oahu, where Honolulu is located. As is his custom, he had given the ques- tion of organization deep consid- ation before he undertook his journey. The matter had been discussed not only among the members of the First Presidency, but with the Council of the Twelve also. A few tentative conclusions had been reached regarding the pos- sible personnel of the Stake or- ganization, but nothing definite had been determined, again in ac- cordance with President Grant's custom to leave the final decision to be guided by the inspiration inci- dent to the actual organization itself.
On reaching the Islands it was determined that the Saints in the various islands should be visited. Carrying this plan out, the whole party visited the Island of Hawaii. Presidents Grant, Clark, and Mur- phy, with Elder Joseph Anderson, thereafter visited, in the order named the islands of Maui,' Molo- kai, and Kauai. These four islands, with Oahu, are the only ones of
the entire group on which any con- siderable number of the Saints re- side.
The visit to the Islands brought home to all an appreciation of some of the elements of the whole Hawaiian problem, of which we had only heard before.
One cannot go ashore on any island without appreciating the great racial problems which are there presented. One finds side by side, in the stores, on the streets, on the plantations, in one capacity or another, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Filipinos, Hawaiians, and "whites." As one becomes conscious of these various race groups, one also becomes conscious that there is a great intermixing thereof, some of the crosses produc- ing children who are the equal, and some say the superior, of the races themselves. Certainly we saw some remarkable men and women who were the product of this intermix- ing.
A little deeper investigation showed that this intermixing of the races was already exerting a sen- sible and considerable influence up- on the Church in Hawaii and upon the spread of the Gospel there, and that potentially that influence might, under proper direction, be so increased that it might appropri- ately be termed great.
This influence reaches out in several ways. The most obvious way, of course, is where the Church member of the mixed-race couple converts the non-Church member. This frequently happens, and it seems, almost invariably, that the children of such a union are reared in the Church.
The bringing in of such a new Church member enlarges, through his friends, the circle of those who may be brought to feel the spirit of the Gospel. So this influence in- creases, because reasonable, sober- minded men and women can hardly refuse in these days to listen to reputable friends or kinsmen who affirm they have a message of truth affecting eternity.
For some time past Elder El- wood Christensen, who has been on a mission to Japan, has been conducting work among the Japan- ese in Honolulu (the Japanese have by far the largest race block on the Islands) ; his earnest and devoted labors are meeting with success. He has established a branch among the Japanese who hold their meetings
on the property recently bought for the erection of a stake house in Honolulu. Some baptisms are re- sulting. Among the Japanese Saints in'Honolulu are Sister Tsune Nachie, an aged and most faithful" Latter-day Saint of many years, and Dr. Tomizo Katsunuma, who at one time attended college in Utah. The Japanese Saints and their friends gave to President Grant and his group a delicious dinner and afterward a delightful entertainment of song, dance, in- strumental music, and recitation, the latter partly in splendid Eng- lish. The music, played on the Japanese koto (harp) the samisen (a Japanese guitar) , and the shaku- hachi (Japanese flute) was very delightful, even though the tones were different from our own music. The Japanese at Laie also gave to President Grant and his party a delicious dinner there.
ITOR a variety of reasons unneces- sary to enumerate here, it would seem not improbable that Hawaii is the most favorable place for the Church to make its next effort to preach the Gospel to the Japanese people; and it would further ap- pear that a strong colony of Jap- anese Saints in Hawaii could oper- ate from there into their homeland in a way that might bring many Japanese to a knowledge not only of Christianity, but of the restored Gospel. There are evidences that the fields are ripening; if so, they will be ready sooner or later for the harvest to begin.
The same circumstances, the same lineofreasoning, applies the Chinese. While no separate and distinct work has yet been done among the Chinese of the Islands as a group, nevertheless in- dividual Chinese have become mem- bers of the Church, and the inau- guration of work among the Chinese group awaits only initia- tion and organization. As with the Japanese-Hawaiian group, so / with the Chinese-Hawaiian group/ — they might be used as a meansr of reaching the Chinese of thi homeland. The party was enter-L^ tained at the home of a full blood- ed Chinese, Brother Henry W. Aki, who came into the Church after he married his splendid wife, a Hawaiian. JyQfhex^Ajd is a member of the Oahu High Council
y — An
so with the Filipinos. Moreover, the myriads upc
533
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
myriads of India also face us here.
It would thus appear that the beginnings of a missionary service among a billion, it may be, of the children of God to whom the re- stored Gospel has not yet been suc- cessfully brought in China and Japan and India might be made here in Hawaii, and from here ex- tend to the far-off home-lands.
Again, Hawaii is the gateway to all of our branches in the widely scattered islands of the Pacific. Considerations of race, common an- cestry, and a common language at its source, draw all the South Sea Islanders and the Hawaiians to- gether in a close common bond. The recognition given to the Hawaiians in the organization of full Church units under normal Church government cannot fail to have a great and beneficial influence upon the whole Polynesian race.
Furthermore, the Temple at Laie stretches out its sanctifying welcome not only to that great group of descendants of Lehi in the Pacific, but also and equally to all others in New Zealand and Aus- tralia, who have in them the blood of Israel. And who can estimate or measure the unifying influence of the inspiration and fructifying spiritual power of this little Temple at Laie, and the glorious work for the salvation of the millions and millions who have gone before, car- ried on within its walls, as it rests . there in the midst of the mighty waters of the Pacific.
In this view the Hawaiian Is- lands are indeed the outpost of a great forward march for Chris- tianity and the Church, among those mighty peoples that face us along the eastern edge of our sister hemisphere.
Then there is the question of the Hawaiians themselves. In the days of President Cannon when emigration of the Hawaiians to the United States was not practicable, the Island of Lunai was designated as the gathering place for the Saints from all the other Islands. The mal-administration and malfeas- ance of Gibson made this attempt abortive. In 1865, following the Gibson debacle,* the Laie planta- tion was purchased on the north- west coast of Oahu, as a gathering- place for the Saints. This place had a peculiar sentiment attached to it, particularly marking it for a gath- ering-place: In the days before the
white man came to this garden of Eden, Laie had been a city of re- fuge, strictly analogous, it would seem, to the old cities of refuge of ancient Israel. It was finely fit- ting that the Saints should gather themselves here and find rest. For a variety of reasons unnecessary to enumerate now, this gathering did not work out as originally con- templated, and in 1889 the Church purchased the old Knowlton ranch out in Skull Valley, Tooele Coun- ty, Utah, and established there a Hawaiian colony, giving the place the title of Josepa. A considerable number of Hawaiian Saints were colonized here. But for climatic and other reasons the colonists did not thrive ; and in 1910 the colony was discontinued and the bulk of those who had lived there were returned by the Church to the Is- lands.
QONDITIONS in the Islands have greatly changed since the days when President Cannon per- formed his first mission there. The lands are now owned in great- est part by a few great families, for the most part descendants of the original Protestant missionaries who went there, beginning about 1823. The Hawaiians themselves now own relatively few acres, the bulk of the land being held in great plantations by these families
*See History of the Hawaiian Mission. 534
or by their corporate or other nomi- nees. By tradition and by the methods of life which have come to them through all the generations of their ancestors, the Hawaiians are unfitted for work on these plantations; they cannot compete with the Japanese, the Filipinos, and the Portuguese in the cane or pineapple fields. They do not generally compete with the Jap- anese, the Chinese, and the "whites" as tradesmen. As inti- mated, they have no land holdings. So in their own lands, under their own skies, and in their own en- vironment, they stand virtually disinherited with the problem of their daily sustenance a serious one. The Hawaiians are kind and trustful; they are generous to a fault. Perhaps beyond all else they are affectionately hospitable; so long as they have a morsel to eat they share it. In worldly matters and in affairs spiritual they follow the Master's word: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." A debt owed need not be paid when due; it may rather be paid at the need, and desire, or even conveni- ence of the debtor; for the friend and brother must not be oppressed. They are a people of great loves and of no hates. They are simple in their faith and have unbounded trust and spirituality.
They delight to sing and to dance. They have an instinct for ''music. ' The Oahu stake choir ranks second to no stake choir in the Church, and the Tabernacle choir itself must closely watch its raHrels, if the Oahu stake choir shall continue the development of its leadership and shall widen some- what its cultural capacity. The attack and release of this choir re- minds one of the trained, profes- sional choruses of the great opera houses.
T'HE Hawaiians are a people of a great and peculiar spirituality. President Cannon testified that they were the only people whom he had ever known, who, while belonging to the Church, could sin without becoming embittered against the Church.
Of all the Christian Churches in the Islands, the Latter-day Saints have the largest individual group. The uniform testimony of every missionary, I think, who has been to the Islands, would be that they are a wonderful people of greatest
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
faith and spirituality, of humility and devotion, of deep conversion and assured knowledge — not with- out failings, it is true, "but e'en their failings," like Goldsmith's Vicar, "lean to virtue's side."
For these people the Church and the Gospel hold a great hope and have a wondrous virtue. Hawai- ians- — members of the Church and non -members — freely affirm that had the Church secured in an earlier day a firmer hold upon a larger group of the Hawaiians they would not have been today in the plight in which they find themselves.
After this eighty-five years of working among and with the peo- ple, and after the various experi- ences which have attended the oper- ations of the Church in those islands, the Hawaiians had earned the right to the gift (in making which the Church itself had joy) of a greater power and fuller local responsibility in the administra- tion of Church activities upon the islands.
It was a great satisfaction to President Grant to find that under the able direction of President Castle H. Murphy, the people had been trained to a point where it was possible to set up a stake and ward organization which was largely manned by Hawaiians. Indeed, the distribution of stake- offices, regular and auxiliary, between the Hawaiians and the other Church members was essentially propor- tionate to their relative numbers. This was a matter of peculiar grati- fication to President Grant, first, because, he felt that the Hawaiian Saints were entitled to a large rep- resentation by reason of their long faithfulness and training; next, be- cause he felt it was a demonstration to all the descendants of Lehi, wherever they may be, that they are in fact and in practise entitled, when they join the Church and re- main faithful, to all the blessings promised them in Holy Writ. Pres- ident Grant also rejoiced that the organization of the Oahu Stake gave the opportunity to demon- strate that in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all who are entitled to the Priesthood, with- out distinction of race or color, stand on an equality. It was felt that this demonstration must have its beneficial effect upon all the races who had groups upon the Islands.
Again, it was felt by President Grant that if the results achieved
here on the mainland from "home missionary" labors in the stakes, should follow the organization of a stake in Hawaii— and there is every reason to hope they will fol- low— then the setting up of the Oahu Stake of Zion will mean a new leap forward in the spreading of the Gospel in those lands. It may be here stated, that influential Hawaiians who were not members of the Church were intensely in- terested in the organization of the Oahu Stake; several such persons were spectators at the organization conference.
Finally, it was felt by President Grant that the organization of a stake of Zion gives, on the Islands, such a compactness and cohesion to the Church's work in general as could not fail to have a far-reach- ing, beneficial, and almost coercive effect upon the launching of the Gospel in the Eastern hemisphere.
"ITROM the moment they reached
the Islands until they sailed out
of Honolulu harbor on their return,
Elsie Has Passed Away
By Ruth May Fox (Read at Mrs. Brandky's Funeral)
IKE a thunderbolt £rom a cloudless sky, J—1 The words fell on our ears Which stunned our minds and chilled our hearts
With dark, perplexing fears.
Not fear of death nor fear for one Who has closed her earthly days,
But fear that some dear broken heart May falter in the ways.
Thy ways are so mysterious, Lord, We cannot understand,
We only know that through this maze
Thou'lt lend Thy kindly hand.
And lead us wisely, tenderly
Toward that Heavenly light Which always whispers: "Ease your soul
You're always in my sight." And so is this beloved one
This precious, brilliant gem You bold so dear, can God do less
Than give her place with them —
His priceless glorious jewels,
Whose sheen is Light Divine Where her illustrious father
Proclaims with joy, "She's mine!" She will not lose her heritage
Of gifts and talents rare, With ten-fold lustre they will shine
Amid the faithful there.
Her charm, her love will never wane,
In beauty and in truth With sparkling eyes and nimble feet
She'll walk the ways of youth. O Father, let Thy peace descend
Upon this stricken band And give us faith and hope and trust
Until we understand.
the entire party were elaborately entertained by private individuals, by Church branches, by district or- ganizations. To give a list of those expressing their welcome and love, and either offering or extend- ing their hospitality, would almost require a naming of the members of the Church in the Islands. In- deed, while the party was yet at sea, on its island-ward journey, there came to them a message of welcome by radio from President Murphy and the Oahu district choir.
No trouble was too arduous and no expense too great to be un- dertaken to show their love, esteem, and reverence for President Grant, and they extended their courtesies to all those who were with him. The Samoan group resident on the islands vied with the Hawaiians in their efforts to entertain and to show their good will and reverence. Nor was the small Maori group, temporarily at Laie doing Temple work, less dil- igent in their efforts to show their loving and reverential feelings. Singing, joyous congregations greeted President Grant wherever he went. Always there were moist eyes and trembling voices; some- times the feelings of love and joy were so great they found expres- sion only in tears, and many were forced to stop their songs of praise and thanksgiving that they might weep for joy. Not one untoward incident marred the whole journey. The sea itself seemed to wish to give us nothing but comfort, and on one voyage the captain com- mented upon the almost unpre- cedented calmness of the ocean dur- ing the trip.
Every member of the party came away from the islands not only with a fondness for their beauty and a deep affection for their peo- ple, but with an increased faith and deepened and widened spirituality, which made each of us a better man or woman for the companionship of the Hawaian Saints. We left the shores of Hawaii with that sad- dening lonesomeness which comes to all who leave the Islands after partaking of the spirit of the peo- ple, and with a deep longing to return, that some of us shall do our best to meet. Each one of us returns to the people there, the su- perlative of their own greetings of we' come and of farewell to us, "Aloha nui loa."
535
SILVER
ONE THING WENT TO SAVE ANOTHER, BUT PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING WAS LOST
PART I
R
HUGE old blue- bottle fly buzzed out of his winter sleep and zig-zagged across Tom Reynolds' chromium-finished inner office. The room had been so still that Reynolds could almost hear the swish of his thoughts.
"Hello," said he, surprised from his revery, as the fly found the window and began to bob noisily up and down in a hint of spring sunshine. "Huh, what ragged wings! Don't you know you're almost through, old fellow, if you have survived the winter? I haven't . . . but I'm not through." His gaze was steady, but his face was worn and drawn.
His suite of a dozen rooms had been as silent as a shadow. The ticker was still. The directors' board vacant. Suddenly the tele- phone rang. Reynolds winced al- though he had been waiting for just this.
;;Yes."
"Marlborough on the Hudson 536
UNDERNEATH THAT POLISHED SURFACE OF HERS, HE HAD SEEN A LAYER OF GRIT AS HARD AS BLUE DIAMONDS
calling Mr. Thomas Reynolds."
"Reynolds speaking."
"One moment, please."
"Hello, Dad? This is Eileen. I got your message to call. What do you want Dadden?"
"I want you Eileen. I want you to come home. Tonight."
"Oh I can't Dad; not this week- end. Have you forgotten? Didn't Mother tell you? I'm hop mistress for the Spring Formal — it's to- night! And tomorrow Zeta's go- ing out to crew — I'm stroke ! And Sunday is my big moment — I'm going over to West Point with Wayne. Isn't that a thrill?"
"A thrill! It sounds like a fast flight to me, but I think you'd better pull the joy stick. I'm afraid you're going to have to come down, daughter. Can you land on both feet?"
"That's the last thing I was planning to do. I don't have to come home, do I Dad?"
'Yes. There's something you
must know. It's dreadful. I want to be the first to tell you."
"Dad! What is it?"
"You'll have to wait until I see you. But there's something else, too, not so bad."
"What, Dad?"
"An idea, an idea, Eileen, but it needs a crutch, and you're it. You've got to help me put it over. How soon can you get home?"
"Well, if that's that, I suppose it's that. I guess I can get there about as soon as you can, but it's like throwing diamonds in the river to give up that date with Wayne. Is Mother home?"
"Yes."
"And Jim?"
"Yeah. Good-bye, dear. Ask your director to have your things sent on, will you?"
"Dad! Is it for good? A close- out?"
"I'm 'fraid so — you dear girl. But never mind; chin up. And just wait until you hear what I've got in mind. There won't be a tear in a bucket, you'll see."
lOM looked at his watch. He had a few moments to wait before his chauffeur would be calling.
He slumped and again began to torture himself with "ifs." Step by step he rehearsed his crash, say- ing, "If I had not done this," or, "if I had done that." But he saw no loophole through which a man of honor might have escaped. But, although nearly everything he owned had been engulfed, he had not lost his values nor his perspec- tive* of life. Reynolds' spirit was unquenchable.
As a lad he had herded his father's sheep from one range to another in the far West. He knew the lush meadows in the hidden canyons of the .Southwest where his flocks had wintered. And the ferns and brake of high uplands where they had summered. Long ago, when he had lain in the sha- dow of the mountains, wiggling his toes in the moist grass, some- thing elemental had been nurtured deep within his nature, a still source
GIRDLE
ILLUSTRATED BY FIELDING K. SMITH
By CLAIRE W. NOALL
Tom Reynolds smashed up as thousands of others have done, but he thinks of a way out. Will he make it? This is the beginning of a serial of the Uintah Mountain country by one who loves it.
which gave meaning to the depth of life and abundance to his spirit. This spiritual essence had been overlaid with day dreams that had passed before his childish vision like a column of scudding clouds. "To shoot through space and land on Mars; gee, for swell! To be rich and live in a hundred-room house when he grew up . . . and have a pretty wife. To be a big shot." Many of his dreams were lost on his way to manhood, but some of them became living, rush- ing realities as the past was left far behind. One became an ex- pensive bit of human addenda, that pretty wife of his, but Tom adored her.
The pyramid of his fortune had risen naturally. An appointment to the federal grazing commission. More land, more sheep, thousands upon thousands of head, blooded cattle, then oil, and eventually the stock market, a brokerage firm — and finally residence in the East. When the market folded up like a
broken bellows, his holdings in the West collapsed; one thing went to save another, but practically everything was lost.
Of all his property there was nothing left but one ranch which he had recently deeded to Eileen, with some fine horses, and one herd of blooded cattle. There was a bunch of range horses, some Indian ponies, and a thoroughbred saddle mount for both of the children and their father. There was also a pair of well trained English Setters that Tom took with him when he went duck hunting on the Bear River. Tom had planned other holdings for Jimmie, but now it looked as
if Eileen's ranch would have to be the family stand-by for the time being.
The ranch was a dude, and one they used for not much more than vacationing. It was in Utah, close to the Weber River head, and at the very foot of the Uinta Moun- tains, that curious range which shoots off at right angles from the Colorado Rockies and extends into Utah for about twenty-five miles just below the northeastern cut- out of that state.
A half dozen bare, rocky peaks accent the western end and the northern line of the range at inter- vals as they thrust their fantastic, naked summits high above their forested slopes far below. One is {Continued on page 5 89)
ADOREE BROKE INTO HYSTERICAL
SOBS AND SANK BACK AMONG
HER PILLOWS
<\ ^m£W
In Memory of President R W. Ivins
On the 83raf anniversary of his birth, Sept. 16, 1852, and the first of his death Sept. 23, 1934, we submit these tributes taken from the sermons given at his funeral and a tribute from a
Lamanite friend.
A Lamanite Tribute to President Ivins
T'HE Lamanites in Old Mexico, United States, and Canada, have been blessed in having the association and friendship of a 100 per cent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Such was our departed brother, President A. W. Ivins. The La- manites loved Brother Ivins; few men have accomplished such broad acquaintance among the Indians. Brother Ivins loved the Indians as they were, and he understood them as they are. He knew the trials and tribulations that were imposed upon them before the white man came among them. He was blessed with a spiritual knowledge far su- perior to that of most men, espe- cially on the Lamanite question. Brother Ivins was an authority on Indians. At no time did Brother Ivins ever fail to raise his voice in the Indian's defense. His memory will always linger in the minds of the Red Men, who are so sensitive to such brotherly love and friend- ship, and untiring, unselfish services as he rendered to his fellow man. Said he to me, "Don't worry about the Indians not joining the Church of Jesus Christ, or being converted any faster than they are. The day is not far off when there will
be nations born in a day, and they will come into this Church by the thousand, and into their own, in your time."
President Ivin's remarks will soon prove true.
J. J. Galbreath, Blackfeet Reservation, Browning, Montana.
* * *
We are met today to honor him, in his death as in his life. We honor him as a dutiful son, a lov- ing husband, a kind and loving father, a great pioneer, a builder of commonwealths, a great citizen, a devout churchman, a wise and experienced, a righteous and God- fearing man. — President J. Reuben
Clark, presiding officer.
* * *
One of the most successful jour- neys ever completed in this work- a-day world came to an end at the 82nd milestone, last Sunday morn- ing, Sept. 23, when President An- thony W. Ivins reluctantly, though peacefully, laid aside life's burdens.
A million voices murmured in unison, death has taken from us a truly great man, a mighty leader, a friend in very deed — President David O. McKay.
THE LATE PRESIDENT A. W. IVINS IN CONFER- ENCE WITH HIS LAMANITE FRIENDS. THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN IN SALT LAKE CITY, WHERE THE INDIANS HAD ASSEMBLED FOR CONFERENCE.
It is difficult to find an individ- ual who represents the hopes and aspirations and ideals of a nation or race. * * * A. W. Ivins, how- ever, did represent, in his person- ality, the hopes and the ideals and the expectations of that band of men and women who went out to establish, on the extreme frontier, a branch of Zion. To them he was the product of their experiences and their teachings. — John G. Mc~ Quarrie, life-long Dixie friend.
"He was an ornament to reli- gion. So manly a man was he that others wanted to worship, if for no other reason than because he did. Confident that life is im- mortal, he lived in Christlike peace. — E. G. Peterson, President of the U. S. A. C.
And so I like to think of him
now as the ideal father of a family;
one who intelligently guided it;
one who was an example in every
way; and one who had at the time,
and who has ever since had, the
complete respect and honor of his
own children and all other children
who were associated with him.- — -
F. S. Harris, President B. Y. U. * * *
One of the finest attributes of this man was his ardent loyalty to his friends. — John Fitzpatrick, publisher Salt Lake Tribune.
538
LITTLE HOUSE
By FAVA K. PARKER
Lovely little happy house that once I knew, Tell me — does the other woman love you, too?
Does she rub the worn old faucets 'til they gleam like gold
And pretend they're queenly treasures, as I used to do —
Does she realize how much of Life two hands can hold
When working for a loved one in a home like you?
Has she seen the bit of rainbow on the painted wall
When the sun beams through that foolish little leaded pane, And watched the colors dance apart and leap and fall, Then quiver into stillness and grow clear again?
Has she learned that she must turn and raise that cupboard latch — Does she love to hear the kettle when it starts to sing —
Is she bothered by the kitchen door that will not catch- — ■
Will she feed my little robin when he comes, in Spring?
Does her man come home, as mine did, every night at seven, Does she ever hide and wait for him behind the door
And then rush out and kiss him, while his arms hold1 heaven?
Could I but play that game of rapture, just once more!
Does she sometimes lie awake at night, too tired to sleep, In the rosy cozy dormer room beneath the eaves
And watch the silent shadows as they softly creep
When the silver moon comes peeping through the linden leaves?
Does she ever, in the stillness of an empty noon,
Hear echoes of my happiness in room or hall, Or see, amid the phantoms in the twilight gloom,
Just a shadow of my happy dreams on floor or wall?
£<s&C3*
O lovely little happy house that once I knew — There's a throbbing bit of me in every inch of you!
*»$fm
- t'eiu01NC| K5/VMTH-
539
SONS!
AND THIRTY
We take -pleasure in passing these sugges- tions on from the UM aster of Chat" to Fathers and Sons everywhere. If you can't take thirty — as the CCC lads say — take five.
HERE'S something to write down on your memorandum pads. Yes, Mr. Father, here's something that will start paying dividends tonight:
Arrange to talk with your son at least thirty minutes every day. That doesn't mean talking to or at the boy, but with him. It does mean that this proposed meeting is to feature a conversation, with each party assigned about one-half of these wonderful thirty minutes.
W
When to Schedule
HEN to schedule this interest- ing "Mister and Master" meeting is a vital point. Every- thing considered, make it just be- fore the boy goes to bed. If it is Friday night and the young man has a date, it may be advantageous to enjoy the chat during dinner.
The just-before-bed-time sched- ule has its advantages, however. Lessons are out of the way; the father's assignments for the evening are pretty well covered and the home premises serene. Mother, too, can find a moment to lean over and listen. The big precaution, of course, is to make sure that father is not so drowsy that he cannot be interesting. A good conversational bed-time "wake-him-up" is an orange or a glass of cold milk.
What to Talk About
•"THIS will depend entirely on the age of the boy. If the youngster is of Scout age,
540
the conversations should bristle with stories about the things he did that very day. Answering such questions as:
"Say, Bud, how's
the table coming you're
making in Manual Training? Are
you sanding it down carefully?
I'll certainly be glad to see it."
"Where in the yard, do you think we ought to set up that basketball backstop?"
"Here are the movies being shown in town this Saturday. From what you've read about them, which one do you want to see? Why?
Young Bud should be given a chance and encouragement to make crisp, full statements. He should be helped in the use of correct words, but not, at first, to the ex- tent of taking all of the sparkle out of his share of the conversation. The big point is for Bud to get a chance to say it in his own way to a father who has the time and inclination to listen and a friendly eagerness to appreciate.
For the father's part during this conversation, let there be no blat- ant criticism but for once in the youngster's life, let there be a lot of appreciative understanding and friendly approval. It is never hard for over-wrought fathers to work up a "stomach-ache" over the antics of twelve year old boys.
Let the father himself have ready a number of interesting "hunches" that always give a real boy a laugh and a thrill, and let them be told, just as well, and just as interest- ingly as if Chief Justice Hughes himself were listening and grading father on the quality of his con- versation. Maybe you don't think that won't give the head of the family a work-out!
When the Boy is Older
TF the boy is in his teens — if he is just beginning to be fussy about his shirts and ties and his incipient beard, then father has a different assignment. If ever he needed to scratch gravel to hold his own, he needs to now. To match wits with a keen, intelligent, seventeen year old boy calls for the best in father leadership.
If the father can prove that, in his field, no matter how humble it is, he is still growing, still learning, still reaching out for new excel- lencies, the boy will be the first to respect and to love him. At this age a boy hungers for hero worship. Nothing pleases him more than to be able to show his father off. It certainly is no thrill to him to be able to show his father up.
Vocations Don't Matter
"\A7"HETHER, in earning the fam- ily livelihood, the father handles materials or forces, he still employs brain and brawn and can, therefore, always be interesting to a boy; especially, if he is a good observer, a careful reader and is himself interested in life. A man is always as young as his faith and as old as his doubts; as young as his courage, as old as his fear.
Even if the father hasn't had many scholastic opportunities, if the right camaraderie is developed, the boy will fairly exude appre- ciation of the man to whom the youngster is indebted for every- thing.
If the boy is shown that his rear- ing will have cost a struggling father every cent of $10,000 and probably three times that amount by the time he is twenty-one, if any value can be placed on the un-
FATHERS!
MINUTES A DAY
By EARL J. GLADE
Manager KSL
tiring, t w e n t y-four-hour-a-day service of solicitous parents, this same boy will be motivated to a thankful demonstrative apprecia- tion.
The late President C. W. Eliot of Harvard once said that when all other appeals to his college boys to be their best seemed to fail, he could invariably get vibrant reac- tion out of them, by driving home the extent of the sacrifices made by father and mother and their con- stant, prayerful solicitude that their boy positively will measure up.
The big assignment for son and father is to keep such a chumship operating that nobody can build a big board fence between the two, when sonny turns fifteen.
He Isn't Just Something to Yell At!
TN a prominent home recently, an accurate check was made of every remark addressed to a thirteen year old son by his father during an entire evening. Incredible as it may seem, every single utterance of this man directed to his own boy was, in the following order, a caustic rebuke for a trivial dereliction; a series of humiliating questions; a sharp rejoinder; and several direct commands. Not an appreciative word !
Frankly, this youngster, during that day, had not done one thing that was even mildly wrong. He had been a little mischievous; that was all.
But where was the son and father camaraderie? Where was the father's firm shoulder-hug for which all boys in their teens hun- ger? Where was the friendly chat inviting the boy to submit his ver- sion of the day's contacts?
Isn't it time that someone serve notice that 12, 13, 14 and 15 year old boys are surely something else
than household personalities to yell at?
According to this father, a gen- eral, all-around upbraiding, whe- ther earned or unearned, will do any boy good. And we actually wonder why some boys want to leave home and brave the agoniz- ing, hungering perils of cross- country hitch-hiking!
Getting Into the Front Door
QETTING a foot into the front door of a boy's spiritual con- sciousness today requires a new technique.
While preaching may find its way home to some boys, informal father-and-son chats about real personalities who have done or, are doing, the world's work always intrigue the interest of youth. A skillful father can almost invariably succeed in encouraging his boy to associate with the people like whom the youngster personally wants to be; and who are doing the things in life he personally wants to do.
There's a very convincing appeal in the man who is quietly but effi- ciently doing important things — things the world wants done right now! Who can point these out to a boy better than an interested and an interesting father?
The great assignment for our youths is to learn to bring their doing up to the same level as their knowing.
Frankly nobody can help a youngster to get into action in this direction better than his Dad, at his best.
The Reward!
pOSSIBLY because Dad is older he will be the first to get the thrills and the happy satisfactions from these son-and-father rendez- vous. In a way, it puts father right on the spot, because he has to justify his leadership. Life really
begins at forty for the man who learns to know his boy, through these evening and good-night tete-a-tetes.
And don't think mother won't get her satisfaction as she listens in and looks on from her seat in the gallery, first row, front center!
Young Sonny will see a new warmth in his folks' own living room. All of a sudden he will notice that people aren't yelling direct commands at him all the time — just once in a while now! It's great!
And then, one fine day, he will begin to realize how many won- derful folks are absolutely depend- ing on his making good — and how many will be grateful and proud, if he succeeds!
"Say, Pop, on a Scout broadcast today, I heard a man tell us that you remember things you do, better than things you just think — Yes, you have to act 'em out, if you want really to remember them!
"Listen, Pop, and see if I have this straight!"
"Go right ahead, Buddy, I'm all ears."
That's it, Buddy — and Dad — go right ahead for thirty wonderful minutes every day!
54 f
THE MESSAGE TO THE WORLD
Photograph of the Monument in place on the
Hill Cumorah
MORONI
An account of the dedication of the Angel Moroni monument at Hill Cumorah, near Palmyra, New York, with suggestions as to its significance to the Church.
By JROSCOE A. GROVER
A MONUMENT to their ^Eternal Life'" — That's what one of the writers on
a great world-wide news agency wrote as he sent the story across the continent to the San Francisco cable, hoping it would be relayed to the islands beyond; for he knew that President Heber J. Grant had just returned from Hawaii in order to preside at the Cumorah Hillside services, where thousands of pil- grims from all over America had assembled to pay tribute to one, Moroni, who once lived, a real hu- man being on this very continent, and who, ages after his death, re- turned to the earth to make known the fulness of a great philosophy that had guided the lives of the prophets and people of God here in America back in his own day.
The reporter thrilled at the bold- ness of the question, "If a man die, shall he live again?" And recog- nized the answer as news when, in this skeptical age, President David O. McKay had the audacity to de- clare, "Yes, indeed! Moroni lived again. He came back to teach Joseph Smith — and others. These men still live. Moroni and Joseph are here, in spirit, today, and know what we are doing!" All that went into the story syndicated to the nation.
Twenty newspaper reporters and photographers came from Roches- ter, Buffalo, Syracuse, Palmyra, and surrounding communities as well as representatives from the Associated Press and United Press. Eagerly they met the General Au- thorities, asked questions, listened attentively, took notes and ever so many pictures. Sitting at the Press tables near the stand where they could watch the audience and look into the eyes of the speakers, they told through their established chan- nels the story of the restoration of the Gospel and it went all over
America — perhaps beyond. Radio commentators announced the event and the newsreel people clicked off pictures of the four mission trum- peters who heralded the celebration; the singing thousands, assembled in the hillside field on rustic benches; and the General Authorities who came in a special caravan from the West. President Grant standing at the base of the 40 foot bronze and granite memorial that crowns the hill was asked to say about a hun- dred words for the motion picture microphones. So the dedication of the Angel Moroni Monument was carried to many who could not attend- — many who lived far be- yond "Cumorah land," which stretches out for 21. miles in every direction. That region has been tracted thoroughly by eager mis- sionaries who visited every house- hold of every farm and village, leaving special literature and an in- vitation to attend the dedication. 70,000 people live within that area. 300,000 more live in Rochester and they saw pictures, rqad news re- leases, and heard the story on their radio.
TTACH development in the con- struction and erection of the monument has been sent to the papers for many weeks. There was a story of Torleif S. Knaphus, Norwegian-born artist, convert to the Church, who, in his Salt Lake City studio, designed the memorial, hoping so to mark the hill that people would say, 'This is the place where the Book of Mormon was found," and not "This is the purported place," or "According to some," or "It is said that." "A tangible statue of enduring bronze and granite may help to make the story really live in the minds of those who see it," he said, and that is what it has done. The news- papers printed "Joseph the Pro- phet," "the Angel Moroni," "Hill
542
LIVES AGAIN
Cumorah, where the Book of Mor- mon was found," "Science Proves Book of Mormon," and other such statements without the usual quali- fying phrases. It was a new and friendly note in newspaper ac- counts of the Latter-day Saints.
One story, sent to 150 news- papers, told how the granite came from Vermont, just about 50 miles from the birthplace of Joseph Smith. Still another, quoting Don B. Colton, Mission president, called this our most important mis- sionary project in the last two years,, announcing that 25,000 copies of a new tract and 500 copies of the Book of Mormon had been distributed in "Cumorah land" since the first of May, and that the volunteer workers, receiving no sal- aries, paying their own expenses, had succeeded in creating a new and favorable attitude and in making the whole countryside "Mormon conscious."
Old animosities seem to have dis- appeared almost entirely. Some ministers invited the Mormon Eld- ers to share their pulpits on occa- sion. One little church near by (that couldn't afFord to have a regular minister) turned Sunday School and the "preaching service" over to the elders on condition that the congregation be permitted to ask questions after the sermons. One minister, whether he really meant to say so or not, spoke of Hill Cumorah and vicinity as "Holy ground — just as holy as the place where God spoke to Moses."
The mayor of one village where we have had only two missionaries at a time before-, gave street meet- ing privileges when a larger group was stationed there, saying, "Your religion seems just as good as mine — perhaps better."
A thousand people each week all through the construction of the monument have come to the very top of the hill to ask interested questions. Repeatedly the mission- aries doing special duty at the hill- top ran out of literature and had to send down to the base for more tracts and Books of Mormon to re- inforce their supplies.
1A71TH new literature, the in- centive of the monument and
A LOVELY PANEL OF
THE HILL CUMORAH
MONUMENT BY
T0RLEIF KNAPHUS
the dedicatory services, held July 21 to 24, the average time spent in tracting has increased and has proved to be stimulating and en- joyable. (It was a lady mission- ary who set the pace and outdis- tanced all others.) Missionaries here no longer try to pass out literature or engage in extended gospel conversation nor do they wait to be invited in on their first visit. They announce their pur- pose in missionary work, ask for the privilege of returning at a later date, when the whole household is present, and when they might ex- plain more fully the details of the restoration of the Gospel of Christ. As a result, in many cases, they get more invitations to return during the evening than they really have time to fulfill — and people, even on the first visit, hold on to them asking questions they really want to know. Friends have been made and converts baptized from those who first heard of Mormonism in the newspapers or over the air. The Eastern States Mission's record of baptisms this year will be larger than that of many previous years."
Four hundred visitors in Pal- myra were sent to lodge in the homes of townspeople who volun- teered to give them board and room at a reasonable price during the dedicatory services. Between four and five hundred people attended meetings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the "Vision Grove." Five hundred cars from twenty- eight states were neatly parked in the space provided during the Sun- day morning session. All of this
took special planning and is regard- ed as real missionary work. The Mission Singers, celebrated Mor- mon artists, electrical transcriptions of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir and Organ, as well as the General Authorities, were heard during the week over the NBC and CBS sta- tions in Rochester.
A Rochester paper printed the \ history of the Church in four in- ' stalments, gave detailed accounts \ of the unveiling, and illustrated > them well. Another paper featured a full page of Mormon pictures and story. ^New picture postcards of ' the_monument were a treat to trav- "elers who wanted" a momento" for home folks,. ^"" ""■*
543
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
>•
TT is not often that our Church has had such hearty cooperation from communities, newspapers, newsreels and the radio. This may mark the beginning of a new era in missionary work, in which outside agencies may be called upon to help our limited missionary forces. They should be used in carrying the message to every nation, kin- dred, tongue and people.
The monument and the attend- ant campaign have been a great mis- sionary adventure. The lighting of that great shaft at night is a soul- stirring experience to all who pass by, and will help to tell the story in a new way. That it was a real
A TESTIMONY IN GRANITE AND BRONZE THAT MEN ARE RESURRECTED. ANGEL MORONI MONUMENT ON THE HILL CUMORAH
success is attested by the kindly and sympathetic attitude of thousands who came and experienced a gen- uine spiritual "lift." The same reporter who clicked out the mes- sage that it was a monument to "eternal life," concluded his story with, "People came and asked to be affiliated with the Church. They will be baptized in the little wind- ing creek of Cumorah."
Dedicatory Prayer
Delivered by President Heber J, Grant on top of the Hill Cumorah, July 21, 1935
C^OD, our heavenly and eternal Father, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Father of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind, we thank Thee that Thou hast again seen fit to restore to the earth the plan of life and salvation, whereby men and women, through obedience to the laws that Thou hast revealed, can come back into Thy presence and dwell with Thee forever.
O Father, we thank Thee from the bottom of our hearts that Thou didst see fit to reveal Thyself and Thy Son to the boy, Joseph Smith. We thank Thee that we have no doubt in our minds regarding Thy personaltiy, that in very deed Thou didst declare to all the world by Thy personal visitation and the vis- itation of Thy Son, that man was created in the image of his Maker.
We thank Thee, oh Father, in heaven, that Thou didst allow Thy devoted and faithful prophet, Moroni, to visit the boy Joseph Smith, that Thou didst allow him for four long years to meet the prophet on this hill and instruct him regarding the principles of the 544
gospel, and fit and prepare him to stand at the head of Thy Church, again established upon the earth, the Church of Thy Son, Jesus Christ.
We are grateful, Father, for the delivery unto him of the plates, and that he was inspired of Thee through the instrumentality of the urim and thummim that was placed in his hands, to translate the holy scripture as recorded in the Book of Mormon.
We are thankful, Heavenly Fath- er, that as the years come and go Thou hast seen fit to uncover evi- dences regarding the divinity of the work in which we are engaged. We thank Thee, Father, that the claims that were made against the Book of Mormon, that it was false be- cause there were no dwellings that had been erected of cement to be found upon this land and that therefore the book was false have been disproved. We are grateful that such dwellings have been dis- covered, that mounds are being un- covered, and that under those mounds, not far. from the city of Mexico, splendid cement dwellings- have been found.
"\A7"E are grateful for the radio, whereby the ridicule of the statement in the Book of Mormon, that the voice of Jesus was heard all over the land, can be success- fully met. This statement was ridiculed because it was thought that the human voice carried only a few hundred feet, but today through the discovery of the radio the voice can be heard around the world.
We are grateful that the ridicule- of that part of the Book of Mor- mon which says that there were horses upon this continent has been satisfactorily answered. It- was thought that because there were no horses to be found here when Columbus arrived, that statement was untrue, but skeletons of horses and other animals have been dug, out of the oil wells in California..
We are thankful for the hun- dreds and thousands of special manifestations that have been giv- en to individuals, yes even millions of manifestations, as to the divin- ity of the Book of Mormon.
We are grateful oh Father, that Thou didst allow John the Baptist,.
THE I M PROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
who held the Aaronic Priesthood, the power and authority to bap- tize the Savior, to appear to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and that he did bestow upon them this priesthood, and this power. Our hearts go out in gratitude that the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter, James, and John, came to the earth, laid their hands upon the heads of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and re- stored the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, and the apostleship that was not upon the earth.
We humbly pray unto Thee that those of us who have received the ordinance of baptism, those of us who have been ordained to the higher priesthood, and all of those that have received a testimony of the divinity of the work that has been established — we humbly pray that Thou wilt help us to so live that our lives may proclaim the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.
We are thankful for the organi- zation of Thy Church and for its wonderful growth. We are grateful beyond expression that notwith- standing the opposition and the ly- ing statements that were sent out here in the state of New York and the persecutions of the people which made it necessary to move to Ohio, the then frontier, that yet Thy people prospered and that the numbers grew in the Church.
We are thankful that notwith- standing the opposition that was so great in Ohio that the people moved to Missouri, still Thou didst see fit to prosper the people, and that Thou didst touch the hearts of peo- ple and they embraced the gospel notwithstanding these persecutions.
YFJE are thankful beyond all the power which Thou hast given us with which to express our thoughts that notwithstanding an exterminating order of the gover- nor of the state of Missouri, that notwithstanding Joseph Smith and others had been sentenced to be shot the following morning, Thou didst preserve the lives of these men, and that one of the greatest of all the great revelations that have come to Thy people was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Liberty jail shortly after this de- cree of his death had been made. We pray that whenever we read that marvelous and wonderful revelation the inspiration of the living God may be given to us,
that we may keep the command- ments of the Lord.
We are grateful, Father, that notwithstanding the expulsion of our people from Missouri Thou didst bless and prosper them, and that they built a magnificent temple in Nauvoo, and that a great city was established there, one of the most prosperous and in fact the largest city, if I am not in error, in the entire state of Illinois.
But through the animosity and the hatred and the falsehoods of people, again the Latter-day Saints were driven, and they traveled 1500 miles out into the desert country to the Salt Lake Valley.
We are grateful for the preserva- tion of the people. We are grate- ful that a prophecy has been ful- filled which was uttered just before his martyrdom by the Prophet Joseph Smith, on the west bank of the Missouri river.
"I prophesy,"- he said, "that the saints will continue to suffer much persecution, that many will be put to death by our persecutors, others will lose their lives in consequence of exposure and dis- ease, but, some of you shall live to go and build cities and settle- ments, and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains."
We are grateful that they have become a mighty people. From Canada on the north to Mexico on the south. We have 112 stakes of Zion, and Thy spirit and Thy blessing have attended the men and the women who have been appoint- ed to preside in these stakes and who have been called to preside over the various quorums of the priesthood, and over the Relief So- ciety, the Sunday Schools, the Pri- maries, and the Young Men's and Young Women's Associations.
We are grateful that in the far- off land of Hawaii a stake of Zion has been organized. Thy people have in every way become a great and a mighty people, fulfilling the prophecy of the Prophet Joseph Smith on the west bank of the Mis- sissippi river.
We are truly grateful unto Thee, our Heavenly Father, for the hos- pitality of the people in this section of the country. We are grateful that the spirit of opposition has dis- appeared. We are thankful that the reputation of Thy people has changed and that today from New York to San Francisco, from Can-
ada to Mexico, to be known as a Latter-day Saint living the Gospel, is of great value.
The reputation of the Savior was such that He was crucified but after He has been dead for nearly 2,000 years men are beginning to find that His teachings were for the benefit of every living soul, not only in this life, but if lived, will bring exaltation in the life to come.
\fi/"E are grateful that no one can find fault with the teachings of the Latter-day Saints, that our religion is in absolute harmony with the teaching of the Bible. We are thankful O Father, for these things and we humbly pray unto Thee that our minds may never become darkened, that we may never depart from the truth, that we may never break any of the covenants that we have made with Thee; but that as we grow in years and increase in understanding we may grow in the light, knowledge, and testimony of the Divinity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have espoused.
May we ever be faithful to the commandments in Holy Writ. May we ever remember the teachings of the Savior while here upon the earth among the Nephites, after His resurrection, and His teachings to His followers and apostles upon the other continent. We humbly pray, O Father, that Thy spirit shall ever abide with us.
We are thankful above all things for the restoration to the earth of the priesthood, the power to min- ister in the name of Thine only Begotten Son, which has been given to us of Thee, and by the au- thority of that priesthood, O, Father, and in the name of our Re- deemer, we dedicate unto Thee at this time this monument that has been erected upon this sacred hill.
We dedicate the hill itself and the ground surrounding it and all of the materials that have been used in this monument; and we humbly pray unto Thee that it may be preserved from the elements, and that it may stand here as a testimony of God, of Jesus Christ, and of the dealings of Jesus Christ with the people that lived ancient- ly upon this continent.
These things we do in humility, in gratitude, and in thanksgiving to Thee, by the authority of the priesthood of God, and in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
545
A VACANT LOT
. ■■ :■;/-:■':'.■.■"::".:::;■-■:■: :■:■.-:■:■■-:*■■
at the
ON a recent evening I sat in the Latter-day Saints Chapel in Washington, D. C, one of the most beautiful church edifices I have ever seen, and looked from the stand into the faces of thoughtful men and women who were interested in the music of an organ played by a master and in the convincing char- acter of two sermons preached by intelligent youths. For some rea- son not clear to me, the occasion recalled to my mind a series of in- cidents and experiences which I am impelled to record as of possible interest to young men and women, particularly those who are strug- gling through a maze of doubt and uncertainty and are feeling for re- ligious principles to which they might cling with satisfaction.
Twenty-five years ago, I recall- ed, I stood there on the plot of 546
THE WASHINGTON CHAPEL— "ONE OF THE
MOST BEAUTIFUL CHURCH EDIFICES I HAVE
EVER SEEN."
ground now occupied by the Wash- ington Chapel, a strange youth in a strange city, wondering about my heritage, questioning in my mind the religious teachings of my still earlier youth. I was, in fact, at that time, debating the wisdom of continuing my affiliation with this Church or with any other church.
I was away from home — a long way from home — for the first time in my life. No greener youth could ever have found his way to the National City. I recall that I had had a rather thrilling but a bit un- savory experience while passing through Chicago, my green appear- ance having invited a sophisticated youth to lead me into questionable surroundings. My hand-me-down suit, an over-sized overcoat, and a Stetson hat, Western style, marked
me a stranger; and my innocence soon landed me in a place from which I knew I should retreat. I got out all right, but not without some difficulty and a show of the brand of courage which tradition- ally attaches to hats of the kind I was wearing.
I recall, too, that my first glimpse of the famed Washington Monument prompted me to ask a kindly friend if it was a smelter stack! What was still more em- barrassing that same day, the first day on my new job in the shadow of the White House, was my mis- taking a "hurdy-gurdy" for an orchestra. The Italian organ grinder was filling the air with music which stirred me and I told my boss I was glad to work in that marble building but had not expected to have such a beautiful orchestral accompaniment to my efforts. He smiled tolerantly, I recall, although his face wore an expression of doubt as to whether I was in earnest or just joking. I was in earnest, let me assure you; so I was embarrassed beyond ex- pression when, upon going out for lunch at noon, I discovered that my orchestra was only a "hurdy- gurdy." Its operator was a hand- some, happy fellow, however, which relieved the embarrassing situation. He very kindly explain- ed his "orchestra" to me, after I had dropped a small coin in a cup held up to me by a cunning monkey which seemed to sense an affinity between us.
•THEN came Sunday. I must go to Church, but where in that great city could I go? There were many churches, I had observed during my strolls about the city; some of them magnificent struc- tures, some more modest and to me more inviting; but there was no "meeting house" — no ward hall, of the kind in which the Sundays of my boyhood had been spent. Where was I to go? A welcome suggestion came from my respected room-mate. I recall how he had met me at the Union Station, es-
By P. V. CARDON
CROSSROADS
"ITS INVITING AND SOUL-INSPIRING IN- TERIOR HAS BROUGHT TO EACH OF US A VIVID IMPRESSION OF ITS GRANDEUR."
corted me to a comfortable room which I was to share with him, and then showed me the clothes closet in which I was to match his many suits with the only suit I owned. Later he introduced me to his tailor and in a few days I owned the first suit of clothes ever made to my measure. I was wear- ing it for the first time that Sunday, so I felt "all dressed up with no place to go."
"Why don't you go out to Smoot's?" my room-mate asked. "The Senator holds church in his home every other Sunday, and this is the day he holds it again."
"Thank you," I replied. "I be- lieve I will." But in my heart of hearts I was suffering. How could I ever bring myself to go to the home of a United States Senator- — to the home of Senator Reed Smoot! I was afraid I would not know how to act. I knew I would be miserable there. But I wanted to go to Church and I had told my room-mate so. He had offered a good suggestion, and I had no valid excuse for remaining away. So I went to Church.
It took considerable courage on
my part to step up to that front door. I had located the house by number, having been told that it stood just beyond the Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Rock Creek; and I was considerably awed by what to me was an imposing structure into which I must go if I would worship with the Saints. I was a little late, which made my entrance the more difficult; but I could hear voices singing in there —
singing "Oh, Ye Mountains High" — and I wanted to join mine with them. I felt as if I could cry when I sensed my nearness to friends from home. Finally, I slid into a chair near the back of a room — a library, stacked to the ceiling with books — and marveled at being in such a place. Then I heard some- one blessing the Sacrament, and strangely enough I seemed to know every word and followed each bless- ing intently.
There were perhaps two dozen people in the room. They faced a row of chairs in the adjoining room, on which sat the "Breth- ren." I had never before seen Senator Smoot, but I recognized him from pictures which had ap- peared in the home-town news- papers during the hectic days of the memorable Smoot Investiga- tion. He was presiding. Next to him sat Congressman Joseph How- ell, who recognized me as a fellow townsman and gave me a friendly nod and a tiny smile. I have for- gotten who else was up there, among the brethren, but, even though their backs were toward me, I soon noted the presence in (Continued on page 582)
"AN ORGAN PRELUDE WITH THE MASTER- FUL EDWARD P. KIMBALL AT THE CONSOLE LULLED US INTO WORSHIPFUL MOOD."
THE RED
By MARGARET MINER HEALY
I
.T was a hot August day and the town seemed to open one eye lazily and blink it slowly. Hank was sitting on the shady side of the house whittling a piece of leather. Tip, a shaggy black dog, growled meaninglessly at a bothersome fly. Presently he stood up, pawed some fresh dirt and then dropped down contentedly on the cool earth.
"Hank! Hank!" shouted an excited voice and almost instantly Sam came running round the house as fast as his chubby legs could carry him.
"Whatcha want?" asked Hank in an off-hand manner. From his vantage point of eleven years, he was immediately master of the situ- ation. Sam was eight.
Sam stopped a minute to catch his breath. "Hank!" he blurted out, "there's a circus in town!"
Hank went right on whittling.
"Honest. Cross my heart. I was up in the top of our tree huntin' a flipper crotch an' I saw it. A great big tent. Gosh ! I thought maybe if we hurried we might get to carry the water to the elephants."
Hank went right on whittling, but he was working faster.
" 'Course, if we're going to let all the other kids get ahead of us — ." Sam looked wistfully toward the road. "Whatcha makin,' Hank?"
"A dog collar," he said defi- nitely.
"A dog collar?"
"Yah! that's just to show any dog ketchers or any fresh guys that Tip ain't no ordinary dog."
"Guess everybody knows that with all the kids wantin' him. But listen Hank, this is a big circus."
"Well, look around the house and see where Bill is," Hank whis- pered.
Sam walked over and peeked cautiously at Hank's older brother. "He's in the carrot patch."
"Is he far enough over that he won't see us if we take the cross cut?"
548
COAT
"Yes, if we hurry," Sam whis- pered back.
Hank stood up; half brushed the loose dirt from the faded over- alls. Tip stood up and shook the dirt from his shaggy sides. He yawned lazily and stepped close to his master. The three of them walked around the house on tip toes. They carefully lifted the squeaky gate and then — across the fields, under the fences, over the ditches, they were gone in the di- rection of the circus tent.
TIP
lHEY were not the first to arrive at the scene. A tall thin man was already talking to several kids. Hank stepped right up to the front.
"Can we help carry water to the elephants, Mister?" he asked eager-
ly.
The man smiled a sort of a half smile.
'You could, Son, if we had any, but this isn't a circus — it's a Dra- matic Stock Company. We don't have any animals that can't get their own water."
Hank looked disappointedly at the man and then disgustedly at Sam. He turned and with great dignity started to walk away.
"Just a minute, son. We're go- ing to have local talent in an am- ateur prize contest next Friday night. These boys say that your dog can do tricks."
"I'll say he can," said Hank proudly. And he walked back to the crowd.
"What tricks can he do?" Evi- dently the man was interested.
"Oh, he can jump through loops. Can't he, Sam?"
Sam nodded hastily.
"He can sit on a chair like a hu- man bein' and eat bacon. And he can carry eggs in his mouth with- out breakin' 'em. An' walk around on his hind legs 'n bow. Pull wagons 'n other things."
"I see," said the man. "Well, why don't you enter the contest and earn five dollars?"
"Gee!" breathed Hank man- fully, "sure, I'll enter."
"Good work, boy," said the man as he patted him on the back. "We'll see you next Friday night then."
Hank and Sam and Tip started back toward home.
Hank was secretly all excited in- side but he managed to keep a mat- ter of fact air about him. When he arrived home he was careful not to let Bill know anything about the affair. Bill was sixteen and there were lots of things he didn't understand — .
The next day the town was afloat with hand bills announcing the big amateur contest. Hank Young and his Dog! headed the list.
All the kids in town started sav-
H*
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
ing pennies to squeeze out the neces- sary dime. They were waiting im- patiently for Friday night.
Hank was kept busy gathering the hoops and other paraphernalia. And Tip was being put through some strenuous practicing.
J.HAT afternoon Hank's mother was sitting on the porch darning stockings. She
Young and his Dog." She read it again as if she were trying to com- prehend the meaning of it all.
Hank dropped his head and started brushing his bare toe along the floor board. When he looked up she was smiling an understand- ing smile.
"My goodness, Hank. What won't you be doing next?" She patted him on the arm.
HANK
TIP WAS BEING PUT THROUGH SOME STRENU- OUS PRACTICING
■fr"[<.sMim-
was a very motherly looking woman and she was always very understanding. Hank came in and stood around uneasily. He had a crumpled piece of paper in his hand.
"Is there something you wish to tell me, Hank?" Her tone was coaxing.
"Why, er yes, I mean I guess so," he blurted out quickly.
He opened his hand and started smoothing out the wrinkled hand bill.
"Here's somethin' I thought you'd like to read," he said after a minute.
Mrs. Young pushed her spec- tacles higher on her nose and started reading aloud. "Hank
"Well, er, I was a wonderin', or I thought — " he reached in his back pocket and pulled out an old red shirt. "I found this in the attic an' I wondered if you'd help me make Tip a coat? Him a bein' black I think he'd look plenty nice in red."
Mrs. Young's eyes fairly danced and she could scarcely keep from laughing, but she knew that this was a great day in Hank's life. He was so happy that any disappoint- ment would be a tragedy.
"I guess we'll be able to make some kind of a coat, Hank. If it would make you happy."
"If it'll make me happy — . Gee, Moms!" And he was so overcome with joy that he forgot
he was almost eleven years old. He forgot he was the leader of the neighborhood gang. And he ran over and kissed his mother soundly. Then he leaped to the door. Gave an Indian war whoop. Jumped down the three steps at once; and was gone.
When the Young family sat down to supper that night Bill wasn't at home. Bill was sixteen. He washed his neck now, and he had a girl. It even worried Bill about what other people thought.
Just as they were finishing eat- ing Bill came puffing in. He was all excited and his face was red. He walked over and looked straight at Hank.
"What's the big idea of disgrac- ing our family this way?" he de- manded,
"Ah, what's the matter with you?" Hank replied defiantly. "Who's disgracing any family?"
"You are." Bill was almost in tears.
"What on earth is the matter, William?" Mrs. Young asked.
"Do you know what he's done, Ma! Can you even guess what he's done? He's entered that mon- grel dog in the tent show."
"It's none of your business, I guess. He's my dog, ain't he?" Hank mumbled.
Bill snorted, "None of my bus- iness! I guess it's none of my business that I'll be disgraced be- fore the whole town. What do you think Jane — I mean my friends'll think when my brother makes a fool of himself,"
"Don't you think you're getting entirely too much excited over nothing, William?" Mrs. Young soothed.
"Nothing! You call it noth- ing to be disgraced? I guess I've got some pride even if Hank hasn't. That mongrel dog!" And Bill moaned. Silent for a minute, he started all over again.
"What does he think that dog can do anyway? Guess he's gonna have him sit up and eat a piece of bacon or something equally dis- graceful."
llANK started to say something but his mother looked over at him and shook her head. She motioned for him to go out- side. Hank shuffled from the room slowly, giving his mother one pleading look as he disappeared.
(Continued on page 586)
549
UTAQUA
By M. ELMER CHRISTENSEN
OUR wheat crop may fail, our cattle die off, a depres- sion may close our mines. For all of these we soon find a sub- stitute, but when Utaqua goes dry, we have lost our best friend, our plight is sorry indeed.
Let us wander far afield for a moment via water to see what part ''Aqua," man's greatest boon, has played. A great Frenchman, La Place, is accredited with the hy- pothesis that earth was once devoid of water. The first shower came as a result of the electric union of Hydrogen and Oxygen forming water in the atmosphere surround- ing a hot ball of matter. What a hissing, steaming reception the first rain drops must have received. Cloudburst after cloudburst fell, and earth became a vast distillery. At last heat gave in and water gained its victory. Hot muddy puddles grew to ponds and ponds to lifeless lakes — the lakes to seas and then heaving oceans. And yet no life — only fire and water. Water, the Monarch. Life came after water (Gen. 1:10-12).
Utah State Chemist
Utah's State Chemist upon request, furnished this article about water. It is worthy of study as well as of reading through. Mr. Christensen, by the way, is a member of the M. I. A. General Board.
After water had mothered life and our earth had been transformed to a living aquarium, it started its task of nurturing a civilization. Man soon learned to place the highest value on a rich supply of pure water and towns sprang up. Today practically all the world's large centers of population are built on the banks or mouths of fresh water rivers, bringing their balm from the hills.
London hugs the Thames and Rome the lovely Tiber. Berlin was once a fish trading post on the bank of the Spree. Paris gathers around the Seine and New York rides the Hudson. Not strange that nearly every crystal stream flowing from the heart of our own dear Rockies has nursed to prosperity one or more towns or cities. Salt Lake, Provo, Ogden, Logan, Rich- field, Vernal and many others have some "Crystal Water Clear" to thank for their existence.
The Ancients, it seems, knew consider- able about the dan- gers of polluted water and how to purify it for drinking. Chin Nung, a Chinese phil- osopher who lived before Confucius, is given credit for the statement, "Tea is better than wine, for it leadeth not to in- toxication. Neither does it cause a man to say foolish things
ONE OF THE MATCHLESS SPRINGS OF UTAQUA
and afterward repent them. It is better than water, for it carries no disease, neither does it act as a poison, as does water when the wells and rivers are foul with rotten matter." Indeed, we have reason to believe that tea, coffee and alco- holic beverages were originally but crude devices whereby water was made safe to drink. Yet it need not be considered that any of these beverages are essential to normally living people. For the usual de- mands of a healthy human, water does not have to be teaed or cof- feed, wined, ginned, sodaed or cocktailed. Just water, plain water, Adam's Ale, satisfies every normal physiologic need.
Pliny (A. D. 70) in his "Nat- ural History," discusses at length the subject of "drinkable water." The achievements of the Roman government in securing for its peo- ple a safe supply of water are note- worthy in the annals of water en- gineering. Altogether the ancient Roman aqueducts totaled nearly 400 miles and supplied about a quarter million gallons of clear water to the citizens of Rome. The Marcian Aqueduct, built in 145 B. C, was itself 61 miles long and according to Pliny "conferred on the city by the bounty of the Gods, the cleanest of all waters in the world, distinguished both for coolness and salubrity." Evidently, the Marcian water would match much of our Utaqua for quality.
TN the pages of water history one of the most interesting chapters is that which concerns itself with the so-called "dangers" of water drinking. The terrible water- borne plagues that decimated Eu- rope had instilled in human hearts a real fear of water. Sir Thos.
550
'-T-?^,iv.'"^.-vC-.^' *i~i^"<-:^:'-3?)Z'i$rl
Elyot, in "The Castle of Health" refers to the Welshmen of Corn- wall as men who "rarely drink other than common water — yet are, notwithstanding, strong of body and like and live well until they be of great age."
Another medical writer of the 16th century refers to "honorable and worshipful ladies who drink little other drink than raw water and yet enjoy more perfect health than those who drink the strongest liquors." Another argument for prohibition.
Where there is no water, there is no life, no matter whether life elects to serve its time in the simple single-celled amoeba or in the tril- lion-celled complicated creature called man. Approximately three- fourths (73%) of the human body is water. A person weigh- ing 200 lbs., no matter how sub- stantial a citizen he or she might be, is only about 50 lbs. of real substance and most of that is just plain bone. Think of it, every time a 200 lb. adult climbs up- stairs to his nightly rest he is ac- tually lugging up the staircase a few pounds of dry meat, some soup bones and five buckets of sea water.
Plants, too, are largely water. Potatoes are three-fourths water, apples four-fifths water and water- melons are well over nine-tenths water. Total absence of water from any of these items renders them so objectionable to life that not even worms or germs of putre- faction or fermentation will abide in the residues. Indeed the whole science of food preservation by dessication is based on the premise that life, not even bacterial life, can carry on without its drink of water.
A few of water's biologic func- tions in the body consist of sol- vent, cleanser, purging agent, ve- hicle of vital forces, regulator of body heat and lubricant.
Depletion of water in the hu-
man body due to heat or over- exercise, results in thirst, which is nothing more than a demand of the body cells for water to keep their salt in safe dilution. For this reason, plain water is a better thirst quencher than alcoholic bever- ages of any kind, since water is a much
better solvent for salt than al- cohol.
Through the solvent action of water, all kinds of solid foods are made available to the cells of the body and through a like con- trivance the needless waste pro- ducts are flushed out of the body.
Through the simple agency of water evaporation the body is kept at its narrow tempera- ture range of about 100°F. Sweating relieves the body of heat. A glass of ice water on a hot day is a gracious blessing but it does us many times the blessing afterwards as it steams out through a myriad of tiny sweat pores. Normally an adult perspires nearly a quart of water a day.
Dr. Wiley, father of our Na- tional Food and Drug Laws, has the following water advice to give:
A — Drink water when thirsty.
B — Drink water frequently rather than drink much at a time.
C — Drink warm water before breakfast.
D— Drink boiled and cooled water only in emergency, because boiling expels the air and oxygen from water. (Note: This ob-
TUoinc K: 5jvviT*r^||
jectionable feature can be largely overcome by pouring the water from one container to another sev- eral times after boiling. Ed.)
E — Avoid drinking water below 50°F. (This bit of advice he am- plified with the following verse:)
"Full many a dumbell young and old (Continued on page 581")
551
The FISHERMEN'S
FRIEND
By S. H. COOKE
A day in the life of a Christian Medical Missionary along the rugged coastline of the Pacific.
DR. G. E. DARBY, B.A., M.D., is the most famous of medical superintendents in our mission hospitals dotted along the rugged coastline of British Columbia. His medical services and Christian efforts are far-reach- ing, and deeply appreciated by thousands of fishery and marine workers of his scattered mission field along the stormswept Pacific seaboard.
Before the big run of sockeye red salmon along the western waters, by the middle of June we find Dr. Darby busily engaged in opening up the Rivers Inlet summer hos- pital, conveniently situated in the center of the Rivers Inlet and Smiths Inlet, possibly the largest red-salmon-producing area this side of the Alaska salmon traps. This vast area the doctor patrols with the Edward White, a little medical floating service station inadequate to care for over four thousand fishermen and cannery workers who are called north every year when the silver horde run is on.
When Dr. Darby is called away for this summer service he leaves his colleague, Dr. W. E. Austin, to attend to the headquarter's hospital at Bella Bella (an Indian name meaning Beautiful, Beautiful) and this doctor travels the surrounding fishing-grounds and settlements in the medical and Gospel craft, the Thomas Crosby.
Let us take a ride with Dr. Dar- by engaged in routine work on his weekly round of the salmon can- ning plants and the vast fishing fleet keeping these hungry plants sup- 552
plied with salmon. So the Edward White leaves the mooring buoy of the hospital-float in Rivers Inlet, on a medical and Gospel cruise.
In a driving rain, and clad in glistening oilskins, the doctor lands at the Kildala salmon cannery. I note with a deal of interest the result of a successful grafting oper- ation in which over two hundred inches of skin have been grafted on the shoulder of a badly-burned Indian fisherman. The doctor ex- amines the babies of mothers work- ing at their tasks of filling cans
C H. COOKE is editor of * "Western Fisheries," and, consequently, has to keep in touch with the Pacific fishing fleets. He is a Canadian who ap- preciates the work of this Chris- tian Medical Missionary. Mr. Cooke also furnished the photo- graphs used with this article.
DR. G. E. DARBY, B.A., M.D.— THE FISHERMEN'S FRIEND
with salmon and the washing of fish.
A boat whistles a signal of dis- tress in the channel. We change our course and come alongside. Here we find a marine engineer with badly injured arm, caught in the machinery, a gaping wound with a severed artery! Caught in the twirling shaft down in the engine room, and the flesh ripped from the bone! Certain death would have been the lot of this poor fellow, were it not for the work of the fisherman's friend. Make no mistake about that!
The errands of mercy are cease- less. Here we tend four fishermen badly burned in a motor-boat ex- plosion, requiring six weeks of careful hospital treatment. Over 4,000 office treatments and 338 patients have received attention in these two northern mission hos- pitals serving the northern fishing fleet of over 7,500 craft. It would
"THIS CHRISTIAN HOUSE OF MERCY'
-4-
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
be 150 miles to the nearest doctor, and the consequences serious indeed for these men and women, were it not for the medical services ren- dered by the fishermen's friend. No creed or color-distinction here. Wealthy visiting yachtsmen seek- ing sporting fly-salmon fishing, or poor fishermen — all are served, without question or favor.
A CRUISE of forty miles finds the Edward White dancing like a cork on the bosom of the open Pacific, in the rolling ground-swells rising on the fif- teen-f a t h o m banks. As the wind rises, we are reminded of the shipwreck of Paul as describ- ed in Acts XXVII, in which one may glean the condi- tions at sea un- der which the disciples of Christ still la- bor today as in the yesteryear at their g o o d works.
Passing into Smiths Inlet, we hail a fishing craft, without response. W e run alongside ; to find a fisher- man helplessly gassed by the fumes from his engine. He is revived. Three
more canning plants are visited, and, having been on the run all day, we arrive back at the Rivers Inlet hospital at 7 p. m.
From the nearby hillside I can- not resist the urge to photograph this Christian house of mercy, snuggled so peacefully amid the towering cedars and the perpetu- ally snow-capped mountain ranges of the West. Then, with good- natured tolerance Dr. Darby per- mits me to set up the camera tripod to secure a time exposure of his modest little spotless operating- theatre, in which a Christian sur- geon has worked so accurately' — - even though inconveniently — but so successfully as to win the warm approval of the fisherfolk and the medical fraternity. I stress this
fact emphatically, because so many people are not aware of the fact that many of our medical mission- aries could find more profitable practices in the large cities, with every convenience and social con- tact, than in missions at home and abroad, were it not for the Chris- tian urge holding them at their posts so steadfastly. We must remember this when thinking of medical mission work.
Here we find the wife of a gov- ernment fishery official on duty in the lonely north and a smiling old
^ligHte^
ABOVE: DR. DARBY AT THE WHEEL OF HIS
MISSION CRAFT MAKING THE ROUNDS OF
THE SALMON FISHERIES WITH HIS NURSE
IN THE STERN
BELOW:
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC SALMON FLEET BEING TOWED
Indian squaw, lying bedside to bedside, after the same major oper- ation, both resting easily, which betokens successful surgery.
The doctor removes his rubber gloves, as a fisherman, who has collapsed at his engine with heart failure, is carried in, and then pro- nounces the verdict. Together with the matron, nurses, and a lone corporal of the police, the stranger receives a Christian burial under a white cross amid the cedars, to complete the creed of the Christians at lonely mission stations — succor the sick and bury the dead!
Pathos creeps into this para- graph as a young salmon cannery worker in the north, whose wife has just passed on, comes in search of three sheets of galvanized iron with which to construct an her- metically-sealed casket, which is demanded by coastwise steamships, before they will carry out remains to civilization, and to loved ones. Such does not make for poetic lit- erature; it does, however, convey a true impression of practical Christianity which appears to thrive so magnificently in the far
north.
Here is proof that mothers and fathers are "sisters and brothers under the skin," where loved ones are concerned. A young Indian fisherman, with tears in his eyes, pleads for lum- ber and nails, with which to fashion a crude casket for his babe — another little victim of that Indian scourge, tuber- culosis.
In talking with Dr. Darby on the question of the dying off of the North American I n- dian by the rav- age of this dis- ease, I learn that the rapid assimulation, the passing from the old Indian diet to that of the white man, and the condi- tions of modern living, generally have much to do with this ques- tion, which is receiving the closest attention of the mission workers. Our northern mission doctors and nurses have, of course, the more pleasant duties. For instance, the arrival of babies into the north- ern world offers a source of pleas- ure. And what a pleasure in this instance ! We welcome Indian twins into the world, truly a very rare occurrence. Matron and nurses are excited! For good and sufficient reasons. There is a dearth of foundation garments with which to clothe these bouncing four- (Continued on page 5 66)
553
-fii
AN INTIMATE VIEW
of the NEW YORK
Thousands of people hear of Wall Street and the Stock Exchange where millions of dollars change hands daily , but comparatively few ever have the op- portunity to visit it. Because of its importance and because a Mormon boy who worked in the exchange has written interestingly of ity we are running this article y which came to us several months ago. The remarkable pictures furnished with the article will give readers an idea of what the world's greatest money mart is like.
LOOKING EAST FROM BROADWAY DOWN
EXCHANGE PLACE WHICH PARALLELS WALL
STREET ONE BLOCK TO THE SOUTH
Photo by Bernice Abbott.
554
THROUGH the heavy wire mesh of the cage in which I am working, I can see a little grey-headed Irishman perched on a high-stool at a bookkeeper's desk against the farther wall of the room. He is Kelly, the commission clerk, and has been in Wall Street most of his life. Kelly's father was a wealthy New York merchant who speculated freely in the stock market. The panic of 1907 caught him holding a huge block of securities on margin with the inevitable result. It was then that Kelly came to Wall Street — partly because he needed a job and partly because he wanted to find out what had happened to his father's money. In the ensuing years he has completely satisfied his curi- osity as to how money is made and lost in the "Street." He has never risen above a clerkship but, along with the rest of the "Street," he has had his lean years and his fat ones.
From 1924 until 1929 his sal- ary averaged $75 a week and tips another $40. Bonuses came so often he learned to accept them as a matter of course. But Kelly was in Wall Street and Wall Street was on parade with a flourish of ex- pensive good humor that made the thought of saving appear small and unworthy. He did, however, take his $1500 Christmas bonus in 1927 and put it into the market. A friend of his was margin clerk in a brokerage house with which a
well-known trader had a large ac- count. Kelly, following the leads furnished by his friend, played his $1500 for all it was worth — al- ways on margin and a slim margin at that. An $1800 Christmas bonus in 1928, he added to the stake. His money increased in geometric ratio and by the fateful
|
1 ACTUAL EXCHANGE TICKET PICKED UP AT THE STOCK EXCHANGE |
||
|
■ :-.'-.::-::,^r:;.;;i,.;/: |
mmmm |
■ :■■ ■ ■ : ?■:■■ - ■■■ -.■-■-■.. |
|
dfrr |
V< y t i ■ U / : |
|
|
■ As * |
S*. ( |
/ 5} Sb -~yp's fin y |
• II M ,
[OS. M. GOLDSMITH
AT
D. H- SU3ERBERG & CO.
By MI'LES BURGESS '
STOCK EXCHANGE
summer of 1929 his account was worth $60,000. The crash came and when the smoke cleared, it revealed Kelly stripped of his small fortune and what was worse, job- less. Not until last July did he succeed in finding work again. Now he stirs long and busily over his ledgers for $30 a week.
Kelly knows both the glitter and tragedy of Wall Street.
There are thirty-odd employees in the room — thirty-odd, efficient cogs in that vast machine of which the average American hears so much yet knows so little. We are separ- ated from the customers' room with its polished mahogany and deep leather lounges, its buzzing tickers and running band of light, by a single door marked "For Em- ployees Only." Yet what a con- trast! In our room — the "P & S" (Purchase & Sales) department — there is none of the reserved, ex- pensive atmosphere of the cus- tomers' room; we are constantly working against time; formalities do not exist.
Hardly has the day commenced before the room is transformed into a noisy den. The steel boxes, crammed with stocks and bonds of every description, are brought from their nightly repose in the vaults of a Wall Street bank into the cage which occupies a fifteen- foot square in one corner of the room. Here the securities are sorted and those marked for delivery during the day are unceremoniously dump- ed on the table in the center of the cage. Crisp U. S. Treasury notes, as negotiable as currency, lie side by side with third-grade bonds of a defunct railroad. There are tons of securities circulating back and forth through the canyon alleys of lower Manhattan — blocks of paper beautifully engraved and richly tinted, representing the wealth and the debts of the world — shares of great corporations, bonds of a gov- ernment— the cards with which the game of Wall Street is played — and they pass in a steady stream over the table in the cage. Soon the desks and floor are littered with
tickets and dis- carded papers. As 2:15, the time limit for deliver- ies, draws near, the perpetual bed- lam increases to such a point that only the trained ear can catch the constant flow of messages coming in over the tele- phones. By night- fall the room bears every ap- pearance of hav- ing been visited by a hurricane.
Such is the day by day picture of the P & S depart- ment in any busy brokerage house in Wall Street. And it is mild compar- ed with the pan- demonium that reigns normally on the floor of the Stock Exchange.
THE tickets are "floor reports" of orders completed on the floor of the Stock Exchange. The smaller one represents the purchase of twenty-three $1000 Chesapeake Corporation 5% bonds due in 1947, at 93%% of their par value. The number in the lower left-hand corner of the ticket represents the customer for whom they were bought. The numbers and names on the right side of the report are the brokers from whom the bonds were purchased and the number of bonds each of those brokers sold. Between two of the numbers and the brokers' initials, you will see "S7" which means that those bonds were bought for delivery within seven days instead of "regular way." The larger report represents the sale of 200 shares of Goodyear, 100 shares to H. Hentz* at $36 a share and 100 shares to Filer* at the same price. The letters and number at the bottom of the report represent the customer for whom the stock was sold.
♦Brokerage houses.
Photo by R, I. Nesmit and Associates, N. READING THE TICKER
•THE first time I ventured into that austere and exclusive mar- ket-place was during a hot after- noon last June. I arrived just after the "last" or market close for the day and gained admittance with my runner's Stock Clearing card bearing my photo and the signature of my firm. It had been a busy day with the ticker running 10 minutes late at the close. Although I had been working in Wall Street for several months, I was quite un- prepared for the spectacle that met my astonished gaze. The surg- ings, buffetings, shoutings of a sea of men over that great floor heavily littered with torn scraps of paper seemed to me the height of madness and confusion. And to add to it all was a tremendous din reverber- ating incessantly from the high ceiling. My first impression was that of a huge, indoor swimming- pool crammed full of wild, lusty
555
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
>■
boys. I wonder now what effect all that apparent confusion must have on the fortunate visitor as he stands in the gallery and looks down over that mass of rushing men. (I say "fortunate visitor" because no one is admitted to the Exchange without a personal in- troduction to the reception com- mittee by a partner of a member- firm.) He must deplore the appar- ent lack of efficiency in the system and doubt the accuracy of tran- sactions consum- mated under such conditions.
And yet, wheth- er he knows it or not, those men down on the floor are playing their precise roles in the greatest, most effi- cient market of its kind in the world. Every move they make is calculated and has a definite purpose. It is noth- ing for them to trade (buy and sell) fifty million dollars' worth of stocks and bonds during a reg- ular five-hour mar- ket day. In the late 'twenties with their inflated stock values a two-hundred-mil- lion-dollar day was not uncommon. And on that mem- orable day in Oc- tober, 1929, when sixteen million shares of stock changed hands, the cash value of all securities traded amounted to over a billion dollars — more than the total assessed valuation of several western States ! Whatever your opinion of the Wall Street broker in other matters may be, you do him a rank injustice to regard him as inefficient.
But why, you ask, all this tur- moil? Why all this shoving and shouting? Why is this disorder necessary? Frankly, what you see on the floor of the Stock Exchange is not disorder at all, but the type of activity required to keep that vast and highly organized market in motion. Buying a bond or a "piece" of stock is an entirely dif- ferent matter from buying, for in- 556
stance, a ham at the corner butcher shop. Security prices are in a con- stant state of flux; they change not only from day to day and hour to hour, but from trade to trade. They are as sensitive to the law of supply and demand as the photo- electric cell is to a ray of light. And the ever-shifting balance be- tween supply and demand is, in turn, a reflection not only of world business conditions, but of the ac- tivities of pools and "inside" man-
NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE
Copyrighted 1933 — Used by permission Photo by Bernice Abbott.
ipulators — a reflection of that vi- cious struggle between the "Bulls" and the "Bears." So when you give your broker an order to buy, say, 100 shares of General Motors "at the market" (at the price pre- vailing when your order reaches the trading post for General Motors stock) , you have no way of deter- mining exactly what you are pay- ing for the stock until the transac- tion has been completed. And if, along with your order, you stipu- late a definite price, you are taking the chance of "missing the market"
entirely and not buying the stock at all.
T ET us follow your imaginary order to buy 100 shares of Gen- eral Motors "at the market" from the time it leaves your hands until it has been completed. When the New York office of your brokerage house receives the order, whether you telephone it or give it in per- son, the order clerk immediately sends it over a private wire to the floor of the Ex- change. The 'phone clerk on the floor jots it down as it comes to him over the wire and hands it to the firm's broker, or, if the broker is somewhere in the crowd, he presses a button which causes the broker's number to appear on one of the large, black "boards" at either end of the room. When the broker sees his num- ber flash, he goes to the booth where the clerk is stationed and receives the order. Then he crosses to post 4, where Gen- eral Motors stock is listed. (There are 1 8 posts on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange list- ing over 1 200 secur- ities, so the job of finding one's way around is no simple matter in itself.)
At post 4 the broker's real work begins. It is his business to ex- ecute the order as much as possible to your advantage. Naturally, other brokers gathered around the post with orders to sell General Motors are anxious to secure the best price they can for their cus- tomers. Glancing at the report sheet on the upper rim of the post, your broker learns that the last sale of General Motors was at 30*4 ($30.25 a share) and the last offer 30%. If no satisfactory offer is immediately forthcoming, he calls out his bid for 100 shares at 30. Likely, no one accepts this bid but perhaps an offer is made at 30*4 . {Continued on paqe 579)
Usi;
r^w--
My Love For You
By Estelte Webb Thomas
TTOW describe my love for you? ■*■ * Oh, what can I say! Like immortal blossoms Which shall ne'er decay.
Like the breath of summer,
Birds atune at dawn; Like a winter's fireside
When the shades are drawn.
Like the sea at midnight
Calling to the shore; Like the stars of heaven.
Steadfast evermore.
Like the sun at noontime,
Staunch and warm and true- —
No! Nothing in the universe Is like my love for you!
Garden Space
By Florence Hactman Townsend
T DO not ask for acres sown to wheat, ■*■ Nor do I crave wide corn and cotton
fields, With all their multiplied and cherished
yields, But just one tiny plot, secure and sweet. Here let me blend my fingers with the
loam, And tend the lowly radish and the rose; Here plant a tree and watch it as it grows, And .grow with it, and make this haven
home.
Here let me share the leafy quietude
With friend and lover when the day is
done. Here work and wait in happy solitude The early bird song and rising sun. And who shall guess my garden's magni- tude Is limitless, though fences round it run.
Autumn
By Mary Stallings
P\0 you see gay Autumn passing on the
■*-^ wing,
Tawny-haired, laughing-eyed, saucy thing?
Do you see the gown she's wearing — flam- ing red, And the perky hat of orange on her head?
Do you see her scarf a-shimmering in the
sun, Blending shades of gold and yellow into
one?
Do you see her lightly tripping o'er the
rills, Snatching all the brightest colors from
the hills?
Lovely Autumn, swiftly passing on the
wing, Must you leave earth sad and colorless 'til spring?
Autumn Fetching
By Cora May Preble
YKTHEN Autumn leaves come drifting
» " through the haze That hangs a purple curtain on the hill, Within my heart I feel an answering thrill Remembering the gypsy-painted days Of other years — the burnished, winding
ways That led us where the sunbeams used to
spill Their shining threads before the dusk grew
chill And shadows hid the woodland from our
gaze.
And now when Autumn woods begin to
flame With crimson, wine, and gleaming russet
hues, Their beauty is an arrow burning bright That sears upon my heart your precious
name. While mists of mauve, and veils of smoky
blues Like smouldering fires, fade into the night.
Leaves
By Cad B. Craig
"DROWN and green and yellow leaves, ^-* Dancing in the autumn breeze; Dropping softly past the eaves From the shedding, restless trees; Gorgeous colors, one and all, On the autumn leaves that fall.
Scattered all around, they lie Like a blanket on the ground; 'Neath the blue dome of the sky, Summer's spirit to impound ; Softly whispering their mirth As they nestle to the earth.
Through with life, their work is done,
Their reward is in success;
They have lived and fought and won,
Giving others happiness;
Soon the warm soft winds of spring
Another crop of leaves will bring.
<hX<£&>c»-
The Window Garden
By Rebecca Helman
TT'RAGILE, sharp, persistent, ■*• Down the window pane Runs the frozen glitter Of the sleet and rain.
While here in this small garden
On the window sill Are growing curly parsley,
Leek and chives and dill.
In these few square inches A hint of summer stays—
The scent of sun-sweet gardens And succulent bouquets.
Pencil Points
By Jean McCaleb
I_JERE lie pencils of * * All lengths and colors How like people they are, For some are dull — Some sharp. A few Pencils (like a few People) will always Be dull. Other pencils (And people) are very Smartly sharp for a Short while, but the Old dullness soon Returns. Happily, There are some pencils, Like some persons, Always sharp and To the point.
«
)}
No Second Spring
By Florence Moench
7\JO Second Spring," the title read ■*■ * I knew that it was true, The season never comes but once Before a life is through.
At first my heart was icy cold,
It seemed so sad a thing.
But now I've found the autumn holds
A greater joy than spring.
Cinquain Sequence
By Edith Cherrington
Morning A pool
** Fern hung and cool Is like a timid maid Whose pale hands sway the door of day- Afraid . . .
Day
The trees
Which form a frieze
For waters of the earth
Are like dark lashes on the eyes
Of mirth.
Night
A lake
Will calmly take
Upon her ample breast
The sleepy white robed stars of night
To rest.
Why Do I Love You
By Gwen Linford
1K7"HY do I love you?
* * Can white sails say Why whispering breezes
Lull them away? Or fair-petaled flowers,
When day has begun, Explain why their beauty
Unfolds to the sun? They know not the reason,
Yet know it is true; Then why do I love you?
I don't know — but I do!
557
ELSIE TALMAGE BRANDLEY
By CLARISSA fl. BEESLEY
ELSIE BRANDLEY has passed away!"
The brief message was transmitted from lip to lip, over the wire and by printed announce- ment and received by each one who heard or read in startled amaze- ment. It could not be true! Not Elsie Brandley! She was so much alive, so integrally a part of the circle in which she moved that at first it was difficult to grasp the meaning of the words. Then as the realization of their significance gradually came, sorrow had its way and the tears flowed freely. What a host of friends she had! How many lives she touched! From many parts came telegrams and letters of sympathy and con- dolence and others who did not write felt the loss just as keenly. The following message from Tooele Stake speaks for M. I. A. officers throughout the Church:
"The sad news of Sister Brandley's death came as a great shock to us. It seems but yesterday since our association with her at the June Convention where we received such wonderful instruction and renewed inspiration.
"It is hard to understand why one so young and so very talented should be taken from us. She was so willing to give of her time and her talents to the Lord's great work. Tooele Stake will miss her as she has been a frequent visitor at our conventions and institutes. We mourn with you at the loss of this lovely woman. Her death has caused a vacancy that will be hard to fill,"
It is difficult to give a word pic- ture of her life. Recorded events, however vivid, poorly represent her; they can but dimly portray her vibrant personality.
She was born in Salt Lake City, August 16, 1896, to Dr. James E. Talmage and May Booth Talmage, a kindly providence thus smiling upon her from the beginning in giving her parents so noble. With such a heritage and such an en- vironment it is not to be wondered at that she possessed an intelligence of high order and gifts to an almost unlimited degree.
Her childhood must have been anything but monotonous to her- self and to those who had to do with her bringing up, for she early began to display the intense in- terest in the world about her and
558
the originality and initiative which so charmed her friends in later years. Alert, active, into all sorts of mis- chief and fun, she was at once the concern and the delight of her fam- ily. As a tiny tot she once stole from her bed, into her father's study, perhaps deciding that it was time to begin her literary career. However that may be, the contents of the ink bottle found their way down the front of her little white nightie. As she presented herself before her mother a few moments later, the latter said, "Oh, Elsie, don't you think you are a naughty little girl? Don't you think you should be spanked?" With a de- mure twinkle in her brown eyes, Elsie answered, "I'd rather be loved." "And," her dear mother added, "she has been loved ever since."
She adored her father. As a child she enjoyed a comraderie with him which continued with increas- ing tenderness until he was taken two years ago. She accepted every opinion of his as final and care- fully observed his wishes to the day he left her. When the children were small, Dr. Talmage made his teaching of English a daily prac- tice in the home. His little daugh- ter had the habit of using the word got incorrectly and her father would chide her by saying, "I have or I received is better English." One morning the clock had stopped and while the family were com- menting on it, Elsie began, as usual, "I got — ." Brother Talmage said, "Must I remind you again to say, I have or I received?" "All right," she replied quickly, "I received on the chair and tried to start the clock."
She was versatile in her play and highly imaginative. At one period she and her cousin, Elsie Booth, carried on a correspondence in three different characters. They were Elsie and Elsie, writing each other naturally of every day happenings; they were also Pat and Bridget writing as two Irish girls, sustain- ing the characters completely with vernacular, jokes, etc. ; they were at the same time Mrs. Sherman and Mrs. Lawrence, two society ladies, writing of elaborate social func- tions, sending their children (paper
dolls) to each other's homes for visits. This power to make-believe stood her in good stead later on with children of her own and no doubt was in part the foundation of her dramatic ability.
The gift of language came naturally to her, and her remark- able memory kept before her ex- pressions noted in books. When very young, she, once begged her mother to buy her a certain attrac- tive bonnet which appealed to her young idea of feminine apparel. "Please buy it," she said, "it's the loveliest thing I've seen since Queen Victoria's coronation robes."
At the Brigham Young Univer- sity she passed four exceedingly profitable years. Of course she stood high in her classes and was an enthusiastic leader of the student body, becoming, in her fourth year, its vice-president. She was also associate editor of the White and Blue. Vital, mentally and phys- ically, interesting and interested in people, always kind, smiling, she was popular with both boys and girls.
TOE B. Y. U. is noted for the "matches" it has developed among its students. Young men of fine calibre who attended this institution naturally had an eye for superior girls and so it is not surprising that Harold Brandley was attracted to Elsie Talmage nor that she reciprocated. They were married in September, 1917, and as was said at her funeral, she brought a real son into the Tal- mage family. He has ever been thoughtful and helpful and was especially devoted to Dr. Talmage during his last illness.
The young couple made their first home in Canada where a rich experience came to them. Some girls might have hesitated to face the loneliness of ranch life with its lack of conveniences and refine- ments; some might even have re- fused to go so far away to make a start; but, true to her inherent capacity to meet every situation, Elsie laughed where others would cry, made a jest out of each prob- lem and tackled the experiment as a real adventure. Even when Har- old was called to the colors and was in training for several months, it was all a part of the program. During his absence the twins.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
Betty and Barbara, came — a great event in the family — and it was when they were but four days old that an event occurred which is illustrative of the way this young woman met life and its uncertain- ties. A letter came stating that her husband was ill with pneumonia. She read it silently, waited a mo- ment, then said, "I shall not cry; to do so would only upset me and be injurious to the babies. This letter is four days old; if he were worse, they would have telegraph- ed. I shall believe he is better." And she began to talk about other things.
In this Canadian ranch home Elsie had the opportunity to meet real ordeals which put her faith to severe test. One is typical. It was a night in mid-winter. They were far from neighbors and the deep snow had walled in their little home. The twins were sick with croup. No doctor was obtainable. Desperately they tried every rem- edy they knew but to no avail- — the infants grew worse steadily. Then, sustained by her faith, the young husband exercised the right of the Priesthood and blessed the children with almost immediate and, what seemed to the anxious parents, miraculous results. Many years afterwards, Mrs. Brandley, while traveling on the train, met a young woman who was smoking. The two began to converse and the latter revealed something of a dis- sipated life. She was impressed with Sister Brandley but pityingly said, "But you don't have any thrills in your life, do you?" Then Elsie told her of this incident which so touched the young lady that she spoke almost reverently — "That is a kind of thrill which I know nothing of."
Upon returning to Salt Lake City, the young people continued the building of a home. One by one five other girls have joined the twins making a most interesting family group. "Hal" and Elsie with their seven daughters have had the happy faculty of getting real fun out of the business of home- keeping and child-training. In- stead of taking too seriously the responsibilities which have come, they have found something to laugh about in nearly every situa- tion. This young mother, ever re- sourceful, ever original, was not afraid to attempt new, untried methods and they have, apparent-
ly, been justified. Household tasks were turned into games, dif- ficulties, if not removable, were maneuvered into the background. Who of us who knew her inti- mately can ever forget her account of those stacks of little-girl bloom- ers which constantly needed new elastics, or those twenty-one pairs of stockings which she darned in between the writing of a paragraph or the reading of magazine proof?
It was in 1923 that Mrs. Brand- ley came into the office of the Young Woman's Journal as Asso- ciate Editor of that publication. She was well prepared with natural literary endowment and possessed, which perhaps was as important, a deep, long cherished love for the Journal, every volume of which she had read and absorbed. She herself had made some contribu- tions. Those were pleasant, con- genial days in the Journal office. It was a pleasure to work with her, to read together material submitted, to plan those little touches which made the magazine attractive and to breathe into it the spirit which made it live. In the many inti- mate conversations of that time, we grew to know the real Elsie — her hopes, ambitions, philosophies. Social conditions, recreation, the Gospel, Life and its meaning were discussed. It was then on several occasions that she exclaimed with deep feeling, "I can hardly wait for the last great adventure!" We can- not but believe now that it was all she expected and that she met it fearlessly, even eagerly.
IN
1 924 she was called to the Gen- eral Board and from the first be- came one of its most useful members. Possessed of good health, sparkling vitality, enthu- siasm for the work, deep sympathy
You Spoke
By Margaret Richards
"\y"OUR smile was a brave banner ■*■ Fluttering before my hopeless gaze. Your two eyes laughed at my somberness From under the rim Of your yellow hat And I remembered There were flowers. You said "Hello"
And the greeting nestled on my shoulder, A gentle bird Whispering "Courage." "Hello," you said, and Passed on down the street.
with and understanding of youth, she was admirably fitted for service and was eager to give it. She served efficiently on nearly every committee and wrote or helped to write a number of manuals, plays, dram- atizations, programs, and assisted in preparation of general M. I. A. literature. With the other mem- bers of the Board she traveled ex- tensively and because of her un- usual ability and winning person- ality was extremely popular with all groups.
During eight months of 1929 she assumed the Editorship of the Young Woman's Journal and when that magazine was combined with The Improvement Era, she was chosen as Associate Editor with the late Hugh J. Cannon. Her impress on the Era during these six years will long endure. Through her pen she was able to convey the inspiration of her own being to the thousands who have read her mes- sages.
Mrs. Brandley has made a bril- liant record in many lines. She was a persuasive speaker, punctu- ating her remarks with apt illus- trations and witty comments. Her style in writing was easy and spon- taneous. Among her poems one best known and admired is "Moth- ers" which won first place in the Deseret News Christmas contest of 1927.
She loved flowers passionately and cultivated them. It was the flax fields and sweet peas which helped to make her life in Canada such a sweet memory.
Her reading was prodigious. One could scarcely name a book or an author she did not know. And her great gift of remembering kept before her constantly her personal experiences, the characters she had met in fiction, poems she had read or heard, persons she had known — so that it seemed that all her life was always with her. It is no wonder that people were eager to receive the inspiration of her ac- quaintance. By the example of her accomplishments she spurred them on to greater heights. She gave out love and sympathy un- stintingly and received full measure in return.
Elsie Talmage Brandley has passed — but not away into dim- ness or unreality. She lives today more truly and fully than when she moved among us. She has passed — along the way to Eternal Life.
559
ELSIE TALMAGE BRANDLEY
Elsie Talmage Brandley — Editor and Friend
•"THOSE who have had this magazine and the Young Woman's Journal in their homes have had repeated visitations from Elsie Talmage Brandley. They know her spirit, her philosophy, her life, for she was one who lived "courageously her life in harmony with her ideals."
Those visitations will now cease. Mrs. Brand- ley has laid her pen aside; has closed her desk, and has written finis across the pages of mortal magazines. Her passing was comparatively sud- den and unexpected. So full of vigor, so ani- mated was she that not only her immediate family and close friends, but all who knew her through
her many works, sat stunned and unbelieving until unbelief could hold no longer against the grim fact that she was dead.
She died as she has lived, courageously, a smile on her lips, a challenge in her eye until the light grew dim and the spirit withdrew from her mor- tal body. On August 16 she would have been thirty-nine; she passed away on August 2, at 7 p. m. Only thirty-eight, the papers said of her, and yet how full she crammed those years with experiences, many of which ripened into adven- tures in which she keenly reveled.
Brilliant and versatile, she could do anything
560
well and many things superbly, and yet she had such a vast store of what someone has called un- common common sense, and was possessed of such a steady sanity that she could and did main- tain contact with all those who needed a counselor or friend. Her philosophy of life was built upon the immortal pronouncements of Jesus Christ, whom she loved. Like Him, she was enamored of the individual and rejoiced in the evolving soul.
The youthful poet, immature and awkward of phrase, the story-writer, eager to create but ignorant of form, the essayist who believed he had a message for the world even though his halting diction made him stumble through his phrases — all found in Elsie Talmage Brandley a friend. She loved people and was ever eager to know of their aspirations. She was at the same time firm and tender, thoughtful and keen. She was tolerant with faults, but eager for perfection.
A glance at her editorials in the magazines with which she has been connected will reveal the fact that she had the unusual touch. She was like a flower-lover who, upon walking into a room where many pots of flowers stood could not resist the urge to rearrange them just a little, giving them a more artistic feeling. Through her edi- torials she has walked into our thinking pro- cesses and has rearranged our outlook just a little, not radically or severely, but deftly and tenderly — always for the best.
Many of her editorials have dealt with filling our days with joys. She was but announcing her own practice. During the present volume, among many other things, she has written that brief statement in the January number — "Hold- ing On;" that delightful bit that every mother and boy should read in the February number, "A Boy and a Valentine," in which she wrote: "Boys, you see, are their mothers' accounts in the bank of life. Into the bank a mother puts every spare bit of the money-of -memory; the currency of courtesy; the wealth-of-wonders which comes with Motherhood."
In former volumes she wrote under such titles as: "Winds in March," "Let's Send More Valen- tines," "Contests," "Hobbies," "Impression and Expression," "Gifts For Christmas — and Every- day," and in all of them there was that verve, that insatiable desire to fill each day, each moment to the brim with life.
The things she has written will be treasures in the homes of the Latter-day Saints for years to come. Some of them will never die.
Those who have known her best, loved her best. She had a friendship that stood the test of time, a sunny disposition that conquered clouds and darkness, a ready understanding and innate fairness that banished difficulties before they could appear.
Few, even among her intimate friends, were aware of the contacts she made with those who needed friendship and advice — one on whom to lean. She has edited written matter from brief poems to lengthy books; she has written and given book reviews by the score; she has consoled troubled hearts and has protected the weak and erring against themselves. She was always among the most ready to respond to a call to speak at any function — club meeting, M. I. A. session, banquet of the alumni of her school or a get- together of the Adults, Seniors, M Men or Gleaner Girls. In other words, she gave of herself freely and in doing so found life.
The life that touched so many of our lives, that, like the glow of the sun, reached into the far corners of the world, has been transferred from these offices, from this city, from this world, but that it still shines to warm and bless and motivate, we are assured. Her passing was like the depart- ure of a glorious day that was crystalline and lovely at the dawn, warm and splendid during the lovely morning, full and ripe and rich at noon- day, and glorious in color at its close, promising a brilliant morning whither she has gone.
Because she loved it and caused it to be placed in an anthology of contemporary Utah verse which she helped to edit, and because it expresses the beauty of her life and her departure we close with Lowry Nelson's "Day's End:"
Day dies in glory
Like a song, Its last harmony
Full and strong.
Loveliest in death,
Like a rose Crushed; or like embers
Or echoes.
The Challenge of Charm
"flsWeView Men"
"If only gift the good Lord would give men To see themselves as women see them."
BIG men, small men, tall men, short men, straight men, stooped men, wise men, stu- pid men, men with a mustache, or men with blue eyes and straight noses, neat men, indifferent men — hundreds of types in this world of men.
"You have been honest and un- biased in writing of the charm men expect in women. Will you please tell the men some of the things women like in them. We believe men should inject some of the fundamentals of charm into their personalities," so wrote one of my fair readers. And so this little chat about men.
He may be your father, brother, husband, son, sweetheart or friend — like it or not, we must mingle with men. And they are interest- ing and wonderful creatures. You wouldn't wish to live in a world of just women any more than I. This great old world wouldn't be great without both men and women.
I like to believe that most men are good and fine. Too many of us are out searching for perfection, for an ideal. Do you think the ideal man exists any more than does the ideal woman? Why not take men as they are, dig down under- neath, find the best and enjoy it. It may be fun to dream and the- orize, to live in two worlds, unless those worlds are too far apart. We all have dents in our personalities. We are human. Could it be we like men because they are so human. They may be boys just grown tall, but they are most charming when the little-boy spots spring to the surface. Some of you may not like what I am writing. I don't ask you to agree with me, that doesn't matter, but do some think- ing for yourselves. Space is so limited for discussion on such an interesting subject. 562
Some women will live a life- time and never know themselves. They will live in a house with men and boys and never see the im- portance of understanding them. To cook, sweep, wash, clean, serve, get tired must be considered — but to live with and understand human beings is important. Happiness cannot and will not be ignored. Understanding is the beginning of happiness in friendship, success in marriage, joy in living.
How well do you know people? This little Rotarian song carries a great philosophy :
If I knew you and you knew me, If both of us could plainly see, And understand with sight divine The meaning of your heart and mine, I'm sure that we would differ less And clasp our hands in friendliness; Our thoughts would pleasantly agree If I knew you, and you knew me.
I can't know you, you can't know me, The best in each we never see; The kindly thought, the hidden word, The melody that's never heard. But loving acts and deeds divine From human hearts may freely shine. And through them only may it be That I know you and you know me.
TO understand the technique of anything is to learn how to adjust the various parts in their relation to each other for the most harmonious, pleasing result. In music we must learn the rules of combinations of notes and the timing for rhythm. In life, correct combinations of people and things and the proper tuning of our speech and acts make for rhythm and har- mony. In this respect if we do not know how to create harmonies, we can at least, avoid discords. When my mother scrubbed my morals along with my ears she of- ten said, "It will all be easy when you are old enough to understand." It isn't years that give one under- standing; it is an open mind, an open heart, a determination to look for and appreciate the good.
In a survey taken from a class of ninety-seven girls and women as to the qualities they most wanted in men, there were 153 different ones. Briefly these were the most important :
Courage, neatness, religious attitude, physical fitness, manners, intelligence, ap- preciation, consideration, character indus-
By
KATIE C. JENSEN
try, conversation, self control, self esteem, fastidiousness, thoughtfulness, grooming, cheerfulness, superiority, good sportsman- ship, cleanliness.
One girl wanted a man that had a desire to live, to love, to learn.
Another wanted a man to know what it was all about — to know what to do at the right time.
Then one said:
A man who is kind and courteous to all women, regardless of age or beauty, and renders his little service with the air that it gives him pleasure and not because it is his duty.
Not one wanted a handsome man; several wanted him to look his best.
One underlined this comment, "We do not like baggy pants."
Many of them wanted a gentle- man (and that's a lot) .
There are many things we wish men wouldn't do, no matter how much we like them. I hope it's all right for me to mention:
Forget to shave, scratch their heads, pick teeth in public, etc., clean fingernails in public, etc.
Make a woman ask for money if he has it. Speak unkindly before others. Wear a hat with a soiled hat band. Con- tradict people. Scratch his ear or caress his mustache. Talk above our heads. Or say things he doesn't mean, and a dozen other things men do that we don't like they could help if they cared enough.
Do you know men who are al- ways misplacing something? That isn't so bad. What woman has never forgotten her purse or gloves? Men do like to play martyr, but ladies, what about our self-pity complex?
"Courtesy"
"THERE are men in the world who pride themselves on being "dia- monds in the rough." We might tolerate these men still if there were need for rough, raw material. But there isn't. A rough diamond is never paraded in the spotlight. It carries with it the apologies be- cause it isn't refined and polished.
Graciousness is the exhilarating perfume of personality. However,
-$-
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
sometimes, the stiff laws of eti- quette are not natural to men. Good taste, kindness, sympathy, tact, appreciation, understanding, and fun seem to be the guide posts for daily happiness.
Most of them feel it is far more important for a lady to be asked to lunch with them than whether they know how to unfold nap- kins, or use the right fork for salad. It is their idea of "putting first things first."
Thirty-nine of the girls men- tioned plead first of all for courtesy. Rude men are just as unpopular as sarcastic, bitter women.
"Kindness"
JyjRS. LAWRENCE wept a little on her old faded handkerchief when she said, "You see, Dan means well. He is so good to the children, but if he were just more thoughtful about the little things. Why, its the little kindnesses, simple surprises, a kiss at the back of my neck maybe, that makes the machinery go round."
Dan, have you become one of those men who remind one of a "robot" or a mechanical man? Do you give your wife a dutiful fam- ily peck instead of a kiss that makes her eyes shine and her heart beat faster with the belief that you are the best man in the world. Kindness and thoughtfulness cost nothing but are priceless.
"Sense of Humor
gEVENTEEN girls in this
group wanted men to have a sense of humor.
Many times have I wished this necessary and glorious gift (it is just that) could be packed in cap- sules and administered to some people in large doses. I should spend all I had for the life-saving potion and make some people I know take it even if I were com- pelled to hold them down and hold their noses to make them swallow it. If we were to organize more "laugh-it-off" clubs, there would be more fun in living.
Why can't we believe with the poet, "It is a comely fashion to be glad — Joy is the grace we say to God."
Life without a sense of humor is like food without salt. "Attic Salt" is the term we use for the refined, gentle wit of the ancient Greeks, than whom no race lived
more beautifully and fully. Life will have more glamor if one can appreciate the comical and ridicu- lous. There would be fewer heart- aches and divorces, richer living, if people would develop their sense of humor. A woman seems younger, meets situations better, is less sensitive, more mentally wholesome if she has a balanced sense of humor. But that does not include sarcasm, ridicule, giggling, telling funny stories at another's expense, punning, wise cracking. Try to appreciate all of life's com- edy and whimsicalities. Laugh at yourself more than anyone else. A woman without a sense of humor truly misses half of life, and how can you expect to be all that a lovely lady can and should be if you have only half of life ?
Over-sensitiveness, however, is only less tolerable than caustic wit. "Do you wear your feeling on your sleeve?" Some people carry a log on their shoulder instead of a chip. Can you take constructive criti- cism? Do you imagine slights? Do you think people are laughing at you? Laugh with them and see what happens. Mrs. Jones overheard her mother-in-law say- ing to the baby's grandfather, "I am so worried. I heard Rose tell John the baby had a funny bone." Do you respond when you are exposed to incongruous situations? Or have you a funny bone?
"Here's to the man with great wisdom, wisdom enough to have tolerance for others; with intelli- gence— the kind that enjoys the beauty in simple things; with strength enough to make children and women smile through their tears; who has the ability to see the funny side of life." Do men or women have a keener sense of hu- mor? In an analytical survey of men we find they are no more the natural enemies of women than is the law of gravitation. Women seem to feel men are a factor in life that must be dealt with. The happiness or hurt she experiences through these dealings is largely a matter of whether or not she has considered the laws by which they live, move, and have their being or whether she has tried to force them into the way she wishes them to go. Too many women want their own way. Men are simple and direct. They believe they in- herit the right to happiness. And why not. Why don't all of us
reach out and grasp our happiness.
TvAOST men are (almost all) sur- prisingly immature emotion- ally. They react on the pleasure and pain principle — especially in their contacts with women. Some- times the most brilliant man seems to shut off his mind when with women and reacts as a child would who is sampling things in a coun- try grocery store. Probably he finds some of them candy — some pickles- — -some crunchy crackers — sour grapes — ginger ale — and so on. Injustices suffered by women at the hands of men are not in- justices at all from a man's stand- point. He didn't mean to hurt her — he was only frank and direct. Mental companionship is possible, but very rare between a man and a woman. It is the whipped cream on top of the dessert and cannot be depended upon to carry the burden of a union for very long. Busi- ness ability and relationships will not hold in place of deeper things. A man demands physical and men- tal comfort or he will misbehave. Women will torture themselves with a shoe that pinches while a man will refuse to dance with the most popular lady if his new shoes have made his feet burn. Women will go through everything in body and mind to gain a certain end or effect. But not a man. That is why the presentation of a love affair or a marriage is up to the woman. I never see the notice of a golden wedding celebration that a wave of appreciation for the woman does not thrill my soul. She has been a good sport and has found ways and means to make her man believe her way was his hap- piness. Don't misunderstand, men are capable of great sacrifices, they will go to war and die in patriotic glory, burn at the stake for reli- gion, but they will not be uncom- fortable around a woman. If he is pleased, that is what matters. A complimentary image of him- self will satisfy his inherent ego. Sometimes extravagant praise that even a woman would run away from, is welcomed by men if given in private. But a man will not be made conspicuous or be embarrassed before people. Hypocrisy and in- sincerity have no place in charm or in the lives of men generally.
Men are wary — women have made them so. They cannot tol- erate a woman who throws herself (Continued on page 5 79)
563
THIRTY THOUSAND MILES
FOR A
BIRD'S NEST
By JAMES MONTAGNES
The truth is precious — thirty thousand miles is not too far to go in order to learn one little bit — where the blue goose makes her nest. For hundreds of years science painfully and heroically has been adding in this way to the sum-total of knowledge.
J. D. SOPER UPON HIS RETURN FROM FOXE LAND
EVER since the first white man found the blue goose in the Mississippi region during the winter time, the question has been raised as to where this bird goes in summer. Only in winter is it to be' found along the Father of Waters. In the spring it heads north, and till recently, was lost to mankind till the following winter. For hundreds of years the problem puzzled ornithologists and set them hunting. A German, Hantzche, lost his life when he was on the trail of the blue goose in the Can- adian Arctic.
Since this mysterious bird was known to fly north, the Canadian government sent out scientists, and explorers to find the bird's summer residence. Included was J. Dewey Soper of Ottawa. He was sent to the eastern Arctic, and made Baffin Island his headquarters. For six years he hunted for the blue goose, winter and summer, by dog team and canoe, through blizzards and forty below zero weather, across known and unmapped parts of Baf- fin Island, across sea ice and gla- ciers. With two Eskimos he trav- eled the year round, visiting remote Eskimo villages seeking informa- tion. Once after searching two years on a clue given him by an old Eskimo, he found that the place where the old native had seen the bird forty years before, was now a deserted Arctic meadow. Visiting the spot in summer he found not a
564
sign of the bird nor of its recent occupation of the region.
A FTER four years in the Arctic,
Soper went back to civilization
for a year. He had seen the blue
THE ELUSIVE NEST OF THE BLUE GOOSE
geese over Baffin Island, some birds had been caught, but their breeding place was still undiscovered. A re-
mote party of Eskimos had given him another clue however, and when he went back after his holi- day he headed for Foxe Basin on the west coast of Baffin Island. The winter was spent with Eski- mos in thoroughly mapping this region. Then came spring, and camp was made at the most likely looking spot. In June the birds started flying overhead, blue geese included. By canoe the naturalist and his natives followed. They found the geese on a fifteen foot meadow along a small river, but there were no nests. Thousands of the birds were there. Explora- tion discovered hundreds of nests eight miles farther and at another spot another ten miles distant. The search of hundreds of years had been brought to an end. Speci- mens, photos and many notebooks of data brought the information and proof to civilization a few years ago. Thirty-three thousand miles had been traveled by Soper in his search in the Arctic.
THE BLUE GOOSE AT
HOME NEAR BOWMAN
BAY, FOXE BASIN
a Mormonism and
Freemasonry"
By President Anthony W. loins (Deseret News Press)
TN writing "Mormonism and Free- J- masonry," the late President An- thony W. Ivins might have grown acrimonious, for he was answering anti-Mormon insinuations and charges brought in an exasperating way. But he did not. And his moderation and calm confidence constitute two of the most impressive features of this last book he wrote.
The writing that aroused President Ivins was Goodwin's "Mormonism and Masonry," which has been circu- lated chiefly among Masons as book, pamphlet, and magazine article since 1925. It charges, in part, that the Mormons place the Bible upon a subor- dinate plane in their religious literature; that the L. D. S. Church employs rites, symbols, and other things borrowed from the Masons; and that the Book of Mormon covertly assails the Masons.
Although President Ivins wisely avoids taking up some of the weapons employed against the Church, such as ridicule and innuendo, he accepts the basic challenge. The exponent of Ma- sonry declares that his organization stresses the Bible as "the inestimable gift of God to man, for the rule and guide to his faith and conduct." Con- senting to this ground for conflict, President Ivins not only shows that the Latter-day Saints make the Bible the rule and guide of their faith and con- duct, but he employs Biblical quota- tions extensively to refute various spe- cific charges.
After sketching the possible origins of Masonry, the book presents "Joseph Smith's Own Story" of the origin of the Church, and outlines theological and scientific bases of Mormonism.
Obviously, the book is not a mere hurried rebuttal. Nor is it a compar- ative study of Freemasonry and Mor- monism, as some are led to believe by the title. Instead, it gathers together many things on which the author's fundamental beliefs are based. It is, therefore, more than an answer to Goodwin. It embodies cornerstones of a strong man's faith, tested by wide experience and study, meditation and prayer, over many years.
In most religious controversies of depth, certain assumptions are made on both sides. Those who agree with President Ivins' assumptions will find his book well-nigh invincible. Even non-members of the Church, who may disagree with the same assumptions, must be impressed with the author's moderation and fairness. — C. C.
Hobbies for Everybody
Edited by Ruth Lampland {Published by Harper and Brothers)
HPHE expanding interest in hobbies ■*■ which is traveling over the country is given an extra push forward by this book, Hobbies for Everybody. Be- tween its covers, about fifty busy and important people give their recipes for occupying leisure time; and give direc- tions and references to others who might wish to follow suit. The reg- ular gamut of collections is run — stamps, coins, books, etc., and the usual types of activity are described ade- quately and intriguingly — gardening, painting, stitching of various types — and in addition a fascinating array of different hobbies is outlined for the reader's delectation. Motion-picture photography, astronomy, cats, chess, beans, marionettes, soap sculpture, the theater, wooden toys, writing and "after all" are but a few of the titles of delightful and stimulating chapter heads. The editor says "A hobby is not merely a way of using leisure — it is a vital necessary outlet of self-ex- pression ... to be sure, not all hob- bies are equally easy to ride. But the choice is there — to be governed by tastes, pocketbooks and moods. . . Again, hobbies are essentially not only self -chosen if they are to bring content; they are also self-creating. They may lead toward creative professional la- bors ... or they may lead to im- portant subsidiary contributions. . . . They may lead the individual out into social contacts or they may give the respite and renewal which come from more solitary achievements." And in her analysis she manages to get to the very heart of the subject of hobbies and inspire her readers with a desire to pick out the most likely-looking steed and begin to ride!
Not the least interesting of the ma- terial in the book are the short sketches of contributors: Rudy Vallee, Don Marquis, Fannie Hurst, Albert Payson Terhune, Tony Sarg, Sigmund Spaeth, Ellis Parker Butler, Eva Gallienne, Dr. John H. Finley and Margaret Fishback being only a few of the many.
The one and only way to get a glimpse into what the book has to say is to read it. It should go on the "don't miss it" list of readers.
— E. T. B.
Kitchen Sonnets
By Ethel Romig Fuller
(Published by the Metropolitan Press,
Portland, Oregon.)
PREDICATED to her two sons, this
book by Mrs. Fuller is packed with
the enchantment of simple, ordinary
things. Many poets have done this in one poem, or two; Rupert Brooke did it beautifully in "The Great Lover," in which he said, "These have I loved — white plates, And cups clean-gleam- ing— " and added innumerable names of beloved objects and sensations. Ethel Romig Fuller has made a whole small volume of these poems. Titles of the poems tell much — ."Doing Dishes," "Wheaten Interval," "Marketing," "Canning Season," "Hanging out the Clothes," "Housecleaning," "Window Washing" and others. "Cleaning Day" says:
Dust the big deep Easy chair
Carefully, for friends Sit there. While you wipe The window-sills, Contemplate The quiet hills.
Rub a table Till it gleams — This, an interval For dreams.
Polish windows, Mop the floors, Do not cheat Behind the doors!
Sun a house
From base to rafter —
Happiness
Will follow after.
Other work May be a duty — Cleaning is Creating beauty.
One section is devoted more spe- cifically to seasons, nature and descrip- tions. Another is the children's part, and lovely in the extreme. The com- bined effects of the subjects treated in the lyric manner the author has achieved, sets the imagination to danc- ing and turns thoughts towards the beauties of home and loved ones. Not sentimental in a single line, the book is full of sentiment. We love it.
Their Religion
By A. J. Russell (Published by Harper and Brothers)
"JSJEW in its approach and convincing " in its revelations is this volume, newly off the press, which sets forth a statement of the religious beliefs of thirteen important men, the material having been assembled from various biographical sources. With no at- tempt to depict the characters as pious individuals, clear-cut proof is offered
565
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
>~
of the fact that these particular men held their own religious beliefs, and held them sacredly.
The sketch of Abraham Lincoln is a delightful introduction to the volume, arousing as it does a deep interest in the subject, and being written in a style which challenges immediate attention. Through a series of incidents in the life of Lincoln the reader is taken, discov- ering along the way that the great Emancipator was a man of unusually high idealism. A statement made by Lincoln upon the occasion of an elec- tion, when it seemed that ministers were endeavoring to turn votes against him on the grounds that he was an un- believer is impressive. Said Lincoln: "I know that there is a God and that He hates slavery. I see a storm coming and I know that His hand is in it. . . I know that I am right because I know that liberty is right; for Christ teaches us — and Christ is God!" The credo which he preached to his sons is also enlightening. "Don't drink. Don't chew. Don't gamble. Don't smoke. Don't swear. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Love God. Love truth. Love your fellow man. Love virtue. And be happy."
The chapter on Robert Burns por- trays a man of Lincoln's opposite in many respects. Self-centered and sen- sual, Burns considered it his right to find happiness where he could, and the story of his life is not entirely pleasant. However, in a letter to a woman friend he set forth his beliefs. "That there is an incomprehensible Great Being, to whom I owe my existence, and that He must be intimately acquainted with the operations and progress of the in- ternal machinery and consequent out- ward deportment of this creature that He has made: these are, I think, self- evident propositions."
Marshal Foch, Gladstone, Napoleon, Disraeli — these are painted in colors which reveal the trend their religions take, and it is conclusively demon- strated that each was actuated by his own religious beliefs, even though those beliefs differed one from the other. The story of Lord Nelson, England's courageous defender, is presented in in- teresting detail. His unfortunate in- fatuation for Lady Hamilton caused his name to be darkened, yet he retained his faith in spite of all his misfortunes. Just before Trafalgar he wrote a prayer in which he said: "May the great God whom I worship grant to my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory: and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be the predominant fea- ture in the British Fleet. For myself ... I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavors for serving my country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause intrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen." 566
Dickens, though informal in reli- gious observances, declared in his will: "I commit my soul to the mercy of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and I exhort my dear children humbly to try to guide themselves by the teach- ing of the New Testament in its broad spirit, and to put no faith in any man's narrow construction of its letter here or there."
Washington, speaking of departed friends, said: "When I shall be called upon to follow them is known only to the Giver of Life. When the summons comes I shall endeavor to obey it with good grace."
Cromwell, dying, said: "... I love God, or rather am beloved by God. . . my work is done. God will be with His people. . . God is good."
And each of the remaining men is shown to have cherished definite reli- gious ideas. The book is eminently worthy of study and thought.
— E. T. B.
Footlights Up!
By Housman and Koehler (Published by Harper and Brothers.)
A LONG-FELT need is met in the coming of this book of practical plays for boys and girls. Designed to be used by lads and lassies too old for kiddies' plays, the six plays in this volume are admirably adapted to the use specified.
"Cap-o-Rushes," the first one, is a delightful combination of fairy-tale and real romance. The title is the nick- name of a girl who has been sent away from home for imagined impudence, and makes a cap of rushes to wear as she scours pots and pans in the house in which she has found refuge. Her romance with a promising young squire of the neighborhood brings her family to the wedding, where everything is explained and happiness reigns. "The Treasure of Cardona" carries the ever- popular plot of the discovery of hid- den treasure, and the thwarting of one who would secure the treasure un- worthily.
"The Pony Express Goes Through"
By Dr. Howard R. Driggs
A BEAUTIFUL book bearing the "^ above title has come to the edi- torial desk of The Improvement Era, but too late to be reviewed in this number. The book was published by Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, and was illustrated in color and black and white by William H. Jack- son, the pioneer photographer and artist who has interested himself so thoroughly in the Oregon Trail and Pony Express movements. We are eager to get into the book and promise a review in the near future.
"Dick Whittington" is an interest- ing story between the lines, in which Dick Whittington is shown to profit greatly by taking the advice of his sage cat and turning back. "The Man Without a Country" is a beautifully worked-out dramatization of the story of Philip Nolan, and gives opportunity for some excellent characterizations. "The Bird-cage" is also interesting and "The Three Citrons" is as promising a little wonder-play as, will be found in a long time.
The problems of stage setting, cos- tumes and presentation are taken up one by one and diagrams for scenery drawn. The average group of young players will find in this volume just the sort of thing they have wanted; and directors will recognize it at once as the realization of their dreams and the answer to their prayers. — E. T. B.
>
-4
The Fishermen's Friend
(Continued from page 553) fr. 4
pound twins! The following fact is as true as it is interesting. When the mail boat arrived that day, bearing news from home, it also brought in the mail sacks two com- plete baby outfits, in a parcel of clothing sent on the off-chance by an Eastern group of mission work- ers active in this service. A happy coincidence! Rather, let us say, an example of the overruling Provi- dence.
For twenty-five years I have been fascinated by sermons and hymns preached and sung in the Indian Chinook dialect. It sounds so strange to hear the Word in other than the tongue we ourselves speak. So the perfectness of this Sabbath morning is rounded out, as I sit with white and Indian fishermen, who have come over the mountain trail and by boats from the fishing fleets, to hear Dr. Darby preach in dual tongue.
Here, thought I, is a missionary of no small calibre, whose Chris- tian efforts are doubtless recognized by his Church; a medical worker whose accomplishments are com- mon knowledge among the mem- bers of the medical profession in many lands. Here is a man who must have received a distinct call in life, a man who takes God's gifts, pays heed to the Divine in- spiration to develop such gifts, and then applies them to the service of humanity; just another fisherman's friend.
Ward Teachers Message, October, 1935
The Value of Dependability T™}\ dependability is a priceless
J r J gem of character and virtue.
WHAT we want to make us true The success of this Church rests up-
men, over and above that which on the dependability of its members,
we bring into the world with us, is °^ as *e pencra] Authorities, Pres-
some sort of God-given instinct, mo- Merits of Stakes and Missions, Bishops
tive, and new principle of life in us, anud other kfd«s can dePend »Pon tho*e
which shall make us not only see the J$° are c.alled [° Posltlons °f xe%°mi:
right and the true and the noble, but blllJJ and authority can the Church
love it, and give our wills and hearts itself progress.
t -t .. Kinaslev teachings of the Gospel of Jesus
"The man who is working strives Christ set the highest of standards of perpetually to fulfill his obligations dependability. Strict honesty, trust- thoroughly is continually building up worthiness, punctuality in meeting ap- in himself one of the greatest principles P°«»tments and obligations and in fill- of morality and religion."— Channing. l"« assignments of duty discharge of
Of all the desirable and ennobling a11 responsibilities promptly and loyally
traits of character an individual may ar£ ^11 inclnded in the doctrines of the
,i„t,„i„« „~~„ :«, «,«,„ j„'„iia -.«„ Church. Dependability, therefore, be-
develop none is more desirable, more - * ■ I 1 <■
ennobling, more helpful or more valu- come/ the v«7 basis, of °ur hope for
able than dependability. ?e fu.tu«i and no less ,tban absolute
„ , , , /, , dependability is expected of every true
The truly dependable person can be Latter-day Saint. The Gospel teaches
trusted in church and civic responsibil- iL Qur code of morals and e£hks in.
ity, in matters of finance, in morals, eludes it
in word and in action. Dependability If we are tmly dependabie and mani, is necessary to the successful conduct of fest this valuable and inSpiring quaiity human relationships. Without it chaos in our dealings with our fellow men we would result. shall have thc blessings of the Lord in The dependable person is loyal. He rich abundance, according to the prom- is loyal to his country, to his church ises made to the righteous, and its leaders, to his family and to his Dependability always has been and friends. He may be relied upon at all always will be one of the truest meas- times and under all conditions. He is ures of real character. Its value never true to trust. lessens. A reputation for dependability
Aaronic Priesthood Makes Sharon (3,745) 4,797
Splendid Record in Filling *£* |^"— (3.463) 111*
Assignments Timpanogos (2,998) 3,733
TN the three-point Aaronic Priesthood UIntah (4,806) 5,171
1 Campaign reports for the first half Utah (9,936) 11,846
year are decidedly encouraging. Sev- Wells (9,603) 9,661
eral Stakes have already exceeded the Burley _ _ __ _ (4,421) 6 180
quota for the entire year while many Mabd ______.____ZZ(3M7) 4,471
others are well over the half-way mark. V :
The Stakes which in the first six months Albcrta (3,955) 5,183
filled enough assignments to exceed the Big Horn (3,877) 4,195
total Stake membership are: (Mem- Hollywood (8,798) 8,893
bership of Stakes shown in brackets. Los Angeles (9,055) 13,510
Other figures indicate number of as- Maricopa (6,085) 7,477
signments filled to June 30th.)
Carbon (5,914) 6,052
East Jordan (6,596) 21,984
Granite (12,971) 16,883
Grant (7,030) 10,148
Kanab (2,655) 3,134
Lehi (3,259) 3,724
Morgan (2,313) 3,134
North Weber (7,072) 10,451
Oquirrh (5,432) 6,753
Sevier (3,727) 3,255
■"TRUTH is the beginning of every ■'■ good thing, both in heaven and on earth; and he who would be blessed and happy should be from the first a partaker of the truth, that he may live a true man as long as possible, for then he can be trusted; but he is not to be trusted who loves voluntary falsehood, and he who loves involuntary falsehood is a fool. — Plato.
is a priceless treasure and one every
person may gain.
"His word is as good as his bond." "If he promised to be here he will
come."
"If he is given the position he will
magnify it."
"If he said he would do it he will." "If he owes the bill he will pay it." "If the matter is entrusted to him
it will be in safe hands."
When these statements are made of
any man he may well be proud of such
a reputation.
In the early experiences of the Mor- mon Pioneers, Eastern business men fre- quently paid the high tribute to them that in all their dealings with the Mor- mons they had never lost a cent. No greater tribute has ever been paid to our people.
That statement should be possible today. It would be if the members of the Church would live according to the teachings of the Gospel and of our Church leaders.
Every Latter-day Saint should cul- tivate the habit of dependability in business, in the Church, in the home, in public life, in social affairs, in all dealings with others. To be a true Latter-day Saint is to be in every way dependable. The early history of the Church is filled with illustrations of dependability that will assist ward teachers in delivering the message for October most effectively.
Snowflake (3,730) 4,612
Star Valley (4,369) 4,389
Woodruff (3,775) 4,275
Gridley (1,444) 1,508
Stakes reaching more than half of
the yearly quota during the first six months are:
Cache (5,995) 5,061
Cottonwood (8,409) 7,398
Emery (5,724) 4,771
Hyrum (5,029) 4,061
Logan (6,676) 5,739
Mount Ogden 7,535) 6,890
North Davis (5,376) 4,428
North Sanpete (4,784) 4,655
Ogden (9,431) 9,002
Panguitch (2,842) 2,480
Weber (7,773) 6,583
Fremont (6,896) 6,239
Idaho (1,952) 1,764
Oneida (4,3 76) 3,868
Twin Falls (2,829) 2,382
Lethbridge (3,069) 2,870
Taylor (3,753) 3,676
Young (1,660) 1,342
567
« PRIESTHOOD »
Suggestions to Quorum
Teachers
{From Fundamental Problems in Teaching Religion)
/~\\JR three-fold purpose in Teach- ing:
a. To guarantee salvation of the in- dividual members of the Church.
b. To pass on the wonderful heritage handed down by our pioneer fore- fathers.
c. To make more easily possible the conversion of the world. "Remember the worth of souls is
great in the sight of God;
"For behold, the Lord your Re- deemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.
"And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance;
"And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth.
"Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people;
"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father?
"And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me? (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 18:10-16.)
"For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the im- mortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39.)
If this is the work and glory of the Lord, how great must be the responsi- bility of the teachers of Zion, His co- partners in the business of saving hu- mankind! Next to parenthood, teach- ing involves us in the most sacred rela- tionship known to man. The teacher akin to the parent is the steward of human souls — his purpose to bless and to elevate.
The successful teacher ever views his calling as an opportunity — not as an obligation. To associate with young people is a rare privilege; to teach them is an inspiration; to lead them into the glorious truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is heavenly joy itself.
"Perchance, in heaven, one day to me Some blessed Saint will come and say, All hail, beloved; but for thee
My soul to death had fallen a prey' ;
And oh! what rapture in the thought,
One soul to glory to have brought."
568
Highlights of Quorum Supervision
1. There should be a supervisor for each quorum,
2. Quorums should be kept within the limits specified in the revelations. New quorums should be organized whenever there are enough members to permit of it.
3. Each quorum should meet sepa- rately.
4. Every member of the quorum should have the lesson outline.
5. The quorum presidency should preside and conduct quorum meetings, the president and counselors rotating. Quorum officers should be permitted to direct as much of the quorum work as possible.
6. The member of the bishopric assigned to the quorum should attend the meeting and have general direction, giving counsel, advice and instructions from the bishopric.
7. The quorum supervisor should instruct the quorum officers in methods of presiding and conducting of meet- ings, supervise making of assignments and filling them, and conduct the les- son work. He should relieve the
Behold! Eternal Day
By Ida R. Altdredge
(A tribute to Anthony W. Ivins who was
a childhood friend of my parents and an
esteemed neighbor in Mexico)
I" SCARCE can make it seem reality
■* That your dear lips so often speaking
truth Can breathe no prayer of wisdom as of old To guide the ever wayward, erring youth Thy presence seems to sanctify the place Wherein thy sturdy footsteps daily trod To echo down the corridors of time In the sanctuaries of our God.
A friend? — aye, more than that wer't thou
To those who lived in foreign land away
Beneath the tropic skies of Mexico
The land of fruits and flowers and song
and play The land of manana and the dusky child Whose faith in thee was beautiful to ken Thy patience and thy wisdom ever clear Enshrined thy memory in the hearts of
men.
The many saints from that far distant land Though scattered now o'er every land and
sea Will ever cherish deep within their souls A sweet and sacred love and faith in thee; Thou art not dead, but just a step ahead Of those you loved and helped along the
way And when the Benediction has been said The veil will be removed, Behold! Eternal
Day!
member of the bishopric of as much detail as possible.
8. The principal responsibility of a Priesthood quorum is to teach each member his duties and to give him the opportunity of functioning in his call- ing. This should be the first consider- ation of the quorum.
9. The member of the bishopric, the supervisor and quorum officers should take advantage of every oppor- tunity to teach gospel standards — honesty, morality, reverence, respect for authority, clean living and com- pliance with the teachings of the gospel.
1 0. Every quorum should have the official roll book and follow it care- fully. Quorum rolls and records are very important.
11. Supervisors should study the list of assignments in the roll book and endeavor to have as many activ- ities as possible participated in by mem- bers of the quorum and to have as many members of the quorum as possible fill assignments. Assignments should be rotated in order that every member may have equal opportunity.
12. Members of the bishopric and supervisors should prepare quorum members for advancement in the Priesthood when they reach the proper age.
13. It is recommended that a mem- ber of the Aaronic Priesthood be given the privilege of delivering a five-minute talk in each Sacrament meeting. Su- pervisors should cooperate in assisting quorum members to prepare these talks. Each quorum should be given its turn in furnishing speakers.
14. Supervisors should meet regu- larly each week as a committee to dis- cuss the welfare and progress of all the quorums.
15. Social and fraternal activities should be promoted by the supervisor for the purpose of developing and maintaining quorum identity, unity and morale.
16. A determined effort should be made by quorum officers and super- visors to account for every member of the quorum every week.
A Questionnaire for Stake
Aaronic Priesthood
Committees
•THESE questions will serve as a guide to better Stake and Ward Super- vision. Check them against the con- ditions now existing in your Stake.
Is your stake Aaronic Priesthood Committee fully organized according to the recommended plan?
Does the stake committee make regular visits to wards to check on Priesthood activity?
<-
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA, SEPTEMBER, 1935
Does your stake committee get regular monthly reports from all ward committees?
Does your stake committee send monthly reports to the Stake Pres- idency?
Does your stake committee plan and carry forward a definite plan of social and fraternal activities?
Are your Ward Aaronic Priesthood Committees all organized and operating according to the recommended plan?
Do the quorums and classes follow the order of business provided in the lesson books?
Are assignments made to each mem- ber of Aaronic Priesthood each week?
Are these assignments followed up and reported on?
Are the regular lessons followed?
Are the Book of Remembrance les- sons being given?
Do Ward Aaronic Priesthood Com- mittees meet weekly?
Do supervisors check attendance reg- ularly and follow up inactive mem- bers?
Do ward supervisors meet regularly with the Ward Correlation Committee?
Do supervisors check on attendance of their quorum members at Sunday School, M. I. A., and Seminary.
Do ward committees plan and carry forward a definite program of social and fraternal activities for quorum members?
Adult Aaronic Priesthood
Plan Making Splendid
Progress
"DEPORTS continue to come to the Presiding Bishopric of progress and success in Adult Aaronic Priesthood Groups. This comparatively new movement in the Church is making great gains.
Timpanogos Stake reports encour- aging results in this group. To further stimulate activity through setting up an activity project the Stake Presidency has assigned to this group the building of a monument to commemorate the first battle between the Indians and the Pioneers. It occurred in February of 1849. The site was first called Battle Creek but is now Pleasant Grove.
Committees of Adult Aaronic Priesthood members to provide finance and design and build the monument under the direction of the Stake Pres- idency and the High Council Aaronic Priesthood Committee.
Appreciates Era Material
Bp. Sylvester Q. Cannon, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dear Brother:
SINCERELY appreciate the sug- gestions that are printed from time
When Pm Gone
By R. Stanley Johns
TF when I'm gone my boys can say, —
Dad did his best in every way To make of us strong men and true, — Then I will think my task is through.
If when I'm gone my girls can say, — ■ Dad did his best from day to day, To keep us sweet and kind and good — I will have done the best I could.
If my associates at work Can say, he never tried to shirk, But did his job in a manly way,— That's all I'll care for them to say.
If those I've met along the way Can really mean and truly say, He eased our burden and lightened sor- row, I'll have no fear of the tomorrow.
Dear helpmate, if I've done for you Those things that made my love ring
true, If you can say I really tried, Then I can pass on, satisfied.
Dear Lord, if I, in my life's span,
Have always tried to be a man,
If to friends and neighbors I've been
true, I will have no fear of meeting you.
to time in the Era, as well as other information that is sent from your office, pertaining to the Aaronic Priest- hood Work. I am enclosing a sample page of a book of ages that I have arranged for the use of the Committee of which I have the privilege of being chairman, wondering if it will be of any assistance to others engaged in the work with the boys.
I feel that personal interest in a boy is one of the best ways to gain his confidence.
This book is so arranged that each month the age of every boy whose birthday is in that month is determined at a glance. When he is old enough to be advanced, he is invited to meet
with the Committee, his privileges talked over, as well as any other matter we feel necessary, then he is given a written recommendation to the Bish- opric. After they talk to him he is presented to the public as recom- mended, then ordained in his quorum meeting.
Hoping that this may be of assist- ance to someone, also that the coming year will be a happy and prosperous one for you, as well as one with a bountiful harvest of the souls of our boys, is the sincere wish of your brother in the work.
Joseph M. Richardsor
A Thought for Quorum- Supervisors The Willow an