Jane Addams and Rabbi Wise are helping build up a railroad town in southwestern Utah. Their spirit of new Americanism, of service to the community, is there although they know nothing about it.

The town is Lund and I was stranded there last January by a washout for a day and a half. But as soon as I went into the drug store I forgot all about washouts. It was the most homelike drug store in the United States. Around the stove were rocking chairs. Nearby stood a library of old and new books. Also a Victrola. On the walls were pic tures of Foch and Amiens cathedral. But through the door I could see the birdseye maple floor of a dance hall. It only needed a mother cat asleep on the counter and geraniums blooming in the window to make it one of the most homelike places I had ever wandered into.

And yet Lund is a railroad town of only 150 people and all around for a radius of thirty-five miles stretches the Escalante desert, a land of lonely ranches and mining claims.

"We call it the Community Drug Store," said Mrs. Wm. W. Butler, the wife of the owner, as I was get ting my breath after the sudden transformation from the Sahara desolation outside to the salon club house inside. "I wish you would tell me a good term to use in speak ing of our dance hall. Dance hall doesn't sound altogether respectable. Assembly hall is too much like a high school, Amusement Hall might do, but isn't that rather childish?"

All the time Mrs. Butler was talking she was sitting at a little telephone exchange in the corner of the store and occasionally stopped to give a connection. I found out soon that she and her husband were a valuable connection between Chicago and Utah.

"My husband and I came out here eight years ago," she explained, "and took up a dry farm homestead. We stuck it out for three years. It was a bitter experience because we knew nothing about land, but it was fine for the health and it put us in sympathy with agricultural life in a way that no one from Chicago can understand until he tries it. However, never again for us, now we have our drug store! I used to be a student at the University of Chicago and the day before we left to come out here we heard Rabbi Wise talk on the new citizenship, the citizenship of community responsibility in which woman has her full share. Every year Jane Addams used to talk at least once to the students of the university and her ideas were along the same line. Then came the awful loneliness of the ranch, and the greater loneliness when my husband went to war. And now we are in a little town I am going to make other lives less lonely. I am glad you find the store homelike. It's meant to be. Anyone is welcome to sit in our rockers around our stove, to read our books, to use our Victrola, and to dance in our pavilion."

"Another thing about our store," put in Mr. Butler, "is that we have

no liquor to sell, not even for medicinal purposes. This used to be a great moonshine county. The town has been trying to clear out bootleggers and we've finally done it. I'm Justice of the Peace and we hold trials in the dance hall and I fined the last bootlegger $1400. They see now that we mean business. There is everywhere a certain percent of people who will get away with law breaking, if they can, but they are just as well satisfied if they can't. At first of course they were hot. One bootlegger threatened to start a graveyard with me. You know we have no graveyard. Lund is about twenty-five years old but no one ever died here except five Mexicans who were killed in an automobile accident and they were just dumped in a hole in the desert. It's a railroad town and people come and go. Population changes every six months." "That's why we want new comers and old to feel that the Community Drug Store is their club, a permanent dependable place in a shifting population," put in Mrs. Butler. "You might think the church would do that but we have nothing but a "Mormon" Sunday School and a Presbyterian on Sunday. They come at different hours and the whole town goes to both. Nothing else to do on Sunday, and besides we are the most liberal-minded town in Utah. People have got to have an outlet. If they can't have a saloon, let them have a chance to dance respectably and a club house to loaf in. I'm always here to be a chaperone but it is not necessary. There is not a boy nor a girl in town that

isn't nice. I wish you had been here at our Christmas celebration. We sent out written invitations to every person in town and they all came. Each invitation was just eight words like this:

Wanted Mary Jones.
Where Butlers.
When-December 25.
Why Because—_

"We had a big Christmas tree and a present for everyone. The most touching moment of the evening was when one man read the story of the Christ child and at the same time the Traumerei was played on the Victrola. I tell you I was happy then and glad I was having a chance to put Rabbi Wise's ideas into practice. Community service pays big dividends in souls and money. That sounds rather preachy but it is true. Someone has got to provide a social center for a town and if it isn't a church, it might as well be the drug store."

Havelock Ellis talks somewhere about the vast importance of the quality of the people with whom one is necessarily brought into contact, the vast number of people in our communities who are harsh, ugly, ineradicably discourteous, selfish, or insolent, the people whose lives are spent in diminishing the joy of the community in which, not so much Providence as the absence of providence has placed them, in impeding that community's natural activity, in diminishing its total output of vital force. All such communities need more Butlers and more drug stores kept by Butlers.

The big annual event of the M. I. A.the June Conference-has once more passed into history. It was a splendid Conference, one in which many workers participated and thus increased the general enjoyment and enthusiasm. The memory of it will be a source of inspiration through out the entire coming year. Eighty-three Stakes were represented.

Practically every phase of Mutual work was touched on from the details of administration to the big, basic principles of our organization.

THE SLOGAN

The foremost message was that of the Slogan: We stand for a pure life through clean thought and action This, with appropriate scriptural passages was read or repeated at nearly every session and was the underlying theme of a number of the addresses. It is one of the most forceful slogans we have ever adopted, and should become vital in the lives of every officer and member of our associations. It will be worth little unless "transformed into behavior." Officers, make your boys and girls familiar with it; give them a clear understanding of its import; make them realize what it means to "stand" for a principle.

A YEAR ROUND PROGRAM FOR THE M. I. A.

Laura P. Nicholson, in treating this subject, presented the following points: There is no cessation of M. I. A. work during the twelve months, only a change of activities to suit the seasons; the organization in every ward should remain intact through out the year, with all vacancies promptly filled; certain of our activities, as the Sunday evening joint programs, the special activities, Scouting, and Bee-Hive work, are carried on without intermission; class work is held regularly for eight months, special recrcational features are provided for the summer months. Each month brings certain features of the work to be emphasized.

SUMMER WORK

Emily Caldwell Adams spoke on Summer Work.

Among other things she said: The successful carrying out of any plan depends

largely on the attitude of mind of those whose duty or responsibility it is to carry out that plan. If we are not in sympathy with the plan or if we are opposed to it, we can give but very little enthusiasm to it and our efforts will not be very helpful among those with whom we are working. Going at it with merely a sense of duty is sure to have its effect. That little word duty is very much overworked. I shall be glad when the time comes when it shall be discarded, and we shall do things because we desire, because of the good that shall come out of the effort we make. I fear that officers too frequently consider the work they have to do from the personal standpoint. We have gone through the winter's work and we feel that our efforts have not been appreciated, and from our personal feeling in the matter, we allow the thought that a rest would be good for the young people. But if we are going to do the thing well, we must set aside the personal feeling and consider the value it will have for the boys and girls.

To me the purposes of these organizations are: To assist in properly controlling the social activities of the young peopie and to provide such activities as shall assist in their spiritual development. And there is no season of the year, when we can safely cease our efforts towards these accomplishments. If the M. I. A. is effective at all in influencing the young people along these lines, it may be made just as effective in summer as in winter and the need for this control and influence is just as great in summer as in winter, if not greater. In the spring everything takes on a new and brighter aspect, the whole face of things changes and joy begins to call to our young people and they have new feelings and desires for new activities. The young people do not want to stop work; on the contrary, if left to themselves, they work harder than at other times. You will find the young men playing ball, tennis, etc.; you will find the young girls anxious for hikes and for those things girls like to do. It is not the fact that they want to rest, you could not make them rest or stop putting forth effort if you wanted to, but they do want a change. They get tired of the old way of things and go out for themselves and do the things that you should wan them to do, only they do not do them in

the way they should. How many times do we hear expressions such as this from the older members of the community, "I don't mind canyon trips if only they were not taken upon Sunday-I would not mind your dancing if it was not getting to be an all night job or if the manner of dancing was not so objectionable or if the music was not so ear-splitting." We provide our young people with great touring cars, bright and dashing, and then we stand aside and cry out against joy-riding. Of course, we raise our voices against joy-riding but we do not object to auto trips if only they are not out until late and if properly chaperoned. These are some of the activities which our young people enjoy and which they do during the summer season. We cannot stop dancing if we would, we cannot stop auto riding, if we would, but this is where the M. I. A. enters in as a factor in the problem. If the organization is functioning properly it will assist the home in every way in giving proper control to the social activities of the young people. This is a divinely instituted scheme and you are guided by authority and may receive power to control the young people if you put forth an effort, but there is nothing comes to us in this world without effort. The responsibility of helping parents to control the activities of the young people has been placed upon you officers.

FAST SUNDAY EVENING JOINT PROGRAMS

This theme was presented by Elder Oscar A. Kirkham. He emphasized these points:

The Presidency of the Church have given us the privilege of conducting once a month on Fast Sunday evening a program giving to the people the message of M. I. A. work. This is an opportunity to strengthen our own program.

To do this work well is our duty to know what to do and how to do it and to bring variety and newness to things which might have grown old.

Have the different departments take charge occasionally. It will put a pride into the departments.

Have addresses on Gospel subjects. The young people love the Gospel if we are inspired to present it properly.

Emphasize the M. I. A. in relation to the Gospel program.

Have the young people arrange the programs, under the supervision of officers. Have the Slogan used as a theme. Exchange the program of one ward with that of another.

Have the young people take part on the programs. Young people are interested when young people take part.

Use the ward people for musical exercises. Do not make the M. I. A. Sunday Night programs an advertisement for professionals.

There should be always a gospel thought included in a Sunday musical program. This is the Sabbath and things should be spiritual.

Stake people may plan for the wards. Hold M. I. A. conferences.

Bring M. I. A. programs before the people of the wards. Advertise M. I. A. work Make everybody feel that no young person's life is full if he or she does not belong to M. I. A.

A special subject may be carried to each ward; or a message from the stake authorities.

Young people want saving memories. Tie up with the spiritual. They need to hear the Gospel call.

We have not begun to tap the resources of this wonderful organization.

You have as yet not scratched the ground of possibility.

May God help us to take care of our great opportunity on the Sabbath day the first of each month.

M. I. A. PUBLICITY

Elder Preston Nibley treated this topic. He gave the following story and com

ments:

For twenty-five years after the Civil War, the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky was one of the largest places in America. There was a large hotel at the cave and everyone of any importance the learned, the wise, and great went there sooner or later. On the walls were found the names of the wonderful, such as U. S. Grant, etc.; no one's education was considered quite complete until he had visited this cave. When Elbert Hubbard went there he found the place practically dead, the hotel closed and fallen into hopeless decay, and at the mouth of the cave was a jungle. He looked about but could find no one, and finally he saw an old farmer approaching in his wagon. He asked the old man, "What is the matter, this used to be one of the best known places in America and it is now dead or abandoned." The farmer said, "Well, Sir, there used to be a fellow around here who advertised this place, but he died."

Is your association alive, full of interest or is it abandoned, an overgrown jungle?