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Show President McKay Now One more milestone In the precedentsetting life of President David 0. McKay without fanwas passed in December fare. General He became the longest-liveAuthority of the Church since its organization in 1830. The previous oldest General Authority was Charles W. Penrose who lived to be 93 years, three months and eight days. President McKay passed that mark on Dec. 16, of last year. President Penrose was first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church when he died in 1934 in Salt Lake City. He was bora in London, England, Sept. 16, d Longest-Live- 1852, and ordained an Apostle July 7, 1904. He became second counselor in the First Presidency in 1921 and four years later was named firstj counselor to President Heber J. Grant. President McKay was born Sept. 8, 1873, at Huntsville, Utah, ordained a member of the Council of the Twelve April 9, 1906, sustained as second counselor in the First Presidency in 1934, and sustained as president of the Church April 9, 1951. This coming April General Conference will mark 17 years President McKay has been leading the Church. Under his direction phenomenal growth has taken place through an expanded missionary program. BimiiiimmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitmmitiiitmitiimiiutiuiimiiiiiiiiiiiiitiitiiiiiiiiimiiitiiiiiiiiiMt d General Authority Church's educational efforts have been greatly strengthened ; new emphasis has been given to temple building and genealogy activities; implementation of the Family Home Evening Program has occurred ; large strides have been made in the Church's building program, and major strengthening of the leadership of the Church at the ward, stake, branch and mission level through the great correlation program has been achieved. Longevity has been the mark of the General Authorities of the Church, of course, almost since the inception of the appointment of the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve in 1835. Many of The liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitniiMiitiiiiniiiiiitiiHitiitniimmiiniiimiiiiimtiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiituiiiiititmiinimimiiitiiiiii these men have livi-into their 70's, RO's and 90s. Two of the Presidents of the Church lived to be 70 or more: five lived into their 80s, and two have lived post 90. In terms of length of service as President, Brigham Young lioldr the record with 30 years from 1817 to 1877. Next is Heber J. Grant with more than 26 years. The other president.' and their length of years as president are: The Prophet Joseph Smith, 12 years; John Taylor, seven years; Wilford Woodruff, nine years; Lorenzo Snow, three years; Joseph F. Smith, 17 years; and George Albert Smith, six years. d itiiimniiiiiitiumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimaimiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiittiitiiii'immimiiiiiiiitmiiiiiiiiii Some Laboratory Lessons around. There are two possible ways in which it could lose its savour: (1) it could enter into a chemical reaction and thus no longer be sodium chloride; or (2) it could be so badly contaminated with By ELMER W. MAURER Research chemist M.Se., University al B.Ce., Iowa Slat College, Pennsylvania; Research Chemist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture; specialist In synthetic detergents. Doing research for Improved detergents tor specific r general soils. impurities As a chemist I believe in a personal God. I believe there is a Divine Intelligence who created the world and all that is contained therein, and for me this Divine Intelligence and this personal God are identical. It is impossible for me to conceive the law and order or the universive as being the result of pure chance. The odds are pressure-t- emperature pressure-temperatur- its characteristic taste brought the answer. Salt was accepted and collected as taxes by the Romans from the people of the Holy Land. One of the main sources of salt for Palestinians, of course, was the Dead Sea, or Salt Sea. So oppressive were these taxes that the people adulterated the salt with sand or other earthy material (the salt to begin with wasnt our nice pure table salt). The government purified tlie salt by spreading it in big vats or tanks, filling them with water and drawing off the salt solution or brine. All that remained was the earthy, insoluble material. Indeed, the salt had lost its savour because it was no longer salt. It was fit to be trodden under foot. And this wasnt the only way that salt could lose its savour. The surface waters of the Dead Sea, on evaporation, have a chemical salts content of about 31 per cent sodium chloride, 13 per cent calcium chloride, and 48 per cent magnesium chloride, together with other impurities. The calcium and magnesium chlorides are hydroscopic (take water out of the air) and will thus literally dissolve the sodium chloride. A bitter tasting composition results. It was tlie custom to store vast amounts of this salt next to the ground spoiled" because of the dampness. Since it would be harmful to fertile land because of its salt content, no man would allow it to be thrown on his field. The only place left was the street, where it was trodden under foot of man. Thus the Bible was proved scientifically accurate, even in its many small details for this was just a lone example. And, returning to tlie larger aspect of the matter, the same Bible, rightly interpreted, to me presents a reliable account of the origin of the universe, as well as its direction and support. I have found nothing in natural science, in chemistry, that conflicts with the Bible. Nor do I find anything in the Bible that conflicts with science. The God of Genesis, I am convinced, Is the sole answer to both tlie genesis" and the unfailing, detailed management of the simply too great. Law, order and intelligence go hand in hand. Also, as a scientist, I believe that God has permanent control of His world. He sees to it that there is fixedness and permanence in Natures laws. When I step Into my laboratory I know that the laws that hold true today will hold true tomorrow, and the next day, and as long as the universe exists. Otherwise my life in the laboratory would be a succession of quandaries; a life of uncertainty and doubts, rendering all scientific activity futile; in fact, impossible. For example, I can go into the laboratory and heat a beaker filled with pure water until it boils. Without the use of a thermometer I know that the temperature of the boiling water is 100 degrees (centigrade) as long as the atmosphere pressure is 760 mm. of mercury. If file pressure is less than 760 mm., less energy will have to be applied in the form of heat to cause the molecules of water to break away in the form of vapor or steam, so the boiling point will be correspondingly less than 100 degrees. Conversely, if the pressure is greater than 760 mm. the boiling point will be greater than 100 degrees. This experiment I can perform time and time again, and so long as I know the pressure I can predict with certainty the boiling point of the water. The chemist performs wonders almost routinely by intelligently using this relationship. By distilling at greatly reduced pressures he can obtain fruit essences, dehydrated potatoes, dried milk, etc. Our gasoline and oil industry wild hardly exist without making use of this simple, fundamental relationship. In fact, much of our research and many of our Industrial processes are, in one respect or e another, dependent upon this relationship. Ibis relationship is permanent and can hardly be an accident of pure chance. Nor is the periodic chnrt of the elements a matter of chance. It is a beautifully designed scheme of law and order in that would be masked. I ruled out the first possibility on the ground that Christ was too good a teacher to make reference to a chemical reaction or process that tlie masses would not understand. The answer, then, must lie in the impurities. All the while I was thinking of the nice clean table salt that we take so much for granted. A little research the universe. As the name suggests, the chart is an assembly of all the elements in a uniquely orderly fashion, with a periodic recurrence of similar properties (qualities, or characteristics). In the periodic chart all the elements are grouped according to their atomic numbers. The atomic number is the number of protons In the nucleus of the atom. Thus, hydrogen, the simplest element, has one proton in its nucleus; helium, two; Lithium, three; and so on. Arranged in order of increasing atomic weights the properties of the elements in anygiven horizontal row differ from their neighbors by one proton and one electron. In the vertical rows of this grouping all the elements have the same number of electrons in their outer shells. It is because of this similarity in electronic configuration that the elements in a vertical row have similar properties. Thus lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, and francium each have one electron in its outermost shell, and for this reason make up a family of elements with similar properties. Six of the elements, helium, neon, argon, krypton, zenon, and radon, all have their outermost shells filled in a stable configuration and for this reason show practically no tendency to combine with other elements. These six are all inert gases. In a similar manner all the other elements are grouped in families with similar properties, with similar electronic configurations. This beautiful arrangement is hardly a matter of chance. Suppose that I were able to heat in a giant furnace an Infinate number of proatomic tons, neutrons, electrons, and glue" (which holds the atoms together). What would be the odds of my getting or so different elements, each of which had its own characteristic properties and would fit into an orderly arrangement such as we have in the periodic chart? I might as well ask, what would be the odds of my baking a mixture of flour, water, sugar, apples, cherries and peach100 es together and obtaining separate and individual apple, cherry, and peach pies? If I were to walk into the forest and suddenly find a clearing with a cozy cottage surrounded by flowers and beautiful shrubbery, I would conclude that somebody built this cottage and planted the flowers and shrubbery. It would seem ridiculous to me to say that they just happened. And so it is with the elements, and the periodic chart, and all the laws of Nature. Simple logic requires that somebody planned them, and made and established them. To me this planner and maker is God. Moreover, I have long ago identified this God with the God of the Bible. At first certain difficulties presented themselves in tlie matter of the Bible's scientific accuracy, but they were cleared away. For example, I used to ponder a statement Ye are that Jesus made in Matthew 5:13 the salt of the earth. But if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. The parallel verse In Luke 14:34,35, seemed just as confusing: Salt is good, but if the salt have lost is savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for tlie land, nor yet for the dung-liil-l, but men cast ; out. As a chemist I reasoned that salt is a very stable chemical body, sodium chloride. Salt just doesn't go bad on standing 1 - c n WFE' ENDING world. i t FEBRUARY 3, i 1968 . : CHURCH-- 13 |