SALT LAKE CITY—The news about France certainly has been disturbing. It probably would have been well if France had faced the facts of her Algerian situation some time ago and had tried to negotiate autonomy for Algeria and freedom of local government, with the tie to France of the three North African Arab states in their diplomatic dealings and in economic areas.

After the luncheon at the University of Colorado at Boulder, there was a workshop and then I got a little time to write my column and rest before dinner at President Newton's home. All my family and a number of friends of theirs were invited. It was a gay and pleasant party and I was grateful to President and Mrs. Newton for their warm hospitality.

We reached the auditorium at 8 p.m. and there found a big audience—so big that my son Elliott told me that he and his group were not allowed on the floor downstairs and had to climb to the peanut gallery, where hearing was difficult.

I drove back to Denver with my niece Amy and her husband and their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Tris Conger, and I was very glad to see a familiar hotel room in which I was spending a second night. There was mail to be done, but after a little while I read the evening paper and turned out the light.

Five members of my family had breakfast with me, and Elliott took me to the plane. He said that around their White River Valley one can find places where three feet of snow still cover the ground, and in many places in the mountains the drifts are still 30 feet deep. The buds have only just begun to come, and he is expecting floods when all this snow really melts.

I was sad not to see my daughter-in-law, Minnewa, but she was driving up to the ranch from Scottsdale with her maid and three small dogs.

The mountains around Denver have snow on them, and as we flew on to Salt Lake City we looked down on vast snow-covered mountain areas. The flight is very beautiful and I enjoyed it.

We were met in Salt Lake City by a number of friends and acqaintances. The Democratic women presented me with a lovely orchid and the manager of the hotel gave me the most original corsage I have seen, which matched my rose-colored blouse. Then there was a press conference and a luncheon.

In conversation with Dr. Ray Olpin, the president of the University of Utah, I learned a very interesting fact. Probably because of the missionary work carried on throughout the world by the church here, a survey of the university student body showed that the students could speak, read and write 44 different languages. I wonder what the record of some of our other universities would be.

They have carried on here a field service program of high school students from many countries, and some of them gave reports at the luncheon. One of them, a girl, impressed me greatly because she said the most important thing she had learned was that you could share with people in a new country and that sharing was the important thing if you wish to become friendly with other people. One boy spoke of his work on the model United Nations and one told of his changed opinion of the United States.

I could not help thinking how valuable this type of education is both for us in America and for the foreign students.