ORNITHOLOGY 



107 



is said to have saved Rome, when the 

 cackling of geese roused the slumber- 

 ing city in time to beat back the invad- 

 ing Gauls. In the midst of the work of 

 ruin, when it seemed as if nothing- 

 could stay the destruction, great flocks 

 of gulls appeared, filling the air with 

 their white wings and plaintive cries. 

 They settled down upon the half-ruined 

 fields. At first it looked as if they came 



punishable by law. Rome had her 

 sacred geese; Utah would have her 

 sacred gulls, forever to be held in hon- 

 or as the Heaven-sent messengers that 

 saved the Pioneers. — Orson F. Whit- 

 ney. 



The Sea Gull Monument. 



To commemorate the above historic 

 incident, a sea gull monument has re- 

 cently been completed and un- 

 veiled upon Temple Block. 



For several years the erec- 

 tion of such a monument had 

 been contemplated, and a few 

 years ago.Mahonri M.Young, 

 a grandson of the great pio- 

 neer leader, Brigham Young, 

 submitted a design which was 

 accepted by the First Presi- 

 dency and he was authorized 

 to proceed with the work. 



The granite base, weighing 

 twenty tons, rests upon a con- 

 crete foundation. From the 

 base rises a round column of 

 granite fifteen feet high, sur- 

 mounted by a granite globe. 



Two sea gulls of bronze rest 

 upon the granite ball. The 

 birds weigh about five hun- 

 dred pounds and the stretch 

 of the wings, from tip to tip, 

 is eight feet. 



THE MONUMENT TO SEA GULLS. 



but to help the crickets destroy. But 

 their real purpose was soon apparent. 

 They came to prey upon the destroy- 

 ers. All day long they gorged them- 

 selves, disgorged, and feasted again, 

 the white gulls upon the black crickets, 

 like hosts of heaven and hell contend- 

 ing, until the pests were vanquished 

 and the people saved. The birds then 

 returned to the Lake islands, leaving 

 the grateful settlers to shed tears of 

 joy over their timely deliverance. 



A season of scarcity followed, but no 

 fatal famine ; and before the worst 

 came, the glad people celebrated, with 

 a public feast, their first harvest home. 



The gull is still to be seen in the 

 vicinity of the Great Salt Lake. The 

 wanton killing of these birds was made 



The unveiling ceremony 

 took place on Wednesday, 

 October 1st, 1913. 



The tablets are thus described by 

 B. H. Roberts: 



"The graceful Doric column of the 

 monument surmounting the base, is 

 fifteen feet high and is topped by a 

 granite sphere, on which two gulls are 

 seen in the act of lighting upon it — a 

 most graceful thing in itself — and Mr. 

 Young, the sculptor, has caught the 

 action of it true to life. 



"On three sides of the high base, in 

 relief sculpture, the Sea Gull story is 

 told : The tablature on the east tells of 

 the arrival and earlv movements of the 

 Pioneers. In the left foreground of the 

 rugged Wasatch mountains there is 

 the man afield with ox team, plowing 

 the stubborn soil, aided by the boy 

 driver, followed bv the sower. In the 



