SALT LAKE CITY 



5177 



SALT LAKE CITY 



which they often travel great distances to find. 



Historical. When cereal and vegetable foods 

 began to be used, salt became a necessity, and 

 >mcc it was difficult to obtain, it naturally ac- 

 quired a religious significance. A salt spring 

 was regarded by inland peoples as a special gift 

 from the gods, and ancient Roman historians 

 tell us that the German tribes fought for the 

 possession of salt streams, believing that their 

 presence gave the region a peculiar sanctity. 

 Salt was used by the ancient Hebrews and 

 other Semitic peoples and by the Greeks and 

 Romans in their offerings, probably as a symbol 

 of purity. The "covenant of salt" mentioned 

 in the Old Testament was one which could not 

 be broken, as salt symbolized perpetuity. 

 Christ spoke of His disciples as "the salt of 

 the earth" with reference to their spiritual in- 

 fluence on the world. 



Among the Orientals of the present day, as 

 in the past, salt used at a meal is representa- 

 of friendship and hospitality; hence the 

 Arab phrases, "there is salt between us," signi- 

 fying friendship; "to eat of a man's salt," or 

 to partake of his hospitality; "to sit above the 

 salt," or in the place of distinction. In Persia 

 a man who is said to be "untrue to salt" is 

 accused of disloyalty. 



As the chief religious and economic neces- 

 sities of the ancient world, salt and incense 

 were of great importance in developing the 

 earliest highways of commerce. The salt of 

 Palmyra and Tadmore built up the vast trade 

 between the Syrian ports and the Persian Gulf ; 

 the great salt mines of Northern India were the 

 center of a wide trade before the time of 

 Alexander the Great; a caravan route united 

 the salt oases of the Libyan desert, and to the 

 present day the traffic in salt forms a large 

 part of the caravan trade of the Sahara. There 

 was also an ancient salt trade between Aegean 

 ports and the coasts of Southern Russia, and 

 one of Italy's oldest roads, the Via Solaria, is 

 the route by which the salt of Ostia was car- 

 ii' '1 up into the Sabine country. Cakes of salt 

 were anciently used as money in parts of 

 Abyssinia and Tibet, and salt taxes existed even 

 in ancient and medieval times. C.H.H. 



Consult Rles's Economic Geology; also annual 

 bulletins of the United States Geological Survey. 



SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, the capital and 

 '!, largest city of the state, the county seat of 

 Salt Lake County, and the principal city be- 

 tween Denver, 741 miles southeast, and San 

 icisco, 920 miles southwest. The popula- 

 tion, winch was 02.777 in 1910, had increased to 



117,399 (Federal estimate) in 1916. Nearly 

 half of the present population is of the Mor- 

 mon faith, and the city is known world-wide as 

 the headquarters of that religious sect. The 

 city is served by the Denver & Rio Grande, 

 the Oregon Short Line, the San Pedro, Los 

 Angeles & Salt Lake, the Western Pacific and 

 the Salt Lake & Los Angeles railroads, and by 

 several electric interurban lines. It occupies an 

 area of forty-eight square miles. 



Salt Lake is situated west of the north- 

 central part of the state in a beautiful valley 

 at the western base of the Wasatch Mountains, 

 and is twelve miles southeast of Great Salt 

 Lake. The altitude is 4,300 feet above sea 

 level. Although pioneers found this valley 

 almost barren, by irrigation they made it one 

 of the most productive agricultural sections 

 of the West. Trees, among them many Lom- 

 bardy poplars, were set out by the first settlers, 

 and the rich vegetation now seen adds much to 

 the city's attractiveness. The streets are unusu- 

 ally wide (132 feet) and are regularly laid out. 



Saltair Beach, about eighteen miles from the 

 city, is a famous bathing resort on Great Salt 

 Lake. Three miles east is Fort Douglas, a 

 United States military reservation. Bingham, 

 "where copper is king," is twenty-five miles 

 southwest, and is reached by means of a scenic 

 line of railway. Here is a mountain of copper 

 ore, 1,600 feet high, from which 24,000 tons of 

 ore are hauled each day. 



Special Features, Near the center of the city 

 is Temple Square, a ten-acre tract which con- 

 tains the famous Mormon Temple, Tabernacle 

 and Assembly Hall. The Temple is a massive 

 granite structure, and in it the sacred rites 

 and ceremonies of the Church are performed. 

 None are admitted within the building but 

 members of the Church. Its construction ex- 

 tended over a period of forty years, from 1853 

 to 1893, and it cost $4,000,000. The floor plan 

 is rectangular, 186 feet long and 99 feet u 

 and the structure is 107 feet high. At both 

 ends are towers, two of them rising 157 

 each. The tabernacle is an elliptical, one- 

 story building, whose unusual features are its 

 great arched roof, unsupported except by the 

 walls, and a famous pipe organ. 



Among other buildings associated with the 

 life of the Church are the Lion House, the 

 residence of the wives of Brigham Young; 

 Amelia House, the home of the prophet's favor- 

 ite wife; the new administration building, which 

 is a memorial to Brigham Young; and the 

 building occupied by Zion's Cooperative Mer- 



