A GREAT STORM IN UTAH 



torrent of wind thick with sand and dust, 

 advancing with a most majestic front, rolling 

 and overcombing like a gigantic sea-wave. 

 Scarcely was it in plain sight ere it was upon 

 us, racing across the Jordan, over the city, and 

 up the slopes of the Wahsatch, eclipsing all 

 the landscapes in its course — the bending 

 trees, the dust streamers, and the wild onrush 

 of everything movable giving it an appreciable 

 visibility that rendered it grand and inspiring. 



This gale portion of the storm lasted over 

 an hour, then down came the blessed rain and 

 the snow all through the night and the next 

 day, the snow and rain alternating and blending 

 in the valley. It is long since I have seen snow 

 coming into a city. The crystal flakes falUng 

 in the foul streets was a pitiful sight. 



Notwithstanding the vaunted refining influ- 

 ences of towns, purity of all kinds — pure 

 hearts, pm-e streams, pure snow — must here 

 be exposed to terrible trials. City Creek, com- 

 ing from its high glacial fountains, enters the 

 streets of this Mormon Zion pure as an angel, 

 but how does it leave it? Even roses and UUes 

 in gardens most loved are tainted with a thou- 

 sand impurities as soon as they unfold. I heard 

 Brigham Young in the Tabernacle the other 

 day warning his people that if they did not 

 mend their manners angels would not come 

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