242 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
were poor and before the advent of the railroad, and so perforce it 
~was built with home-made materials and by the members of the 
Church. The roof is the wonderful part of the tabernacle—it was 
built entirely of wood and is without a single supporting column. 
The wooden trusses are held together by wooden pins and in places 
are bound by rawhide. The building is elliptical in shape, 250 
feet long, 150 feet wide, and 80 feet high. The acoustic property 
of the tabernacle is perhaps its most wonderful feature. The drop- 
ping of a pin may be heard distinctly the entire length of the build- 
ing—more than 200 feet. In the belief of the Mormons the archi- 
tect of these buildings was God, and all their wonderful features are 
directly due to His beneficent direction. 
Many persons are attracted to the tabernacle each week day at 
noon to hear the organ recitals, which are given free for the 
entertainment of visitors in the city. The organ, like almost all 
other parts of the tabernacle, was built before the days of railroad 
transportation, and so most of its parts were manufactured on the 
spot. Recently it has been rebuilt, without, however, changing the 
architectural effect, and now it is said to be the largest organ in ~sii 
world. The total rifimber of pipes is between 7,000 and 8,000. 
Temple Square is a delightful park in the heart of the city, che 
with its flowers, trees, and greensward it forms a beautiful setting 
for the massive buildings: One of the most attractive and interesting 
monuments recently added to this park is that of the Sea Gulls (see 
Pl. XCIV, A), which was designed by Mahonri M. Young, a grandson 
of the great pioneer leader. This monument commemorates an in- 
cident in the experience of the early pioneers which shows their 
implicit faith in the protecting power of God. The gulls which in- 
habit the shores and islands of Great Salt Lake are held in high 
regard, if not reverence, by the Mormon people, for the reason that 
they saved the pioneers from starvation in the early days. As the 
story is extremely interesting it is given in full, as narrated by those 
who are supposed to know. 
The pioneers reached the valley in the summer of 1847 with few 
personal possessions besides those which they carried on their backs. 
They at once made preparations to plant, so that the colony might 
have food for the coming year, but as they arrived in midsummer 
little could be grown that year. The next spring 5,000 acres of wheat 
were planted, and the prospects seemed good for an abundant crop. 
During the last week in May, however, the black crickets began to 
attack the growing wheat, as well as everything else that was green. 
At first the crickets were confined to certain fields, but soon they 
spread, and in a few days they had swept much of the valley. 
As soon as the extent of the impending calamity was realized the 
people began to fight the common pest at every point, They drove 
