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 the 

 world. The total number of pipes is between 7,000 and 8,000. 



Temple Square is a delightful park in the heart of the city, and 

 with its flowers, trees, and greensAvard 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 

 PI. XCIV, -4) , 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 



