FOREST AND STREAM 
335 
refreshing drink, not so good probably as 
old Budweiser, but thoroughly satisfactory. 
The Mormon church encouraged the manu¬ 
facture of this beer, as a wholesome and useful 
beverage, and there probably never was a more 
truly temperate community than the Mormons 
at the period of which I write. My first busi¬ 
ness after the rites of good fellowship had been 
celebrated, at the shrine of the Utah Gabrinus, 
was to find a hat store, and exchange the dilap¬ 
idated headgear, which had been so welcome the 
night before, for a new wide brimmed soft felt, 
there being nothing to fear from cold weather 
for the remainder of my journey. 
A bath and a shave at the Hotel “Tonsorial 
Parlors and Baths,” a change of clothing, and 
polished boots made me feel in harmony with 
my surroundings, and when our stage coach 
party met at supper we hardly knew each other. 
How we enjoyed that meal, and how ready we 
were when it was over, to go to bed, determined 
to have at least ten hours of sleep. 
The next morning after breakfast, without 
waiting for any of my traveling companions who 
perhaps would not care for many of the things 
which interested me, I set out to see the city. 
I had so often heard old plainsmen and miners 
who had been to Salt Lake, speak of the beauty 
of the place, that I was anxious to view it 
thoroughly. The season of the year was not 
that in which it would show to the best advan¬ 
tage, as the trees and shrubbery which gave the 
place its principal charm, were not yet in leaf, 
and the grass was just assuming its spring 
livery of green, but there was enough to satisfy 
my not too critical frame of mind. 
Those who chose Utah for the Mormon set¬ 
tlement, and who planned Salt Lake City, were 
far-sighted men. Probably to that remarkable 
man, Brigham Young, belongs the chief credit. 
On the 24th of July, 1847, when at the head 
of his weary train as it emerged from the fast¬ 
nesses of the Wasatch Range, he saw below the 
miles of sage green velvety slopes, he perhaps 
pictured to himself the city which was to arise 
like magic from the wilderness. There was land 
in plenty, and everything was planned with gen¬ 
erous proportions. The streets, laid out to run 
exactly with the points of the compass, were 
made one hundred and thirty (130) feet wide. 
Each block was exactly one-eighth of a mile 
from corner to corner, so that the superficial 
area of a block was just ten acres. Originally 
each lot was one and one-quarter acres, but 
the size in the business portion of the city, 
both of lots and blocks was soon regulated by 
the demand for building space and needs of 
business. Water was brought to the city al¬ 
most as soon as it was laid out, by means of a 
large ditch from Temple Creek in Emigration 
Canyon, and thence distributed all over the set¬ 
tlement, in such manner as to make a pretty 
little brook of crystal water on each side of the 
streets, between the foot paths or sidewalks 
and the roadway. Even along the busiest streets 
these streams were still flowing uncovered, and 
it certainly was an attractive feature of the city. 
Tree planting was compulsory at the time of 
the settlement in order to complete title, and 
soft maples, cottonwoods and quaking aspens, 
had been planted everywhere. Their roots nour¬ 
ished by the wayside brooks, the trees had grown 
rapidly so that, although barely twenty years 
since they were set out, many of them were of 
large size. The very first houses were of logs 
hauled down from the mountain canyons with 
oxen, but as soon as possible the manufacture 
of adobe bricks was begun, and for several years 
this was the only building material used, the 
walls invariably resting on a foundation of 
rough stone. Outside of the small business por¬ 
tion of the city, there was usually a vegetable 
garden on every lot, besides fruit trees and 
shrubbery. The houses were many of them em¬ 
bowered in vines, and must have been very 
pretty in the season of leafage. 
On this particular Sunday there was some sort 
of a church gathering, and Zion was full of 
teams from the outlying districts, the owners 
either staying with friends, or camping out 
upon vacant lots. Some of these parties had 
come over one hundred miles, camping out each 
night. 
I had no difficulty in finding the Temple 
Square. The Tabernacle and the Endowment 
‘house had already been built, and the founda¬ 
tions of the great Temple rose from two to six 
feet above the surface of the ground showing 
its outward measurements to be 180 x 120 feet. 
These foundations were very massive; of solid 
hewn granite, and nine feet in thickness. 
The Tabernacle is a curious looking structure, 
an elliptical dome, shingled and resting on low 
walls; at any rate they look low, though ac¬ 
tually 20 feet high. The structure is said to seat 
13,000 people. There was a fine organ, and on 
each side a gallery for a very numerous choir, 
the women on one side, the men on the other. 
Directly in front of the organ were three long 
tables covered with scarlet cloth, each would 
have accommodated a dozen or more persons, 
and was placed a little lower than the one be¬ 
hind it. 
At the upper one sat Brigham Young and one 
of his Counselors; at the next lower tables were 
several of the Apostles, while the lowest of the 
three was occupied by a number of Bishops. All 
the men in good standing in the church are 
elders; so when you hear of a “Mormon elder” 
you need not think of an old fellow with a 
patriarchial beard, for he may be a slender youth 
just turned twenty-one. 
The service began with a hymn, followed by 
a prayer, during which all stood up. The prayer 
was by Brigham Young, and so far as the gen¬ 
eral substance went differed not at all from 
what might be heard at any Methodist meeting. 
There was no reference to polygamy or to the 
Book of Mormon. The prayer was followed 
by another hymn, and then an address by Apostle 
Orson Pratt. I regret to say that too much of 
the address was taken up with denunciation of 
woman’s extravagance in dress, which seemed to 
me quite uncalled for, if I might form an opin¬ 
ion from the appearance of those in the con¬ 
gregation. Perhaps, however, the sermon, as 
is too often the case, was addressed to those 
who never would hear it. In the afternoon 
there was a communion service in which all 
members of the Mormon Church partook of the 
water and bread, and which was passed around by 
a large number of persons to accommodate the 
thousands in attendance. Water is used because 
the Mormon Church thinks it of no importance 
what liquid is used, it being a symbol only. 
There is no opposition to the temperate use of 
all the good things of this world, sanctioned 
as this especially was, by Christ’s example and 
precept, but wine was not to be had at first, 
and no more importance was attached to its 
use than to any other drink. 
I did not attend at the Tabernacle in the 
afternoon, and therefore give these details of 
the Mormon communion service only as they 
were explained to me. 
(To be continued.) 
INWOOD REGATTA. 
The Inwood Canoe Club regatta is now to 
be held on September 20 instead of September 
26 as previously announced. B. W. HILL. 
Drawn for “Forest and Stream” By George G. Gross. 
