Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 213, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 September 1916 — City of the Saints [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

City of the Saints

USUALLY it’s the young school ma’am who pre-empts the seat next the driver of the sightseeing auto, who asks the question: “Is polygamy really extinct among these Mormons?" The others behind strain their ears, for they’ve been dying to make the same query. You see, in Salt Lake City you never can tell. Our own guide about the city, for example, was an Intelligent young Mormon who was born under the system, writes Felix J. Koch in the Utica Globe. In reply they tell you volubly and vaguely that the United States courts have declared polygamy to be illegal, and the Mormon church itself some short time after promulgated an edict forbidding Its practice. Visitors to Salt Lake City naturally seek first of all the ‘‘holy of holies” of Mormonism, the Temple block. This, if nothing else, makes one admit that a people, born of polygamy, who can accomplish such wonders as just this structure here, are undoubtedly the peers of many monogamous races. Out on,what was the desert at the time of the Mormons’ coming, in a desert which tires the traveler even as he glides across it now by railway, there is a city that is as beautiful as any in the land. And its most beautiful thing is this Temple block. You enter by one of the large gates built of wooden gratings and come upon a small brick structure housing the bureau of information and headquarters for guides. The steps lead up between two lions into the little struc-

tn re reserved to this end; beds of palm . and cacti are "banked at either side, and ahead broad cement walks seem to Invite you to obtain your cicerone and explore. With a “sister of the church” as guide, you start. Out in the court she halts to tell the story of the sea gulls, to whose memory the new statue Is in course of erection, then continues on to the great granite churchlike building that serves as assembly hall. Within the church body is divided by two long aisles, simple walls of white plastering, reaching up to the roof. The interior Is not as large as the Tabernacle, and so suits certain purposes better. The Mammoth Organ. The assembly hall has a notable new mammoth organ, concerts on which also draw crowds. Just before it the arrangement is typical of Mormon assembly houses. High above, the celling is 1 attractive, too, being divided into sections by curving ridges of a heavy wood. Throughout the assembly hall will bear comparison with church structures in any part of the world.. Crossing the court once more, you learn more of the Mormons. No stated time for worship is set by them. Prayer may be-'held at any time. The entrance to this huge Tabernacle is the more unique because so insignificant. Just a small rear door, reached by a wed step. Thence on, up similar stairs, you pass, to the heart of the great Tabernacle. You emerge bn a platform that allows you to survey the vast spaces. Just before you Is the area for the choir, behind you other series of chairs tier up to the big organ. The instrument is of heavy wood; the great pipes gilded and over them all hangs the legend, “Welcome to Utah.” Before the pulpit, close at hand, a large leather bench has posi-

tlon. Then comes an array of chairs, covered over when not in service. On beyond you face the monster arena of pews, yellow, long, smooth benches these, in four endless series, stretching back from the rail; their evenness broke only by a curious series of yellow posts, richly veined, that extend back in severe rows to support the balcony. • ; Well over that balcony slopes the curious arched roof, one of the greatest arches of its sort in existence. Down from it depend great chandeliers to illumine the chamber. At the heart of the roofing two skylights, square cut, accentuate to the eye the height of this ceiling, as well as reveal its thickness. Temple All of Wood. Meanwhile your guide tells how all the structure was put up of wood, and this at a time when the builders were 1,000 miles from a railway. A people that could erect such a thing as this, whether born in polygamy or not, is not to be despised. Nor has It failed to keep pace with the times. The organ, for example, is run by electricity, and a people who will Invest in an organ of 5,500 pipes, ranging from half an inch to 35 feet in size, cannot be lacking in culture. Far down at the front of the organ the three seats await the presiding officers. Sometimes 22 presiding officers are marshaled here. The system maintained in the church government, especially considering the numbers governed, is marvelous. Not even the splendidly organized Roman Catholic church has ever attempted to exact a

tithe in kind from all communicants. But the Mormon church receives a tenth of all the annual profits of its membership; it sells the wares, when paid in kind; it attends te its churches and it sends out missionaries the world over, and yet never has one heard a breath of scandal over distribution of the stupendous funds come to its trustees’ hands.

Your guide explains the division of the Church of Mormon here, while you fix the picture in your memory. You note the strange spottings caused by age upon the ceiling above; you note the strange chandeliers more closely. By and by you, take the steps to the balcony, occupying one of the innumerable seats that range back from the rail. You look straight across to the organ front, to realize distances here, then recall how the gallery is built back some two feet and a half from the wall in order to better the acoustics. Off in the distance, 200 feet or more from where you sit, a janitor, busy cleaning, drops a pin on the rail and you hear it quite distinctly. He rubs his hands and you catch the sound as though you stood close by. All this, remember, is not result of chance, but careful planning by e the Mormons. ’ In Utah today, church and state are distinct and separate and all offices of government are open to Mormon and non-Mormon. As result, the state levies its tax on the Mormon, and this he has to meet, along with his church tax. Despite this double taxation Utah folk bear up well and flourish. Sult Lake City has shops, homes, streets the equal of any in the land. In tact there Is a certain cleanliness, froshnese and charm to it that delight and th:> cause the traveler to thrrv, again anagain in the “City oi the Saints," as is exiled.

CITY AND COUNTY BUILDING

THE TEMPLE