The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-04 00:00:00

921
864

MURDERERS

T SALT LAKE.

The following narrative is from the pen of John
Divies, a young Welshman, who emigrated to
Sal,t Lake, with his family, about two years ago.
from Mae•teg, South Wales. It is taken from a
private letter, dated Council Bluffs City, lowa,
June 29 :

" I guess you are anxious to know the reason
why I left Salt Lake. I shall try, in the first place,
to inform you what a man must do to be a Mor-
mon. He must give himself, his family, and all
his possessions, over to Brigham Young, and then
he'll have to give the tenth of all his income--the
tenth day's work—and he must keep from two to
ten wives. If he don't agree to these things he had
better quit ; but by doing so he is in danger of
losing his life every minute, for they would rather
kill him than let him bo the means of letting the
world know how things are in their midst. Many
have been shot down in trying to escape. I have
seen dozens shot down in the street ; and three
days before I left I saw three persons killed, merely
beciluse they intended to escape ; they were shot
down, in a place called Springfield, while Preparing
to leave. This took place about 8 o'clock -o0
he a Sun"
day morning, within fifty yards of the gates t,! t
city. The first was a young man called Willia..m
Parish ; he received seven balls in his body. The
second was his father, and the third was a man%
called Potter, whose body received as many as 15
balls. Tho old man was pierced in the back, and
his throat cut in three different places. I saw them
lying down, and I could name the persons who
killed them. Brigham Young has got men for this
purpose. Their number is 400. They are called
the ' destroying angels.' Their captain's name is
Win. Hickman, and the second in command is Por-
ter Rockwell. The walls around the city are 15 ft.
high, and they are surrounded by a deep and wide
moat. The city is entered by four gates, which are
watched in the night time. The gates are so narrow
that only one vehicle can pass through at once. The
' destroying angels' go out on the plains in tb
spring, to intercept those who may escape from the
city. Many lett on foot last January. They sleep
by day and travel by night. I know of men and
women who have travelled this way—the men
dressed as women, and the women as men. I came
across some who were very short of food ; the little
they had they gave to the women, and the men
were principally sustained by the women's milk !
I left Salt Lake City on the 17th April, in company
with two Welshmen and an African. The few Mor-
mons woo know of our intention said that we should
never reach the States alive, but I told them that I
w.,s determined to try whatever might occur. On
Saturday (the day after we left) we had travelled
thirty miles from the city, when we saw three men
following us. They were sent by the authorities of
the city to catch us. The name of one was Patrick
Linch, an Irishman by birth, and secretary to
Brigham Young. This man fired his revolver at
me, but the ball went by without hurting me, They
then came near us on their horses and inquired our
names, and when we refused to tell them they
swore that they would blow 'our damned brains
out.' With that one of them raised his revolver, as
if lie was going to use it—he had one on each side
of his saddle. I then took out my revolver and
told him to fire if he liked. I had six revolvers
with me, and a rifle, containing in all thirty-seven
balls. Another ball was then fired at me which

whistled by my left cheek. I then fired at him,
and one ball bit him on the leg and another on the
shoulder. (My friends by this time had run in the
woods, and I was left to fightit out myself.) I then
lost my footing, and one of the men ran at me with
a knife and cut my belt and took four of ray re-
volvers. I had the other two hid in my boots ; I
got hold of one of them and fired, and suc-
ceeded in keeping them off for some time till! had
a chance to run to the woods, where I got the
assistance of my friends. We continued to travel
that day and the following night, and succeeded.
in reaching a place called Fort Bridger, which
is 113 miles from the Valley. The number of
our pursuers had Increased to 20, and we had
to put to the woods again. We travelled till
night, and were so fortunate as to meet a host
of friendly Indians, who gave us buffalo meat to
eat. The next day we overtook a number of
ber waggons,2B. known ashired
Mrs. Ba,
one
wtraagin go,
driveni,nwnhuimch-
edto
was drawn by mules. We had some trouble
with Indians called tho Crow tribe. They were
well armed, and about 1,000 strong. About 610
shots came into our tent. We killed about 30
Indians, and they killed five of our men."—Leeds
Mercury.

Country Markets,

.L 1 V h.U.t'UOL-:vu Y. 3.

The transactions at our corn exchange this morning were
at rather lower rates for wheat, but importers resisted.
In some instances an advance of about 2d per bushel wil
made on American red wheat from the low sales of last
week. Quotations, however, can scarcely be altered for
wheat and flour. Indian corn was the weakest article, and
declined 6d to is on the week. In oats, barley, beans, and
peas no change was made in price.