Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-05-03
A PICTURE OF MORMON LIFE.
Extraordinary Revelations.

V.oi "uo escdpeu from Salt Lake with hts
family, Is now in Kansas. He is a native of
Switzerland, of great intelligence and liberal
education, an accomplished liDguist, and pos
sesslng rare conversational powers He is ia
mlllar with every part Of Europe, was dstin-
gulshed In his own land for scientific entertain
ments, and was formerly a prominent offci
In his native town of Lausanne He became
victim to MOrmOnism, and attested his sin
cerlty by forsaking his position at home,-snd
Jeurneying with his family to Salt Lake in
1891, in the confident expectation to find the re
the Zion Of God, towards which his religious
zeal had turned with the boliest aspirations.
The Leavenworth correspondent Of the Times
writes as follows, of this man:
He reached the much lonyed for Valleys of
the Mountains" to find them the theatre of
lust and crime Of every description and the
most disgusting character, perpetrated in the
name Of religion. His eyes were speedily
opened From that hour his attention was
turned to plans of escape from the Valley
Forcseeing that this was impossible if his pur-
pose should be discovered be concealed his
true feelings, and appeared to join with heart
and soul IN the ceremonial mummeries which
he lOathed. lie escaped finally inApril last,
and With his family all sick, and without
farthing OF the ample means with which he
started for Salt Lake, he reached Ireaysnyortb.
He says, unhesitatingly, that the Mormons
will not attempt to resist the U. s. troops if
they 80 out in a body. instead Of scattering
along the road in small parties, rs did the
Government wagon trains, destroyed upon the
plains last season. Mr.. Loba met these ON his
way In, and cautioned their conductors against
their csreleSsnes assuring them of their dan
ger, and urging them to concentrate and move
forward in body. They could see no enemy,
failed to follow the friendly advice, and were
cut off and robbed
Mr.. Loba bases his opinion that the Nor
mons will make no attempt at organized re-
sistance upon his personal knowledge OF the
fact that they have no means of resistance
They have very little ammunition, no gun
powder factory, no material from which to
make the powder, none of the appliances es-
sentlai to that purpose, nor any single man
who knows how to make an ounce of explosive
material, even if his life depended upon it.
Nor have they any artillery, with the excep-
non OF a single piece OF cannon, q two FOUNDER
one of pair given them long since by the
United States the other one having burst
while Mr. Loba was in the Valley NV in
formant is man Of considerable military ca
paeity, having been an officer in the French
service IN the time of Charles X This fact be-
coming known, on his arrival at Salt Lake he
was Tor long time besOught to accept a mill
taTy title and position, which gave him ample
opportunity OF aseertaining the military re-
sources OF the country and capacity of its peo-
pie. He asserts that they have no military
knowledge, even if they had arms
They had no iron from which to east cannon.
and if they had the material, they have no
foundry, nor any machinery for boring them,
nor any mechanic competent to do the work
1rRf, there Is an abundance of iron ore 800
mNe or more south Of Salt Lake City, but it is
highly magnetic, and had been expended i'm
experimenting, all efforts to melt it down and
render 1t fit for use had failed Neither are
the MOrmODs any better off in the matter of
manufacturing small arms. They have some
few gun-tnkers among them; but, as an evil
dence OF their utter Incompetence he men,
tiOns the fact that no one of them was able IN
make screw for him, to replace one which he
had lost from a revolver of peculiar construc-
ton
Mr. Loba estimates the total populaton of
the Valley at 32 900. Of these counting every
male from ID to 90 years of age, he estimates
that there are not exceed to I 800 capable of
bearing arms-whlle not more than 3, 500 of
the whole number, in his opinion, would make
even passabie soldiers, under drilling by skill
tui men, Not one In ten of the entire male
population have firearms of any description
and large proportion Of those are out of re-
pair aud worthless. lie has no confidence in
the statement that the MormOns have fortified
kcho canon, exceIs digging bitches, and bois-
ing rocks to be rolled down from tho over
hanging cliffs. Their boast of mines under tho
road, and all that sort Of thing, he scouts as
nonsense. In short, he considers the Mormons
destitute OF any effective power of resistance to
even the small force already under command
OF Gen. Johnston, and maintains that Brigham
Young entire reliance has been bnsed upon
his hope Of being able to deter the United
States, from attempting to deal with him, by
lying boasts of his ability to wage successful
resistance.
He believes that when Brigham finds his
braggadOcio has failed, and that the United
States authorities are determined to pursue
MN; ne VIII nave special revelation from
l.nAfE HWafr
PIlllstlnes. In obedience to these directions
lie will 90 OF with these 2 800 Danites or De
stroyIng Angels, and, when the troops arrive
81 salt Lake, will be found missing. they will
probably go nOrthWard to Vancouver's Island
or possibly to the Russian possessions, which
they can do easier than 90 southwark TO Sono-
"a, as they are without means of su.tenance
while crossing the desert lying in that direc
ton there Is 10 probability that the Saints"
VIII retire IN body thence, to sally in preda-
tory bands upon the GENTLE troops or civil Oc-
cupants Of the valley. The Danites-weII fitted
by experience and wicked instincts for the life
Oi bandItti-mi yht take to the mountains. but
the masses conid not follow them there he.
cause 1T would be simply a journey to starya-
tiOn and death. And for this very reason no
considerable body even of the Danites will seek
the mountain life, because they could no LONGER
live on the sweat and blood of the toiiiny
masses, whose tithes and other offerings have
their ministers of despotism known as destroy
ing Angels, the support and means Of graft
lying their debasing tastes and passions
Perhaps no single incident in connection
with Mormon history presents more of horror,
than the history Of hand cart trains. asked
Mr.. LOba TO give me an unvarnished statemen Mt
OF the facts 1t appears that Young sent Sam
uel ID and Franklin Richsrdt-twO of his most
unscruPulous ninions-to Liverpool, to super
Intend the emigration thence to Salt Lake, of
the numerous proselytes made in Europe
These men collected large sum of money
IRON the faithful, IN sums OF f55 each, which
was to purchase wagons and other outfit for tb.
passage from New York to Utah-each SUN of
tJj providing for family-Or if the man had
none, for himself and associates A rariy of
about =, 800 souls collected under this arrange
Inent, set sail with their faces toward Zion. -
On their arrival on the frontier they were in
formed that Brother Brigham had received a
revelation from God, directing that in order to
try their faith and thus test who were worti v
the hOnOrs of the fai bful thew shnuI Id iourpa >