Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-02-26
!. The Mormon Temple.

The St. Louis Republican gives the
following particulars regarding t. new
Mormon Temple now almost finished:
The Temple block is forty rods square
and contains ten acres. The centre ct, the
temple is one hundred and fifty. six feet
and half West of the East line of the
block. The entire length of the building
is one hundred and eighty six feet and q
half, including towers, and the width
ninety-niue feet. On the East OF front
end there are three towers, and CORES
ponding to these are three towers on the
West or rear end The North and South
walls are eight feet thick, clear of pedes.
tai. They stand upon foot wall six feet
wide at the bottom, with slopes three feet
on each side to the height Of seven and a
half feet The footings of the towers
rise to the same height as those of the
sides, and consist of solid piece of ma
sonry of rough ashlars laid in good NOR
tar. The basement Of the main building
is divided into many apartments by walls
all resting on broad tootings. The line
of the basement and hool is six inches
above the top Of the footings. OF the
towers named there arc toar. one at each
corner of the building, cylindrical in
shape, seventeen feet in diameter inside,
within which stairs ascend five feet wide,
with landings at the various sections of
the building. The whole house covers an
area of 2l,s50 square feet. Freeman o.
Angel, is the architect. The massive
blocks of stone on which the foundations
of the temple are built are granite, hauled,
we believe, a distance of nearly twenty
miles, the teams and the labor being fur.
nished by the Saints. 1t was at one time
the purpose of Brigham Young to turn q
neighboring river over to the quarry, and
thence build canal on which to transport
the stone. Quite as interesting as the
Temple is the Mormon Tabernacle. which
is built for the use of the immense Nor
mon congregations which meet every
Sunday to hear preaching from the Proph.
ct Brigham Young and his associated
apostles.
1t is in many respects the most re-
markable building on the continent of
America. 1t stands on the temple block !;
west of the Temple. We may state that
it is oval in shape, the interior being,
above and below, and all around, shaped
like the inside of an egg. 1t is two hun.
dred and and eighty.two feet long by one
hundred and thirty ;wo wide in the clear.
The height from floor to ceiling is sixty
FIVE feet; running lengthwise of this egg.
shaped affair are forty -four pillars, avera-
ging fourteen feet in height, three feet
thick and nine feet deep. Resting upon
these pillars are arches of lattice work
and ribs, and each rib requires twenty.
four thousand feet Of lumber Each rib
has rise in the centre of fifty five feet.
The entire Tabernacle consumed one and
half million feet of lumber in the build
ing. 1t will seat ten thousand people,
The stand from which the apostles deliver
themselves is advanced about siyty.fve
feet from the west end, standing, say,
about in one Of the toci of the eliptica
structure. This stand is divided into Sec
tions for the Bishops, the President, the
Twelve Apostles and the First President
One remarkable structure inside of this
immense building is the grand organ,
standing upon base of twenty-three feet
wide by thirty deep. The front of this
organ is octagonal in form, rising to the
height of forty-fve feet 1t contains
twenty-five hundred pipes, two banks of
keys, and thirty-6ve stops on the register
1t contains three thousand five hundred
feet of lumber, which was brought ON
wagons from Iron county, distance of
three hundred miles. The longest piece
of lumber used in the pipes of the organ,
is thirty,fvc feet in length. The lumber
of which this organ is built has been three
years in seasoning. 1t requires four men
TO blow the bellows. The builder of it
is Joseph II. Ridges, and every portion
of it was made by Salt Lake workmen
and Mormms. 1t is, undoubtedly, one
of the largest organs in America, sur.
passed, perhaps, by that in Boston only.
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