The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-09-01
Correspondence of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Life Among the MormOns.
CoRINNE, Utah, July ~, lS

town in Utah, and as such being sort OF city
Of refuge for dissafected Mornons, has not no,
faiIed as may we'll be supposed, to provoke the
enmity of the hierarchy at Salt Lake. Noe LII
all the Territory is there another town or com
mnnitv that has dared to come out and boldly
denounce the rule of the Church, or give shell
fer and encouragement to those seeking TO es-
cape from its clutches. Everywhere else the
adherents of the Church are so largely In the
ascendant that it would not be safe tor any one
to assail or even express opinions strongiy ao-
verse to their policy and practices. In huiiel-
ons cases. parties who have presumed to 90 SO
have been roughly handled, and some, as IS
well known, have been put to death for daring
to interfere with their peculiar lnstitutlonS.
For anv of their own people to make their eS-
cane unless done in cladestine manner, Is al.
most impossible; the priesthood, if apprlsed OF
their intention, always finding some means OF
6efeatino f. Sometimes the recusantl ls arrested
for debt or for tithes due the Church, while
aoain some other charge is trumped up as
pretext for imprisonment. Since the compile
ton of the railroad, however, many manage 10
get away, this greatly facilitating their means
of escape.
THE FUGITIvEs FROM SALT LAKE, AND HOW
THEY GET AWAY.
In this place one frequently meets Win per
sons who have extricated themselves from their
former thraldom, the most OF them pelng "o-
men who had been forced into state OF COLI
cubinage, or young girls who had run away
from their parents, IN order TO escape si,u.ial
fate. But a few days ago two of this latter
class arrived here from Salt Lake, in company
with some teamsters from Montana, to which
section of country they proposed to proceed IN
hopes that that they would there be free from
outraoe. and be able to earn decent living.
These poor creatures are nothing but children,
not more than 16 or II years OF age, ana YET
the treatment they had met with at the nanos
of their own parents and certain dlgnltarles OF
the church, or had reason to apprehend was IN
store for them, had compelled them to abandon
their relatives and homes, and, young ana IN
experienced as they are, without frlends c, or
means, to push about into the great worid WIN
comparative strangers. 1t must be admired
bowevar fhat The men who have thus facilita-
ted the escape of these young girls nave geher,
ally treated them kindly and respectfully
seeking to mislead or otherwise take advantage
of Their HELPLESS situation. Prior to the COM
pletion of the railroad, Montana derived a
LARGE proportion of her supplies from the City
of Salt Lake, making that place great resort
for teamsters. As consequence, these men,
who were sort of free and easy set, not par
ticularly prejudiced against the peculiar ways
and notions of the Saints, were well received
by the latter more especially by the younger
people, with many of whom they became well
acquainted Remembering the happy times
they spent among the faithful, these teamsters'
who now make Corrinne their heaoquarteis, :,
are very apt, if detained here few days lor
freight. to lump on the cars, and, running down
to the other end of the lake, pass the interval
at their old stamping ground in Zion. Being
for the most part manly set of fellows, and
ALWAYS having some money, which they are not
Mt all niggardly about spending, they become
,yreat favorites with the Mormon girls, many OF
yhom thew have known from their childhood.
These girls, as they grow up, knowing that
rhey will be forced if they remain in Mormon
dom to lead polygamous life, early begin to
plan some method for escape and hence these
Montana bows, in whose honor they have the
utmost confidence, are often importuned to act
as their temporary protectors until they can
get beyond the reach of the Church That
these teamsters should occasionally yield TO
these solicitations is not at all strange; and
thus it is one so often encounters theSe Iugi-
tiyes in Corinne or at other points on the route
TO Montana.
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG THE NOR
MONS.
Having found an opportunity to interview"
these children, give you the substance OF the
story they told concerning their early life and
later experience in their Mormon homes; !; sup
pressing, of course, their names, as we'll as GER
tain facts too gross for the public eye, and al
most too monstrous for human belief.
In both cases their parents are polygamlsts,
the father of one having three, and the other
four wives By each of these wives they have
had from four to six children; making grand
total of sixteen children born in one case, and
thirteen in the other, some OF whom are dead.
The fathers being poor, both the mothers
and their progeny in each establishment, were
huddled together in q single house OF but one
story, and Of moderate dimensions; the hus-
band and two of his wives occupying the same
apartment; and sometimes the same bed. The
boys and girls slept together indiscriminately,
ing considerable size, would insist upon sleep
ing alone The beds consisted, in most cases,
merely of ticks filled with straw and thrown
upon the floor In no case did they ever get
any but the coarsest kind of food, and fire.
auentlv not enough of that, though forced to
work constantly and always very hard; the
girls being obliged to labor out Of doors, hoeing
potatoes. chopping wood, and doing other work
generally elsewhere assigned to men. Their
Clothing was of the poorest kind, and always
insufficient, the children generally going bare,
footed summer and winter. These girls hao
received but little schooling, being barely able
to read and to scrawl their names in scarcely
ineligible manner. Though quite familiar
with class of subjects which it is usually
thought best to keep concealed from the youth
full mind, 1 found them terribly deficient in
general information, well as in the most
Common rudiments of learning. Without be-
ing lewd, their thoughts seemed to have been
trained mainly to the contemplation of such
subjects as courtship and marriage, the relation
of the sexes, balls, theatres, and other frivolous
amusements; and these, next to hard work
for they are really industrious-do constitute
the most serious questions of life with this peo-
pie.
SEALING. AND HOW IT SOMETIMES RESULTS