Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-11-11
THE POLYGAMISTS, PARADISE.
tabs Peculiar Institution and Its
Influence on the PeOpIe---The Tab
ernacIe and Temple.
From the San Francisco Chronicle

From the San Francisco Chronicle.
My emotions on reaching Salt LAX
City were peculiar. | had long hear
and read of that inland metropolis
and when I trod its streets and at las
breathed its balmy air, unutterabl
thoughts possessed me. [ was by n,
means an inexperienced youth. | hat
passed several months in married state
and had seen the torch of Hvmel
blaze and disseminate its warming anC
exhilarating influence over all my sur
roundings. Here in Utah" | solilo
quized, " is not only the state but tht
territory of matrimony." | gazed abou
me and beheld aocks of young saint
esSes tripping along the sidewalks o.
peering into shop windows, and from
my inner and outer consciousness was
evolved startling idea. From whence
| came a man was permitted to make
only one woman miserable for life. In
Salt Lake City he may blight the des
tinies of a dozen of them-aye. of q
thousand if he chooses. "Any hal
dozen, or any four dozen OF all | see ,
| remarked to myself, q | may marry
| may make 800 of them wretched if
so desire" The reflection was so move
that for Il moment it might have been
termed pleasing, but when the dread
assailed me that perhaps | might yield
to the temptation, | was appalled,
Imagine dry goods bills being presented
IN packages of 500-beiR hauled to
your house in express wagons, and
rolled into the front yard like cotton
bales; of gaiter bills and millinery bills.
and the Lord only knows how many
other kinds of bills, all being delivered
in similar fashion. No, my Christian
friend, do not be alarmed concerning
me. Do not tremble lest | should, in a
moment of weakness, yield to the al
lurements around me. [ consider that
every Mormon who lives up to his re-
hglon Is simply hero, q man who
should be an object of admiration to
the fairer sex
| strOlled to the front of the Lion
House, and, leaning against locust
tree, gazed long and thOughtfully at
that edltice. 1t is one that te ems with
memories and with interest. 1t is called
the Lion House, [ presume, because
the lion of the tribe of Desert dwelt
there. Gentiles speak of him as ''Old
Brig, but the faithful reverently refer
to him as ''The Prophet" From the
of the buildings in the
he was much such a
prophet as we read of in "Lalla
Rookh." A queer old colony of houses
he put up there. Apparently he cared
very little for style. What he was
after was room, and plenty of it. He
called one of his family fabrics the
''Bee Hive" 1t was reomy also, High
stone walls, roughly but firmly con
structed, conceal the yard of the Lion
House, but dormer windows overlook
it. Now there must have been lively
Sklrmlshlng at times in these various
capaclous structures, [ imagined to
myself how the lord and master of all
the women who dwelt in them must
have occasionally seated himself i'll one
Of those dOrmer windows, in an easy
chair, and in dressing-grown and slip
oers. Then [ conceived how he order
ed all his old and young girls turned
ntO the back yard beneath, for a grand |
settlement of their difficulties. Like a |
King of love and beauty, in ancient |
ournament style, he presided, and |
aughed until his sides shOok-untii the |
melee was over. The yard must have |
)een covered with TUFTS and punches |
If feminine locks, which the pious
tableman no doubt gathered up with |
| pitchfork and sold to some Gentle |
lair establishment. A hundred ques-
ions present themselves to the viz |
uOus Californian as he stands before |
hose buildings and revels in thought. |
The last ole he asks himself is whether
le is IN America or not. He finally |
that he is in America, but he |
$ not certain that he is in the United |
states. "Old Brig" was not citizen of |
'ur republic. He was a monarch |
without a crown, a king without scep-
er, a despot without throne. He
eigned with indisputable sway, and |
aughed in his sleeve at the DEGREES of
/ man they call president, in a place
hey call Washington, thousands of
niles to the east. He cared no more
OF the laws of our government than
lis great prototype, King David, did
or the laws of idolatrous heather
lations. The present Grand Mogul of
Jtah, John Taylor, is at heart equally
ebellious. Utah is in the United States
he way a shrak is in the ocean.
All over Salt Lake City two inscrip-
ions are visible in the air. Like the
me Daniel translated to Belshazzar,
hey are not painted with a pot and
rush. They read: ''It is not good for
nan to be alone" and "What are you
DING to do about it ?" As / counter
marched down the street President
Hayes whiZzed past me in a carriage;
ut [ noticed that in the very next We
Licle Mrs. Hayes sat, and on her cOun-
enance was a vigilant, determined ex-
ression. 1t denoted that she knew I
here she was, and that she was sternly
esolved to see Rutherford safely
trough to Ogden. A sense of my own Il
)nely and unprotected condition over :
yhelmed me, and [ sought the solitude !
f my crowded hotel. "Ye been to !
ne Tabernacle?" yelled the clerk, with '
n expression of alarm. had not. 80, /
ou want to see that-the greatest t
uilding in the world Brigham Young /
rev the plans himself" | was on the :
-reet again, and at once My chief 7
had been to see where Brig
am had kept his family. To see {
here he preached was certainly worth
Eenty minutes of time. A native of
,ngland piloted me through with the
tmost pOliteness, and well earned the
our bits [ subsequently gave him. He I
lowed me the great organ, allowed me /
, sit in the chair once occupied by