The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1881-07-14
SALT LAKE.
A Pen Picture of the I'refticst City
in America--By Tourist WIN
Can Tell What He
Has Seen.

Can Tell What He
I Has Seen.
The beautiful Salt Lake City, the
Mormon capital, lies deep in a valley,
which is 5000 feet above the level Of
the sea. To the right, to the left, to
the north, the south, the east, and the
vest, mountains! Lying in the midst
Of them, the city. America has nc
other like it. Surveyed from the dis
tance, it wears a distinctly Oriental
appearance. So we Of the far West,
who have only dreamed of the East,
imagine how Damascus may look.
White houses shining amid rich masses
Of green foliage. A dome, a tower, a
spire, that may answer for a minaret,
deep gardens, buildings with fiat roofs,
a faint mist Of dust marking the line
of travelled street, a sky of more than
the Oriental softness overhead, and an
atmosphere so pure tnat to breathe it
is Il luxury, and to look through it is
to gain such power of vision that the
peaks of the Wasatch range, twenty
miles away, seem within the reach of
the pedestrian who has five minutes to
spare.
In the city there are broad streets.
covered with gravel. Upon each
side, where the gutter should be, there
Is stream Of pure and delicious water
hurting fierceIy along with the impetus
gained at the top Of the Twin Peaks
Along the main streets, On each side,
beautiful shade trees keep watch Ger
the ripping water beneath, and hand
some drinking fountains ON every
square refresh the weary pedestrian.
The dwellings of stone, of wood, of
adobe or sun-burned bricks, are far
apart, and enshrined among mighty
trees. Shops, here and there, thrust
themselves out TO the edge of the foot
way, and offer their wares to passers-
by. It is queer throng that is thus
tempted. Such one as on no other
street in this broad earth can gather.
Here is Mormon saint, a patriarch
with twelve wives and so many chill
dren that he is compelled to refer to
L. ,,,o,,, r,,.,, :, H., looI- g. = IL r
them. Stout, rugged, coarse in ma
ture and in feature, he is of the kind
that found this valley a wilderness
and transformed it into a luscious gar
den. There is a Utah Indian, clad,
perhaps, in a stovepipe hat, blanket
and buckskin breeches. He wears
huge earrings, long, straight hair,
thick ard black as midnight. Here is
a Mexican, dashing along at break
neck speed upon shaggy pony. He
wears dress as picturesque as that of
a Greek, and he is as fine a horseman
as the Arabian desert shows. There
go two army officers, wearing blue
coats, and looking as if they were in
authority. They HE to the pretty
Camp Douglass, upon the mountain
side, from whence the guns that they
control can level the city in day.
Gentle miners, with whiskers, broad
hats, trousers tucked in boots, and
pistols thrust in belts, swagger about
in search of fre-water Mormon po-
licemen, of whom there are SIX hun
dred in the city, quiet, reserved, but
keen as hounds, stand upon the cor
ners. Huge wagons drawn by six,
eight and ten mules come numbering
down the street, bringing from out
lying settlements of the saints the
tithes for the Prophets store-house.
Hurrying past them, dash graceful
and elegant pleasure carriages, such
as Hyde Park might be proud Of
But where are the women? Of men
there are enough. Now and then
Gentle woman passes, but not often;
and the Mormon women appear still
less frequently, unless it be in the cool
hours Of twilight. 1t is OrientaIism
in the extreme Occident. There is
the polygamy Of Turkey, with an APP
proach 10 the custom which keeps the
woman under veil; yet they are not
all what they should be.
The Great Salt Lake, the waters of
which are said to,.be nearly one-fourth
salt, affords excellent bathing facili-
ties, and fairly rivals the seashore. A
river of fresh water, the Jordan"
empties It's cleay liquid into the lake,
which has no visible outlet. The
writer, while there, crossed over
Jordan" Scientists have said, we be-
lieve. that the lake, whose waters
never rise above a certain level, has a
subterFaneau passage to the sea.