The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-08-22
" Holiness to the Lord"
lions
COOPERATIVE
Mercantile Institution.

W e Ntlll diI through lDt blIIulUH from
top TO bottom. In every department we
saw Mormons buying goods. Here were
three women. all dressed nearly alike, evil
IDENTITY the wives of one man. They were
looking at carpet. I'm the shoe depart
mcnt were two women and a number Of
children trying on shoes. In the hardware
! department were some Mormon farmers
| purchasing axes ald other tools. \ Mr..
( Weber had general charge OF the build
ing, and was very polite.
PRESIDENT OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
The next place we visited was the official
business Office OF John Taylor. the sue
cesSOr OF Joe Smith and Brigham Young,
the President High Priest. Seer and Reye-
latOr Of the Latter-day Saints. The build
ing is one story high, and is in between
the famous Lyon and Beehive houses.
| They are the Church offices, and contain its
records. The room in which we found the
President was 4 small one, and plainly in
dicated that il was n business office. 1t
contained portraits OF joseph Smith. OrsOn
Pratt, Hcbcr c. KimLall. Brigham Young,
and other Mormon celebrities. With the
President found there of his counsellors
and apostles Joseph +. Smith, Il
nephew OF the ORIGINAL Joseph; Moses
Thatcher and Franklin NJ. seymour.
shook all three cordially by the hand, and
they looked 80 bcnignly upon me that |
felt the apostolic benediction going clean
through me. felt that it was a big thing
to shake hands with a prophet and two
apostles all in one day. President Taylor
is fne-lOoking old man, about seventy
five Years old, with fncly-formed head, and
benevolent, kindly features. He i good
ta,kcr. and perfectly plain and Straightior
ward in his manner. He impressed me a
man OF culture and rare executive aDili-
ties. He did not seem to feel the power he
possessed a. the head Of the Church. and
as such ~ fhc head and brain of every
MOrmOn-man, WOm9n, and child-in the
world. lie was plainly dressed, and looked
Is though he had dressed himself and not
| that nine women had taken hand at il.
He has nine wives. and appears to be As well
satisfied a. the boss seal OH the Gin
House rocks AZ san Francisco. lie did not
look jaded or carewOrn or hcn-pccked, but
/ had kind OF fathcrly way about him that
reminded me OF Hank Monk, the man who
can manage nine horses from Carson City
10 Lake Tahoe. After having been intro
| duCed he asked me number OF pleasant
/ questions about my trip-whcrc had been
and how far | was going, and explained 10
me the various portraits hanging on the
wall. | then told him / had met two OF
the Mormon commissioners on my way
out-eX-ScnatOrs Ramsay and Paddock
and would like TO know what he thought
they would do when they arrived. His re-
ply was, with merry and suggestive
twinkle OF the eye, They will doubtless
draw their pay regularly" Then he added :
"THE MoRMoNs ARE HAPPY AND CONTENTED.
Il have just returned from visit
through Utah. Idaho, and Montana. and
everywhere | find our people happy, vr-
tuOus, honest, and law-abiding-and all
we ask is to be let alone"
| had it on my tongue to reply that had
heard that same wish expressed some
twenty-onc years ago by class OF men
who defended and practiccd another in
stitution similar to MormOnism-an inSti-
tuition that violated the laws OF God and
man, as this did; but considering that
was the only Gentle in the room, and the
courtesy with which | was treated. / re-
Trained. did not ask him after the
health OF Mrs. Taylor No. |, No. >, No. 3.
ETC., because il was early in the morn
Ing, and was afraid the returns had not
yet bceI received from the various wards.
Inc two apostles who were present
had each of them three wives each. and I
thought whilst standing there. "Hcre are
three men with fifteen wives between
them. They claim these wives as a mart ~
their reilgIon-what, then, is to become OF
man who has no wife at alp" | did not
ask the apostles to solve my thoughts. be.
cause | knew what their answer would he
Neither the President nor his counsellors
SAID word to me in relation to the vital
question OF Morm0niSm, and | RETAINED
from asking them any questions, being well
satisfied that my curiosity would not no
gratIiled. | left their presence with feel. |
ing OF sadness. not to say horror. that |
had seen the three leading men who up-
noid ana sustain beastly system. which. |
II allowed to grow, will eventually san and |
destroy all OF the sublime moral teachings
of Christianity.
John Tayl0rs house is nearly opposite
The church Office. Ii is Il fine residence. in
Il large garden filled with flowers, shrubs,
and fruits, and looks like a happy home
IL was built by Brigham Young for
ONE OF HIS FAvORIrE WIVES.
In u row reside nine wives. Which OF
mem ives at the top and which at the bot
ON am unable TO say. | saw one Of them. ]
lis Youngest and latest. She was stepping I
mo a carriage as We passed over 10 look at =
ne Beehive. She looked to be about thirty. /
We or forty; was quite good-Iooking. i
nj seemed to be happy, II a cheerful s
would indicate II. We n
ext visited the Beehive and the Lion. !,