Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-08-15
In the Mormon TaI,ernac,e

Service in tho Tabernacle is held on Sun
days at two o'clock in the afternoon. The
Saints assemble not only from the city but
from all the country round, and many vehi-
oles Of all sorta are left standing in the neigh
borhood. The centre of the church fills rap
idly with women, while the men predominant
in the side rows of seats. There are seats
for thirteen thousand persons in the amphi-
theatre and gallery, and many more crowd in
at some Of the great conferences. A broad
gallery closes around at the front, where the
choir sit in two wings, facing each other the
men on one side and the women opposite.
The space between is filed by three long
crimson-cushioned pulpit desks, in each Of
which twenty speakers or 30 can sit at once,
each rank overlooking the heads Of the one
beneath. The highest was designed for the
president and his two counsellors the Sec
ond one for tho twelve apostles, and the low
est for the bishops but 1 believe the order Is
not very rigdly observed.
The acoustic properties of the house are
almost perfect. former deficiency of light
has been overcome by the use of electricity
and the chilling barrenness of the huge
whitewashed vault is relieved by hRngings Of
evergreen and flowers made OF tissue paper,
the eff ct of which is very good indeed.
Every Sunday the sacrament is adminis-
tered, the table loaded with the baskets Of
is at the foot of the pulpits. Gradually o
number Of bishops take their places behind
this table, and watch the con ngrvgaton gath
er, people coming in through the dozen or
more doors as though tho Tabernacle was q
huge sponge absorbing the population of the
territory. Mingling with the rest come ma
ny strangers, bringing the latest tailoring
and millinery, and these strangers are always
conducted to seats down in front, where they
Can be addressed effectively in body. At
one door stands a huge cask of cold water,
with several tin cups handy, and nearly all
stop TO drink as they come In. Later you
will see tin pals holding a quart or more,
and having handles on both sides, circulating
through the audience, and reflled from time
to time by small Ganymedes running about
iu chip hats and well-starched pinafores.
Precisely at two o'clock the great organ sends
forth its melodious summons, and the noise
of busy voicos-the hum OF the veritable
honey bees of Deseret in their home hive
is hushed. A hymn is announced (by some
brother in a business coat whom you will
meet in trade to morrow, perhaps) and sung
by the choir, for though the tune may be one
of the old familiar ones, the audience does
not Join in the singing.
The music of the Tabernacle has great
reputation in the Wost, and it would hardly
be fair to decry il because it does not come
up to New York performance. 1t is oOn-
spicuously good for the material at hand and
the locality. The organ, handsome instru-
mont, nearly as large as the great organ in
the Boston Music Hall, is not so readily dis.
counted however, and is played with much
skill, to the constant delight of the people.
After the singing comes a long prayer by
some lsyman. priest, and hymn, during the
singing of which eight bishops break the
slices of bread into morsels. Then, while
the bread is being passed through the audi
once to the communioants-everyb old
and young, partaking-President Taylor or
some other dignitary reads chapter from
the Bible, usually from Revelation, and
makes extempore remarks upon it. Some
times the Hon. George Q. Cannon, the most
eminent of the Mormon leaders, occupies
the pulpit.
1t is three O'Clock before the bread and wa
ter have been partaken of by oil, and fully
four by the time the preacher has ceased, the
bishop pronounced the benodiction, and the
congregation Is dismissed. AS the people
scatter about the great dusty yard picking
their way among the blocks of stone await
ing their place in tine Temple, one sees how
largely foreigners they are, the predominant
nstionalities being British and Scandinavian.
Their peasantry, too, is unmistakably stamp
ed upon their faces, though they have eI-
changed their foreign chRracteristics for q
rusticity of the American type. Among the
most prominent of the Mormon apostles
are Orson Pratt, the most distinguished
scholar and writer in the sect, and Joseph N.
Smith, a nephew of the original Prophet and
founder of Mormonism. Ernest In9ersOH in
HdTper'S Magazine for august.