The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-03-26
The Land of the Mormons-
COOPERATIVE sToREs--FORT DOUGLAS
AND THE BIG LAKE.
LETTER NO. ".

/ AIS 7A'h LETTER NO. " %
Especial Correspondence of the VIRG1N1AN.l
The Z. G. NJ. I. is a large building filling
4 block on the main street Of Salt Lake. Ii
is 800 feet deep with frontage OF SO feet
Over the door is emblazoned the eye OF ON
niscience, and the motto: Holiness tC
the Lord. Elm that day there shall be
upon the bells Of the horses Holiness te
I the Lord. y z. G.. NJ. /. are the initials
OF Zion Cooperative Mercantile lnstitu
\ tion--called familiarly by the Saints the
+" Big Coop" Smaller cooperative stores
I are scattered through the Mormon towns
, The institution is controlled by the
church, and in the building you can buy
+ everything that clerk can sell. or a buyer
desire-butter, eggs, stoves, books, glass
ware, china, -four. dry, goods, hardware
trunksr-these are some Of the depart
nents. This is where the Saints are adj
vised to do their trading woe
rumor says, to the faithful who purchase
elsewhere. Up in the fourth story, we
found a little tin cup with the legend
ITO My Girl We wanted to buy it as 9
souvenir, but were sternly told that this
was the wholesale department, and WE
must take number OF similar cups, OF
none. This is deliciously significant, re-
membering that the Mormons parse my
glrl'' in the plural number. Besides the
Coop Salt Lake has the number OF
stores usual in city Of its size, many OF
them very good. What might be called
the Mays" of Salt Salt, owned and
managed by Mr.. S. p. Teasdel, is deservedly
popular. One of The customs in this estab-
lishment might be profitably initiated out
side of Mormondon. Mr.. Teasdel's is one
Of the beautiful homes Of Salt Lake City,
embowered in blossoms and trees. Every
Saturday, quantity of the flowers are
cut and sent down to the store, and when
the twenty or thirty clerks go home Sat
urday night, each one carries rose, a
spike Of brilliant gladiolrs, or a handful
OF mgnonette.
institutions of all kinds seem to flourish
in Salt Lake. There are churches of every
denomination, hospitals, schools, libraries,
two theatres, four daily papers and
monthlieS and quarterlies whose name is
legion. The territorial University which
has Just been moved into fine new build
ing, seems to be an admirable institution
MONS ctarian. The telephone has found
its way to Salt Lake City, and certain of
the streets are illumined by the electric
light. It has most remarkable and ben
eyolent system of street railways, by which
you can pay five cents, and be transferred
and retransferred to all parts of the city,
on your simple word to the effect that you
have paid in the beginning. In fact, the
conductors seldom take any fare without
solicitation from the passenger. At the
terminus of one of the lines. are to be
found the Warm Sulphur Springs-the
most delightful waters imaginable for
bathing-and a panacea for rheumatism
blue as if tinged with indigo-an Ameri-
can Capri.
About seven miles below the city, are
the smelters of the two great mines-the
Horn Silver and Germania. Utah's min
eral product last year, by the way,
amounted to 10000 These are well
worth visit, aud under the guidance OF
Mr.. Murray. the affable superintendent
one can follow the ore from the dirty yell
low mass heaped into the furnaces, to the
shining bricks of lead and silver cooling
in the molds. The centres Of interest IN
the yicinage of Salt Lake City are Fort
Douglas and the Great Salt Lake. The
former is about three miles distant from
the city, and more than four hundred feet
higher-cradled at the foot of the range
The camp is beautifully laid out in the
midst of lawns and orchards. The bar
racks and officers houses are built Of
stone. The commander is Gen. McCook
one of the well-known fighting Nc
Cooks At Camp Douglas centres the
social life of Salt Lake City there are
hospitable entertainers and fine brass
band, and here are stationed many OF the
sons of Bellona, biding their time, and
looking furtively, l dare say, across where
the great, dead sea lies molten silver al
; the mountains foot, and the chimneyS anC
| spires of the city break the lines OF greer
, and level plain-and wishing it might fa
to their valor to bury the modern Sodom
or Gomorrah beneath fire and birthstone
The great lake is sixteen miles distant
from the city. In the season, two trains
run in and out from the metropolis to Its
two bathing stations, Black Rock anc
Garfield AS the trains steam along the
fertile valley, the mountains part and dis
close Mt. Nebo, IL 1922 feet high-a mos
picturesque summit, with deeply nichet
peaks. Further on, the line traverseS {
narrow plain hemmed in by the crowdins
ranges, and clothed with reddish grasses
All nature seems in an attitude of prepar
alton; you feel that beyond the noun
tains, locked in the desert plain, some
thing wonderful awaits you. The noun
tains are all trimmed, 4 two-t thirds of thu
way to the summit, by narrow line, thu
water mark Of the great saline sea, which
once covered the region, and has nov
shrunk into the lake, sixty miles broad
and one hundred miles long. M. V. D.
1t is nothing remarkable that promi
nent Republicans are outrageously Sian
dered by prominent Democrats from Vir
ginia in their talks In Washington. Gen
WINS. G. Wickham, Hon. Jno. f. Lewis
Franklin Stearns, Esq, Judge Alex. Rives
Judge r. w. Hughes, and almost ever.
leading Republican in the State, have a
times been charged with being traitors t.
their State, and unworthy of confidence
simply because they exercised the right t
think for themselves, and happened t.
differ on questions and policies, which ad
mitted of different constructions from tn
Bourbon element of the Democratic party
] James Gray, boy eighteen years old
! was convicted in Page County Court o
forging bank orders, but escaped before sen
i tence was pronounced of two years in tn
| ponitontiaru apd uont IN JlliuOiS Hn re