The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-12-21
THE MORMON QUESTION.
u. =. Troops Called Out-The Law TO
be Maintained at all Hazards.

be Maintained at all HAZARDS.
OMAHA, December 5th-At an early hour /
this morning General Howard, command !
ing the Department of the Platte, received !
orders to send troops from Fort Omaha |
and other posts to some point which he re- |
fuses to make public. Batteries and c
of the Fifth Artillery were accordingly first |
ordered out and left this afternoon on a
special train for the West over the Union
Pacific It is understood that all the re-
naming troops at Fort Omaha, consisting
of ten companies of infantry and one of
cavalry, have been put under orders to be
ready to move at a moments notice.
Inquiry at the Union Pacific headquarters
reveals the fact that the company have re-
ceived instructions to have in immediate
readiness additional special trains for the
movement of these troops westward.
General Howard has persistently refused
to answer questions regarding the destina-
ton of these troops. MY orders are
strictly confidential in this case, said Gen
eral Howard. land 1 cannot possibly even
intimate where these troops are going. 1t
is of the utmost importance that the peo-
pie of the community to which they are
destined shall not be apprised i'll advance
of their coming"
1t is evident that serious trouble is an
ticipated somewhere, and General Howard
intimated that much. The general CON
clusion is that the troops of the department
are all to be rapidly concentrated at Salt
Lake in anticipation of an attack on the
Gentiles by the MOrmons. Trouble of
serious nature has been brewing there for
the last few days The arrest, conviction
and imprisonment of the Mormon leaders
for polygamy have not only aroused the
Mormons to great Indignation and revenge,
! but to a bitterness that has caused them to
! retaliate by importing prostitutes from San
| Francisco and Denver and using these
women to entrap Federal officials and
| prominent Gentiles. One Deputy United
| States Marshal was arrested for fOrnication
with one of these women under the city
| charter. He was taken from the custody
| of the city authorities by writ of habeas
corpus by the United States authorities,
who declared the city ordinance invalid
| because it exceeded the authority granted
by the Legislature.
The other night another Deputy Marshal
was assaulted by four MormOns, who lay
in wait for him, one of whom he danger
| ously shot. The Mormons and their
papers denounce this shooting as the act of
| an assassin, who made the first assault,
and the Mormon press Is calling for blood
atOnement."
These are the causes that make Salt Lake
a volcano to-day, liable to break forth at
any moment Threats have been made
I ~ II
cleaned out, and the excitement and fear
are Increasing from day to day.
A dispatch received in Omaha this after
noon from Salt Lake, in response to tele-
gram of inquiry, says: 1.-The infamed con-
dition of the public mind here is causing
most serious appresentions, and the move
ment of the military is designed to prevent
the possibility of an outb reak and secure
in advance the preservation of life and
property. The troops cannot be cOncen-
trated here any too quickly to allay the
alarm and excitement"
Owing to General Towards reticence re
garding the destination of the troops
there is considerable speculation as Il
where they are really going, but the grea
majority believe that Salt Lake is the place
alleged by the officers to be Fort Free
Steele, in Wyoming, on the Union Pacific
Others intimate that it is Fort Lewis il
Southern Colorado, where there have
been some disturbances among The
Indians and also among the Apaches
! some distance from that post. Genera
Sheridan, it is claimed, desires to concen
trate a large number of troops at tina
point to handle any serious uprising which
might take place in the southwestern COun
try. Another guess is that the troops are
headed for the labor troubles at Rawlins
Rock Springs and Evanston, on the Union
Pacific Railroad but the railroad official
deny anything of the kind. 1t is als'
limited that the troops are to go to the Pa
cific coast on account of the Chimes
: troubles.
So far as Indian troubles are concerned
is not at all likely that artillery would b
a., forwarded. The sending out of artiller,
confirms the general belief that Salt LAX
is the destination and place of concentra
ton. The troops at Fort Robinson, Neb
have been ordered to move for the West
and orders of a similar character have beer
issued to other posts in this department.
LATER.-It is a sure thing now that tn
troops from this department are going t.
: Salt Lake, and it is understood from goo
5 authority that trouble is looked for there.
SALT LAKE, December 5th.-AmOng tn
rumors in circulation to-day are that tn
MormonS are massing and arming them
l selves secretly; that the Secretary of Wa
is on his way to Utah to declare MARTA
> law, and a hundred others even more i'm
probable The facts as sifted out tO-nigh
are that the Quartermaster at Fort Doug
las has rented quarters in the middle of tn
I city for a company of troops to be con
stantly stationed as a preventive of riOtou
outbreaks. y battery of artillery is also OF
the way from Nebraska and is expecte
B. here tomorrow night. Excitement an
public feeling still run high. The Mormon
crusade against the Gentiles for lewd an,
Iascivious conduct has begun again in
new form This time complaints ar
sworn out before Mormon Justices of tn
Peace and served by the Sheriff. TIL
same arrests have been made as previousl,
under the city ordinance, and bail ha
been fixed at 81. 600 in each case.
British Columbia Items
VICTORIA, December 5th.-Three hun
dred Chinese are reported in a starving
condition on Fraser river. They are dis