People's voice., 1893-04-14
SALT LAKE TEMPLE.
The Mormons Attempt to Rival Solomon
In the Construction of Temple-The
Work of Forty Years,

The MOrmons Attempt to Rival Solomon
In the Construction of Temple-The
Work of Forty Years.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April T.
Forty thousand Mormons from all parts
of the world gathered here and
witnessed the opening ceremonies of
the dedication of the great temple of
the faith which was begun just forty
years ago and which cost $4,000, 900.
President Wilford Woodruff presided
over the meeting in the assembly room
and he was assisted by George B. Can
non, Joseph F. Smith, Lorenzo Snow,
F. D. Richards, Brigham Young, Jr.,
and other notables of the sect.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING.
The site for the temple was selected July g.
isi7, the fifth day after the Mormon pioneers
entered the great Salt Lake valley. Brigham
Young, president of the church, with a number
Of apostles, was viewing the prospect in the
place selected as his new home. where all
seemed a barren waste, and in passing the
southwest corner Of the piece Of ground over
which the temple now stands he struck his
cane on the ground and exclaimed: Here will
be the temple Of our God " The southeast
corner OF a ten-acre plat selected as the tenn
pie block was made the initial point for laying
out the city, and was afterwards adopted by
government officials as the base meridian line
-Four years later at the October conference OF
the church in 1851 vote Of the people was
taken to build "a temple OF the best materials
that can be obtained in North America The
material selected Tor the foundation was FIRE
stone, from a canron four miles distant When
the walls came TO be built cut granite from
Little Cottonwood cannon. eighteen miles dis
tant, was chosen as the most suitable materia.
Prior to the advent Of the railrold in 1870, this
rock had to be hauled by OK and mule teams
February 6, 1883 ground was broken and 2M
men put to work on the excavation April 6
following the corner stones were laid sixteen
feet below the surface Of the ground. When
JohnstOn's army came through in 1883 TIE
foundation OF the temple was entirely covered
over with earth and the people moved south
from Salt Lake for a time -Four years later
work was resumed on the building and with the
exception OF two years-lS6S and 1859 when the
plOyed in cor|tructing the Union Pacific and
other railways-cOnlinued without serious in
terruption
The capstone was laid April 6. 1892 al which
time the date for dedication was fixed for April
6, 1893, the sixty-third anniversary Of the or
ganzation of the Mormon church and forty
years from the day the temple cornerstone
was laid
The building is 1861. feet long and 90 feet
wide. With the towers, it covers an area OF Il 70
$50 square feet. The foundation wall is 10 feet
thick and Is deep. On this the granite walls
are feet thick on the bottom and narrow to
6 feet at the square. There are six
towers-three on the east and three on the
west The corner towers are 26 feet square at
the base. Those on the east are 100 feet high
and on the west 1874 feet The east central
tower is 222h feet high surmounted by figure
with trumpet TO his lips, proclaiming the
gospel The east part Of the temple is for the
Melchisedec priesthood, representing the high
er or spiritual affairs. The west is for the
AarOnic priesthood, representative Of the tenn
pOral existence. The figure on the east central
tower symboliZes the angel named in the l4th
chapter and 9th verse Of Johns Revelation
There are in the building many stones sym
bolical Of different conditions Of mankind
Around the base are earth stones. above these
moon stones, showing the moon in its various
phases and emblematc of terrestrial CORY;
still higher sun stones, typical of celestial or
the highest glory of the heavens There are
also star stones representing the glory Of the
stars. On the west tower is the Ursa Major
pointing to the polar star and indicating tina /
there is a fixed guide for fallen mankind TO re-
turn to God. Then there are cloud stones and
others Of like symbolic nature.
The architecture of the building is without a
known parallel in ancient or modern times.
There are four doors to the temple, two in the
west and two in the east corner towers.