Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-02-15

MS exact address being Holbrook
Navajo county, Arizona, 4. S. A,
When Mr.. M'Gllvray left home three
years ago he promised to write to his
friends. and he assures us that no cal,
best reach them through the columns
of the Peoples Journal. As his letter
is OF general interest we accord IL
space, all the more readily because
having paid n visit to Salt Lake CITY
in the course of a rapid run through
America In lS95--we know II can fnirly
be described as accurate. Mr. NIGH
vray says: The state of Utah was
settled By the Mormon people In 1877.
The site Of Salt Lake City was select
ed by Brigham Young and others who
emigrated to the Far West to find Il
free from molestation. They were fol-
lowed by the Mormon population, who
had been driven from their homes in
Missouri and Illinois. In Utah valley
they made new homes. The land was
n desert; nothing but sand and sage
brush could be seen for miles.
Through the exertions of the Mormon
people in cultivating and irrigatng the
sandy soil. wheat and potatoes and
other crops We're raised, and from the
year 1S4I up to the present day they
have made the lard very productive.
and Utah can now produce almost
everything, and ia one of the richest
Utah is very mild, and the whole ter
ritory is one of the healthiest in Amer
lea. II IL not quite SO cold here dur
ing the winter season as II Is in Scot
land. The high mountains by which
Utah is girded protect it from severe
storms, while the cool hreezes from
these mountains make 1t very pleasant
In the summer months. The chief in
dustry is farming. but the state is rich
in silver copper. iron, lead and coal;
rearing of stock is largely engaged in.
Cattle and sheep are driven upon the
mountain sides during the summer and
pastured in the valleys during the
winter. The Utah and Cache valleys
are the finest cattle districts. Utah
has a very large sugar factory, and
manufacturing OF different kinds is
carried on in the cities and large
towns. Salt Lake Valley is very beau
tiful; II is like weli-kept garden.
Farm joins farm, crystal streams
water them, and scattered about in
rich profuslon are long lines of fruit
trees. amid which are neat white
houses. In fact 1t has an Arcadian
beauty, which resembles that of some
of the richest Wales of Scotland.
Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah,
is one of the prettiest cities i have
ever seen. 1t has Il lovely situation.
has fine gardens. grand public build
ings. and elegant private residences.
while its magnificent natural sur
roundings give II a distinctive charac-
ter; altogether It is a favorte destlna-
ton for a transient stay or n length
ened visit. The streets of the city are
wide. and are washed on either side
by living streams fed from the copious
water supply that flows from the
mountains The houses of its resi-
dents are substantially built, and en-
powered in shade trees. In the city Is
~. ,,Ia which u
forty years in building. and cost over
three and u half million dollars. 1t is
of light granite, similar to that of
Aberdeen, and is n marvellous struc-
ture. There is also Tabernacle, with
its immense auditorium and grand
organ, around which during the SER
vices there Is n choir of 800 voices.
Another attraction is the warm sui
phur baths and swimming pond, the
water being brought through wooden
pipes-holowed trees for the most
part--from springs in the hills several
miles distant. These baths are very
ehlcacious In cases of rheumatism and
other disorders, and they are greatly
frequented by invallds and also by
those who are not sufferers, but who
can enjoy the warm bathing. Then
one of the greatest sports during the
summer months is bathing in the
Great Salt Lake. briny inland sea,
to which trains run many times "A day.
Twenty-Five per cent of the water is
salt The lake Is ITO miles long, and
varies in width from 20 to 40 miles.
Its intensely saline waters are beauti-
fully transparent. In the Lake are
numerous rocky islands, the largest
of which extends about 10 miles.
Visitors go to the Lake from all parts
of America-not to say the world-and
hundreds are to he seen daily bathing
in the water. There is no fear OF
drowning; the water is so salt that 1t
keeps the body floating az IL 1t We're
piece of cork. Salt Lake City has n
population OF over 10000 inhabitants-
about half of them Mormons, and the
other half Gentiles, or people OF all
faiths. The business of the city is
principally carried on by the Nor
mons. and the majority of them own
their own homes. The Gentiles ana
Mormons are very united in their
business matters and in their political
affairs. The young people have every
opportunity for obtaining good edu-
cation, as there is large University
and several colleges, and in all the
large cities academies and high
schools. The area of Utah measures
SO. 1870 square miles, and has nearly
1000 miles of railroad. The Mormons
as a people are the best and happiest
! have ever lived with. A great many
of them are Scotchmen. l have found
the Mormons industrious and Virtuous
in every respect. and DESTROYS to do
good to all men. AS to their faith.
they stick fast to It, with firm be-
lief that their doctrine in its nature
and principles will exalt In the king
dom of God They have over fifteen
hundred missionaries out in all the
nations of the world. They are called
from their different occupations OF life
to 90 wherever they may be appointed
for two or three years, and as the
disciples of old did they 20 without