Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-30

Lorenzo snow.
no signs of being wrinkled with family
troubles. / asked her to tell me what she
really thought of the custom Of plural mar
riages. She replied:
ct believe that the Revelation concerning
plural marriage was given TO Joseph Smith
by God. and that IL is a divine institution
/ have seen much Of the custom and have
had practical experience with it. Mr.
Smith and I have lived together happily
for twenty-th"ee years. and have had eleven
children and several grandchildren Some
years after We were married my husband
told me he believed it his duty to take an
other wife if | would help him bear the
load. consented. because il was NV duty
We had no words about IT, He married
and by his second wife has now had eight
chil1ren.'
What are the relations Of the two famI-
lies?" ''-'
They are perfectly friendly, and have
always been SO. The children are treated
IuSt the same by their father. and I love
those or the other wifc almost as much as
my own They call me aunt or grandma
ana respect me as much as they do their
The two families are q, co,,r-, .,,
arate." said l. -
Yes. We have separate establishments
but We often go about together we wish
together if"7
Every Woman HAS n Chance
DO you believe the institution of plural
marriage is for the best interests Of So
ciety, Mrs Smith,"
Yes 1t enables every woman to have a
husband and preserves the purity Of both
sexes. 1 think our Mormon men are bet
ter by far i'm such things than those Of the
Gentiles- II my husband is not with me 1
know where he is. at any rate and that is
what many Gentle wives do not know
was your father a Mormon Mrs.
Yes, End he had FIVE wives. had in the
heighborhood of thirly-eiEht brothers and
sisters. II was thirty-cight or thirtv-nine,
don remember Just which The family
all lived under enc roof. although each wife
ana her children had a separate apart
ment."
How did you get along? I should think
such family would be in a state Of per-
petual discord?" said !.
Very well. indeed" was the reply.
There Were differences of course some
times, but not more than you will find in a
similar number of families living in the
same netghborhood"
How about your mother, did she APP
prove of it?"
Yes, l think she did She was the first
wife, but she believed it her duty to con-
sent to and make sa"rifice for what she
thought right and did so. She taught her
daughters that they should act similarly
when they were married. | think you will
find all of the older women of the Mormon
Church hold to this same belief They arc
true women and are willing TO sacrifice
their own inclinations for the sake Of their
religion believing that God will make IL up
to them in the next world. We expect to
have a higher place in heaven in conse-
quence."
about it?''
II don't think they like it. sentiment
antagonistic to plural marriage has grown
up among our young people since It has
been prohibited by law, and this is. think
increasing
Baptizing for the Dead.
Mrs. Smith spoke of the babtizng for the
dead which is now going on almost daily
in the temple at Salt Lake. According to
the Mormon belief, I understand il, the
spirits of the dead who have died in sin
can be saved if their friends who are in
the chucrh will be baptized in their stead in
the temple here. and they. the dead. accept
the gift of salvation from the Lord. Mrs.
Smith says many 100 dead per week
are being baptized by proxy at the pres
ent time. 1t is also possible for woman
while alive in this world to have herself
sealed or married to some one who has
passed away for the next world l s.aDose
in this case the departed has some rie..l to
say whether he will accept the consort thus
sealed TO him. | do not know.
Joseph smith.
After 1 left President Snow, his secre-
tary sent me a book giving the doctrines
and covenants of the church. and also
one entitled "Reminiscences of Joseph the
Prophet" In the latter find a picture OF
Joseph Smith and a fac smile of one of The
pages of the gold plates of the Book Of
Mormon.
Joseph Smith. according to this was born
in 1905 in Windsor county, Vermont When
he was a boy his father moved TO Palmyra,
N. Y, and it was there that he had his tirst
vision. When he was seventeen years old
he had another vision, n which he saw the
Lord. and when he was twenty-five. ac-
cordng to this Mormon belief he discov-
cred the golden plates which were
printed the Book of Mormon. He trans
lated these by means of pair of diamond
spectaoles, called the Urim and Thummim,
by looking through which he was able TO
understand ard dictate the English of the
strange characters. Upon the basis of this
and his reveal tons he founded the Mormon
Church in 1880. and fourteen years later
while acting as its leader. was killed by a
m OBJ in the jail al Carthage. Mo.
The gold plates referred to came from a
hill about thirty miles from Rochester N
Y. They were given 10 the prophet by an
angel. T14y were about thick as tin
plates. ami this book says they were pure
gold and weighed forty pounds. II this is
so they would now be worth about $4,000.
The plates we're fastened together on rings
and the diamond spectacles were with
them. Each plate was covered with char
aeters. and the whole of them made the
now about equal with the Bible as a holy
book of the Mormon Church. II has been
translated into fifteen different languag es.
FRANK q. CARPENTER.
Saving Space: Miss Slimdiet-"Here's an
advertisement of "A literary man who
wants board. Does he say he's a literary
man To show he's person of refinement
and Cu}'7 p
MIS- :. al et-"No; it's to show that he