Amador ledger., 1900-08-31
A Wonderful Feature of the
Tabernacle.
The METHOD OF GETTING SALT FROM THE LAKE
Peculiarities of the Famous Salt Lake
of Utah.-An Amusing Incl
dent at the Baths.
OGDEN, UTAH, Aug. 20, 1900.

OGDEN, UTAH, Aug. ~, IJUU.
Editor LEDGER: Again would in-
trude upon your valuable space to pass
few remarks on what is to be seen in
the land of the Mormons.
During the summer months Ogden
is the starting point Of a large number
of excursions. In fact they are of al
most daily occurrence. The greatest
number of these excursions are to the
noted resort-Saltair Beach, which is
located on the shore of that most won
derful of all inland seas-Great Salt
Lake,
The writer joined in one of these ex-
cursions recently, and having seen
some places and objects of interest, will
take pleasure in speaking briefly of the
trip for the benefit-more specially of
the young people who are engaged in
the, study of geography and general
history.
After pleasant hours ride down a
green valley, bordered on the east by
a spur of the Wahsatch mountains,
and on the west by the shore line of
Great Salt Lake and the mountains
beyond, we reached the Mecca of the
Latter Day Saints--Salt Lake City.
AS we approached the city we could
see, towering far above the buildings,
a glittering golden angel--the Angel
Moroni--with trumpet ready to sound
the blast that shall call tho faithful to
their reward. Under this beautiful
Mormon Temple. Having only two
l,O e,fo ho ,,;+ - -.
took a car to the temple. In the mid
die OF the main street approaching the
temple stands q large statue of Brig
ham Young. The statue is much
larger than life size, and in broze on a
granite pedestal about twelve feet high.
On each side at the base are historical
scenes in Mormon history--all in
bronze. Passing this monument to the
memory of the greatest Mormon leader,
one sees on his left high wall of stone,
which encircles three sides of the tenn
Pile. At the gate one reads that visit
ors are not allowed to enter the temple,
but may visit the tabernacle, which is
located in the rear of the sacred build
ing. While the temple does not appear
large at first glance, as you walk around
it the immensity becomes apparent and
you begin to wonder at the industry of
the people who built it. Just forty
years were occupied in it's construction.
The interior of this building is open
only to the members of the church of
Latter Day Saints, so we did not enter.
But we did enter the tabernacle and
marveled at the wonderful acoustic
properties of its auditorium. AS we
stood at one end of the massive room,
a man two hundred feet away whisper
ed to us and then dropped common
pin on the railing, BOTH of which we
heard distinctly. AS we passed out of
this strange tortoise-shaped building
we purchased a book printed by the
church, the title of which is: ''Pic-
lures and Biographies of Brigham
Young and his Wives''-and he had
only twenty-six, by the way. After
strolling around and trying vainly to
estimate the number of rooms in the
Lion House." which was the homo of
Brigham Young, we ate lunch in the
California" restaurant and boarded
the train for Saltair, which is eighteen
miles from the city. We soon felt the
refreshing sea breeze and quite well
come it was, after living in the alkali
region. We passed the extensive salt
works, where the water is damned up
by throwing up the mud from the
shallow bottom in the form of squares
and then allowing the sun to evapOrate
the water. The salt can then be shov-
eled up into piles for transportation
to refining plants.
AS the water of the lake is very
shallow and the various ingredients of
the water are deposited in large guam
titles along the shore, causing odors
which will never be bottled up for
toilet use, the ''beach" is built of wood
and located about half mile out in
the lake. A very large building of
four stories and cupola, with arms ex-
tending out each side into the lake to
accommodate the bath rooms, of which
there are several hundred, is general
description of the place. The lower
floor is devoted to refreshment stands,
shooting galleries, bowling alleys, etc.
The second floor is entirely devoted to
the Terpsichorean art, Of which the
Mormon people seem to be especially
fond. ''Free dancing" is included in
all their programs. This dancing floor
is an unusually large one, being about
150x300 feet in size, and fifty feet above
rived bathers could be seen dotting the
surface OF the water, which, by the
way, is as clear as the clearest glass.
One can see the smallest particle at the
bottom in four feet of water. This
seems remarkable when one considers
the amount OF solid matter in the
water. OF course we must try the
bath, and soon lay with arms folded on
the surface of the water, being careful,
however, to keep the mouth and eyes
well above the water line, When one
tries to wade through the water he
realizes how dense it is. With water
waist deep one makes very slow head
way. Several bathers together are fire.
quently seen lying on their backs with
the toes of first one under the should
ers of second and so on until all are in
line; then each uses his hands as oars
and the column moves. One very
fleshy man lay on his back, with
woman clinging to each side, like
stranded sailors clinging to piece of
wreckage. They sang Pull for the
shore, Sailor" but did not make much
headway. After bathing for an hour
we 'hoated" back to the pier, where
shower bath of cold mountain water
washed off the salt, which had formed
in white flakes on the skin as soon as
we left the water, and we felt very
much invigorated by the experience.
We dipped up a quart of the lake
water, intending to send some to Pro-
fessor G. A. Waltenspiel, the analytic
chemist, for analysis. Early in the
evening we departed from the scene of
the days enjoyment and soon again
reached Salt Lake City, whose electric
arc lights present a beautiful night
scene. But high above all twinkled A.