The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-21
B. YOUNG A WONDER
His intellectually and Versatility
Deeply Impress the Visitor
in Salt Lake.
The Wonderful Organ, Finest in the
World, but One Example of
His Achievements.

World, but One Example of
His Achievements.
From staff Correspondent.
Salt Lake, Utah, Sept. 19.-Here in the
home of the Mormons one Is reminded OF
the old story of the man who was travel
ing in Italy and saw churches, bridges,
street arches and other structures, al
ways latter plans by Michael Angelo
until he demanded in despair If the Lord
had created the earth after plans OF
Michael Angelo" In Salt Lake City, and
In the country for miles around, every
thing seems to be after plans by Brigham
Young. The vast system Of irrigation,
the first to be attempted by Anglo Saxon
people, the plan of the city, the parks
within 1t, the names of the parks and OF
the streets, the temple and the wonder
full tabernacle, with its still more wonder
full organ, the theater, the newspaper, the
laws, customs, religion and art-al
planned by Brigham Young, and all q
magnificent testimonial to his wonderful
versatility and intellectual capacity.
Viewing from a distance Of over fifty
years the results Of his labors, and re-
Numbering that he was frontiersman,
and religious teacher as WELL it Is hard
lesser minds Of those who accompanied
him to have had miraculous revelations
from God.
The city has theater which for size,
style and general appointments would
suggest New York, Philadelphia or Chi
cago 1t is considerably larger than
Weber & Fields theater in the former
city, and suggests the old Columbia in
Chicago. 1t has large stage and three
tiers of galleries rising straight up to the
roof One learns with araazement that
this theater was started before there was
a transcontinental railroad, and that it
is constructed largely of adobe 1t was
planned by Brigham Young, and there is
a bust Of Brigham above the proscenium
arch. 1t is a theater adequate to present
twentieth century needs, yet it was
started and finished when this country
was cut off from the world by that vast
arid. unexplored tract marked in the
biographies as 'the Great American
Desert" For what did they need thea
ter, off here In this out -the-world VAL
ley Of the Jordan, exiles from civilization,
and with the task before them of wrest-
Ing living from the waterless wastes
in these rugged valleys? To less devoted
believers the whole idea would have
seemed chimerical and foolish; to the fol-
lowers of Young it was but part of a pro-
gram which had been divinely revealed.
A Wonderful orGan.
The third largest, and without doubt,
the finest organ in the world, in the very
best musical hall in the world, is another
testimonial to the capacity of Brigham
Young. The big tabernacle was planned
by him, and anybody who doubts that it
was well planned has only to ask Madam
Patti. or any great musical artist, whether
vocal or instrumental, to be told that the
best auditorium in which they ever have
performed is the Mormon Tabernacle. 1t
seats between 5000 and 10000 people, has
roof built entirely of wood and depend
Ing solely on it's own arches for support
and yet the section of wood from which it
is made have not a nail in them. Every
separate part is keyed and pegged The
ventilation Of the hall Is perfect, and the
exits are of the sort which are now being
employed in great convention hall build
ings, built after half century Of ex-
perience and failure The building can
be completely emptied in four minutes
A whisper can be heard distinctly the
full length Of the building, or the noise
made by rubbing the hands together, and
II pin is dropped at the pulpit person
in the back part Of the gallery can hear
1t strike, rebound and fall again. The
fame Of this tabernacle has gone over all
the world, and it was only few months
ago that the Gar of Russia sent for plans
he might have a similar auditorium built
at st. Petersburg for musical purposes.
In this perfect auditorium these religious
pioneers have built the finest organ in
the world. They did not buy an organ;
they did not send to Europe for the best
expert that could be hired to make plans
for an organ; Brigham Young gave the
orders and showed them how, and, at a.
time when it might have seemed that
an organ was the last thing in the world
which was essential to their welfare,
when there were bitches to be built and
walls to be thrown around the settle
ment as protection against hostile In
dams, when there were streets to be laid
out and trees to be planted while all the
problems and difficulties q pioneer life
in an unwatered country were pressing
hard upon them, these Mormons went into
the hills to cut lumber for an organ. And
the organ for which they cut the lumber
was to be the largest in the world, and
the finest. And now, after fifty-six years
have passed away, the organ is ahead Of
all that has been accomplished by this
marvellous twentieth century age, in the
United States or in the old world. The
organ was finished in 1870, and for a quar-
ter Of a century, in this dry air, the wood
In the huge pipes has been seasoning and
adjusting it's fibre to the vibrations Of
sound, until it Is like an old violin In the
depth and richness Of the melody. Orig
for 1t, but now it is run like other modern
organs, by an electric motor. A few
years ago a Chicago organ company re-
ceived $4,000 to overhaul the organ, and
add to 1t 500 new pipes, and at the same
time the manuel was moved out to the
place it now occupies The barytone
stops in this organ are regarded as it's
unique feature and the imitation Of dis
tant quartet of male voices or of a full
choir Is a thing never to be forgotten by
those who have heard it. Nearly, every
afternoon the regular organist gives a
I, special recital for the benefit of tour
lists.
Art Ideas Of the Mormons.
Much has been said and written about
the economic system Of the Mormons, of
their cooperative stores, the tenure of
their lands, the strongly centralized organ
izatfon Of the church as an institution, and
Of the power which it yields commercially
and politically. But less has been said of
the artistic temperament and achievement
of these people 1t is less marvellous, in
way, that the church, with its tithes and
Its cooperative principles, should have
grown wealthy, than that a colony of re-
ligious zealots, prosecuted and driven be-
yond the bounds Of civilization, should
have had any thought for the merely
beautiful. The Puritan thought such
things waste of time, and exalted thrift