The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-09-03
WHAT HURTS SALT LAKE.

For over ten years which the writer dare count
there has been sale at various places III thls Guy
libelouS pictures and souvenirs OF Utah. gross eN-
aggerations of Mormon life and customs OF early
times. Some of the places where their presence
should be excluded are the very ones selected
for exhibition and sae for instance, the better
class of hotels and news depots, patronzed by the
traveller whose visit to Utah extends not over day
two. Unable to verify disprove by observa-
ton all that he has heard about Utah IN the east
to the discredit of its people, the transient buys
these pictures and Jugs them along III his baggage
He is gone; and the next we hear is lurld story
told of Utah's degredation exploited in some news
paper or cheap magazine The pictures substantl-
ate the story. Why not they were bought in Salt
Lake and at of its principal hotels.
Since the turning down of Salt Lake on the vote
for permanent headquarters of the mining con
gress, aggravated by the insults heaped upon its
delegates and the people they represented at Port
land last week, few of our citizens have put their
heads together. Introspecton is more essential
than retrospection Those ibelous pictures Had
they not great deal to do with creating a hostile
feeling towards Utah! Strange we never thought
of it before.
-Aiu J0u, cNclS tIIp d l Van uldu Hldue east, dI
every place he stopped he was object of curl
osity. Mormon or non-Mormon, it made no differ
ence. No less than dozen wives! And was his
head fiat top; and where did he leave his whis-
kers! The writer was actually asked such ques-
tions by sincere believers at social gathering in
Chicago during the Worlds fair
We are glad to see the Tribune initiating Wig
orous campaign against the exhibition and sale of
the hbelous pictures because, years ago, many Of
them were undoubtedly drawn from Imagination
inspired by its editorial writings. From no other
paper in Utah could the same effect proceed.
This is what the Tribune said the other day
on llbelous souvenirs and how they hurt Salt Lake.
To what extent Salt Lakes chances of acquiring
the permanent home of the American Mining congress
We're injured and how far advertising of our at
fractions is offset by the souvenir Photographs sold to
tourists can only be surmised, but there doubt
that incaculable harm has been wrought by these
pictorial Misrepresentation.
When tourist buys souvenir postal card or
photo at Denver the subject is usually one of the
prides the state in point of beauty or interest
When the same tourist comes TO Salt Lake and buys
souvenir the generally taken is of the grossest
description Thousands of these photos mirroring 70
represent Salt Lake annually sent out from this
city and there can be question that they play
important part in keeping alive the false idea Of
The other day at the stand of a leading no
tel Tribune reporter thirty-six pictures and
Mormon Family, Pennington" eleven The
Empty Pillow. six This Shop to Let nine; THE
First among the Women" ten
These pictures were first published about thirty
years ago and have been ready sellers since.
True, there many coored postals of the Salt
ace, Beehive and Amelia houses and very bad
likeness of Brigham Young, but the beous ones are
the best sellers.
The house Of the Mormon family was taken in
1865, and probably it at Pennington for it pic
lures poverty, the homespun, wretched ,hoyel and
badly dressed people. It has been through many
Photographic processes that it makes the look
like savages and the real legend is obliterated But
this photo goes broadcast throughout the world
representative Mormon home and family
THE Empty Pillow is from a cartoon in 1877 by
j. keppler, the famed cartoonist and was published
at the time of the leaders death in Of the east
ern magazines The others also vulgar cartoons
They for sale at almost every news stand in
the city and at many of the leading book stores.
of them go out with each year and they
certainly do their share towards keeping alive the
accepted idea Of Salt Lake TO the detriment of this
city and state.
eigners do not. The pioneer shanty of Pennington is
taken 3 sample of the average house of the day,
and thought is given to the fact that on Capitol
hill in this city is a mansion built by u Mormon
which is the peer of any house between Omaha and
San Francisco.
Thus while Denver is flooding the world with COL
ored pictures of the coumbne the mines, the royal
gorges and canyons, Denver's leading buildings,
pixies peak and the rest Utah sends as it's rep
resentative scenes pictures like these No consdera
ton is given to the Moab Datural bridge the sego
lily, the famed Uintah range Old Nebo-which is as
grand a mountain as Pixies peak--the mines of a
dozen camps and so on. Nothing but the Mormon
pictures which the postal authorities could in
nent prevent being sent through the mails and
few of the well worn scenes about the city.
And yet the very whose business 1t is to help |
build up Utah daily selling the pictures which |
lamn their home.