The National tribune., 1909-04-08
ANSWERS TO
CORRESPONDENTS.

G. S. Brigham City, Utah: The his
tory of Mormonism would fill big
book. The founder of the sect, official
ly known as THE Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints" was Jos.
Smith. In 1927, near Palmyra, N. Y,
Smith claimed to have found golden
plates bearing written revelation. A
pair of spectacles was found with the
plates, and this enabled Smith to inter
pret the Inscriptions. Smith as young
man was known for fortune and dream
telling vagaries. The contents of the
plates formed what is known as the
Book of Mormon" Mormon was the
leader of the lost tribes of Israel, and
his wanderings as related in the book
consist of tumble of sayings and do
ings, and are not even interesting read
| ing. The book was printed in 1880, and
unbelievers asserted it to be nothing
| more than a romance, written some
years previously by one Spaulding, but
never published. The same year the
| Church was organized, with Smith as
President. From time to time Smith
announced special revelations on yari-
Gus subjects. One of these, privately
announced in 1S43, but not publicly
known till nine years later, reversed the
| teaching of the Book of Mormon and
sanctioned polygamy. With the main
body of the Mormons polygamy. tho
not practiced by all, was defended and
encouraged. In 1881 the Church re-
moved to Ohio, built temple at Kirk
| land, but they became obnoxious and
were driven out. Mormons had mean
while begun to settle in Missouri. They
were driven hence in 1898, and came
| back to Illinois, where on the banks of
| the Mississippi they founded a city
called Nauvoo C"beautiful"). Here also
| they became obnoxious because of their
| resistance to the legal authorities and
| their supposed immoralities. In 1874
| the Governor of the State called out the
militia. but Smith and his brother sur
| rendered on the Governors pledge of
their safety. A mob, however, broke
into the jail where they were confined
and killed both of them. Brigham
Young took Smiths place as leader
and resistance to the Government was
continued. In 1916 the emigration of
the Mormons to new and unsettled
region west of the Rocky Mountains
began. The country was then a part
of Mexico. In 1S48 they were collected
at Salt Lake City and in other parts of
Utah. which is still their stronghold,
tho the neighboring States and Terri
tories and even more distant places con-
tain some of the sect. They attempted,
without success, in 1850, to obtain
Utah's admission to the Union as 1.-The
State of Deseret" ("the land of the
honey -bee"). When Utah was organ
lied as Territory in that year, Young
was appointed Governor by President
Fillmore. The Mormons for many years
continued course of terrorizing, which
drove away Federal officers, Judges and
other "Gentiles," as they called nom
believers, and Young was removed from
the Governorship. In 1857 the Nor
mons were guilty of the murder of 100
or more emigrants. This Mountain
hTar II
till 1877, when John D. Lee was exc
cuted for his participation in it. From
1857 to 1859 Federal soldiers were kept
in Utah to support the National Off
cials, and they met with some resist
ance. In 1882 Congress passed what is
known as the Edmunds bill, approved
March %. making polygamy a msde-
meanor and practically denying the
franchise to polygamists. In 1877
Young died, and was succeeded by John
Taylor as head of the Church, and he
in turn by others. Young was a re-
markable executive, and built up a
prosperous people in the desert. He
was master of the situation. and kept
every man busy, either erecting tenn.
pies or digging irrigation bitches and
cultivating the land. His constructive
genius must be admitted. He had in
all 10 wives. Utah was later admitted
as a State, and is now represented in
Congress. A son of Joseph Smith left |
the Utah Mormons, and his followers |
have headquarters at Lamont, Iowa. |
and are known as "The Reorganized |
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day |
Saints" They rejected polygamy, for |
practicing which some of the Utah |
leaders suffered terms in prison.
T. c. B., Milan, o.: We cannot pre-
dict whether or not frost wave will |
ever sweep down over The National |
Tribune colony lands in Florida The |
weather observer at Washington, the |
evening before the Inauguration of |
President Taft, declared that March / |
1909, would be fair and COOL" If there |
was ever as bad weather in Washington |
as it had on the evening of March 3 and |
the morning of March the oldest in |
habitant has forgotten it. The fore /
caster explained the unexpected condi- |
tion as the result of bareback" an |
outbound storm bunted into a storm on |
the Atlantic Ocean, and it kicked back |
Nobody can predict just what the
weather may be all the time. Forum |
ately "farebacks" in Washington and |
killing frosts half way down the penin- |
sula of Florida are not yearly events |
The south half of the peninsula is prac.
tlcally safe from dangerous frosts. Oc- |
caslonaliy vagrant northern frost in |
vades the State and pushes its way
down below the center and nips tender |
growth.
M. F. G., Golf, Idaho: The Mountain
Meadow massacre occurred about 80 |
miles southwest of Cedar City, Utah, on
Sept. IL, 1857. A wagon train of Ar I
kansas emigrants, some 80 families, en-
route to California, was fired on by In
dians Sept. Z. They formed a corral.
and after a siege of four days they sur
rendered to the Mormon Nauvoo Le-
g1on, under command of John u leo
who promised protection, but all, ex-
cept IL children under eight years of
age, were massacred. On March 90,
1877. Lee was shot to death by order
of the Federal Court on the site of the
massacre, after being found guilty of
murder.
j. c., Mcintosh, N. NJ: The last Con-
gress made no changes in pension rat
PENSIONSl BOUNTIESI