THE CITY OF THE SAINTS. A Chat with a Mormon Agent.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 130, 28 November 1885, Page 5

THE CITY OF THE SAINTS. A Chat with a Mormon Agent.

So little is known about Mormonwm, and so muoS curiosity has recently bfeen shown, respecting that eecN that tbe "'PaII Mali Gazette " decided to take advantage of the conference, which the Latter Day Saints laUly held in London in order to gather a few faota. Tbe following acoount of an interview with one of its representatives 'liad with Mr C W. Penropo, the intelligent and talented prerident of the c inference, will doubtless be read with inttreat : —

The Missing Plates. Who has not heard of the*e noarwlloup plates covered vith hieroglyphics which were revealed to Joseph Smith, found by him on a hill four miles from Palmyra, in cout.ty Ontario ? '• Can you t«>ll me what has become of theee piatep?' s«i() our repre sentative, after pome preHminary remark*. "I have peen the declaration Pinned by Oliver C>wdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, in which they cay, '• Wi'h words of poherness," then IC an angel of God came down from heaven, and brought arid 'aid baforo our eyes, that we beheld and paw the pltre* and the engravings thereon." • hece tables were, they paid, bound f ogether ' by three ling? running through them, and rhe plutep, if I remember right, were some' »»i«?ht inches long by seven inches wide. With these was an instrument called by Smith " Cnmand Thumnaim,"a mycterinup ■^nrfc of f-tone epecfacles, by the help of which he translated " The 1 Book of Mormon." *' Well, what ba* become of the plates of Uiim and Thumraim?'' Oar reprefeatative'i* curiosity had long been etcite«i over the fd'e of the j plate* : what, an addition they would be to fhe Britith Mui-eum ! Alas ! according to Mr Penrope, the identical ancel who pro-duc-d the plates reappeared when the woikof translation was done and carried ba*-k with h\m to heaven Urim, Thummim, tin plates, and all. So no mortal will see them until he died. As a compensation for the lo«s, Mormons have ever »-ince been abld to work miracle-*, prophesy, intei pret diveiS kinds of tonuuep, and have po^esfred various other yif ts denied to the rest of mankind, i

Tbe City of the Saints. "Salt Lake Cify, founded on July 24 1847," oheeived Mr Penrose, "by a smtll j company of gallant pioneers, now contain"* over 20 OOJ inhabitants. The streets are tour or five times as wide a% your Oxford street, while pleasant streams of water flow at the sided of almost every street, with avenues of limes and other trees, giving a delicious shade." As for the pub ie buildings, as Mr Penrose de-cribed them, they are highly creditable to their erec r on?. ' In the Tabernacle the first thing that striken a -tranter is a large fountain which in the heat or summer renders the building deliuiou?ly cool. Running round the building is a gallery capable of eea'iug 4,000 people. At the went end, toweiing to the roof, is one of the large-t and bent organs in the States. Here the chief religious cc emonies are transacted and in Older to avoid a crush at the time of exit a capital plan had been adopted, from which, if I may Pay so without i-npertinenc , 1 think your theatremight well take a hint. The roof rer»ts upon forty-four pillars ; between more than half of these pillars are foloing doors. These, when the service or mooting w over, are all thrown open at once, and in an incredibly t-hort tpace of time the building U quite tmpt.y. It was" in this edifice that Adelina Patti gave a concert on her recent, visit to America. 6he vraohirmed with its ac<>usiic-tl properties, and, moreover, exprest-td hereelt much p'eaced with all she saw in Utah. Bern >c* the Tabernacle there is" a more important edifice now in course of erection know n as ' The Temp'e !' Here our marriages, baptUms — for wnich, by the way, there will be a font 57 by 35 ft., with ?eve ral rouma and ptesages rouui it prayer meeting*, confirmations. &C , will be celebrated. It would occupy roo long to tel you all about the pub ie buildings in Salt Lake City. We have banks, schools, and hotels while there i$ foremost among the attractions to our hippy land that rtmukable sheet of water the 1 still innocent-, Dead Sea,' aa it has been called, and better known as —

"Tbo Great Salt Lake." '• In what does ita attruc iveneps consist?" you a^k. *' What'e the use of a Uke in whose waters are no fi.-h and of which the water is undiinkable?' : "Fii>t and loiemost are the exqui»ite scenery eff-ccs Picture to youn-elf if you can a sheet of water from eeveuty to eiyhty miles long and dome forty miles wide, with lovely ranges of mountains, for many months of the year capped with enow, fur a background, with picturesque inlands dotted all abuut, and >ou have a scene euch as would please your Mr Rut- kin himself. Then the l*ke is much ut<ed ia the pummer time for bathing purposes. It is true that when 3011 come out from your dip you are covered from be*d ti foot with particles of salt, which make your appearance, to sty the leait, somewhat extraordinary. But many a time have I bathed from the foot of Blar'k Rock, a d I have never known such exhilarating effects a^ result from a bath iv the waters of the Great Salt Lake."

The Drink Question. "In a pretty little town, called Provo, situated fome fifty miles away from the capital and connected with it by rail, the drink question ha* been solved in a manner which bus proved entirely satisfactory. There are 4 000 inhabitanti-." ''And how m*ny public houses ?" "Not a single one. l he population consists almost exclusively of Mormons, and those who cannot do with out spirituous liquor mut-t go elsewhere." " I* this atno the ca-je in Salt, Luke City ?' ♦'No," replied Mr Penrose, pa'ily shaking his head. "There are too many un believer?. Still even there, thanks to our great influence, . comparatively speaking there are but few drinking bare. The feef for taking out a license are so heavy that few cm afford to pay them The result is that such as there are are of a high class. For instance, such dreadful hells as the bars in many parts of London would be absolutely impossible." "In fact, even over drinking you manage to throw a h-ilo of respeotibility ?" "Exactly so," replied Mr Penrose, with a ftnile.

The Mission in Great Britain. '•We have had e^ersince 1837 missionaries" who, following the example set them by the twelve Apotles, have pet out without •scrip' or 'thought for the morrow,' and have journ6)ed through di-tant land* making converts. At the present time we have branches of onr Church in all the principal towns in England, Wale*, and Ireland ; among other places at Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester, Leeds, Nottingham, Sundtrland, Glasgow, Dublin, the L?le of Man, and in London we have as rainy a* uit meeting-houi-es. This will show the activity of the. movement. In' far-a\vay : Sdan'dinavia, f too, we "have mi?eionarie«} most or 'the converts prefer joining their brethren in 'he faith to stopping in Europe. - Hience the lartie ri umber of emigrants;; This, yeariffour^-companie^, ., aver4gitig - tbj'ee hundred each, have left'Liperpool ' fqr/thV land S 6f tbe^ftintis: * Whfen:t,hey l i'eacK' luwa the cmigrftato eottlo down fir und wide »i

farmers or ioibufiineM,. Their thriftlnoss.ie a^sfc>xemuiar|,' anji it U not fyrig before they are'ableskoffer payment 1 for tbepaQS*'" aj^-s of theifieflovv r« li^iuni^tsand poor reUtions at hotn^h ,w c have be<*n , charged withinduciwyo^ng gi»l- to emi^e : new. thin id utteHy /alee. M uch h^'s been i* aid Huainst ourppl.Vgrtmouß practices ; lies, are ciruulttted that >|J Moi moua are pol> gamiete. Vhii is far from *true. Why, there' are numbers of pur rt-ligion who havebutbnb wife; and in Utah among the Mutmonrthere are actually, according to the Ceusui> rtJturtiP, 6 000 more mate than females <>i couwe we all approve of polygamy. , VVith^ vi there is none of that awtul immorality -•uch a«« was so courageously expot-od quite rocently by the '* Pall Mall Gazette." fc veu prrjudtced travellera are bound to adrui 1 (hat the moral tone of our cities ia edifying in the extreme. And now I wish to *ay a few words about the abominable treatment to which we have in our helplessuous betn compelled pasrively to submit."