BISHOP MORAN'S LECTURE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume X, Issue 519, 16 March 1883, Page 11

BISHOP MORAN'S LECTURE.

Salt Lake City consists of 23,000 inhabitants, and presents the appearance o£ an ordinary colonial town, with gardens and water in the streets — just a knocked-down and knocked-up colonial town (Laughter). The tabernacle was worth seeing. It was peculiar in shape. Take an egg divide it lengthwise and put it on pillars and you have the tabernacle. Tue interior is seated, and is said to form the largest hall on the American Continent. In appearance it is like the other half of the egg divided into seats. What he had read of its acoustic properties be found had not been exaggerated. So perfect are they that a pin may be heard fall, and a person Bpeaking in an ordinary tone can be distinctly heard by 15,000 people. This he thought very wonderful and worth remarking. Another remarkable thing is that the building can be emptied in two minutes. The doors are numerous and. they all open outwards. This ought to be a useful lesson to architects and governments. Near the tabernacle, is the Temple, built of white granite in enormous blocks. The tabernacle is used only on great occasions. It is very cold in winter being 4000 ft. above the level of the sea. From Ogden eastwards is to be found the best scenery on the American Continent. Although the route lies across the Rocky Mountains, there is only one place where the traveller is sensible of the descent. A great absence of timber may be noted. The summit of the mountains is in Wyoming State, the land of which appears to be poor ; then comes the State of Nebraska, which is prairie country. To Omaha on the Missouri river, 300 miles of prairie is passed, a very dreary journey — no > towns or cities. Settlement there is only opening. 'Omaha may be described as a few scattered houses in the forest. The Missouri river is crossed on an iron bridge which is very high and very narrow. The train crosses at a snail's pace. The bridge looks as if a strong wind would blow it into the river, the banks of which are steep and the river sluggish. The land is rich, however. Passing on through lowa to Illinois the homesteads are well-built and comfortable, presenting an air of prosperity. Chicago has risen to an enormous city in a very few years. Many years ago in Dublin, he (the speaker) knew a young man a native of Chicago. When he was young it contained about 500 inhabitants ; it now contains a population of 600,000 or 600,000. The city is beautifully built oa a dead flat. There are no bills for hundreds of miles around and no water procurable but from the lake, The great fire, a few years ago, consumed an area of four miles by one mile of the city. This has all been rebuilt in stone or brick, the houses being six or seven storeys high. There are some very large hotels there. The Palmer House has accommodation for 2000 guests— and forms a little world. A stranger approaching the city from the west asks how the population is supplied with water, and is told that out in the Lake (Michigan) is a high tower, to which a tunnel is driven from the city. Through that tunnel, water is conveyed to the city and pumped into high towers. The city sewage flowa into the lake, but it is said that only for three or four" weeks in flood time is there any difficulty on that subject. When it becomes necessary, another tunnel will be constructed four or five miles further into the lake. Chicago is a great depot for corn, pork and beef —which are despatched in enormous quantities by lail and ships, the route being open by the lakes and canals to the eastern seaboard and Europe. So great are the energy and enterprise of that people.— The Bishop then described minutely a visit to the slaughter houses, where, by the aid of machinery, the animals are slaughtered and dressed in incredible numbers. Last year, five and a half million hogs and hundreds of thousands of cattle were slaughtered there. The grain elevators were next described, by which ships may be loaded almost as rapidly as it can be described. These things have made Chicago one of the Queen cities of the world. It is the third on that Continent, New York and Philadelphia alone being more populous. From Chicago, the falls of .Niagara may be reached by three routes. The traveller will be disappointed with the falls— the country around is too Eat. Still the falls themselves are -very wonderful. As you look down on them, the river has the appearance of a huge ditch. But a fall of 200 feet of such a volume of water must be grand. The river is very wide and rapid. Amongst the most remarkable things are the bridges, of wtuch there are two. They are at a height of 198 feet above the nyer, which at that point is three-fourths of a mile broad. The bridges are suspension bridges ; and, as the train crosses, the sensation is not a pleasant one. No New Zealander, who has travelled much in the Colony and knows its scenery, will be much astonished at the American scenery. From Niagara to New York, the route lies through a lovely country, highly cultivated. It is known as the valley of the Mohawk and the Hudson. The city of Albany is passed having a population of 17,000. As the traveller approaches New York, evidences of a great commercial emporium become apparent, lhe city is built on what was known as Manhattan Island— cut off from the mainland by Bivers Bast and West. It has a population^ - one and a half millions of people. Brooklyn, immediately adjacent, contains half a million, and New Jersey 200,000. As the city of London and its suburbs from London, so New York aud its suburbs «»It ca f P ?£ U la ' lon lof1 of between two and three millions. In the older parts oi me city the streets are narrow and dirty, especially around the port. Nothing Vas to seen 80 fine a 8 j^^^y Paris . Ad . croons are yearly being made. Fifth Avenue is very fine, but nothing approaching London. It contains the marble palace built by A. x. btewart, and three palaces in marble built by Mr. Vanderbilt— tor nimselt, his son, and his daughter. St. Patrick's Cathedral is a ' notable building. It i s 333 fee t in length, and has been erected of hne white marble and granite, within 25 years, by the offerings of the people, at a cost; of £800,000. This they have done in that short period, besides providing for the erection and equipment of churches and schools in every pait of the diocese. It may be contrasted with ttie Oatnedral of Cologne which has been built of Bofter stone, during Xt 8 t ° r 60 ° years> Since 184O) all Germany h ** been helping that work. Cologne Cathedral possesses great historical interest, and nas two towers, each 520ffc. high, from which most extensive views may be had. At this point, the speaker expressed a fear that he was wearying the audience, He had not authorised anyone to announce

that his lecture would take them back by the Cape. He would take them to Cork, and hoped on a future occasion to speak to them of his visit to the Cape.— (Applause.) Resuming his remarks, he briefly described his visit to Philadelphia, which is reached by express train in one hour and fifty minutes from New York. It has a population of 800,000, and was established by the Quakers. That element is plainly visible in the streets, and the dress of the people. Throughout the Continent he had been mistaken for an Anglican clergyman — they alone of the clergy wearing a dress like his own. He was told, however, that it was the dress of all.the Quakers, and he was not afraid to go there. — (A laugh.) The streets form a vista of enormous length — one street in particular, it is said, being twelve miles long. Some of the public buildings are on a very great scale— the post office, in particular. But it must be recollected that Pennsylvania has a population of four millions. The city is one which should be seen by all travellers. Ships from Liverpool and all nations lie at the harbour. Indeed, the whole eastern seaboard is noted for its fine harbours and length of navigable rivers. — The voyage from New York to Queenstown is performed in six or seven days. — The Bishop, amid much applause, concluded an exceedingly interesting lecture, by promising to speak of the return journey, via the Cape of Good Hope, on his next visit to Roxburgh. Mr. Mervyn, M.C.C., said- he had listened with great pleasure to the very able and interesting lecture they had just heard. He was very glad to hare been present, as it enabled him to see the country as clearly as if he had been there himself. This he considered a great feature of travel. He hoped the people of this district would have an early opportunity of hearing the remainder of the journey related by the Bishop, who could do so in such an apt and able manner. He moved that a cordial vote of thanks be given to Bishop Moian for the lfefejttre.— (Applause.) Dr. Maclachlan seconded the motion, which wtl,put and carried by acclamation. The meeting then closed with a vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by Bishop Moran, and heartily responded to by the audience. — Mount Benger Mail, March 6.