| Show 11 THE TEMPLE I I i I Ii The Last Stone is Ready I iII i-II NEARLY COMPLETED Recent Alterations in the Original Origi-nal Plant Plan-t WHAT THE BUILDING HAS COST I I I t Ketorlcal Sketch of the Location of the Ground and the Growth of the Great Zdlfice The last stone of the great Mormon temple is ready to be laid It will not be put in place Immediatoly S however the cut accompanying this article shows the immense structure as it stands today of course without the network of scaffolding that surrounds it the capstone I a round ball of granite three feet and I eight inches in diameterIS to be fitted on L the center tower of the east sidewhen all I six of the towers will be surmounted by a similar oval ball The delay in putting the capstone in place will be necessitated by a material de natIon from the original planthe familiar old time picture showing six straight spires reaching up towards the sky Instead of this there will be spires on five of ttha towers while the sixththe central eastern east-ern one now waiting for the final stone will bo crowned by a bronze representation representa-tion of tho angel Gabriel The figure of tho angel as it will stand on the granite ball is presented herewith It is from a design made by Dallin the sculptor and now ready for exhibition in the coming Fair The model in plaster is i only 40 inches high but the bronze figure itself will measure thirteen feet in heighth The model is to be sent at once to a factory in Salem 0 whore tho figure will bo made of hammered copper after the style of tho Bartholdi statue in I New York harbor It will weigh about a ton being hollow and it is expected will be finished in about three months and sent back The design then will bo to have the ceremonies of lay Ing the capstone take place on April 6 18n2 just thirtynine years from the date of tho equally impressive ceremonies that atten ded tho laying of the corner stone This does not mean that the final date of completion will be next April however the last piece of rock work will then be done and the angel put In place it is true but a prodigious amount of work remains to be done In the interior and it is questionable ques-tionable whether two years will see the last touches laid on It is known that President Woodruff is very desirous of having It completed next year if possible so that tho blank now remaining re-maining on the inscription cut into the front wall might be filled up The inscrip tion reads as followsexecuted in gold let ers let into a smooth stone HOLINESS TO THE LORD THE HOUSE OF THE LORD Built By = THE CHURCH or j = JESUS CHRIST OF V LATTERDAY SAINTS V V Commenced e APRIL THE din 1S53 Completed uu n Desirable as it might be to have the Swords S-words APRIL THE 6th 1S92 let into the blank space it is hardly probable so the architect Mr Young thinks that it can be done April Gth lt > 94 would be nearer to Mr Youngs estimate V HISTOUT OF THE TEMPLE Tho Temple block was the first piece of grotnd laid out in the settlement of Salt Lake city Brigham Young and the other founders of the city entered the Salt Lake valley July 24 1S47 The location of the Temple block is thus described in Bishop Whitneys forthcoming HISTORY OF UTAH advance chapters of which we have been permitted to see by the author V Describing the first explorations of the pioneers after they entered the valley he says The land passed over for about ten miles was barren and devoid of water A few miles south of a point where they stopped for nQon Orson Pratt ascending a high ridge saw for the first time Utah lake of which the river they had forded was the outlet Goats sheep and antelope were ceen at various points playing about and among the hills Crossing the valley eastward east-ward the party returned to the banks of City creek full T convinced fully from all they had yet seen that the most eligible site for their city lay in that locality Accord ingly that evening President Young accompanied ac-companied by the apostles proceeded to a pot between and a little below the forks of City creek and striking his cane in the earth said Here will be the temple of our God Hero arc tho forty acres for the temple The city can be laid out perfectly square north and south east and west It was then and there decided that the building of the city should begin at that place the templo block to contain forty acres and the city blocks surrounding to contain ton acres each exclusive of the streets The smaller blocks were to be subdivided into lots of ten rods by twenty giving one and a quarter acres to each lot The streets were to be eight rods wide intersecting at right angles with sidewalks twenty feet in width on either hand Tho houses should stand in the centers 1f the lots twenty feet back from the front Four city blocks wero reserved for public squares Such was the plan adopted by these city building Apostles in council At S p m the entire body of pioneer settlers convened at the Temple grounds and ratified rati-fied by unanimous vote tho action taken by their leaders The Apostles wero appointed appoint-ed a committee to superintend the laying out of the city Thus was Salt Lake City the Mormon metropolis planned and located locat-ed the date of the event being Wednesday dUlY 28 JMI oome moumcations were subsequently made in the original plan such as reducing the size of tho Temple block from forty to ten acres as being more convenient and as the city grew up over the foothills or benches the formation for-mation of blocks of five acres in lieu of ten Some of them were irregular also instead of perfectly square owing to the peculiar lay ol the land But in general the or V iginal plan remained unchanged LATINO OF THE CORNER STONES The laying of the corner stones of the Temple which took place April 1853 was a notable event long remembered by the pioneers The excavation and the work of building the adobe walls which still sur round the block had been commenced some time before and when the conference of April 1S53 came around there was an im mense gathering of people from all over Utah in attendance to witness the core monies An oldtime battered copy of the Dcxerct Kews contains the following account of tho exercisee that attended the event They will be reread with equal interest by old and new timers Wednesday April 6 1853 could not have dawned a more lovely dar or hare l I been more satisfactory to saints or angels The distant valleys sent forth their inhabi ants this valley swarmed forth its thou ands and a more glorious sight has not been seen for generations than at Great 1 Lake city this day The Deseret national flag was unfurled toCa the breeze The Nauvoo brass band Captain Ballos band and the Military band enlivened the air with their sweet strains The Silver Greys made a venerable appearance appear-ance and the minutemen true to their duty were at their posts at an early hour The police under the efficient management of Captain Hardy were at their posts at thee tim the-e appointed and the countenances of ho saints were as glad and cheerful as hough each had been favored with tho vis tation of an angel The procession proces-sion then formed at the vestry door in the following order Martial music Colors Nauvoo Brass Band Colors Ballos Band Colors C ptain Pettigrew with Relief Guards Colors Singers First President and Counselors and aged Patriarchs The Twelve Apostles First Presidency of tho V Seventies and President and Counselors Coun-selors oJthe Elders Quorum I resident of the High Priests Quorum and Counselors In connection with the President of the Stake and the High Council Presiding Bishop with his Counsol and the Presidents of the Lesser Priesthood and their Counsel Architects and Workmen selected for the Day with banner representing Zions Workmen Captain Merrill with Relief Guards in V Uniform The procession then marched through the line of guards to the southeast corner of the Temple ground the singers taking their position in the centre the Nauvoo brass band on the east bank Captain Ballos band on the west bank and the marshal band on the mound southwest Captains Pottigrew Hardy and Merrill with their commands occupying the front of the bank which was sixteen feet deep and moving from corner to corner with the laying of the several stones prevented an undue rush of the people which might by an excavation excava-tion have endangered the lives of many then Presidents Young Kimball and Richards Rich-ards with Patriarch John Smith proceeded I to lay the southeast corner stone and ascended as-cended the top thereof when the choir sang President Young delivered the chief oration and Heber C Kimball offered the consecration prayer The procession again formed and moved to the southwest corner when the presiding presid-ing bishop Edward Hunter his counsel and tho various presidents of the lesser priesthood with their associates laid the southwest corner stone when from its top Bishop Hunter delivered the oration and Bishop Alfred Cordon offered the consecration consecra-tion prayer The procession again formed and moved to the northwest cornerstone accompanied with martial music when John Young president of the high priests quorum with his counsel and the president of the stake with the high council proceeded to lay the I stone That being done they ascended the stone and President John Young delivered the oration and George B Wallace offered the consecration prayer The procession again formed and proceeded V pro-ceeded to the northeast corner tone which I was laid by the Twelve Apostles the firs presidency of the seventies and the presidency presi-dency of the elders quorum The Apostles then ascended the stone and Elder P P Pratt delivered the oration and Orson Hyde offered the consecration prayer GROWTH OF THE BUILDING It should not be imagined that tho build ing as it stands today represents thirty nine years of actual work There have been many interruptions of its progress I those best informed estimating that not more than half that period represents the actual operations Then for years all the rock was hauled from the quarries in Little Cottonwood cafion by teammostly by ox team at that Every Salt Laker of the age of thirtyfive and downward reralls as a boy the curious spectacle of six and eight toiling oxen drawing a cart underneath which was suspended by chains a monster rock from the mountains It frequently took four days to bring a single rock from the quarry to the Temple block and the road was strewn with the wreckage wagons and carts unable to boar the strain put on them The invasion by Johnsons army in 1837 the devastation and hard times caused by crickets and grasshoppers and later the call for laborers by the advent ad-vent of the Union Pacific railroad all caused interuptlons of the work for several year the walls stood covered only a few feet above the ground the completion of the railroad to the quarries however removed the great difficulties under which the work had struggled aud practically the building has been erected In the last fifteen years THE ARCHITECTS Truman O Angell made the original plans of the building and remained in charge of the Construction UD till the time hicrlnnrh four years ago The architect William Ward who was then in his employ did V much of the actual drawing and lent valuable valu-able aid The designer in fact however was President Young himself He described de-scribed to Angell the building as he saw it ia his minds eye gave the dimensions of the walls the heighth of the towers and spires their number etc and with these suggestions as a guide the original draw inns were made up They are still in the architects office in the Temple block and are objects of great interest For the last four years the construction has been under the direction of Don Carlos Young the present architect to whom THE HERALD is indebted for the greater part of its information Mr Young is a son of the late President and although a young man is an architect of experience taste and I skill the Templeton hotel is his work anc I the progress in the Temple during the time he has hadcharge and tho present operations opera-tions there show not that only he is en rapport with his work but that he is fully able to carry his fathers magnificent design to a successful completion The present superintendent of construction con-struction on the yards is Charles Livincston he sucoaadad tha late w t JL J l 11III JOT to James Moyle who had charge of the working forces for so many years prior to his death DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDI GIn G-In the course of an interesting conversation conversa-tion with Architect Young a representative representa-tive of THE HERALD learned many details of interest concerning the Temple which have not been previously published The old Angell drawings show the six towers somewhat lower in height than they stand todny The east and west central towers are surmounted by spires on the peak of which were weather vanessmall horizontal horizon-tal figures of an angel Mr Young says that except for raising the towers several courses of stone doing away with the vanes and placing the large bronze figure of Gabriel on the central eastern tower tne outside design of the building is very little pleto and simple at the same time a diagram dia-gram was made of every course and of every stone in the course The bottom course was called A course the next above B course and so on up the wall and down the alphabet till Z course was reached Then A2 was started A3 ect until the alphabet al-phabet had been exhausted six times making mak-ing a total of 156 courses of rock laid Mr Angell had every rock numbered and marked with the course to which it belonged be-longed Ho made out duplicate bills sent one to the quarry showing just what rocks he wanted and they were cut out and marked there and then sent into the city where the work of finishing and chiselling them was carried on the number of rocks that has passed through the hands of the stone cutters on the block would rise into figures that would make one dizzy to contemplate con-template Mr Young said he should devote himself someday to the work of ascertaining ascertain-ing from the records the exact number He was asked whether the scaffolding at present seen around the building would remain re-main there until the capstone was laid No was his response we shall have the five finials spires for all the towers but the central east one cast here at once I as soon as donewhich I hope will only bo a matter of a few weeks they will be put I in place All the scaffolding on the west 1 end will then come down and that part of the building Jar as exterior work Is concerned I con-cerned will be finishes A great deal of tho scaffolding on the east end can then betaken be-taken away as well and only enough left in place to aid In putting the figure of the angel in place which I expect will be next AprilWhere Where will be the principal entrance of tho building the reporter asked There is to be an annex erected on the north of the temple sixty by one hundred L feet This will be the reception place or the business department of the temple the annex will be connected with the main L building by an underground passage one hundred feet long leading to the basement of the temple What are the intentions regarding the lighting of the building Electricity will be used throughout though gas pipes will also be laid The i Temple will have its own plant and I estimate esti-mate that we will furnish 1000 lights to the > I building and 1000 more to the Tabernacle We shall have four 100horse power engines near the annex The smoke stack you can now see is partially completed The present pres-ent idea Is to have electric wires running up the spires ofall the towers and to have a 100 candlelight fixed to the crown of the angel so that if ever an illumination of the building were wanted a spectacle of great magnificence could be seen It would be something of a problem how to replenish tho candle in the of tho crown angel when one burnt out concluded Mr Young re 11eotivel but nil some of these candles will 1 Jit t Yf J burn 3000 hours and as they would not be used very frequtly the problem would not arise very often What about heating I The hot water system will be adopted The main pipe twelve inches will connect with the boilers S30 feet distant The main is not buried in the earth but laid in a stone lined tunnel so that it can be gotten at at any time We will have the Mills system applied to hot watersomething I beliovo entirely new The pipe will run up through the northwest corner tower through the roof and emptyinto a huge expansion tank from which smaller heating pipes radiate to all parts of the building The temperature tempera-ture thus secured will beevenpleasantand healthful Ventilation will be secured by pressingeleotric buttons which will throw open transoms in the various rooms and start sixteen fans each ot onehalf horse I t i e = J < EVQ V t = 1 < t 2 I r 1 I I i = V changed from the original It should bo mentioned however that the first designs contemplated buildincthe edifice of adobe an idea fortunately abandoned with the discovery dis-covery of the granite quarries close to the city Mr Young thinks howeverthat the dimensions marked out for adobe walls were allowed to remain for tho ganite The interior designs however are almost entirely altered Following are some ot the principal dimensions di-mensions To end of To top of rouorl rpirct Height or central east tower 210 ft 223k ft Height of central west tower 2H ft 219 ft Height of side east towers ISi ft itO ft Height of side west towers 182 ft ill ft Height of walls u 16755 ft ihlckness of walls bottom 9 ft Thickness of walls at top 6 ft Thickness of buttresses 7 ft Mr Young said the plans made by architect archi-tect Angell for the rock work were corn power The boilers are suppled with Mur phys patent smokeless furnaces selfstok ers Will the building have any elevators Yes two passenger elevators both in the west central tower The elevators will run up level with the roof only A handrail hand-rail will be built on the roof so that people can step out from the elevatorupon the roof without danger There are also spiral stairs leading to the top in all the towers All the steps are granite cut by hand and there are 250 of them in the main tower These steps cost about 100 each so Mr Young says The plumbing is now almost completed It is in the hands of MIdgley Davis Ho wo Co put on the metal roof and the tinning re as done by David James Co The stonework stone-work plastering and carpenter work is all I done by the Temple blook force THE INTERIOR Carpenters and plasterers now have pos J > 1 lii 111I r 4 f 1 V I H 1 V TV 1IfiuV V i IiaJ41i 1L iI tW I II H t = V V I j session of the interior At present only chaos reigns and it is not possible to gain V much of an idea of what it will be like There are four floors however counting the basement Each floor except the top is divided into rooms of varying sizes The top floor is completely occupied by an assembly as-sembly room 80 feet wide by 120 long capable capa-ble of seating about 1000 persons The ceiling ceil-ing is thirtysix feet in height Everything is i to be done In hard finishpure white will be the rule throughout The large room referred to is now In the hands of the plasterers plas-terers and the work already done shows that the whole will be of striking beauty In the basement there will bo marble floors or floors of Mosaic tiling Elsevhere they will bo of wood The main contra wall is of brick twentyeight inches thick and rests on stone piers A superb stone arch which spans fortytwo feet supports the whole wall An excavation for a baptismal font is seen on the lower floor The font will be of bronze supported on the backs of twelve hfo sized oxen the designs of which are now executed COST OF THE TEMPLE Many wild statements have been made regarding the cost of the building but nothing authentic has been published at lsast in recent yearn Five eight and even ten millions have been given as the figures but all are equally wide of the mark From information informa-tion received from entirely authentic au-thentic sources THE HERALD is enabled to say that the cost of construction up to this time is in round numbers 2500000 ft is estimated that from a quarter to half a million more will be needed to finish it The two and a half million already expended of course do not mean that amount of money in the currency of today As high as 10 per day in the old times was paid for a man and his team the cost of transportation on the rock was ten times what it is today when the railroad lays down a ten ton car V load in the yaras for about 10 Then too the reporter learned at thesohurch omces the entire foundation was taken up after the move the time of Johnsons invasion inva-sion and replaced by order of President i Younsr who learned that certain faults ex istcd in the construction of the lower i I courses THE GREAT WORK I V that has taken half a generation to perform is therefore nearing its end The music of the rock workers to which so many of us have grown up will be stilled at last and the noble architectural pile the result of their years of toil will stand for centuries after they and we are forgotten theat traction that shall spread the fame of our fair city and stand as A lasting monument of the patience enterprise and sincerity of her people VV = V V V = = = V V V |
