| Show A VISIT TO tile ehe MORMONS lonz rons tal THE following article appears inthe in the muon bullion a mining journal published at kocor socorro ra new mexico the editor mr 11 ac chas has longuemare recently visit tais city and expressed much plea 92 essat at the enterprise and industry of ie de utah utah mormons cormons Mor mons during the first days of last month we accompanied charles E willard Willar dand and charles E gross of hartford connecticut to salt lake city while there we spent our time timely lri ini s securing e reliable data relating to thena the pa tural resources of utah ann anz aud and industries les of 0 the mormons cormons Mor mons in this connection we will say tha that we lost none of our time jn in the investigation of the religion of the followers of joseph smith is as the bullion does doeg not deal with spiritual matters the mormon question is simply a question of conscience morals and law which tv ill III be re regulated u in time by congressional legislation and by the courts of the country the valley of the tha utah was settled ut ye year iz benton missouri about that time expressed his desire that the mormons cormons be demanded to put a battalion in lix the geld field as aa the war with mexico wa vas then being waged the mormons cormons readily consented consented and the battalion did good ser sex service vice it was then they discovered the first gold oid old at slitters mill while diggs diggie a mill race thus the discovery of gold in california is due to them upon their return to slit silt lake they brought with them an ild tin immense mense quantity ot of gold dust and buc gets where it was sacked or placed in common steelyards steel yards we aero tere were informed that gold was then more plentiful than wheat the site upon which salt lake Is built and in fact the whole of the utah valley at the time of its occupation by the mormons cormons presented an uninviting inyl ting ap appearance ea rance the plain was covered witt with a thick growth of stunted sage brush and the soll soli was white with its iti coating boatin oi of alkali it was under these unpromising conditions that the settlement jentof of utah was inaugurated today to day thesbe th escene c Is changed the valley woiday of 0 the etah utah from prose provo to its limits presents a panorama of beauty thrift and aid ald prosperity utah lake and a number of small smail streams afford the water with ach the valley is 11 irrigated brig abed the of water is f fresh resti and is M in its extent which is asre by clusters cluster of small farms in a high state of cultivation the dwellings ot of the inhabitants are all neat peat clean and well built ge generally ne r a lly liy of white whey adobe or red brick an and aud d t the h e impartial visitor is compelled to admit that few places in the united states can compare with the settlements in this valley for thrift and s substantial prosperity we were particularly impressed with the admirable system of tion in vogue altogether different from that practiced in new mexico with us lus the cultivators follow th the system system used by the pueblos and aztecs azteca before the conquest of the country by the spaniards in the century the fields are divided into a series of small beds in which the seed is placed and then flooded with several inches of water the effect of thi this delu deluge delue e is to cause tho the round ground to matt and then bake and crack crace aeder the rays of the sun checking vegetation and otherwise retarding dlug diug thede the tho development of the plant under this system the successful cultivation of the potato and other bulbous plants is impossible as the earth upon drying cakes around the bulb and forms foring a hard matrix or mould which renders its development out of the question in utah the method is altogether different the fields are not subdivided into small smail beds thus obviating obviation much unnecessary labor and expense in of submerging the field As as we do in utah the barnier tanner allows the tile water to 10 follow the course of the f furrows between the rows of plants and instead of being smothered by water vegetation draws its nourishment by capi capillary blary flary attraction the advantages and economy of this system are arc so 0 hovious ovio us that nothing rc to be said upon the sub just and intelligent men will adopt it one of the great features in the valley is the great salt lake it commences about fifteen miles from the city and extends SO 80 miles in length and 40 miles in width the water is a concentrated cent rated solution of cho loride of sodium having a spec specific itle gravity nearly e equal ual to that of the dead sea the mormons cormons have kept a record of all passing events from the datlof date of occupation cu from this source we have discovered that the rainfall is steadily increasing so much so that though immense quantities of water are drawn from utah lake it continues to preserve its level and the streams also afford increasing quantities thoum though 11 the settlement of the country continues and new contributions of water aten ater are demanded to supply the increasing wants of agriculture the city of salt lake possesses V assesses a population of souls 80 per cent of which aie ale are mormons cormons Mor mons and this per cent is preserved throughout the territory revisited We visited tie tle tabernacle an building which seats wor wort shippers the organ was built there byA by mormon lormon arti zens and was at that time the largest in the united states the acoustic properties of the Jull building ding are extraordinary A pip piti dropped into a staw hat bal is heard to at the other extremity of the building 50 0 leet feet away in inthe the tho construction of of the edifice the safety of the audle audie audience nce nee was consulted as the immense congregation of people vanishes through 11 large doors in than less jess three min mili utes ter services rendering a panic irh Irb possible impossible the temple is a magnificent edi edl edifice the oua foundation oun dation was laid in 1853 and it will be completed in 1890 the stone ston e used in its construction is a white sye nItle granite the side walks throng throughout hout the city are lined with trees kept trim and neat at convenient distances fountains anford ablord drink to the thirsty gas and electric lights illuminate the city the streets and pavements are models of cleanliness and neatness salt lake city Is a neat well built and beautiful city it was not made it is a creation the following manufactures fi gurish flourish i silk cloth OZ clothing flour agricultural implements tan ceries berles fruit canning establishments soap candles tinen linen shoes blankets wicker ware pottery and stoneware china the mines in the vicinity of the city are ampol important tant much of the ore is a high grade chloride and pulp sulphide hide ore lar large e bodies of low grade carbonate and ano galena exist and the time will come when mines of utah will be an im important octant factor of her prosperity gosp erity I 1 the rel eel want of space for rids elds bids our mentioning many matters of drawn I 1 from roin our visit is that what has been accomplished by the industrious mormon can be duplicated reduplicated in the vicinity of socorro and throughout the ilio 1110 grande valley our opinion often ex cx dressed in the rast vast that the future of socorro depends upon the development of her agricultural as well ag ard of her mining resources is confirmed the borbons morma Morta ons are a model of energy presenting an example worthy of amita tion |
