Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Volume X, Number 27, 8 July 1871 — English Column. Letter from the Publisher. [ARTICLE]
English Column.
Letter from the Publisher.
No. 2. Nkw Vork City, June 4, 1871. Tothe Readers of the Kuokoa :— 1 arrived in this great city yesterday, 33 froa* Honoluiu, having stopped in Sitn Franc«sco, Salt Lake City, Cr»ic..go and Kociiesttr, to see fnends arrd the /.imous sights to be aeen in eaeh, for they ;ire all large and re>nar»jtble cities. But before 1 speak of what i in them, I must teli you how our party ieft San Francisco in one vf the flnest Pallanan Pnlaee t'ar.«, whieh, are to be found on the Atnerican railruads This car was fitted up w:th sofas, easy chjwrs and s!eeping berths, so that we could sleep at n ght in the car as coinfortably as io a hotei. Toere was o cookrooui, t.\blts, dishes. ficc. f so that we had our mea!s on the cjr every day. Ourparty consisted of Jad<*e M'Bride ai>d wifr, Rev. Mr. Dole and Sir Char!es Ciifturd and son, H. M. VVtiitney wife and daughter, Mr. E. P. .\d4nls, Mr. Hiiler, Alr. HoffVchlopger, ond several others all from Honolulu—lB persons i:i ad. We had this carall to ourselves, nnd were like a family in it. So we sttrted frotn Sro Francisco on our !ong jouruey over ihe An*fric<in Coniinent, on thisnew iron roadof tvh}ch we had heard so mueh. As soon as we got in the carand were all scated, the iron horse, whieh was to draw us up andl over ihe Ri»cky Mountains side, suorted i\nd j shreiktd his wi!d notes. and then stirted offi drigging us a!ong over tne iron rails so rap-j idly that we could hardly see the h:iusesand trees past whieh we flew like a bird. You h>ive never ridden in a ratlroad car, so that 1 cannot eiplain toyou just what it is but perhaps the printers wUI put in here a piclure of « ra»l.'oad train, whieh will show you how it looi»s. Ail day we were rnoving fast, our str»«ng iron horses (for we now ijad two engiljCSj puliiog us, the steep 3lonntaiu side, tdi we *ere 7,000 feet above the sea. here we eame to an awful plaee, where the c.irs had to creep carefully around a high and tteep mountatn, down whieh we could look^ 2 000 feet a!most us. If the ir »n horse should ehanee to niuke a misstep and run t.ff the iron rails, it vvou!d carry 01l the cars dowo the steep tnoun(ain and smash them, killing erery passenger. Such an aec dent bas neveryet bappened. lt is a feariul plac« to nde along, and tnakes the timid <mes shut their eyes and hold their breath They eall u Horn," because it s0 mueh rrsemb!es the famous eape in South America, past whieh ail our whaleships have to gi in returning home, and where so niany vessels are lost. Soon the cars rush into Unnels dug out of the inountains, and in t*s«,e taonels it is as dark as midnight. Thej are cut through the mountain ridges, so that the will not be compelled to go over ihetr suinmit£. All our cumpany wanted to V'sit Salt Lake Citf, tbe boroe cf the Mcrmong, whieh is located among the mountains, faraway from the popoious Cities of America. So we te!egraphed j to Br gham You«ig, to ask if he would per-| =:t our car to go from Ogden to his over his railr<»ad. He replied, 1 Yes eōme £!on g-" Just two days after leaving San Francisco, we reached Ogden, where our pal*ce car tumed from tbe Pacific milroad, and run on the Mormon railroad 40 iniles to Salt Lake City. It was a charming day, like the «»ir ia our own lovely islands, but the tops of the moontains around os vrere ali covered *"tth s«o«, like Mauna Loa in winter. Soon were in the f«mou6 city of the Mormons, fc f whieh we had heard so inueh, and leaving car we all went together to a hotel, kept hy Mr. Townsend, a Monnon gentleman, *'i»o has sereral wives, according to the cuslom his people. Here we spent the day, jooltng around the city f and were all pleased fif»d it so large and pleasant. lts streets very broad, with shade trees growing f jong the side walk , and tbxough every **<*et flows a small brook, whieh serves to ir-
| *igate the gardeos, aod give a pleaeant, cheeri ful appeanoee. I went to some of the prineI i t<g affices to see their papers, and talk with f|; lfe e editors, mostJof whom knew me and welcoaed n»e there. I was surprised the next
rporning to find Ihe fi>l!owing cf the papers : Vi8iions fbom THE Far West.—We had tbepleas ure yeaterds*y of recei»ing a eall from an o)d j.»urnalist of the Saudwich Islaud8, Henry M. Whitney, Eaq., formerly proprietor of theHonolulu JMverliser, whieh paper he conducted for more than 16 years. Mr. Whitney left the Sandwic.i» L)land3 on the lst of May la»t, nnd is abuut to visit the E»st, from whieh he has been ab»ent for aome years. He showed U9 n. copy of the Hawaiian w«-ekly called the ♦•Nupepa iTa0/f0rt," whioh hns a oirculation of aboat 8,000 We were very mueh interestcd iu the information it coutdined, aud we are half inclined to published a few extracts, but since very ftw of our readers underatand thcl(awaiian latiguage, we have determined not to cttempt the feat. Mr. Whitney eame from San Fraocisco with quite a pnWy from Australia and tbe Sandwich Island8, in ihe Pullinnn Paluee c-ir ,'Sirnia," whioh will take them through to Ciiicago. Among the distingui8hed gentleman of tho tr:ivelerB are.TuJge Widemann and Judge M'Bridp, of the Hawaiian Supreme Court, S:r Charlea Ciiffoid aud son of Australia, E P. Adams, Esq , a leadicg auetioneer of Iīonolulu, and othere. Toe party leavea to-day for the Eist.
Here I found Mr. Cannon, who \vas fortnerly a Mormon Alissionary in Oahu, and translated the book of iMomion into Hawaiiun. He is now a Mormon Bishop, atid is one of President Yourig's chief men He nppeared glad to see me, for he knew me in Honohilu ; and he told me all 1 wanted to know nbout the Mormons and their prospects. We went to their church, a large building, where 13,000 persons ean sit and listen to President Yoong. They have in it n huge organ, ds 1 trge «s twenty organs of the size of that in the Kawaiahao Church. It has 3.000 pipes and takes four men to blow the bel!ows. The organist eame in and played several tunes, whieh filled the great church with loud music and delighted us all. Tben we visited the temple whieh is now betng built. lt is 18' years since it wascommenced, and they have only the foundation laid. They expect it will tftke fifty years to complete it, when it will be the finest ehurch in America, nnd cost one nnllion of dollars. ln the afternoon, iVlr. Cannon calied around to the hotel, and invited all the ladies and gentleman of our party to go with him, nnd visit
Presid"ent Brigham Young, who had expressed a wish to see me nnd the party f"om Honolulu. tor he had alwnys talten mueh interesst in the Mawaiian Islands. His residence is snrrounded by a stone wa!l, like the palaee pretnises in Honolulu. Whenwe arrived, he welcomcd us very cordia!ly into his reception room, where were also g;ithered some of his councellors of St;ite. He had many questions to ask about our islands, our chiefs and people, and was happy to hear we were prospering. He told ns about his people, his govemrnent, and religion, and gave us mneh informatioo whieli was new to us. He is a large stout man, about 70 years of age, bnt has few or no gray hairs, and is just as active tind talkative as a man only 40 years oid. The Mormons love him and think he is the true *prophet of God. But we do not thinU so, for they do not take the Bible for their gaide, but they believe the buok of Monnon to be the true bible. When tny wife aud i expressed a wish to see One of liis Wivos, he srnt fnr his carriage, nnd in it \ve were conveyed to another part of the city, w'nere we met the lady and had a conversation with. her about her religion and polygan»y. Fresident Young has twenty three wives, but he. doeB not live with but one. He supports them aII in separate houses. He said to me, "Those people who think that I marry wives to sleep with them, are very mueh mistaken. I marry them tosupportand protect them." This system of polygamy, however is wrong, and contrary to the laws of God and man, and the time must soon eome when the Mormons themselves will see it to be wrong and be compelled to forsake the unlawful practice. In the evening, some of our party went to the theatre, in order to get sight of Brigham Young's family. He was there himself and 16 of his daoghters. One of them took part in the theatrical performances. So ended our visit to Salt Lake City. We were all very mueh pleased and instructed with our visit, atid our with Brigham Youog arxl one of his wives, and we left the city with a pleasant memory of the day spent there. Aloha nui to you ail. H. M. Whitney.