Pedal and Path: Across the Continent Awheel and AfootThayer, George B. (George Burton)
History
Pedal and Path: Across the Continent Awheel and Afoot
Thayer, George B. (George Burton)
Bicycle touring; United States -- Description and travel
Then I talked a few minutes with the editor of the Tribune. "The
statement," said he, "that only one-eighth of Mormons are polygamists
is misleading, certainly. The number of Mormons disqualified from
voting for practicing polygamy may have been one-eighth of the whole
population, but that includes every man, woman, and child, Gentiles
and all. Now Gentiles and women and children are not polygamists;
women and children cannot be in the very nature of the case. So that
the number of Mormons, capable of being polygamists, that practice
it to-day, is nearer one-half than one-eighth. As for juries being
packed, the same course is being pursued here as in all courts. A man
disbelieving in capital punishment cannot sit in a murder trial, for
he would not convict on evidence; just so with a Mormon, he would not
convict another Mormon of polygamy. The only persecution practiced is
by United States deputies enforcing a United States law. The troops
are quartered here in the city because there has been, and is still,
need of them to preserve the peace."
I feel that what I have learned of the trouble here is only
superficial, for a two days' stop, with much of my time otherwise
occupied, is not a sufficient time to look up the subject; but one
thing seems certain, it will be a very long and a very hard struggle,
but the conclusion is foregone. Polygamy must go. Yesterday afternoon
we went bathing in Salt Lake; as far as the view is concerned, it
is like bathing in the ocean, you cannot see across the lake. It is
only three or four years since the people of the city have availed
themselves of the benefits of their salt water to any great extent,
but now, cheap excursions run out to the lake, twenty miles distant,
and returning trains frequently bring back 2,000 passengers. Yes, it
is genuine salt water bathing with a vengeance, for you can't swim in
it. It is almost like trying to swim in thin mud, you can't get along
any. The water is so heavy it is almost impossible to dive to any
depth, and then you bob up out of the water feet first, just like a
cork. It must be really dangerous to dive from any height. Sink! You
can't sink if you try. You can walk clear across the lake and not
go under; lie flat on your back with your hands under your head for
a pillow, and one who has never been in any water, salt or fresh,
could lie there all day without any trouble. Turn over and throw your
arms out like a spread eagle, and it is just the same, or sit straight
up, tailor fashion, and still you are high above the water; that is,
high enough not to feel any nervousness about getting strangled. I
never experienced such a pleasant sensation and never enjoyed bathing
more, unless it was high surf bathing, and here that is impossible,
for no wind, however strong, could raise very high waves on this
genuinely heavy sea. The water was full of men, women, and children,
all floating around, none swimming, some sitting bolt upright, others
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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