Temple Block is a square of ten acres; it was laid off in 1847, and reserved for the uses to which it has since been put; this was but a few days after the arrival of the "Mormon" Pioneers in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. The entire block is surrounded by a wall fifteen feet high, consisting of a base of cut sandstone, courses of adobes or sun-dried brick, capped by a sandstone coping; the adobes are plastered on both sides. The block has been beautified by the best art of the landscape gardner, and with its wealth of trees, shrubs and flowers, presents a scene of attractive beauty. See pages 137, 138, and 201-207. {320} PLATE 40.--THE TABERNACLE--EXTERIOR {321} By architects and others this building has been pronounced one of the most remarkable auditoriums ever erected. As the picture shows, it is simply a great dome supported by buttressed walls. It was in course of erection from July 1864 to October 1867. The immense dome-roof is a lattice-work construction and is self-sustaining. The roof span is without a single pillar. More remarkable still, the roof is built entirely of wood and was constructed without nails or metal spikes. The enormous beams and trusses were held together by wooden pegs and rawhide thongs. While the Tabernacle was in course of construction, iron nails and spikes were obtainable only as they were brought across the plains by wagon and team, and the high cost prevented their use. Many modern buildings present larger roof spans, but such are generally constructed of metal. The roof covering of the Tabernacle consisted originally of wooden shingles: these have been replaced, however, by sheet metal. The building is two hundred and fifty feet long and one hundred and fifty feet in greatest width; from floor to ceiling at the middle the distance is seventy feet; and the net work of beams and trusses between ceiling and roof is ten feet high. See pages 203-205. {322} PLATE 41.--THE TABERNACLE--INTERIOR {323} A gallery thirty-six feet wide extends around the interior of the Tabernacle except at the west end, where the gallery gives place to the great organ and a terraced platform providing accommodations for Church officials and the choir. In the choir space, seats are provided for three hundred singers, with other seats for nearly as many more in the adjacent sections of the spacious gallery. The building, as a whole, affords seating room for nearly nine thousand persons, but audiences much larger than this have assembled on many occasions. The acoustic properties of the building are surprisingly good.