1896.]
mation that it cost a hundred thousand dollars, that the building
held eleven thousand people, poor souls, the service lasted' three
hours, but Jaimeson gave no opportunity for divulgence. The
same accidental meeting occurred before the Temple, which re
quired the historic forty years in building and whose magnificent
portals no Gentile may pass. At the " Bee Hive Ho . uses," the
homes of Brigham Young's multifarious wives, they met, and at
Brigham's grave; but the same reticence always closed those lips.
Thus the week was passing and Perkins was in despair. Indeed
he would never have been successful, but for an accident which
gave him opportunity to take the initiative in the matter of ac
quaintance and the rest, for Perkins, was easy.
On the fourth day of his conquest, Perkins was strolling list
lessly about the hotel corridors, waiting " to see Which way the
wind blew," when Mr. and Mrs. Jaimeson came down and entered
a carriage. Perkins overheard the direction to the driver, " Salt
Lake and Los Angeles station."
" To the Lake," thought Perkins, and, jumping into a cab, he
hurried down another street, and was quietly waiting for the
train to pull out when Mr. and Mrs. Jaimeson got on.
Salt Lake is sixteen miles distant from the city, but hundreds
from the town visit the beaches daily. Of these Garfield Beach
is the older and better known, but Saltair, built more recently,
and at an immense cost, is the finer,—in fact, is one of the finest
bathing establishments in the world. The Saltair bathhouses
and pavilion are built on pile foundations, far out in the lake, and
connected with the shore by trestle, over which run the passenger
trains of the Salt Lake and Los Angeles Railway.
Without waiting to see what became of the Jaimesons, Perkins
hustled into a bathing suit as soon as the train reached the
pavilion, and he was soon floating on the clear water of the lake.
Some of the characteristics of Great Salt Lake strike the tourist
as being decidedly peculiar. One accustomed to the boisterous
surf bathing of the ocean wonders at the absence of diving and
splashing, but seldom will anything short of an experimental
lesson teach one why it is so. The bathers move about quietly in
the water, in fact, one may take a nap with comfort and safety, so
great is its buoyancy. The depth at Saltair is made to vary from
three to seven feet, to suit all tastes. Perkins at once proceeded
to verify the reputation of the lake. He sat down in the water,
and gazed in wonder at his protruding feet and shoulders. Then
Perkins' Assignment.