Excerpt from Byutah, 1913 Early four decades have passed, since the 16th day of October, 1875, when the Brigham Young Academy, now the Brigham Young Uni versity, held its opening session. Our first ten years were spent in Lewis Hall, a two-story brick building, which site is now occupied by the Farmers and Merchants' Bank. Those who put time and money into the erection of that building had no idea that it would ever be used for a school. It was an amusement hall up stairs, with a stage at the end. Down stairs it was a dry goods store. When Dr. Maeser, with his two assistants, and his little band of earnest students, (the original twenty-nine), first invaded that build ing, they made the amusement hall a house of prayer by day, and at night dedicated it to lectures and wholesome amusements. The curtain was retained and the stage converted into a class room. Accounts from early students tell us that mice and bats held high carnival there by night, and not infrequently during the day, some mouse, braver than his fellows, would sally forth to the dismay of the ladies and utter destruction of discipline of the school. But all this was of small moment for the great teacher was there, as also a class of students with whom large exchange of soul was possible. Every decade of the history of the institution has produced good and efficient business men, but the first decade is marked by the presence of these persons who are first among our statesmen, college presidents, and lawyers. Senator Reed Smoot and Senator George Sutherland are of this number, also Judge William H. King, who served in the lower house of Congress. James E. Talmage has stood as Chief Executive both of the L. D. S. Uni versity and of the University of Utah. Dr. Benjamin Cluff, Jr., was the second president of the Brigham Young University, while Joseph M. Tanner served as president both of the B. Y. College, and the State Agricultural College, of Logan. George H. Brimhall is president of the Brigham Young University. Added to the names of the two eminent lawyers who have represented us in Congress we would add the names of Judge Samuel R. Thurman and Judge Joshua Greenwood. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.