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THE GREAT TEMPLE—INTERIOR
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stairs leading into an office room reserved for the president of the Temple.

Each of the four arched-window recesses in the north is framed by draped curtains of silk, which in material and design match the Veil. On the south side are four pairs of double doors in position and size symmetrically corresponding with the windows on the north. The portal at the south-west, which is fitted with swinging doors, opens directly into the upper corridor at the head of the grand stairway already described; each of the three other portals is fitted with sliding doors, and opens into a separate apartment slightly raised above the floor of the large room, and reserved for special ceremonial work, more specifically described beyond.

Sealing Room for the Dead: The first of these three small rooms is about ten by thirteen feet in the square with a semi-circular recess five feet deep on the south side. This room is raised two steps above the main floor. In the wall of this recess is a bay art window of stained glass, representing with effective and impressing detail the resurrected prophet Moroni delivering the plates of the Book of Mormon to the youthful seer, Joseph Smith. It is a fitting symbol of the actuality of communication between the dead and the living; and it is to ordinances pertaining to this relationship the room is devoted; this is the Sealing Room for the Dead. The west wall is occupied by a large mirror. In the center stands a richly upholstered altar finished in old-rose velvet and gold. The altar is six by three feet six inches at its base and two feet six inches in height. Here kneel in humble service the living proxies representing deceased husbands and wives, parents and children. The only other furni-