The venerable Col. William H. Leffingwell, accompanied by an old Mormon friend from Utah, was met by a reporter the other afternoon on Olive street. The colonel's friend remarked to the reporter: "Did you know that Leffingwell corrected the manuscript of the Mormon Bible alleged to have been written by Rev. Solomon Spalding?"

This was something like a new revelation, and on Col. Leffingwell stating that it was a fact, and as all the parties knowing the circumstances are now dead except Mr. Leffingwell, he was asked to add to the truth of history by telling what he knew about the origin of the Mormon Bible. the colonel readily consented, but his Mormon friend, observing his readiness to do so, walked on and beckoned to the colonel to come along, evidently objecting to having the story told for publication.

Col. Leffingwell commenced by saying: "Long ago in the past, I have forgotten the year, Mr. Spalding wrote a drama called 'The Book of Mormon," in a hotel at Conneaut, Ashtabula county, Ohio, where I had been teaching school.I was known through the country as a good grammarian and possessing an accurate knowledge of the English language. My father had been principal of the Meadville school, a position which I was subsequently filled on my father retiring to a farm. Mr. Spalding was a lawyer by profession and had taught school. He had never been a reverend, as some accounts give that prefix to his name. He was about 35 years of age when I first fell in with him, was very poor, and sick with consumption, and toward the last nearly lost his voice, so that he could not plead at the bar. He said he wanted to make some money, and wrote the drama, which he handed me for correction. It was full of Bible expressions, and as I had read the Bible from lid to lid I knew the proper phraseology to use. I corrected the grammar, and had to reconstruct and transpose entries to make good English out of it. I was engaged three months, and my notes and pencil marks may be found on every page.

"He wanted me to conform to Bible language. He never paid me a cent for labor. It was entitled 'The Book of Mormon,' and he told me he was going to Pittsburg to sell the manuscript. I afterward learned that he got hold of Sidney Rigdon, and I knew within six months that Spalding sold it, and that Rigdon got it. Rigdon was a preacher, a scholar, and a smart fellow. I had seen him baptizing converts in Mahoning county, Ohio. Some years afterward I was on a lecture tour in Ohio, lecturing on grammar and the construction of the English language. I went to Kirtland in a buggy, accompanied by a young lawyer, to see Joe Smith and the Mormon leaders. We drove up in front of a large tent and Rigdon came out. I told him that I corrected the Mormon Bible when it was Spalding's manuscript. I assured him I gave it the proper construction and what grammar it had. He smiled and said that was all right, but requested me to say nothing about it. I told Rigdon that we came over there to see him and Joe Smith. He said: 'It is just our dinner time; you can't see Joe Smith, because he is marking goods at the store,' they having received forty wagon-loads from the lake shore the day before.

"Afterward we were introduced to the prophet. Joe Smith had a round face, and his hair was cut short down on his forehead. The color of his hair was between a deep brown and dark red. He sent a young man with us into the temple, which was but newly finished. The front had a projecting roof, supported by pillars. We entered the portico, when the young man, our guide, said: 'Take off your hats!' I replied: 'Our hats are already off, sir. We've a long way to drive, and want you to hurry up, sir!'

"We were then conducted into the interior of the temple. A broad aisle ran through the middle of the temple, with a cross aisle in the centre, above which a curtain hung, dividing the temple into two parts, Sidney Rigdon occupying, we were told, the eastern portion, which included the grand altar. The arrangement seemed to be thus made in consequence of the still incomplete condition of the temple. By mounting on one another's shoulders we were enabled to pull ourselves up through a hole in the attic, where we were shown several mummies, including that of Joseph and other patriarchs mentioned in the Bible. After visiting the temple we were invited into the tent, where we were provided with a good dinner, and, taking leave of the saints, we drove out to Kirtland, well satisfied with our visit."

The above chat with Col. Leffingwell left the impression that his statement of the part taken by him in the correction of Spalding's manuscript is undeniable, but the other fact that said manuscript was the original of the Mormon Bible is rather a matter of inference than supported by direct and incontrovertible testimony. Col. Leffingwell, however, asserts that so far he has compared his recollections of the Spalding manuscript with the Mormon Bible they are identical. That is his belief.