The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 7, 1862

LONDON AND COUNTY BANKING
COMPANY.
Subscribed Capital, £1,250,000, in 25,000 Shares of £5O each ;
Paid-up Capital, £500,000; Reserve Fund, £125,000.

DIRECTORS.
Thomas Tyringham Bernard, Edward Huggins, Esq.
Esq., M.P. Wm. Champion Jones, Esq.
Philip Patton Blyth, Esq. j James Laming, Esq.
John Wm. Burmester, Esq. William Lee, Esq., M.P.
Coles Child, Esq. Thomas Mills, Esq., M.l.
William Cory, Esq. I William Nicol, Esq., M. 1...
John Fleming, Esq.
GENERAL MANAGER—WiIIiam M`Kewan, Esq.
Head Office, 21, Lombard-street.
At the ANNUAL MEETING of the Proprietors held on
THURSDAY, the 6th February, 1862, at the London Tavern,
Bishopsgate-s trout, the iollowing Report for the year ending
the 31st Dezember, 1861, was read by the Secretary.
WILLIAM NICOL, Esq., M.P., in the Chair.

PUBLICATIONS.

„ -
THEP NEWSPAPER PRESS DIRECTORY
for 1862, ready this day, containing' full details of all
the Newsparers publishedin th c United Kingdom, and every
chance in Newspaper, Property, corrected to Jan. Ist, with
the NEWSPAPER MAP of the United Kingdom ; also the
MA,JAZINE DIRECTORY for POT, with full particulars
of every Magazine, Review, and Periodical. Price One Florin,
or post free for 30 stamps. C. Mitehell and Co., 12 and 13,
Red Lion-court, Fleet-street, E.C.

pDISTRESS IN TRADE
lE PRESENT
A. fully explained in J. GROSSMITII'S
" GOVERNMENT UPON FIRST PRINCIPLES."
The cause is there predicated of the monetary difficulties al'
perienced in 1860. The Crisis is at hand. Anxiety in busi-
ness has now become the grim torture. Purity of motive.
intelligently exercised, must animate all Governments, or all
is lost, All denominations of Constitutions are carefully
examined in J. Grossmith's "Government upon First Prin-
ciples."

MR. AND MRS. CHARLES MATHEWS
.‘ A V ROME $,

At Her Maj...sty's Concert Room, Haymarket.
Every Evening (except Saturday), at Eight. Wednesday and
Saturday Mornings at Three.
Private boxes, stalls, and places may be secured at the Box-
office, which is open daily from Ten tin Five, and at Mr.
Mitchell's Royal Library, 33, Old Bond-street. No extra
charge for booking.
Carriages to be orderedat a quarter-past Ten.
Stalls, ss. ;_ First Circle, Is. ; Upper Boxes, 3s. ; Unreserved
Seats, 2s. and is.

A, RGYLL ROOMS.-GREAT SUCCESS !!___
EL The Band and Musical arrangements under the direc-
tion of M. BOULCORT, Conductor and principal Cornet. In
addition to the Laurent Valse, Strauss luadrille, and novel-
ties of last week, A NEW POLKA, by M. Boulcourt, the
Solos performed by him and M. Greebe. Admission is.—
Manager, M. P. Grenet.

MODERN PHYSIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
clearly shows that the whole of our system is built up
from the blood—nerves, sinews, muscles,
and even solid
bone ; this being- the case, the grand object is to keep this
precious fluid, the blood, in a pure and healthy state, for
without this purity disease will show itself in some way or
other ; thus diseases called by various names have all been
cured simply by the use of PARR'S LIFE: PILLS, thus
showing that what has been considered different "disorders,
and requiring different treatment, all originated in the same
'same, and can be cured by one uniform treatment. PARR'S
LIF ti PILLS, although powerful in conquering disease, yet
are pure and harmless, and may be administered with confi-
dence to the invalid, however weakly from long ill health,
who will soon enjoy those delightful symptoms of a return to
strong health—viz., good appetite, sound sleep, and an in-
crease of animal spirits.
Parr's Life Pills may be had of any Medicine Vendor, in
=lily Packets lls. each. Di-
rbecoxtieosulss.Adh.,e2ase.h9bdo. ,x.and in F

pounds of gold in nuggets in one day. It vas taken down
with the rest of their gold, and I helped to pack it on the
mule. Claims were selling at from 1,000 dols. to 4,000 dols.
each. Knew one which was sold for 4,000 dols. after it
had given 6,000 dols. With theie 10,000 dols. the men
who sold went to Oregon to buy mules to ' pack,' and to
return with goods in the spring. A2O dols. claim passed
over with contempt. Many don't think a 50 dots. claim
worth working. Few make less than 100 dols a day at
Keithley's. The gold all in nuggets. Saw no fine gold
dust or scale gold. They never could earn so much at find
gold. A man can fill his pockets with nuggets out of the;
bottom of the flume after the dirt is washed off. Went up
with a mule train. Travelled slowly. Took a month from
Victoria. Cost 30 dols. Fed the animals on the grass
which we found growing wild."
This gentleman intends to go and try his hick himself next
summer.
At New Westminster the other day I met a man who
worked as journeyman carpenter for me some time ago, and
whom I was in the habit of seeing occasionally in Victoria.
He made up to me to consult me on the best means of dis-
posing of his gold, there being a scarcity of coin in both
colonies, which rendered it impossible to " convert" bul-
lion—when gold bars were at a discount of from 3 to 5 per
cent, on their value, for the same reason of the scarcity of
coin. The carpenter's story was very short, so you will
not weary, I hope, while I relate it.
He went up last spring, got a claim which turned out7a
trump, and he sold it for 5,000 dols. paid down. He then
worked another claim with three others, and he took out
of this latter, after paying expenses in the mines, upwards
of 10,000 dols. for his share. His partners earned the same.
I'he claim yielded in gross a little over 50,000 dols. He
had then with him in New Westminster 15,000 dols. of
his own. His partners had each 10,000 dols. my friend's
fortune being augmented 5,000 dols. by the sale of his
first claim. The time the four of them took to
earn this amount was six weeks. " But we did not
work all that time either," he said; " perhaps a month
would cover it." I advised him on the disposal of his gold.
On my return to Victoria 1 met him coming to me for ad-
vice upon another subject. He had bought an interest in
another claim for 12,000 dols of an Oregon man, and he
wanted a draught in which to remit the payment, and so
on.

With the view of testing the various extravagant state-
ments of individual gains afloat, I asked the landlord of a
house of call of miners in Victoria to make out an account
of their earnings taken down from themselves personally.
He did so, but it is confined chiefly to the "lucky
ones." From five companies which mined on Antler Creek
the return is this :—One company of three men took out
50,000 dols., 16,666 dols. each man ; three others took out
36,000 dole., 12,000 each man ; five men 25,000 dols., 5,000
dols. each; szx men 24,000 dols., 4,000 dols. each ; and the
last three men on the list 18,000 dols., or 6,000 dols. each,
making the gross amount taken out by 20 men 153,000 dols.
There are 4,000 dols. more set:down as taken from the same
creek, but the number of miners is not given. The time
engaged was hardly three months.
From William's Creek, the richest of all, the return is
much larger ; three " claim owners" earned 60,000 dols.;
nine 90,000 dols. ; four 48,000 dols. ; four more, 24,000 dole;
three, 15,000 dole. ; and four men in one day's work took
out 25 pounds' weight, valued at 5,000 dole ; total, 242,000
dole. To this return is appended the following remark,
"William's Creek has not been worked over two months
by the above companies, and is not considered thoroughly
prospected up to this date, Nov. 28, 1861."
The return from Lowhee Creek is 150,000 dols. to five
men. Few hired labourers were employed by any of these
companies.

The best paying creeks, in addition to these three, are
" Lightning,' " Van-Winckle," and " Last Chance,"
according to the miners' reports.
I believe the above returns of earnings to be rather under-
stated. But the period of two months' work assigned to
Williams's Creek is too short. What is meant is that the
greater portion of the amount of gold, as given, was ex-
tracted in two months. I have positive evidence respecting
this creek which is worth giving, because the facts are fully
established.

A journeyman shoemaker named Dawson went from Vic-
toria, where he had worked at his trade in Yates-street for
some time, to the mines in spring. He, with two partners,
commenced preparing the claim (on Williams's Creek) on
the 12th of May. Having completed the different prepara-
tory operations of " stripping the surface, diverting water,
fluming, &c.," they commenced to dig (i.e., to wash out
gold) on the Bth of July, and continued working, with an
interval or suspension of one week for repairs, until the 26th
of September. The result is instructive ; Dawson brought
to Victoria, a few weeks ago, 22,500 dole. in gold as his
share. He has to-day (Nov. 30) gold of the value of 19,040
dole. in deposit, to my personal knowledge; and he is him-
self at present on San Juan Island passing the winter, and
returns to Cariboo as early in the spring as the weather
will permit, His two partners were fishermen at Langley
on the Lower Fraser River for about two years. Last
spring they too went to Cariboo and made up a company
with Dawson after being there some time. They had ori-
ginally a larger sum each of them than Dawson had, but
it has been whispered that some of their money went to in-
crease the Faro Bank. Be this as it may, they had 54,000
dole. on deposit in Victoria for some time after they came
down; and Wells, Fargo, and Co.'s Express remitted 33,000
dols. by the last steamer to San Francisco for them. These
three men were extremely poor last spring. They all in-
tend to return to Cariboo to resume the work on their claim
next season. It was the claim in which I mentioned above
that one of them took out 600 dols. from one tin panful of
" dirt." They employed only one man for part of the time
to assist them. Two of them are Americans. I don't
know Dawson's nationality.

DEC. 4.
T have to-day procured a return of the assays of Cariboo
geld, made throughout the season by Messrs. Marchand
and Co., assayers in Victoria, which gives the highest and
the lowest quality and. the average of the dust they have
assayed. The highest, which was from Pavis's Creek, is
918 fine, value per ounce 18 dols. 97c. 64. The lowest,
which came from Williams's Creek, is 810 fine, value per
ounce 16 dols. 74c. 42. Average of all Cariboo dust, 854
fine, value 17 dols. 65c. 37.
I could quote instances in which larger sums than I
have stated have been earned, and in which a fortune was
extracted in a few weeks by the labour of half a dozen men
—that is- a competency to each of them—from a very few
feet square of ground; but it is idle further to multiply
cases. I have stated sufficient facts to justify the conclu-
sions that Cariboo is unrivalled for the wealth it produces
to individual labour, in a short period ; in the large propor-
tion of men who have beensuccessful—that is to say, those
who in one short season have made fortunes, those who
have made considerable amounts, and those who have
earned high wages; and, finally, for the universal satis-
faction of the miners with their past earnings, and their
confidence in the future.
Victoria is the mart of commerce for British Columbia
and Vancouver Island. Here are all the merchants and
other business establishments ' and here naturally should
the assay-cffice be placed. Had it been so, nearly all the
gold which now goes in dust to San Francisco would be
converted into bars on the spot—a circumstance which
would greatly facilitate general business, and which to the
success of banking business is absolutely essential. I
could prove the injury done to general commerce by the
misplacement of this Government office, and shall do so in
another letter, but at present need only remark further that
the absurdity of putting the assay-office at New West-
minster is as great and as palpable as it would be to place
the Bank of England or the Clearing-house at Gravesend.
It ought to have been in the Victoria, and this co,Jony ought
to pay its cost of erection. Here it would leave-a profit.
There, in the wilderness, it leaves a loss.
We have in harbour her Majesty's ship Topaze, Captain
the Hon. John W. S. Spencer, and the surveying vessel the
Hecate, Captain Richards, returned from San Francisco,
repaired ; also, two gunboats permanently stationed here.
A gentleman holding a high office in these parts made
this remark to me lately :—" We owe to a foreign Govern-
ment our protection from the Indians. We owe our lives
—the people of 'Washington Territory and Oregon do—to
the English Government administered by Governor Dou-
glas. Did he not restrain them by his moral influence, we
should all be murdered, sir, every man of us. But," he
added, what I knew to be correct, "do you suppose I would
dare to admit this fact to our people ? Why, they would
be ready to Lynch me if I did. They fancy that a few
dozens of them—Hoosiers and Pikecounties, &c., would
whip' all the Indians on the coast and the Britishera into
the bargain. No, no—you mustn't tell our people these
things, They won't stand to hear them," I agreed with
the Judge, and trusted I should not see the day whenebrie
e
"people" should have proof of the truth in a manner m
practical than agreeable.