The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-09 00:00:00

CALIFORNIA.

The accounts from California confirm in some men•
sure the statements previously set forth, that arge
deposits of gold have been discovered on the banks of
the Sacramento ; but there are still great discrepancies
in the reports of the quantity that had been collected,
and the supplies for the future are so purely hypothetical
that it seems needless now to speculate upon them.
That many of the adventurers will succeed in realising
large fortunes there is no reason to doubt, but that many
more will be disappointed in their object is equally
certain ; and it is very much to be feared that
thousands will lose their lives in this race for
wealth, and sacrifice themselves to their own cu-
pidity. Sickness prevailed to a great extent at the
" diggings," particularly in the vicinity of the
Tulae marshes at Sutters, and in the valleys of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. From these
parts many of the people are said to return to San Fran-
cisco well stored with fever and ague, if not with gold.
But these were minor troubles when compared with the
evil passions which had broken loose, and with unre-
strained violence were committing the most frightful
atrocities. The moral condition of the country was bad
enough before these late discoveries, but now it is in a
state of perfect chaos; there is no protection for life or
property; might only is right, and all sorts of lawless
deeds are perpetrated with impunity. Drunkenness is.
unfortunately, too prevalent, and robberies and murders
are said to be numerous, although all do not come to
light. The inhabitants are unsettled, and the whole
state of society completely unhinged. Agriculture and
the mechanical arts are completely neglected; there are
no schools, or any prospect of there being any for the
present; gold occupies the whole attention of the people,
and is likely to be a curse on the country. A correspond.
ent strictly recommends those who can do well at
home not to think of going there. He says, " Some
will make money doubtless, but more will make them-
selves sick, and perhaps return poorer than ever, if they
do not make shipwreck of good morals,- and die, like
some already, in revelling and drunkenness. If they
can get more gold here, it should be borne in mind that
they will have to pay ten times the amount for all the ne-
cessaries of life, and the chances are against being so
well off in the end. At the mines, sugar, coffee, butter,
hams, potatoes, and other like articles are selling at 1
doll, per lb.; and real estate at San Francisco had risen
greatly in value. One allotment, of fifty yards square,
which cost two years ago 15 dollars, was sold lately at
10,000 dollars. A gentleman, who had been employed
in suveying land in California, and whose expe-
rience in the gold districts of America gave his tes-
timony great weight, writes thus—" The geological
formations of California are similar to those in
other parts of the west coast, where gold has been found,
and the deposits correspond in every respect with pre-
vious discoveries; the veins are confined to the primitive
formation, and are found in fissures of limestone quarts
high up in the range, from whence it is washed by heavy
rains into the mountain streams, which form themselves
into rivers; and is thus deposited in the alluvial soil
formed by their periodical Moods. It is also found in
the sand and gravel in the beds of the rivers, from which
it is easily separated by washing away the soil, the
specific gravity of the gold being greater than the earth.
It is ft aind in the largest lumps near the crevices from
which it had been displaced near the source of the
streams, and becomes less from friction, as it is carried
down the rivers till near the coast, where it is collected
in the form of fine dust, which is generally the purest
metal, being wholly separated from the quartz through
which it was originally mixed." Another authority states
that the placers of California are not richer than many
previous discoveries, which have not only been washed
out of gold, but also out of memory; hence it is argued
from analogy that the new El Dorado will not produce
anything like the quantity which many people are in-
clined to believe, and that, considering the enormous ac-
cumulation of gold which has taken place all over the
world since the discovery of South America, ik would re-
quire a very large annual supply to effect that revolution
in prices which appears to be looked for by some, the
stock existing in both hemispheres being so large that
the four millions sterling produced annually by Russia
alone has failed to bring about any change. However,
the information at present available, is still so uncertain
that nothing more than a guess can be made as to the
probable future supply. Time only can solve the ques-
tion; but we augur nothing but good to this country
from the discovery; it will give a powerful stimulus to
commerce; the merchant, the manufacturer, and the
agriculturist, will reap the benefit of its distribution, and
industry will be the heir to it, come in what quantities or
in what time it may.

EARLY CLOSING IN ALL TRADES.—Tuesday even-
ing the seventh annual general meeting of the friends
and promoters of this movement was held in Exeter-hall,
the Marquis of Blandford, M.P., in the chair. The
chairman, in his address to the meeting, explained the
object for which they had assembled—viz., to induce the
heads of establishments in the City to consent to the
closing of their shops at such an hour of the evening as
would permit those in their employ to give some portion
of the evening to the recreation necessary to their phy-
sical and mental health after the close confinement of
the day. Messrs. J. Williams, M.P., D. Maurice, M.A.,
Dr. Beaumont, F. Payne, and other p-atlemen, spoke in
support of the resolution condemning the present system
of late hours i❑ business as alike injurious to the social
and moral welfare of the young men and women who
constitute the great bulk of assistants in all trades. A
very lengthened report was then read by the secretary
of the society, recapitulating the proceedings of the
association during the past year, and stating that the
object they had in view had, by the unwearied exertions
of the committee, been rendered much more easy of
attainment. The resolutions were then agreed to by
a very full and respectably attended meeting, which
separated after a warm expression of thanks to the
chairman.

MYSTERIOUS DISATEEARANCEI—On Friday morn-
ing last, Mr. James Campbell, a greengrocer, in Church-
street, Walworth, and who is the owner of some house
property in the neighbourhood, left home for the purpose
of ordering some coals at a wharf in Bankside, and since
that time he has not been seen by any member of his
tamily. On the same morning a man, answering his
description, was seen by some boys jumping from barge
to barge on the Surrey Canal, and soon after his hat
was picked up on the banks of the canal. The miss-
ing man commenced life as a pot-boy at the Prince of
Wales public-house in Penton-place, opposite to the
former entrance to the Surrey Gardens, and by perse-
verance and industry had been enabled to build several
houses in the neighbourhood, and accumulate consider-
able property; and he was very generally respected.
Since his disappearance it has been found that he had
discounted some bills for some parties, who were not
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Persons have been employed since Saturday morning,
in dragging the canal ; but up to a late hour last even-
ing, no further trace of the missing man bad been dis-
covered.