The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-02-20 00:00:00

steamer

:ifornia

away 8300,000 in dust. Another letter completely-con-
tradicts the reports of disturbances at the mining districts.
The writer states that excellent order prevails, and there
bad been but two or three petty depredations since opera-

tions commenced in the region

Jan. 22,

'—New Orleans CresCent

" A letter from a lady of New York, dated at Panama,
Nov. 27, speaks of the comfortable quarters in which she
is living, while waiting the arrival of a vessel for Cali-
fornia, and makes not the slightest reference to an unusual
crowd of adventurers. From this we may infer that the

former reports in relation to the thousand's starving there,
were
_greatly exaggerated."—New Orleans Crescent

Jan. 22

The following is still later intelligence :
" A LETTER FROM GENERAL PURSIFOR F. SMITH.
" (From the Washington Union.)
"We have been furnished with the following extract
from a letter written by General P. F. Smith, at Panama
dated the 7th instant, and lad them before our readers, a

containing matters of importance, especially to that por-
tion of our fellow-citizens who are preparing to visit
California :

PANAMA, January 7, 1849

" The situation of affairs in California is really most
extraordinary. No accounts we had are exaggerated.
Captain Henrian de Langie, of the French brig of war
Genie, now here, says that he learned at Valparaiso and
Lima that there had been brought to those places from
California, to be run into bars, gold to the amount of nine
milions of francs (near 1,800,000 dollars.) The British
Consul tells me has forwarded 15,000 ounces from this
place across the isthmus; and Lieutenant Wood, of the
British navy, commanding the Pandora, now here, says
that the truth is beyond the accounts we have heard.
These gentlemen also say that hundreds of people from
the western coast of South America are embarking for
the gold region, and most of the clerks in the commercial
places have quit their employment for the same object.
" ' It will evidently be impossible to prevent the troops,
when they arrive, from deserting, and there will be no
force to control the crowd of adventurers that will arrive."'

We give also a letter from an officer in the squad of
Commodore Jones : .

" United States Ship Ohio,
" Monterey, California, Nov. 1, 1848.
"We arrived here on the 9th of last month. The wea-
ther for the last fortnight has been delightful, very much
like our finest October weather at home. The pleasant
season has just commenced.
" It will be impossible for persons at a distance to
realise the state of affairs here. Gold is the only subject
discussed. It is bought and sold in grocers' scales. It is
selling for 81l an ounce here, 810 at San Francisco, and
S 6 at the mines. It is worth over SlB in the United
States. At the mines it is the only medium of exchange.
The price of a glass of grog is a pinch of gold. The Indians
had at first no idea, and have scarcely any now, of its
relative value. They would offer all they had for any-
thing that pleased them. A man from the mines told me
that he had sold a blanket for 5280 in gold, and the hat
that he wore up there (an indifferent one) for 864. Every
one that can possibly do so has gone to the mines. There
are some fifteen or twenty vessels at San Francisco,
which cannot leave because their crews have deserted.
They offer 850 a month, and cannot get men at that ;
the usual wages were about 812. Those who reap most
in this golden harvest are the small traders ; for, as a
matter of course, the necessaries of life are scarce. One
of these men informed me that he retailed flour at two
dollars a pound, and said it had been fcur ; he also sold
sugar at S 2 per pound, brandy 812 a bottle. Crowbars,
pickaxes, &c., sold at first for an enormous price.
"The mine is now known to be four hundred miles
long and one hundred broad. It is thought to be much
longer, but it has not been explored further. A man,
without much exertion, can make -B'looo a month. Some
have made it in a few days. I saw a party that had been
in the mines about two months ; each one (person) aver-
aged about $l5OO a month. A piece weighing 25 pounds
has been found. The largest piece that I have 63en
weighed 1 pound 2 ounces. The most that is found is
small and fine. A man will leave a place at which he does
not find more than an ounce a day. The machines are
very rude : in fact, it would be profitable to work that
which is escaped them, were there not richer work all
around. The mines are said to be inexhaustible. The
present low price of gold cannot long last; for I suppose
a mint will soon be established. Nor can the necessaries
of life long remain as they are, though they will be high
for some time. Nothing for consumption is made here,
but cargoes are on their way from South America and the
islands,and no doubt capitalists will soon have their agents,
which alone would bring gold to nearly its proper value.
I had a revolver, worth about Sl2 in the United States ;
as a special favour I parted with it for 3i ounces of gold,
equal to 865 in the United States. Persons are seen with
gold valued at thousands of dollars, who, a few months
since, would have considered themselves fortunate in
having twenty dollars in their possession."

The excitement at New York was indescribable. On
the sth inst., the steamship Crescent City, took her
departure for Chagres with 305 passengers on board.
amongst whom was the chief engineer of the Panama
Section of the proposed Chagres and Panama Railroad.
The scene at her starting was of the most animating des-
cription, the quays being lined with the friends of those
departing for the El Dorado. Another fine steamer, the
Falcon, sailed on the Ist, containing 200 passengers, with
their multifarious baggage, amongst which we find enu-
merated " Bowie knives, packing-boxes, gold sifters,
cradles, spades, shovels, picks, ckets of rubber and
wood—in -fact every conceivable article that could be of
benefit in the way of gold digging," besides a cargo whose
value was estimated at $70,000.

The following is stated as the outfit of the Strafford, a
barque engaged to carry out the New York Mining Com-
pany :—" Abaft the main hatch are arranged the mess
tables, yielding comfort and convenience while nourishing
the inner man. Away aft is fitted up an admirably se-
lected library, comprising works on every subject, and
cansisting of fully 3,000 volumes. These are the indivi-
dual contributions of the members, and generous dona-
tions from the Bible and Tract Societies. For the
amusement and enlivenment of the company, a splendid
piano and numerous other musical instruments have been
presented to these fine fellows ; and, to crown all, a glee
club has been formed, numbering voices of no ordinary
sound and sweetness."

This is certainly combining the utile and duke ! The
list of other vessels sailed, and to sail, from all parts of
the Union, is far too lengthy for us even to sum up. The
New York Herald says, in his city article of the 3d in-
stant, that upwards of 8,000 persons had then left the
States for California, via Chagres, Vera Cruz, and Cape
Horn, although it was only sixty days since the excite-
ment commenced; and that upwards of 20,000 had left
ports on the Pacific. The calculation of the writer is that,
with the existing and prospective increase of population
in California, we may very reasonably expect an addition
of one hundred millions of dollars worth to the stock of
P

old in the world.
That it may be some time, however, before the world
ill feel the effect of this singular state of things, will be
made apparent from the following statement by the same
writer :

" We have already a large capital invested in this move-
ment. Millions of dollars are at present locked up in this
trade, and millions more will be in the same position
before returns are received and commercial operations
give the capital activity. The annexed statement exhibits
estimates made from the best authority, of the amount of
capital ct present employed in the shipment of passengers
and property to California.